32 



Gauge, 



LOBSTERS. 

 Gauge. 



CRABS. 



Gauge. 



Huna, John O'Groat's, Saturday, 14th October 1876. 



Present : 

 Frank Buckland, Esquire. 

 CRABS. Donald Mowat, Duncansby. Has been fishing for 35 years. There are 



plenty of crabs in the neighbourhood. There is no difference in their size 

 or number as compared with former years. There are plenty of small 

 crabs measuring 5 or 6 inches. Does not take the smallest ones, and has been 

 accustomed to put back all under 4 inches. There is no sale for crabs at all in 

 the neighbourhood. Would be glad to have a sale for them. Has sent lobsters 

 to AYick. Thinks that when crabs are so small as to be counted two for 

 one, by the Billingsgate rule, they should be returned to the water. This 

 would include all crabs under 5 inches. No close time is necessary as there 

 are plenty of crabs. They are caught summer and winter. 



Alexander Mowat. Thirty years a fisherman. Some years crabs are 

 plentiful and in others scarce, according to the season. None less than 

 5 inches should be taken. Lobsters have fallen off. They are not orer-fished, 

 and a close season is unnecessary. None should be taken, whether male or 

 female, under 8 inches in length, measuring from the tip of the nose to the 

 point of the tail. 



Thomas Dunnet. Five inches should be the gauge for crabs. The take 

 depends on the season. More used to be caught 40 or 50 years ago than at the 

 present time. There is a scarcity now, but some years more are caught than others. 

 Donald Mowat {recalled). The falling off in lobsters is caused by 

 their being killed in the winter months. What is caught in the winter cannot 

 he had in the spring. The winter lobsters are caught in 16 to 18 fathoms. 

 The fishermen begin to fish about 8th April and leave off in July. There are 

 10 to 12 boats fishing from Stroma all the year round, except during the 

 herring fishing. The herring fishers leave for the herring fishery on July 16th, 

 and return on September 6th. The crab and lobster fishing begins in March 

 or April, if the weather is good, and continues till July 16th. From July to 



Close time. March the lobsters are not fished. These dates relate to the ground two miles 



on each side of Duncansby. 



There are plenty of fishers in Stroma. They fish for crabs and lobsters all 

 the year except in October and November, when they go out for cod. There 

 should be a close time for crabs and lobsters from December 1st to the end of 

 February. 



Gilbert Laird, Duncansby. Has been fishing here all his life. Crabs 



Decrease. are plentiful, but less so than formerly. Sometimes a good number can be 



caught. The average size is from 5 to 6 inches across the back, sometimes 



Gauge. fhey are smaller. Cannot tell the reason. Would agree to a 5-inch gauge. 



Spawning. Crabs spawn about 1 st April, and cast their shells about May and June. Has 



LOBSTERS, heen fishing for lobsters 15 years. They are fewer than formerly. Thinks the 



scarcity is caused by storms. The "coarse" weather has been worse than 



usual during the last four or five years. The storms have destroyed many 

 spawning places. Lobsters are more fished than they were 10 or 12 years ago. 

 Some lobsters caught are very small. They range from 4 or 5 to 10 inches. 



Gauge. ^j[ lobsters under 8 inches, and all partans under 5, should be returned. 



John Dunnet, aged 75 years. Has been 50 years a lobster fisher. First 

 fished with rings, and has always done so. Saw the first creel about 10 years 

 ago. Has had 60 boats fishing along the Pentland Firth between Orkney and 

 Caithness, and even in Shetland had five boats in one season, but did not do 

 well with them, having only had 150 lobsters in two months. They were large, 



Enemies of. but scarce. In Shetland has found large whelks attached to the lobsters, and 



has thought they destroyed the lobsters by sucking the life out of them. 



Lobsters are fewer now. Eight or nine years ago caught 1,000 to 1,500 



Decrease. in three months, but now only 300 to 400, bringing Is. each, while formerly 



they were 3c?. to 4c/. Smacks used to call for the lobsters and take them to 

 Wick. Formerly a vessel beginning on the west coast at Ullapool or Rumore 

 and ending at Scrabster would take off 9,000 or 10,000. The smack used to 

 pay 3c7. to Jd. each for large lobsters ; now the same lobsters would be Is. to 

 Is. 6d. each. The rule of the smack-owners was that all lobsters under 8 inches 



