46 



LOBSTERS. 



Season for. 

 Spawning. 

 Gauge. 



'Enforcement of 

 law. 



CRABS. 

 Increased. 



Close time. 



Gauge. 



Soft. 



LOBSTERS. 



Gauge. 



it would not pay to do so. Gets too many lobsters in May, and gets a very 

 small price for them. Only the principal fishmongers ask for berried hens ; 

 the berries are used for sauce for other fish. Would be beneficial to everybody to 

 return all lobsters to the sea under 4\ inches in the barrel ; a lobster measuring 

 4 inches to-day is worth 6d. ; each time it casts its shell it grows half an inch, 

 so that very soon it would be worth double the money. Has a shell which 

 has been cast to prove this. A lobster grows half an inch in the barrel when 

 it has shed its shell once. 



John Doughty, Station Officer of Coastguard. Has been here 18 months 

 and has never had any orders to carry out regulations for lobster fishing. The Act 

 could not be carried out with the present number of men. There are four on the 

 establishment here. There is no fishery officer here. Help would be required 

 to carry out any law on the subject. There are about 170 boats on the 

 register ; about 13 of these are crabbers now, but the number fluctuates. 



W. Robertson. Has known Dunbar 37 years. Has been 37 years in the 

 trade. Crabs have increased in number, because the fishery has been more 

 prosecuted than formerly. Formerly there were three boats, now sometimes 

 there are forty ; the dealers get as many crabs as ever. The small crabs should 

 be returned to the water. If there is any close time it should be from October 

 to January. All crabs under 5 inches should be put back into the water. 



A law should be made that soft crabs should not even be brought ashore ; 

 they should be thrown over into (he water at once from the creels. The mer- 

 chants will not take these soft crabs ; they are broken up by the fisherman for 

 bait, or thrown dead into the harbour, the fishermen having broken their 

 shells with their thumbs. A good crab would be from 6| to 8 inches across 

 the back: [two of this size were produced, picked out of five or six dozen]. 

 From October to January, if a thousand crabs were caught, five hundred of them 

 would be soft and would be destroyed. It is most important to make a law 

 to prohibit the destruction of soft crabs. A whole lobster is 4^ inches in 

 the barrel. All under 4 inches in the barrel should be put back into the 

 water. 



The Royal Hotel, Stornoway, Saturday, 21st October 1876. 



Present : 

 Spencer Walpole and Archibald Young, Esquires. 



Murdo Morrison (examined by Mr. Young). Lives in the island of 



No decrease. Bernera. Has been dealing in lobsters for 30 years. Believes that there are 

 as many lobsters caught now as there were 30 years ago. There are more 

 boats than there were, and they fish with creels. Rings have not been used 



Creels for about 20 years. The creels enable the fishermen to fish in deeper water than 



the rings. Thirty years ago each boat used to carry 24 to 30 rings ; they now 

 carry from 20 to 30 creels. There are as many lobsters caught as there used 

 to be. But the creels are more deadly than the rings, and he believes the 

 lobsters are not so plentiful. Fishes all through the year except June and 

 July. Lobsters won't carry in those months. The lobsters are chiefly sent 



Storeponds. to London. Sends off 6,000 or 7,000 lobsters annually. Has a store pond 

 at Bernera where he keeps the lobsters for the market. There are about 

 5,000 lobsters in the pond. They are sent to market from time to time as 

 convenient. Is in favour of a close season in June and July. The close 

 season should be universal throughout the country. Would prohibit taking, 

 buying, and selling lobsters in these two months. Would object to a longer 

 close season than June and July. Lobsters 4h, inches in the barrel count 

 as full fish. Those below this or without a claw count two for one. Is in 

 favour of all lobsters under 8 inches from nose to tail being returned to the 

 sea. At present buys lobsters under this size but none under 7 inches. Knows 

 that a good many lobsters are caught at Tarbert, but believes that the Bernera 

 ground is better. The chief lobster fishing in the Lews is on the Atlantic 

 coast. That is a very exposed coast, and cannot be fished in bad weather. 

 Wishes to add that at all times of the year he gets lobsters, both poor and fat, 



Spawning. both from his pond and from the sea. They are spawning and casting their 



