SUMMARY AND GENERAL REPORT. 



The new series of which this is the first number is con- 

 tinuous with the sixteeen annual reports published by the 

 Northumberland Sea Fisheries Committee. An arrangement 

 has been made whereby the publication of the report will be 

 undertaken by Armstrong College, and this will allow of the 

 inclusion of papers other than those of purely fishery interest. 



The results of an investigation on the Prawn or Norway 

 Lobster Fishery of North Shields are described by Mr. Storrow. 

 The Norway Lobsters are caught off the coasts of Northumber- 

 land and Durham, and the increasing importance of this branch, 

 of the trawl fishing industry of North Shields, and the seasonal 

 variation are indicated by a consideration of the statistics. 

 From an examination of some 7,000 specimens the contrast in 

 size between the males and females, the scarcity of the females 

 in the summer, the relatively same period of incubation as in 

 the case of the common lobster, and similar facts have been 

 made out. Spawning is probably biennial. The number of 

 eggs carried varies with the size. The smallest berried specimen 

 found measured 8 cm. The analysis has brought out also 

 interesting details with regard to the casting season, and the 

 influence of tides on the catches. 



The experiments in lobster culture have been continued, and 

 have shown the value of filtered water, and also of large tanks. 

 Two young lobsters, now nearly a year old, have been successfully 

 reared from the egg. 



In the Annual Report of Proceedings under Acts relating to 

 Sea Fisheries for 1910, issued in 1912, there appeared a paper 

 with the title Memorandum on the Size, Sex and Condition of 

 Lobsters. This gave the results of an investigation instituted 

 by the Board in 1907 with a view to determining the best means 

 of protecting lobsters. A critical review of this paper is pub- 

 lished here, objection being especially taken to the statements 

 that from the point of view of protection, the berried lobster is 

 not so valuable as raising the size limit, and that the stripping 



