114 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



British practices. Some pounds in Britain recognize the 

 desire of lobsters to avoid light by providing shade through 

 awnings in the water. The awnings are wooden platforms 

 mounted about nine feet from the bottom of the pound, and 

 the area so shaded is about one-third the total pound area. 

 It must be difficult to recover the pounded lobsters if the 

 awnings are fixed— the British often recover their lobsters 

 by trapping them with baited scoops or pots, or by operators 

 dressed in rubber suits working a push net. But if the awn- 

 ings were floating rafts, they could be moved about to per- 

 mit dragging. British pounds sometimes provide " hides " 

 for lobsters on the bottom. These consist of stone slabs 

 resting on bricks 4 to 6 inches off the bottom, and re- 

 sembling a small bench seat. 



In several Scottish pounds, a hospital tank is provided 

 for weak lobsters. Fresh sea water is pumped into it at a 

 rate to provide a complete change of tank water every hour. 

 This tank is 19 feet by l l / 2 feet by 1 foot depth of water. 

 Air is provided by a compressor, and is diffused into the 

 water below a false bottom. 



In " Lobster Storage " ( published by The Scottish 

 Home Department ) , it is noted that " the initial few days of 

 storing are the most dangerous since the lobsters are adjust- 

 ing, and are restless and more liable to fight over food and 

 attack lobsters which are added. The latter are often some- 

 what weakened by travelling. If the claws are not secured, 

 lobsters should be first accommodated in a section hived off 

 from the main body. After a few days, during which the 

 lobsters will settle, the separating partition can be re- 

 moved." 



