LOBSTERS. 



Gauge. 



PRAWNS. 



LOBSTERS. 

 Close time. 

 CRABS. 



Sea son for. 



Gauge. 



Berried. 



PR1WNS. 



CRABS. 



Decrease. 



small lobsters under 6^ inches in length. No lobsters to be sold in Sussex 

 under 6^ inches. 



John Mills. Agrees with Mr. Richards' evidence. There are 25 boats 

 engaged in the fishery here. Each boat carries 200 prawn pots, and about 30 

 lobster pots. The prawn pots extend about 3 miles along the coast, and 3 miles 

 out, 9 or 10 square miles. They put back the very little lobsters of their own 

 accord. Cannot tell the age of these little lobsters. Agrees with Mr. Richards 5 

 evidence. The crab fishery is not important here. 



William Legge. A fisherman of Selsea. Has been so for 43 years. Is 

 in favour of a close season from the middle of November to the middle of 

 February. The Selsea men have been in the habit of throwing away all female 

 crabs over 2 lbs. in weight. There are a great many female crabs over 2 lbs. 

 in weight. The fishery at Selsea extends in a triangle of which the base is 

 formed by the shore from Bognor to Selsea. The sides are Sand 12 miles long 

 respectively. Fishes in 10 to 14 fathoms water. Brighton is the chief market. 



The fishermen at Selsea have always been in the habit of putting back the 

 big female crabs which are watery when that size. The female crabs are 

 chiefly caught in July, August, and September, and the large female crabe are 

 not good then. Thinks these crabs are a home fish and not foreigners. 

 Catches light crabs in May and June, not often earlier. Cocks and hens are 

 light at the same time. Is in favour of a law to return light crabs. The 

 Selsea crabs run from 3 inches to 8 or 9 lbs. The average is 2 to 4 lbs. The 

 Selsea fishermen all say that all crabs under a quarter of a lb. should be 

 returned. This is about 4^ inches. Many days the men would go home without 

 wages if a 4|-inch crab were put back. There are about 20 boats at Selsea 

 dependent on the crab fishery. A 5-inch gauge would be ruinous to the fisher- 

 men. The small crabs are sold at Brighton at about 4c?. a pound. Catches a 

 few berried crabs. They are always returned. Catches them now and then in 

 the summer. Would not catch a berried crab at this time (December). Is 

 certain the crabs hatch out in the summer. The 20 boats are solely depen- 

 dent on crabbing, except in the winter, when they dredge for oysters. In the 

 Outer rocks there are a bigger size of crabs, but the 20 boats cannot go there, 

 because they are manned by older men. The younger men only can go to 

 the Outer rocks. 



Prawns are not falling off at Selsea. April is the best season for them, and 

 sometimes September. 



The crabs have diminished in number. There are one third less than there 

 used to be. There are more boats than there used to be, but there are fewer 

 crabs in the sea. Doubts whether the crabs are quite as large as they used 

 to be. Thinks the decrease is due to killing the female crabs. Thinks that 

 it would be a good thing to return all the small crabs under a quarter of a 

 pound. 



LOBSTERS. 



Gauge. 



School-room, Cromer, Thursday, 1st February 1877. 



Present : 



Frank Buckland and Spencer Walpole, Esquires. 



N.B. — At a meeting attended by a large number of gentlemen and fishermen 

 interested in the crab and lobster fisheries of Norfolk, a resolution was unani- 

 mously passed, recommending that the gauge for lobsters enacted by the Crab 

 and Lobster Fisheries (Norfolk) Act should be repealed, and that the gauge 

 for lobsters should in future be 8 inches, measured from the tip of the beak 

 to the end of the tail. 



