I. '08. 11 



Shrimp^ fisheries are practically non-existent in Ireland ; 

 nowhere have they anything like the importance of similar 

 industries in England. During the last eight years the 

 average value of the catch landed on the Irish coast is much 

 below .^350 per annum, and the figures show no indication of 

 rising. 



It is evident that the want of enterprise in this respect is 

 not due to any natural lack of shrimping grounds or to a 

 scarcity of supply, the reason is rather to be sought in the 

 fact that this particular form of food is nowhere in Ireland 

 held in any great estimation. This, naturally enough, has 

 prevented the foundation of any extensive fisheries for the 

 supply of fresh shrimps and also appears to have seriously 

 hindered any attempt to start an export trade of preserved 

 material. At the present moment potted or preserved shrimps 

 are only prepared by a single Irish firm. 



Crangon vulgaris, the common shrimp par excellence, is 

 in Ireland almost wholly neglected as a source of food. 

 Samples of fresh shrimps from the Dublin market were found 

 to consist entirely of Leander serratus, and it is this species, 

 in company vdth its congener, L. squilla, which forms the 

 basis of such fisheries as exist. At present the principal 

 centre of Leander fisheries is Queenstown, Co. Cork, but even 

 there the industry assumes only very slight importance. 



Leander is frequently employed as a bait in salmon fishing, 

 and small quantities, destined for this purpose, may usually 

 be found on sale at the more important angling centres. 



Off the south coast of England the largest specimens of L. 

 serratus are worth as much as Id. apiece to the fisherman who 

 catches them ; as might be expected , such high prices do not 

 prevail in Ireland. 



In certain Norwegian fjords a valuable fishery of Pandalus 

 horealis has been started during recent years. P. horealis is 

 a large species of fine red colouring and is chiefly found in 

 deep w^ater at the head of those fjords, which are not obstructed 

 by a bar at the entrance. This industry, which owes its origin 

 to the Norwegian Fishery Investigations, is now in a very 

 flourishing condition. 



Pandalus horealis has not as yet been found in Irish waters, 

 although it is not impossible that it exists in small numbers 

 off the north coast. Two closely allied species, Pandalus 

 Montagui and P. Bonnieri, do however occur in large quan- 

 tities, but it may be doubted w^hether any profitable fishery is 

 possible. Investigations, made with this object in view, give 

 no indications of a promising nature. The grounds which 

 these species frequent lie for the most part at a considerable 

 distance from the land and the supply is spread over a large 

 area. Nowhere are they found in the concentrated form and 



1 The species with which the present paper is concerned are in 

 Ireland known almost exclusively by the term " shrimp," "prawn" is 

 employed only for Nephrops norvegicus, 



2 Pandalus Montagui migrates shorewards periodically. 



