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]*[rssKL 'I'KAXSPLAXIWTIOX AT M(JKP]CAMBE. 



Jiy Anj)rk\v Sco'J'T, A.L.8., and 

 Thomas IJax ikr, Member of tlie Sea Fisheries Committee. 



HiSTOKY OF THE BeDS. 



The mussel beds at Heysham, near Moreeambe, 

 usually kuowu as the Morecambe mussel beds, have long 

 been famous. They are undoubtedly the most extensive 

 mussel ])roducing g-rounds in the district under the control 

 of the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee, 

 and perhaps also on the whole of the western seaboard of 

 England. The quantity of mussels present at any time 

 amounts to many thousands of tons. There are probably 

 more mussels on these beds, than on all the other beds in 

 the district })ut together. The animals are in good con- 

 dition during the season, and are favourably regarded by 

 the consumer. That this is actually so is shown by the 

 fact that various fish-salesmen throughout the county, 

 and especially in Manchester, place orders at the 

 beginning of the season with many of the Morecambe 

 fishermen for a definite number of bags each week. 

 (V)nsequentl3- we find from the returns supplied by the 

 Midland, and London and North Western Eailway Com- 

 panies, at Morecambe, that large quantities are sent away 

 annually. The average quantity sent off during the past 

 five years, up to the end of March, 1905, amounts to close 

 on one thousand nine hundred tons per annum. 



Although we have not been able to find very much 

 information that could throw light upon the point, we 

 regard the mussel beds at Heysham as having been in 

 existence for a very long time. It is possible that many 

 of the ancestors of the present mussels were used in 



