ABOUT LOBSTERS 67 



crabs for the single-entrance creels. This result, how- 

 ever, may not apply in all circumstances. Direct obser- 

 vations have shown that access to a creel offers some 

 difficulty. Lobsters have been seen to hunt around and 

 over the creel, in trying to reach the bait, and often only 

 after some time is access found via the head. In a pro- 

 portion of cases, access was not obtained. In these cir- 

 cumstances two entrances would seem to increase the 

 opportunity for lobsters and crabs to enter the creel. 

 Furthermore, where a single-entrance creel falls on an 

 uneven bottom, there will be times when the entrance is 

 blocked. On the other hand, the entrance also affords a 

 means of escape. If, instead of being hauled daily, 

 creels are left out for several days at a time, as may be 

 necessary on exposed coasts, it could be that the single- 

 entrance variety would not be at the same disadvan- 

 tage, compared with the double-entrance type and its 

 double chance of escape. Single-entrance creels can 

 also be constructed in a smaller size than double-en- 

 trance and where the number of traps which can be 

 worked is restricted by the size of the boat, it may be 

 advantageous, for lobster fishing, to use the maximum 

 number of the smaller single-entrance creels. 



The size of entrance varies considerably. As stated 

 above, the pot entrance is, in general, bigger than that 

 of a creel. For instance, the eye [head] of the French 

 pot is about 10" in diameter while that of the Cornish 

 pot is about 8". These compare with an average di- 

 ameter of 5%" for the Scottish creel. There tends to be, 

 however, a fairly wide variation about these means. 

 Experiments with the Scottish creel have shown that 

 the diameter of the eye imposes an upper limit on the 

 size of lobsters and crabs which can enter. Crabs are 

 less able to maneuver through a small opening than 

 lobsters of comparable weight and therefore a larger 

 eye is generally required for crab as opposed to lobster 

 fishing. This shows up in the results of experiments 

 using a variety of eye diameters. The size of crab 



