10 



CRABS. 



Decrease. 



Gauge. 

 Railways. 



LOBSTERS. 



Gauge. 



Close time. 

 Spawning. 

 Berried. 



CRABS. 



Decrease. 



Travelling. 



LOBSTERS. 



Migration. 



Decrease. 



There are more fishermen now at St. Mawes than there were ever before in 

 his remembrance. Never knew so many. The men cannot get anything else 

 to do, and so have to take to it. Thinks they are making a worse livelihood 

 than their ancestors. They get better prices, but this is not equivalent to what 

 they used to make at a lower price. 



John Downing. Is captain of Mr. Baccup's yacht. Has been acquainted 

 with Falmouth, Durgan, and Helford rivers for 25 years. Has got his living 

 by crab and lobster fishing. Was fishing last April two years — in April 1874 

 — and had been doing so for 25 years previously. Crabs were more plentiful 

 when he was a boy than they are now. A boat could take 18 to 20 large crabs 

 when he was a boy, i.e., crabs of 8 inches and upwards, and perhaps six or 

 nine lobsters in a day. In 18/4 a boat would have taken three or four large 

 crabs, and about the same number of lobsters. It is a rare thing now to get over 

 four large crabs. When he was a boy there were eight boats fishing on this 

 ground. Now there are nine boats. They carry much the same number of 

 pots as they used to do. Attributes this large decrease to the capture of small 

 fish, and fish in spawn. When he was a boy the fishermen used to return all 

 small fish to the water : any male crabs under 6 inches, and females under 

 5 inches, would be then thrown back. The market was not good enough for 

 the small crabs. The railway has caused the demand for small crabs. Nine 

 out of ten crabs will be females. The females never bring so good a price as 

 the males. Would recommend that all male crabs under 8 inches, and females 

 under 6 inches should be thrown back. Does not think that if this were done 

 the fishermen would break up the undersized crabs for bait. They have 

 enough bait. There are not many wrasse pots at Durgan. Does not 

 know what the . fishermen do at the Lizard. Would recommend that no 

 lobsters under 9 inches long should be taken. This law should apply to 

 buyer, seller, and fisher. Thinks the 9-inch gauge would destroy the import 

 trade in lobsters with Norway, and this trade is important. Thinks there 

 should be a close season from October 1st to March 1st. This would stop 

 crab fishing in January and February, and would save breeding lobsters. 

 Thinks lobsters breed all the year round, and that it is not more important to 

 close June and July than January and February. Would prohibit the sale of 

 berried hens ; does not think fishermen would remove the berries. The offence 

 could be detected; but it would require skill to detect it. All lobsters in 

 spawn should be returned to the sea. 



{By Mr. Buckland.) When he was a boy small crabs were returned to the 

 sea, because there was no market for them. 



Howard Fox, of Falmouth. Has conversed with crabbers at Mullion and 

 other places near the Lizard ; they all state that crabs and lobsters are much 

 scarcer than they used to be. The fishermen have to use more pots and 

 go further from home to get a living. These men would all like a law en- 

 forcing the return of small crabs to the sea. Crabs are too tender a bait for 

 deep-sea fishing with hocks ; the danger would be that small crabs would be 

 used as bait for the wrasse pots. The majority of the fishermen would only be 

 too happy to see a law on the subject. The law must be enforced on the pos- 

 sessor, not on the taker. Large cray-fish are occasionally caught. Crabs will 

 travel great distances even with their claws tied. Some years ago a small 

 trading craft was taking shell fish from Mullion to Plymouth and she sank 

 off Fowey. Shortly afterwards a fisherman at Mullion caught some of the 

 identical crabs in his pots at Mullion, a distance of over 40 miles. He knew 

 the crabs were the same he had previously captured, because he tied their 

 claws with a peculiar knot, and the knots were still on them. Other instances 

 of the same kind have happened in this neighbourhood. 



J. C. Kennerley, of St. Mawes. Has received large lobsters, two within 

 the last 15 months : one weighed 10 lbs., the other 9f lbs. Thinks the St. 

 Mawes fishermen would agree with Mr. Collins' evidence, and that they desire 

 to be protected against themselves. Undersized lobsters should be returned to 

 the sea. Thinks crabs and lobsters migrate to deep water. There are certain 

 holes where a crab may always be found. 



Thomas Webber, Mayor of Falmouth. Agrees with Mr. Kennerley's 

 evidence. Knows many fishermen at St. Mawes, and thinks they would endorse 

 Mr. Collins' evidenced The catch of crabs and lobsters at St. Mawes is 

 decreasing. His knowledge of the fisheries is only hearsay knowledge. Think 



