head first. After discovering that he is imprisoned, which
he does very speedily, he seems to lose all desire for the bait, and
spends his time roaming around the pot hunting for a means of escape.

The pots are generally hauled once a day, but sometimes twice a day in
good weather. As the tide along the Maine coast is quite strong, the
fishermen usually haul their pots at or about slack water, low tide
generally being preferred when they are worked once a day. The number
used by a fisherman varies greatly on different sections of the coast.
According to the investigations of this Commission, the average
number of pots to the man in certain years was as follows: Fifty-six
pots in 1880, 59 in 1887 and 1888, 58 in 1889 and 1892, and 50 in
1898. This average, however, is somewhat misleading, as quite a number
of persons along the coast take up lobstering for only a few months
in the year, and then return to their regular occupations. As these
persons use but few pots, the average per man throughout the whole
State is very considerably reduced. The regular lobster fishermen have
been steadily increasing the number of their pots for several years
past. They have found this an absolute necessity in order to catch as
many lobsters now as they caught twenty or thirty years ago. It is not
unusual now to find one of the regular fishermen handling as high as
100 pots, and sometimes even 125, when a few years ago 25 and 50 pots
was a large number. This does not take into account his reserve stock
of pots, which it is necessary to have on hand in order to replace
those damaged or lost.

[Illustration: Fishermen operating their pots]

BAIT.

Cod, hake, and halibut heads are quite generally used as bait. Halibut
heads are said to be the best, as they are tougher than the cod or
hake heads, and thus last much longer. Sculpins, flounders, in fact
almost any kind of fish, can be used. In the vicinity of sardine
canneries the heads of herring are used. Sometimes the bait is
slightly salted, at other times it is used fresh. Small herring are
lightly salted, and then allowed to remain until partly decayed, when
they are inclosed in small bags, and these put into the pots. The
oil from this bait forms a "slick" in the water, and when the smell
from it is strong the fishermen consider it at its best. The bait is
generally secured by small haul-seines and spears in sections where
offal can not be bought.

FISHING VESSELS AND B