CRABS, AND WHELKS 



lobster-grounds in the world. Here thousands of small 

 boats are at work during the greater part of the year, for 

 there are still few restrictions in regard to this fishery, 

 though they are now being increased ; the bulk of the 

 Norwegian lobsters, however, are caught between March 

 and September. Most local by-laws forbid the taking 

 of spawning fish, and of those which measure less than 

 eight inches from "beak" to tail. 



There is no inducement to the fishermen to take small 

 fish, for the large ones are generally plentiful enough ; 

 the infant lobsters, moreover, are very careful to be out 

 of the way. When a little one leaves its mother its shell 

 is still unformed, and its body therefore unprotected, and, 

 while in this condition, it is liable to be snapped up by 

 the first cod or conger that comes along ; and if it should 

 attempt to remain in a lobster colony it may expect to be 

 eaten by adult fish of its own species ; therefore it wisely 

 swims away to the shallows, finds a strong position for 

 itself in a rock-crevice, and there remains till its shell 

 hardens and the animal can return to open water without 

 fear. Every year it will go back to this or a similar 

 hiding-place, for lobsters lose their shells annually, and 

 are, for three or four days, defenceless ; and it is during 

 this shell-less period that much of their growth takes 

 place. From the time a shell begins to re-form till it is 

 quite hard, the lobster is said to be " soft," and if one 

 finds its ways into the trap it is thrown out again, for 

 the fishermen believe it to be poisonous. This is un- 

 likely, although an animal that is about to cast its shell is 

 undoubtedly sickly, and can scarcely be wholesome as food. 



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