54 



LOBSTERS. 



Close time. 

 Spawning. 



Gauge. 



Decrease. 



Close time. 

 Gauge. 



Ponds. 



12 years ago. There were 30 times more lobsters when he began fishing 46 

 years ago than there were when he left off 12 years ago. Attributes decrease to 

 summer fishing. The fishing now commences in October and ends 1st May. 

 Some boats, about 20, go on all through the year. The fishing ought to begin 

 not sooner than October, and close at the end of April. Has been shovelling 

 lobster-spawn overboard found in herring nets in September. Fished 46 years 

 ago for the London company. They fished in the summer months then. That 

 was the first commencement of the fishery here. At that time the lobsters 

 were so numerous that they could be picked up dry on the shore. The London 

 company threw away every lobster under 9 inches. Is in favour of the same 

 rule now. 



Ewen Macdonald. Lives at Tarbert. Has been a fisherman for 14 

 years. Fishes about Loch Tarbert. Begins fishing about the end of October, 

 and goes on to the end of April. There are five or six boats fishing afterwards 

 in the West Loch all through the summer. There are not half so many 

 lobsters as there were 14 years ago. There are about the same number of 

 boats that there were 14 years ago. Lobsters 14 years ago were 12s. to 14s. a 

 dozen. They are now about 10s., but they will get dearer in the winter 

 months. Is in favour of a close season commencing 1st May and ending 31st 

 October. Thinks the fishermen would agree to this. Is in favour of returning 

 all lobsters under 8 inches. 



Donald Munro. Fishes with Mr. Macdonald. Has heard his evidence 

 and agrees with it. 



Roderick McKay (recalled). Is in favour of prohibiting lobsters being 

 kept in ponds in summer months. These ponds encourage the fishermen to 

 fish in the summer, when the lobsters are so light that they are not worth fishing 

 for. There is a pond here near Clure belonging to Donald MacLeod, Junior. 



Salen, Mull, Tuesday, 24th October i876. 



Present 



Decrease. 



Creels. 



Close time. 



Gauge. 



Ponds. 



Archibald Young, Esquire. 



Duncan Campbell, residing at Salen. Is in business with his father, 

 David Campbell, fish merchant, Salen. Has had 1 years experience in the 

 lobster trade. Lobsters have fallen off both in number and size since he was 

 first in the business. There are fewer boats and men now engaged in the 

 lobster fisheries than there were formerly. The prices in London are not 

 equal now to what they were. Creels have been used as far back as he 

 remembers. Never saw rings used. Thinks that the decrease in the number 

 and in the average size of lobsters has been principally caused by over- fishing. 

 There should be a close time and a gauge combined to counteract the effects 

 of this overfishing. These will be the most effectual remedies. The close time 

 should be from 1st June to 1st September, and the gauge should be 8 inches 

 in total length, or 4 inches in the barrel. Both the close time and the gauge 

 should be enforced in the public markets under a penalty. The penalty should 

 be against taking, buying, or selling during the close months, and against 

 taking, buying, or selling any lobster under the prescribed gauge. Has heard 

 the fishermen discussing the question of a gauge and a close time. 



Does not recommend the use of artificial ponds for storing and keeping 

 lobsters; his father, Mr. D. Campbell, who has had great experience as a lobster 

 fisher, once had a large boat which was decked over, and into which the water 

 flowed. This he used as a sort of lobster preserve, and in it he kept and stored 

 lobsters. The lobsters were fed, but the experiment proved a failure. The 

 lobsters got weak and watery and out of condition, and were unfit for the 

 market. A close time extending over June and July might possibly interfere 

 with the fisheries on the west and south coasts of Mull, which are very much ex- 

 posed; these fisheries are most easily prosecuted in summer. But there are times 

 even in winter and spring, especially in frosty weather, when the fishermen can 

 go on with their fishing on these coasts. Lobsters are often packed in tea- 



