MUSSEL BAIT — SUPPLY AND DEMAND 13 



used. I regret that I have no data as to the 

 number used in Orkney or Shetland. All along 

 the coast, for many years, fishermen appear to 

 have had a tendency to increase the number. If 

 we take an average of 775 hooks (from 500, 600, 

 800, and 1200), and estimate a line as 1200 yards 

 in length, we get a total of 46,937,875 hooks to 

 be baited every time the total number of lines are 

 used. This figure may perhaps be taken as a 

 rough guide, which probably errs considerably 

 as an under-statement of the number. 



We have no data to guide us in any attempt 

 we might make to estimate the number of times 

 these lines were set in any year. We know that 

 on an average two mussels are used to bait one 

 hook, and we can see that if it were possible for 

 us to multiply out an exact total of individual 

 mussels used, the result would be a figure 

 which, like the distance to the moon, could not 

 readily be comprehended by the intelligence of 

 man. 



Taking the official returns of the Board of 

 Trade, Fisheries Department, we are unfortunately 

 unable to estimate the quantity of mussels landed 

 annually on, or exported from, the coasts of 

 England and Wales, since the figures are massed, 



