“That makes an incentive to catch something larger than your neighbour’s, it is true, but I wouldn’t scorn to land a big fish even if there were no prize given me,” said Fred.
“No one would be so foolish as that,” scoffed Paul.
“Captain, how about the trawl this summer?” asked Mr. Remington.
“Oh, yes—and the lobster pots, Captain Ed?” added Billy.
“Well, now, we kin overhaul the trawl and set the pots whenever you say,” replied the Captain.
“Then the sooner we start the better!” declared Dudley.
“Ef you ketch any lobsters I’ll be s’prised, all right. T’other fishermen ain’t ketchin’ nawthin’ this year,” said the Captain.
“It’s queer where all the lobsters have gone! They used to be so plentiful that we could easily catch a mess anywhere. Supplying the canneries doesn’t explain everything about the scarcity,” commented Mrs. Remington.
“I’ve noticed another thing that has changed too, since we first began coming to Maine years ago,” added Mr. Remington. “Do you remember how rarely kelp was found in this bay then? Now, all the ledges in the back bay are covered with it—the ledges that used to be covered with mussels and sea anemones.”
“That’s so, but I never thought of it before,” said Mrs. Remington thoughtfully, then adding, “The cod and other big fish are now being caught here in the bay whereas the fishermen used to go way down below Rockland for them.”