ize they
were compelled to give up the business.

The following table shows the number of factories in operation, the
quantity and value of fresh lobsters used, and the number and value of
cans of lobsters put up, in the years 1880, 1889, and 1892:

1880 1889 1892
------------- ------------- --------------
No. Value No. Value No. Value
--- ----- --- ----- --- -----
Number of
canneries 23 20 11
Lobsters used,
fresh lbs. 9,494,284 $95,000 5,752,654 $72,092 9,494,284 $95,000

Canned
One-lb cans 1,542,696 999,521 126,577 1,228,944 195,114
Two-lb cans 148,704 85,520 16,036 3,096 839
Other sizes 139,801
--------- ------- --------- ------- --------- -------
Total cans 1,831,201 238,280 1,085,041 142,613 1,232,040 195,953

Part of the lobsters used in the Eastport factories come from New
Brunswick. It is impossible to separate them.

ABUNDANCE, ETC.

There are no accurate figures showing the catch of lobsters in Maine
previous to 1880. It is therefore difficult to make comparisons, and
one is compelled to depend largely upon the memory of the fishermen
and the statements of the canners and dealers, which the lapse of
time, etc., makes rather unreliable. The numerous petitions sent
to the legislature asking for restrictive laws, while possibly
exaggerated at times, indicate that there were fears of the exhaustion
of the fishery for some years back. It is positively known, however,
that certain grounds have been almost or totally exhausted through
overfishing for a number of years, while on other grounds the supply
of lobsters has seriously decreased. There was a time when no lobster
under 2 pounds in weight was saved by the fishermen. In later years,
before there was a restriction fixing the minimum size of lobsters
that could be canned, the canneries frequently used half-pound
lobsters. The fixing of the minimum length of the lobsters caught at
10-1/2 inches, and the consequent closing up of the canneries, has
been of incalculable benefit to the fishermen, as the young lobsters
now have an opportunity to reach maturity.

The table given below shows for certain years the number of po