gland States
and the British Provinces as a food commodity, but little was known of
its life-history and habits until within the last few years. To this
ignorance has been due quite largely peculiar (and in some instances
useless) laws enacted by some States. The gradual enlightenment of the
public on this subject has borne good fruit, however, and most of the
present State laws are founded on substantial facts instead of
theories. Prof. Francis H. Herrick has been one of the most prominent
of the investigators, and his summary of the present knowledge on this
subject is quoted below from the Fish Commission Bulletin for 1897:

(1) The fishery is declining, and this decline is due to the
persistence with which it has been conducted during the last
twenty-five years. There is no evidence that the animal is
being driven to the wall by any new or unusual disturbance of
the forces of nature.

(2) The lobster is migratory only to the extent of moving to
and from the shore, and is, therefore, practically a sedentary
animal. Its movements are governed chiefly by the abundance of
food and the temperature of the water.

(3) The female may be impregnated or provided with a supply of
sperm for future use by the male at any time, and the sperm,
which is deposited in an external pouch or sperm receptacle,
has remarkable vitality. Copulation occurs commonly in spring,
and the eggs are fertilized outside the body.

(4) Female lobsters become sexually mature when from 8 to 12
inches long. The majority of all lobsters 10-1/2 inches long
are mature. It is rare to find a female less than 8 inches long
which has spawned or one over 12 inches in length which has
never borne eggs.

(5) The spawning interval is a biennial one, two years elapsing
between each period of egg-laying.

(6) The spawning period for the majority of lobsters is July
and August. A few lay eggs at other seasons of the year--in the
fall, winter, and probably in the spring.

(7) The period of spawning lasts about six weeks, and
fluctuates slightly from year to year. The individual variation
in the time of extrusion of ova is explained by the long period
during which the eggs attain the limits of growth. Anything
which affects the vital condition of the female during this
period of two years may affect the time of spawning.

(8) The spawning period in the middle and ea