18G THE PROTECTION OF CKABS AND LOBSTERS. 



Again, to another witness.* 



" By Mr. Pannett— 



" Q. If they do not breed till they are much larger than four-and-a-quarter 

 inches, do you not, by killing all the crabs that are under the breeding size, 

 stop the supply of crabs from these fish ? 



^'A. (Fisherman.) I don't think so. 



" Q. How is the supply to be kept up if you kill the crab before sufficient 

 time is allowed for it to spawn once 1 



"yl. (Fisherman.) We don't kill them all. 



" By Mr. Mally— 



" Q. With reference to what Mr. Pannett was asking you. Suppose all girls 

 are killed when they are twelve years of age, there would be no young women 

 or young children ; that is what we wanted to know. I think you understand 

 that, and if young crabs under the age at which they can spawn be killed, it 

 follows that there can be no crabs from them 1 



"A. (Fisherman.) But crabs breed a deal different to what girls do. Crabs, 

 •when they spawn, spawn many a thousand at a time." 



There is, of course, also another point of view from which the pro- 

 tection of undersized animals may be advantageous to the fishery, in 

 addition to this matter of allowing each animal to breed once, viz., that 

 if the small crabs or lobsters, which are of little value, be returned 

 immediately to the water, they themselves will grow, and become much 

 more valuable. 



Under the Fisheries Act (1877) a limit has already been fixed, below 

 which it is illetral to take either crabs or lobsters. For crabs, the 

 minimum size is 4^ inches, measured across the broadest part of the 

 back, and for lobsters 8 inches, measured from the tip of the beak to the 

 end of the tail. Now both these sizes are considerably below the sizes 

 at which the greater number of the animals begin to breed, so that at 

 the present time large numbers of both crabs and lobsters are sold at 

 very low prices indeed, which have never had an opportunity of breed- 

 ing, and so helping to maintain the future supply. It appears to be in 

 the direction of raising the limit that legislative interference can with 

 advantage take place. According to Mr. Gregg Wilson's observations, 

 which are, however, not very definite on this head, the majority of 

 female crabs do not spawn until they reach a size of from six to seven 

 inches, whilst the males may be ripe at five inches. In the case of 

 lobsters, although a few females may spawn at eight inches, it does not 

 appear that many do this under ten inches. Hence the limits which 

 would be recommended from purely biological considerations would be, 

 for female crabs at least six inches, for male crabs five inches, for 

 female lobsters ten inches, with possibly a lower limit for the males. 



• lieporl, p. 76. 



