22 



LOBSTERS. 

 Decrease. 

 Enemies. 



Pots. 

 Berried. 

 .CRABS. 



Increase. 

 Gauge. 



Berried. 



Gauge. 



Trawlers. 



Bait. 



Decrease. 

 Gauge. 



Spawning. 



Casting their 

 shell. 



LOBSTERS. 



Spawning. 

 Berried. 



CRABS. 



Migration. 

 Trawlers. 



Ship Inn, Polperro, Wednesday, 20th September 1876. 



Present : 

 Frank Buckland, Esquire. 



Edwin Buckley. Has fished for crabs and lobsters for 30 years. There 

 are seven boats now; 30 years ago there were four boats. Each boat carries on 

 an average 100 pots. Crabs have not decreased so much as lobsters. Conger eels 

 destroy the lobsters when they are small. The fishermen do not catch so many 

 lobsters now as they did 20 years ago. There are more pots out than there 

 were 20 years ago. At that time the usual thing was to have 8 strings, 8 pots 

 to a string. Now there are 12 to 14 strings, and 8 pots to a string. The 

 smallest lobster he ever saw was 3 inches long. The average length is from 

 10 to 12 inches. Hundreds of lobsters have been caught during the last five 

 years under 5 inches in length. All the fishermen agree that lobsters under 

 6 inches long should be returned to the water. The fishermen would gladly 

 do this. They might be allowed to get through the bars of the pots. The 

 fishermen could not afford to put back the berried hens. Crabs have increased 

 during the last 10 years. Has always thrown overboard spawning crabs. 

 Would like to have a law to enforce this. "Buns " or hens under A\ inches 

 should be thrown overboard, and cocks under 5 inches should be thrown back. 



Richard Oliver. Has been a fisherman for 20 years, and has fished for 

 crabs and lobsters, though not much. The ground begins at Looe Island, 

 and is 6 miles long and 3 miles broad. There are 700 pots fishing there. 

 Keeps out fishing as long as he can. Would not object to put back cock crabs 

 under 5 inches, and hens under 4£ inches, and lobsters under 6 inches. This 

 is the smallest lobster. 



Berried lobsters shouldbe sent to market ; but berried crabs should be returned 

 to the water. Sells his fish in Bath, Bristol, London, &c, and sends them 

 away himself. When the smacks came here he used to get 12s. per dozen 

 of 26, now he sells them by the barrel. The largest are 10 or 12 inches ; the 

 smallest are very small. 



William Buckley. Agrees to a gauge of 5 inches for male crabs, A\ inches 

 for females, and 6 inches for lobsters. Fishes further out at sea, in deeper 

 water than he did formerly. Goes where the drift net fishermen do not go, out 

 by a single rock, where there are any quantity of hen crabs. Trawlers injure 

 the crab and lobster fishery. The trawls drag over the clear ground and catches 

 both crabs and lobsters. They destroy the spawning ground. 



Skates and rays are used as bait. It is not customary to break up small 

 crabs for bait, but " skerries" or spider crabs are used to catch wrasse. The 

 fishermen would not break up small crabs for bait unless driven hard, as it is 

 against their interest to do so. 



Charles Joliffe. Has bought crabs for the last five or six years, except 

 last year. Since the well boats left off coming, the price has more than 

 doubled. Large crabs are not so plentiful as they used to be. Twice as many 

 small crabs are caught here as used to be caught. Has bought scores under 

 4 inches long. Agrees to the proposed gauge of A\ inches for female crabs, 

 and 5 inches for male crabs, and 6 inches for lobsters. As a merchant he 

 would like to have the ideas of the fisherman carried out. 



E. Laughrin. Coastguard officer. Crabs spawn when 3 inches across 

 the back ; they are then 6 months old. If you take away the male from the 

 female another will come. Has seen edible crabs the size of a pin's head. 

 They spawn in the spring and fall of the year. Large crabs shed their shell 

 twice a year; small ones every four or five months. The largest crabs weigh 

 up to 14 and 16^ lbs. 



Lobsters spawn all the year round. The smaller lobsters of 3 or 4 inches in 

 length go out through the pots. Young ones are found in the wells of carrying 

 ships. Suggests that berried hens should be kept in pots till the berries are 

 hatched out. 



Crabs go from place to place, and sometimes travel 10, 12, or 14 miles. Some 

 crabs got out of a store pot, and he found them again over 7 miles out at sea 

 in a few days. They like to get in shore to cast their shells. The trawlers 

 have torn up the feeding grounds of the crabs and lobsters, which are the 

 sand plains between the rocks. 



