ine has a most stringent law forbidding
the taking and selling of "berried" lobsters, and of any lobster under
10-1/2 inches in length, but this law is evaded by numerous fishermen
whenever possible. An idea of the extent to which short lobsters are
marketed in the State may be gathered from the statement of Mr. A. R.
Nickerson, commissioner of sea and shore fisheries for the State,
that in 1899 over 50,000 short lobsters were seized and liberated by
the State wardens. As these wardens only discover a small proportion
of the short lobsters handled by the fishermen and dealers it is
easy to see what a terrible drain this is on the future hope of the
fishery--the young and immature. Large numbers of "berried" lobsters
are also captured, the eggs brushed off, and the lobsters sold as
ordinary female lobsters.

The Report of the U. S. Fish Commission for 1897, on pages 235 and
236, contains the following account of the artificial propagation of
lobsters:

Prior to 1885 experiments had been conducted at various points
looking to the artificial propagation of the lobster. The only
practical attempts of this nature previous to those made by the
Fish Commission were by means of "parking," that is, holding in
large naturally inclosed basins lobsters that had been injured,
soft-shelled ones, and those below marketable size. Occasionally
females with spawn were placed in the same inclosures. One of
these parks was established in Massachusetts in 1872, but was
afterwards abandoned; another was established on the coast of
Maine about 1875. It was soon demonstrated, however, that the
results from inclosures of this character, so far as the rearing
of the lobsters from the young were concerned, would not be
sufficient to materially affect the general supply. The completion
of the new marine laboratory and hatchery at Woods Hole in 1885,
with its complete system of salt-water circulation, permitted the
commencement of experiments in artificial hatching on a large
scale which had not been practicable theretofore, although small
quantities of lobster eggs, as well as those of other crustaceans,
had been successfully hatched. In 1886 the experiments had
progressed so successfully that several million eggs were
collected and hatched at Woods Hole, the fry being deposited in
Vineyard Sound and adjacent waters. From 1887 to 1890, inclusive,
the number of eggs collecte