182 THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE SEA [PART II 



net fishing. Since there is also a longer coast line relatively to 

 the Avhole area, the foreshore fisheries for shellfish and by means 

 of stake nets are also relatively gi'eater. Probably, too, the fishing 

 is generally more intense in an inshore, than in an open sea area. 



We may take Morecambe Bay on the west coast of England as 

 a good example of such an inshore fishing area. There we have 

 trawling, some lining, and a very considerable fishery for shellfish. 

 The area of the Bay, including the foreshore, is about 155 square 

 nautical miles (or 53,000 hectares, or 131,000 acres). In the 

 year 1906 there were caught in the Bay, and landed at the 

 fishing ports on its shores, 4680 tons of all kind of fish^ 

 Dividing this by the total area we find that the yield was 



89 kilogrammes per hectare per annum ; 



or 79 lbs. per acre per annum; 



and the value is about 2^. 6d. per acre per annum. 



Productivity of some inshore shell-fisheries. We see 

 then that an inshore fishing area is usually more productive 

 than an open sea one, partly because there is, as a rule, more 

 fishing carried on near the shore than well out at sea, and also 

 because there is, as a rule, a more abundant fauna in the shallow 

 waters near the shore. Now we may narrow down our enquiry 

 still further and try to ascertain what is the yield of a shellfish 

 area such as a shore containing many mussel or cockle-beds. 



Reliable figures are available for the mussel fisheries at Conway, 

 on the coast of North Wales, and Morecambe, in Morecambe Bay 

 in Lancashire. If we take the case of the Morecambe mussel 

 fishery we find that the area covered with mussel beds is about 

 578 acres, or 234 hectares in extent. In 1906 the quantity of 

 mussels taken from these grounds was 49,908 cwts., or 2,540,000 

 kilogrammes". 



^ The j^ear 1906 is the first one for which accarate statistics are available. 

 Prior to this date statistics were collected by the Board of Trade and the 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries but the values published are probably low. In 

 1906 the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee began to supervise the 

 collection of data and reliable returns were obtained. I am indebted to Dr Jenkins, 

 of the Lancashire Committee, for the figures. 



■- Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries, Super intendenfs Report, 31 December 

 1906. 



