F. S. Wkight 143 



necessary amount of restocking is carried out with due care. A good 

 deal of space would be occupied by individuals below the legal size^ 

 down to very minute mussels which have developed from the spat. 

 These, however, would occupy the interstices between the larger mussels, 

 to a considerable extent, and, at all events, the space which they occup}^ 

 would be compensated by those larger mussels living in clusters, and 

 by the increased superficial area of the ground resulting from inequalities 

 in its surface. 



Restocking the Beds {Transplantation). 



We shall assume that, at the close of the fishing season, the beds 

 have been exhausted of mussels of the legal size (two and a quarter 

 inches, and above). It is now necessary to estimate the amount of 

 transplantation requisite in order that the maximum yield may be 

 maintained in the following autumn, and the distribution among the 

 fishermen each his proper share in this work. 



In the first place, it is necessary to gauge how far the beds are already 

 stocked with mussels below the legal size, which have either not been 

 brought up in the course of fishing, or else have been thrown back when 

 the men cleaned their catches. This is a somewhat difficult matter, as 

 obviously conditions will vary in different areas. Still, knowing some- 

 thing of the rapidity of the mussel's growth rate, it will probably not 

 be very wide of the actual state of things if we assume that one-fourth of 

 the area is intermittently stocked in this way. Therefore, three-fourths 

 of the ground will need to be replenished by means of transplantation. 

 This, at Aberdovey, represents some 57,000 square feet, and, if we aim 

 at placing 121 individuals (in this case each of 2" in length^), it in- 

 volves the removal and deposition of 6,897 ,000 individuals. This number 

 would fill, roughly, 2122 bags, and represents 106 tons of shellfish. 



Most of the boats used in this fishery, at Aberdovey and elsewhere, 

 are fairly large ones, each capable of carrying one ton or slightly over. 

 This means that, if the maximum amount of transplantation is carried 

 out, a boat, under the most favourable conditions, would need to make 

 one hundred and six journeys with its maximum load of one ton^ of 

 seed mussels. A single boat could only procure this large cargo during 

 a very low spring tide, when the seed bed dries, and the mussels are 

 simply shovelled into it. If gathered by means of a rake, it would 

 scarcely be possible for a single boat, with a crew of one, to procure 



1 As a 2" mussel will increase to 2i" in seven months, this growth has to be allowed for. 

 ~ This amount was often exceeded durmg the transplantation exijeriments at Aber- 

 dovey, even when the crew consisted of one person onlj^ 



