Xll 



Sussex. 



Are the crab 

 and lobster 

 fisheries 

 increasing or 

 decreasing. 



terfcon. The fishermen there have two grounds at their disposal : 

 one off some rocks, known as the Exeters, out at sea ; the other 

 inshore. There is little or no decrease off the Exeters, but there 

 is " a greater decrease in the inshore ground." Bognor, on the 

 coast of Sussex, in some respects resembles Budleigh Salterton. 

 There are some rocks called the Owers 12 miles out to sea, where 

 there is a considerable fishery, and there are no indications of 

 any failure on these rocks. But the inshore fishery is in a 

 different condition. The bottom of the sea is a warm plateau of 

 mud and sand covered with weed, which is apparently a nursery 

 for small Crustacea. The smallest lobsters in England are caught 

 on this plateau, and very small crabs are also taken in the 

 immediate neighbourhood off Selsea. The fishermen consider 

 that the lobsters come here from other places for the purpose 

 of reproduction, and they assert that there are no indications 

 of any diminution in the number of these Crustacea. It is 

 universally admitted, however, that the crab fishery at Selsea is 

 declining in importance, and that there are not one third so 

 many crabs as there used to be. It ought to be added that 

 Bognor is more dependent on its prawn fishery than on either 

 lobsters or crabs, and that the little lobsters are taken with the 

 prawns in the prawn pots. 



We have thus endeavoured to relate some of the salient points in 

 the natural history of the lobster and of the crab ; to describe the 

 manner in which the crab and lobster fisheries are conducted ; and 

 to review the condition of the principal fisheries on the coasts of 

 this country. It remains for us, in conclusion, to sum up the 

 facts which we have thus related, and to enumerate the rules 

 which, in our judgment, should be adopted for the regulation of 

 these fisheries. 



In a great many cases it is not very easy to conclude whether 

 the fishery is falling off or not. The increase in price is certainly 

 in almost every case greater than the decrease in the supply. The 

 take in many cases is not so large as it used to be, but in 

 nearly every place it is more valuable. The increased price, 

 and the greater facilities which railways have afforded for 

 bringing the fish to market, have attracted more fishermen 

 to the pursuit, and have induced them to follow the crabs and 

 lobsters into much deeper water than formerly. It is no very easy 

 matter, therefore, to compare the results of the fishing now with 

 those which were experienced 50 or 25 years ago, The take 

 now is divided among a greater number of fishermen. The area 

 of the fishery has been largely extended. On the whole, 

 however, we believe that we are in the right in concluding that 

 in small fisheries, or fisheries in confined areas, there has been in 

 every case a marked decrease of fish ; while in large and exposed 

 fisheries there has been no decrease whatever. Take, for 

 example, the fisheries off the Land's End, the Lizard, and the 

 Start. All these fisheries comprise large areas of sea-bottom, all 

 of them are in exposed situations, and the powers of man have 

 been hitherto incapable of exhausting them. But there are other 



