16 



CRABS. 



Enemies. 



Migration. 



CRAY-FISH. 



Migration. 



CRABS. 



Food. 



Boats. 



Weather. 



Increase. 



Boats. 



Season/or. 



Migration. 

 LOBSTERS. 



Spawning. 



Berried. 

 Enemies. 



A little insect, of the shrimp tribe, appeared near the Logan Rock 12 years ago. 

 Thinks this insect ate all the bait from the pots, and drove the crabs away. 

 Does not know the name of the insect. He crabs were never thicker than they 

 were in the month of April, 1873 — three years ago. A heavy storm came on 

 and all the he crabs disappeared. Has never caught large crabs in any 

 quantity since. During the easterly winds crabs are always inferior, and no 

 big crabs are to be caught. Lobsters are not affected. Does not believe in the 

 fish having been fished out. Has been to the Wolf Rock, nine miles south, 

 where the ground is seldom fished. Has been there sometimes, and left lots of 

 fish, and found none on returning the next year. Went there again this year, 

 and shot 24 pots, but only got two cray-fish and one lobster. Where the 

 ground is most fished there are generally as good fish to be had as anywhere. 

 In some parts of the sea, from Runnel Stone to Scilly, good lobsters and cray- 

 fish are to be caught, larger than elsewhere. The cray-fish are sometimes 

 plentiful, and sometimes scarce. This year there are very few. Has seen old 

 fishermen who say they come in shoals. Crabs at his station are more than 

 5§ inches across the back. None are sent to market smaller than this. It is 

 very rare to get so small a crab on the Irish and Scotch coasts as on the East 

 coast of England. A law prohibiting the capture of 5§ inch crabs would 

 destroy the fishery on the East coast. Lobsters on this coast are also large, 

 13 inches and upwards. The tide runs at Porthgwarra at the rate of six miles 

 an hour. The bottom is rocky. Thinks crabs and lobsters live chiefly on 

 shells, whelks, &c. The feeding ground is very good. 



{By Mr. Walpole.) When he first began fishing he fished at Penberth. The 

 Porthgwarra boats have increased, and there are six boats now while there 

 were only one or two that he can recollect formerly. The average take per boat 

 has been as good as ever, up to the last three seasons, and that^notwithstanding 

 the increased number of boats. The price has risen two thirds, and the Porth- 

 gwarra men are making better wages. They go further off the land to seek after 

 fish. Their forefathers did not go so far out. The insects referred to did not 

 appear before 12 years ago. Wherever they were found they drove away the 

 fish. They are now decreasing again. The storm which occurred in 1873 

 was very bad for that time of year, and crabs have disappeared ever since. The 

 pots were in 35 fathoms of water. Crabs will not move when a storm is 

 coming on. Crabs under 5| inches are not used. A few may be caught. 

 The larger ones are used for bait, the smaller ones are not good enough for 

 this purpose. Old she crabs are used for bait. 



Richard Rowe, Porthgwarra. Has been a fisherman for 24 years. Has 

 fished at Porthgwarra all that time. When he began he was with his father, 

 and had the only boat in the place. Has spoken to a man 70 years old who 

 said that more fish are caught now than when he was a boy. He used to put 

 the week's take in store pots from Monday to Thursday. Used to catch 500 

 or 600 he and she crabs, and 10 or 12 lobsters in a week, and send them to 

 Bristol. This was an an average take. An average week's take now is 1,200 

 crabs, male and female, and perhaps 20 lobsters. There are now six boats. 

 24 years ago there were from 40 to 50 pots in his father's boat. Between 50 

 and 60 pots are carried in a boat now. Works harder than he did 24 years 

 ago, and goes further out to sea. Believes one boat working same number of 

 hours as they worked 24 years ago, and confined to the same ground could 

 catch more crabs than his father's boat did then. 



Begins fishing in March, looking for cock crabs. The cold in the spring 

 keeps back the hen crabs. When the warm weather comes he looks for hen 

 crabs and catches fewer cocks. After the hen crabs get scarcer in August and 

 September, he looks out for cray-fish. 



Catches spawning lobsters from one end of the season to the other. Pots 

 are kept out all the year round. 



A law making crabs under 5| inches unsizeable might deprive the fishermen 

 of a few hen crabs. White crabs are not fit to eat. The Billingsgate salesmen 

 return them. They are so thick it is not necessary to have a law to prevent 

 their capture. Other fish eat the soft crabs. Cannot afford to break up 

 edible crabs for bait. They are all sent to market. 



If it were illegal to kill berried hens, gentlemen would suffer and fishermen 

 too. Thinks the natural destruction of young shell fish by skate and cod is 

 ten times greater than that caused by fishermen. Skate and cod are some- 



