14 



will even take a stinking bait. Fish is so necessary as bait for crabs and 

 lobsters that the fishermen are sometimes obliged to break up the young of the 

 edible common crab to catch larger crabs. Crabs are also used as bait on 

 lines, especially in places where mussels and limpets are scarce. 



The fishermen are in most instances aware that they are acting unwisely 

 in breaking up crabs for bait. William Prynne, East Looe, stated, " com- 

 " mon sense leads the fisherman to spare the small crabs at all times except 

 " when they are required as bait. The fisherman agree with him that when 

 " the hookers have done fishing bait is very scarce, and that under these 

 " circumstances it is absolutely necessary to break up small crabs to catch 

 " wrasse, which are used to catch lobsters. The Looe men have sufficient sense 

 " to return the small crabs at all other times of the year." 



If a law prohibiting crabs for bait were made, it would press very hard upon 

 the old people. Crabs are also used for bait, not only for the long lines, but 

 for the haddock lines. The hooks are baited with crabs, bullock's liver, and 

 mussels. The evidence at Muchalls was that every third hook in the long 

 lines is baited with crabs. Mussels are very costly in some parts of the 

 country. They are nearly 3/. a ton before they are delivered at Stonehaven ; 

 the principal supply of mussels is from Boston Deeps, the mouth of the Tees, 

 the mouth of the Clyde, &c. 

 Enemies of crabs Nature has laid down for land animals the great law of " eat and be 

 and lobsters. eaten." We find that this law applies also to the animals which live in the 

 sea. The enemies of the crab and lobster may be divided into animate and 

 inanimate. 



"Among the inanimate we find firstly storms. The evidence at Peter- 

 head goes to show that a great many crabs are killed during January and 

 February, and in fact throughout the year, by storms. The occasional storms 

 of July and August probably have the effect of destroying large numbers of 

 crabs when they are soft. A. witness at Penzance stated that the storm which 

 occurred in 1873 was very bad for that time of year, and crabs have disap- 

 peared ever since. A witness at John O'Groats stated that coarse weather has 

 been worse than usual. During the last four or five years the storms have 

 destroyed many spawning places. 

 Pollutions. Crabs do not suffer like river fish from pollutions, but still they are. not 



entirely exempt from the consequences of placing waste material into the 

 water. Thus at Cullercoats we learnt that a vast quantity of dredgings from 

 the bed of the Tyne ships, ballast and alkali refuse (most bluebilly) has been 

 brought down by barges called hoppers and deposited at the mouth of the 

 Tyne. Five hundred thousand tons of rubbish are thus deposited in the sea 

 in the course of one year. This has been going on for 20 years. No less than 

 ten million tons must have thus been deposited in the sea outside the Tyne. 

 This vast accumulation of foreign and noxious matter must necessarily have 

 greatly interfered with the natural habitat and comfort of the crab and 

 lobster. 



A similar case of pollution occurs at Plymouth ; barges coming from the oil 

 of vitriol stores shoot their refuse outside the breakwater. The refuse from 

 these is white like mud ; it is probably waste lime. 



Throughout the neighbourhood of Peterhead and Fraserburgh an idea 

 prevails that the lobsters and crabs were all destroyed by tobacco. A ship 

 with a cargo of tobacco was wrecked about 40 years ago at Kirkton Head, 

 three miles north of Peterhead. 



Before the wreck occurred it was usual to catch four or five lobsters in a 

 ring. When the wreck occurred they were thrown up in cartloads on the 

 shore, and the fishery has been very poor ever since. This tobacco pollution 

 might have taken effect at the time, but I do not think it could have been 

 permanent. 



Among the animate enemies the principal enemy I believe are cod. A 

 witness at Burghead stated that " codfish are great enemies to lobsters ; he 

 " hardly ever opens a cod without finding young lobsters in the stomach ; this 

 <f is particularly in February and March. Has seen cod throwing up lobsters on 

 " the deck of a vessel, as many as five or six lobsters in one cod. These lobsters 

 " would be three or four inches in length, or even smaller. Cod eat lobsters all 

 " the season. In the spring and in January, February, and March there are 

 " many cod about." 



