THE SHELLFISH INDUSTRY 315 



sea lobsters which are below a certain size or females which 

 are carrying spawn, or are " in berry." 



A few words about the important lobster fishery in the 

 Hebrides may be of interest. The lobsters are collected 

 by fishermen in many parts of the islands and stored in 

 large boxes, with holes to allow free access to water, which 

 are moored in the sea in which they lie just awash. When 

 sufficient numbers have been collected they are packed in 

 boxes and sent away to the market, usually Billingsgate. 

 It is important that the packing should be done with great 

 care as only living lobsters are paid for by the purchaser. 

 Of recent years the efficiency of the industry has been 

 greatly increased by the activity of a firm which has estab- 

 lished a receiving and storage pond on the Island of Luing, 

 about fourteen miles from Oban. The pond has been made 

 by erecting granite dams at either end of a narrow channel 

 between two islands, a constant flow of sea water is ensured 

 by means of gratings in the dams while sluices enable the 

 pond to be practically emptied at low tide. One hundred 

 thousand lobsters can be stored here — half as many again 

 if necessary — the animals being collected by agents of the 

 company from the fishermen who thus get a good price 

 for their catch without the risk of losing them on their 

 way to the market. Similar storage ponds for lobsters 

 have been established for many years along the coasts of 

 Brittany. The packing station is on Kerrera Island only 

 two miles from Oban where there is a sheltered bay in which 

 the lobsters are confined in large wooden rafts each capable 

 of holding about a thousand, until needed for packing. 

 In the latter process, bracken or fern, which is better 

 than the seaweed or sawdust originally used, is employed, 

 the boxes being lined with paper to keep the lobsters 

 within from extremes of temperature. Since it is the 

 presence of water in the gill chamber which is responsible 



