106 



used to remove the upper layer of sand to the depth of 

 about an inch and half. The cockles occupy this layer 

 and are thus exposed. The use of a spade is not 

 permitted in the other parts of the district. Southward 

 of " Rossall Landmark," near Fleetwood, that is, over the 

 whole of the Central and Southern Divisions, the use of 

 the cockle rake is permissible ; the cockle rake does not 

 differ greatly from the ordinary garden rake, but may not 

 exceed 12 inches in length. Thus, in the Northern Divi- 

 sion the craam and the limited use of the Jumbo are 

 permitted ; in the Central Division the craam. Jumbo, 

 rake, and spade ; in the Southern Division the craam, 

 Jumbo, and rake. Practically all the fishing in the 

 Southern Division is done by the rake. 



A minimum size, below which a cockle is not legally 

 saleable, is fixed by the Committee's Bye-law, and extends 

 to all parts of the district. This minimum size is that 

 of a cockle which will exactly fit into a rectangular 

 opening in the " gauge " carried by the fishery officer. 

 This opening is two inches in length, and three-quarters 

 of an inch in breadth ; the ratio of length to lateral 

 breadth in the cockle is, of course, variable within certain 

 limits, and the smallest legal-sized cockle may be defined 

 as the cockle whose lateral breadth, from valve to valve, 

 when the shell is closed, is just over three-quarters of an 

 inch. This standard of size is, of course, a purely arbi- 

 trary one, and has no definite I'elation to any particular 

 phase in the life-history of the animal : the cockle becomes 

 sexually mature before it has attained this size, and pro- 

 bably has spawned once. It most probably represents the 

 size of the animal which is over two and less than three 

 years of age. But the rate of gi'owth of the cockle 

 certainly differs, probably to a considerable extent, on 

 various parts of the Lancashire and Cheshire coasts. On 



