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.