60 



CRABS. 



Season. 



Migration. 

 Berried. 



Soft. 

 Gauge. 

 Close time. 



LOBSTERS. 

 Decrease. 



Berried. 



Close time. 



CRABS. 



Sp awning. 

 JSoft. 



Weather. 



Bait. 



PRAWNS. 



CRABS. 



Boiling. 



ground extends all the way to Sidmouth. The Exeter ground is fished by 

 six boats from Budleigh Salterton. But boats also come from Teignmouth to 

 Exmouth. They carry about 40 pots a boat. There are two boats from 

 Exmouth, one from Teignmouth. Nine or ten boats altogether. The fishing 

 season here always begins in February and ends at the end of October. Off 

 the Exeters they begin at the end of March or beginning of April, and 

 continue till the end of September. The inshore ground is fished for a longer 

 period than the off-shore ground. There are not so many she crabs caught off 

 the Exeters as there were, but there is not so much falling off among the hes. 

 Thinks the decrease of the shes is due to their leaving the rocks to spawn in 

 the trawling ground, to their being taken there, and carried in cartloads to 

 Brixham. Thinks the she crabs leave the rocks in September ; catches but 

 few after that. The shes are in the best condition, full of red coral, before they 

 leave the rocks. The she crabs that are caught by the trawlers, all through 

 the fall, the winter, and the spring, have berries on them. In the spring the 

 crabs are getting soft and brittle. They get hard as the summer comes on. 

 The cock crabs are soft all through the year. There is even a greater decrease 

 in the inshore ground than in the off ground. The crabs in shore are both 

 larger and smaller than those in the off ground. Thinks that no person should 

 be allowed to bring on shore or sell any small crabs. No crab under 5 inches 

 should be taken. Thinks no close season is necessary for the off-shore ground, 

 as the weather makes one. But on the in-shore ground is in favour of 

 making a close season from 1 st October to the 14th February. Thinks also a 

 law should be made to prohibit the capture of all berried crabs, and also of 

 soft or glass crabs ; they are called here soft and white crabs. 



The fishermen don't catch so many lobsters as they used to. Is in favour of 

 prohibiting all lobsters under 8 inches in length. The small lobsters are chiefly 

 taken in shrimp nets. Very small lobsters are taken in the shrimp nets. The 

 shrimpers would have no difficulty in saving these, and it would be no inter- 

 ference with a shrimp fisherman to make him do so. Is in favour of a close 

 season for lobsters. Catches berried lobsters all the year, especially in the 

 spring, when they catch more lobsters. Is in favour of the same close season for 

 lobsters as for crabs. Thinks it would be a very bad thing for the fishermen 

 if they were not allowed to keep berried lobsters. The berried lobster is very 

 valuable, and the berried crab is not valuable, and so it would be wrong to pro- 

 hibhVthe capture of berried lobsters. Does not wish to interfere with the trawlers ; 

 but wants to compel them to return the berried crabs and the soft crabs. 



(By Mr. Buckland.) The she crabs are in the best condition, with coral in 

 them, in July and August. The trawl crabs in December would some have the 

 coral inside, some the berries outside. The in-shore crabs are never so large as 

 the off-shore crabs. Begins to catch white she crabs in February. Catches 

 very few crabs in cold Februaries. The crabs will not crawl till the weather 

 gets warmer. Doesn't see the male and female crabs together in the rocks. 

 The trawlers fish all the year round. Thinks they catch the crabs which are 

 buried in the sand in the fall of the year. Gets less money for she crabs than 

 for he crabs. The she crabs are smaller than the hes. A she crab in July, 

 August, and September has more meat in her than at any other time. They 

 have coral in them then. They carry their berries in December. The crabs 

 whose spawn has hatched out in the winter and spring, fill up by the following 

 August. Skate, gurnet, and flounders are used for bait. Crabs are never 

 broken up for bait here. The price has risen during the last 10 or 12 years. 

 The prawns here are caught in hoops with nets. They are hauled as fast as 

 they can haul them. Some nights they may catch 1,000 prawns. Other nights 

 only a few. There are many more boats on the prawns than there used to be. 

 There are seven or eight boats out of Salterton, and can recollect only two. 

 There are 25 boats out of Sidmouth for prawns. Puts the crabs in cold water. 

 The crab dies before the water boils. If he put the crab in hot water it would 

 shoot its claws. If the crabs are stabbed they are not such good eating. The 

 crabs, under his present plan, are dead before the water is too hot for him to 

 bear his hand in. The crabs are dead before the water boils. They are dead 

 in a quarter of an hour. The lobsters are neither plugged nor nicked nor tied, 

 but put into hot water. Lobsters, after shooting their claws, will grow fresh 

 ones. Finds many growing new claws. 



Thomas Cooper. Lives at Budleigh Salterton. Has been fishing for eight 



