The Lobster Fishery of Maine | Page 2

two weeks later than in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. In 1893 71 per
cent of eggs examined from the coast of Maine were extruded in the
first half of August.
(9) The number of eggs laid varies with the size of the animal. The law
of production may be arithmetically expressed as follows: _The
number of eggs produced at each reproductive period varies in a
geometrical series, while the length of lobsters producing these eggs
varies in an arithmetical series._ According to this law an 8-inch lobster
produces 5,000 eggs, a lobster 10 inches long 10,000, a 12-inch lobster
20,000. This high rate of production is not maintained beyond the
length of 14 to 16 inches. The largest number of eggs recorded for a
female is 97,440. A lobster 10-1/2 inches long produces, on the average,
nearly 13,000 eggs.
(10) The period of incubation of summer eggs at Woods Hole is about
ten months, July 15-August 15 to May 15-June 15. The hatching of a
single brood lasts about a week, owing to the slightly unequal rate of
development of individual eggs.
(11) The hatching period varies also with the time of egg-laying,
lobsters having rarely been known to hatch in November and February.
(12) Taking all things into consideration, the sexes appear about
equally divided, though the relative numbers caught in certain places at
certain times of the year may be remarkably variable.

(13) Molting commonly occurs from June to September, but there is no
month of the year in which soft lobsters may not be caught.
(14) The male probably molts oftener than the female.
(15) In the adult female the molting like the spawning period is a
biennial one, but the two periods are one year apart. As a rule, the
female lays her eggs in July, carries them until the following summer,
when they hatch; then she molts. Possibly a second molt may occur in
the fall, winter, or spring, but it is not probable, and molting just before
the production of new eggs is rare.
(16) The egg-bearing female, with eggs removed, weighs less than the
female of the same length without eggs.
(17) The new shell becomes thoroughly hard in the course of from six
to eight weeks, the length of time requisite for this varying with the
food and other conditions of the animal.
(18) The young, after hatching, cut loose from their mother, rise to the
surface of the ocean, and, lead a free life as pelagic larvae. The first
larva is about one-third of an inch long (7.84 mm). The swimming
period lasts from six to eight weeks, or until the lobster has molted five
or at most six times, and is three-fifths of an inch long, when it sinks to
the bottom. It now travels toward the shore, and, if fortunate,
establishes itself in the rock piles of inlets of harbors, where it remains
until driven out by ice in the fall or early winter. The smallest, now
from 1 to 3 inches long, go down among the loose stones which are
often exposed at low tides. At a later period, when 3 to 4 inches long,
they come out of their retreats and explore the bottom, occasionally
hiding or burrowing under stones. Young lobsters have also been found
in eelgrass and on sandy bottoms in shallow water.
(19) The food of the larva consists of minute pelagic organisms. The
food of the older and adult stages is largely of animal origin with but
slight addition of vegetable material, consisting chiefly of fish and
invertebrates of various kinds. The large and strong also prey upon the
small and weak.

(20) The increase in length at each molt is about 15.3 per cent. During
the first year the lobster molts from 14 to 17 times. At 10-1/2 inches the
lobster has molted 25 to 26 times and is about 5 years old.
As the purpose of this article is to deal more particularly with the
commercial side of the lobster question all interested more particularly
in the natural history of the animal are referred to the following works:
The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, sec. I, pp.
780-812.
The American Lobster, by Francis H. Herrick. Bull. U. S. Fish Com.
for 1895, pp. 1-252.

HISTORY OF THE FISHERY.
Ever since the early Puritan settlers first learned from the Indians how
to utilize the lobster, it has been one of the most prized articles of food
in the New England States. The early town records of Massachusetts
contain frequent references to this valuable crustacean, and efforts were
made at an early day to conserve the supply.
At first, as most settlers lived on or near the coast, each family could
easily secure its own supply, but as the settlements gradually extended