58 



CRABS. 



Soft. 



Berried. 



Gauge. 



LOBSTERS. 

 Decrease. 



Berried. 

 CRAY-FISH. 



CRABS. 



Price. 



Reason. 



LOBSTERS. 



No decrease. 



Trawlers. 

 Berried. 



Decrease. 



Close time. 



Trawlers. 



CRABS. 



Gauge. 



Boiling. 



the middle of October. He was getting old, and had given up netting, and 

 so had gone on longer than usual crabbing. 



Frequently catches soft crabs in February when he begins fishing. Throws 

 them overboard. Finds the soft he crabs at the same time as the soft she 

 crabs. By the soft crabs means crabs with brittle shells. Makes a market 

 with the best of the fishery. All he can induce the captain of the smack to 

 take, he sells. There is very little in the soft crabs but water. They are called 

 here pale crabs. The highest price for he crabs is 15j?. a dozen, the highest 

 price for she crabs is 3s. a dozen, as a rule. The trawlers in the winter catch 

 any number of berried crabs. Believes they throw away the berried crabs. 

 It would be a good law to prevent the capture of all berried crabs. They 

 return them now. It would be a good law to prevent the soft crabs being 

 taken; and to prevent the sale of all crabs under 5 inches. 



The lobsters are a great deal scarcer than they were. There are more persons 

 after them. Catches berried lobsters all through the year. Thinks that there 

 is no particular period at which they spawn. It is impossible to make a close 

 season for lobsters. Never saw a lobster taken much under 7 or 8 inches. A 

 sale fish is 11 inches. Under that length they go two for one. It would not 

 be a good thing to put back all the berried lobsters. They are the best lobsters. 



There are very few cray-fish on this coast. 



John Hockaday. Has been fishing 44 or 45 years. Fishes on the same 

 ground as preceding witness. Sells his crabs to the Southampton and Hamble 

 smacks. The smacks come once a fortnight in the season. Catches most 

 crabs after a swell. The price of crabs has risen from 12s. to 15s. a dozen for 

 hes. Mr. Scovell gives 3s. a dozen for shes. The she crabs run smaller than 

 the he crabs, and the claws are smaller. There is not so much fish in the shes 

 as the hes. Catches she crabs chiefly in July and August. Some crabs are 

 sold to the French. The French smacks come from Dieppe. He doesn't 

 himself sell to the French unless his store pots are full and he has no room 

 for more. The French give the same price as Mr. Scovell for he crabs, perhaps 

 a trifle more for she crabs. For the last 30 years two vessels have been coming 

 twice a fortnight. An 8-inch crab is a sale crab. Doesn't think he sells any 

 crabs under 5 inches. The crabs are all sent away alive. 



Sees very little difference in the lobsters. Has caught lobsters 10 lbs. in 

 weight, but very rarely. A 11 -inch lobster is a sale lobster, below this they go 

 two for one. They never catch a lobster in a pot under 7 inches. Smaller 

 lobsters go through the pots which have a space of If inches between the ribs. 

 Lobsters are never plugged. Thinks the trawlers do a great deal of harm to 

 the crab fishery. The crabs go on to the sand, and the trawlers catch them. 

 Finds berried lobsters all through the year, but has no personal experience of 

 this. It wouldn't pay to have to put back berried lobsters. 



Martin Ross. A fisherman of Newton Ferrers. Was fishing off the Eddy- 

 stone last summer, and for the two preceding years. Fine lobsters are caught 

 on a portion of this ground. There were two boats from Yealm and three 

 from Cawsand, fishing there last season. The lobsters were less plentiful last 

 summer than three years previously. The old ground failed, but found a new 

 piece of ground where they had good fishing. Thinks the old ground was 

 exhausted. There had been three or four other boats besides himself. It is a 

 very small patch of rocks, not above an acre. It was fished with pots. Is in 

 favour of a close season both for crabs and lobsters. It should commence on 

 the 1st September and end on the 31st January. There is no fishing in these 

 months, but it would stop the trawlers. Thinks the trawlers do great damage 

 by destroying female crabs. The trawlers come close to the Eddystone 

 ground. Is in favour of returning all he crabs below 5 inches, and all she 

 crabs under 4 inches. It wouldn't do to make one gauge for both. Is in favour 

 of returning all small lobsters under, say, 7 inches. A gauge of 8 inches would 

 be a sacrifice. An 8-inch lobster {seeing a gauge) is very small. 



(By Mr. Buckland.) The patch of ground off the Eddystone was on the 

 south-west side. His boat would put 30 pots on this acre of ground, and there 

 were four other boats. There would be upwards of 100 pots on this one acre. 

 The Cawsand men found the ground first and found very large lobsters there. 

 Lobsters are always large on a new ground. The Eddystone lobsters are about 

 3 or 3|lbs. Has seen lobsters without claws, probably from fighting. Lobsters 

 are not plugged, and crabs are usually stabbed before they are boiled. 



