75 



and July, so that, as in the case of the mussel, the animal 

 is protected for at least a portion of its yearly spawning 

 period. 



No recent data exist on which to base an opinion as to 

 whether the supply of cockles from the beds in the whole 

 district is increasing or decreasing ; but in 1879 Buckland 

 and Walpole, in the course of an examination into the 

 state of the Sea-Fisheries of England and Wales,* made a 

 special investigation into the cockle fishery in Morecambe 

 Bay, and obtained data which enable a comparison to be 

 made between the output of the beds at the beginning and 

 end of a period of 21 years. 



The Commissioners estimated the value of the pro- 

 duce of the Morecambe Bay cockle beds for the year 1877 

 at over 3,943 tons in weight, and at £20,000 in money 

 value. Cockles were taken by them as worth £5^ per ton. 

 These figures agree fairly well with those given in this 

 Memoir. For the year 1898 — 99 the amount landed is 

 estimated at 3,240 tons, and their money value at £19,440. 

 Here, however, £6 per ton is taken as representing the 

 retail price. It is not certain from the Commissioners' 

 Report whether they regarded £5^ per ton as the price 

 received by the fishermen, or as the price paid by the 

 consumer. It was also stated in evidence to the Com- 

 missioners that 100 carts, with six or seven people to the 

 cart, were employed cockling in Morecambe Bay. This is 

 far in excess of the number estimated as at present em- 

 ployed in the same area. 



A more exact means of forming a comparison is 

 furnished by the return from the Furness Railway Com- 

 pany, which is published in the Report for 1879. I am 

 indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Aslett, the present 



Report of the Commissioners for Sea Fisheries on the Sea Fisheries of 

 England ami Wales. 1879, pp. 21—23. 



