PUBLIC FISHERIES FOR SHELLFISH 195 



the catch for the market is an important local industry on the 

 Lancashire coast. There are about thirty shrimp-potters in South- 

 port alone, and some firms deal with large quantities, utilising 

 nearly all the shrimps caught on the coast, besides importing large 

 quantities from the Continent. Hence the difference between 

 " potted Southport shrimps " and " Southport potted shrimps." 



Owing to the fact that shrimping is carried on to a large extent 

 on the inshore " nurseries " for young edible fish, considerable 

 attention has been devoted to the conditions under which this 

 fishery is prosecuted,^ and to the faunistic records of the grounds.* 

 The observations of the Lancashire and Western Committee may 

 be taken as a model of work of this kind. Mainly with the object 

 of determining the destructiveness of shrimp-trawling to young fish 

 a large number of statistical observations were made from a vessel 

 equipped in exactly the same manner as an ordinary shrimp trawler. 

 Hauls were made at regular intervals, and the results recorded. 

 These records included the total number of edible fish caught, the 

 number of quarts of shrimps taken, the number of each kind of 

 edible fish with (originally) their average sizes. In the case of 

 important fish, such as the plaice, later records include measures of 

 the length of each individual fish captured. Physical observations, 

 e.g. state of wind, weather, temperature of air and water, and 

 salinity were also made. 



A similar fishery to that for shrimps is carried on off the Lan- 

 cashire coast for the so-called prawn {Pandalus montagui) ; a 

 crustacean somewhat similar in appearance to the shrimp, and 

 which must not be mistaken for the true prawn {Leander serratus) . 

 The " Fleetwood prawn " or shank or pink shrimp, as it is variously 

 called, prefers a more stony or rocky substratum than the shrimp, 

 and consequently where it is abundant undersized fish are not 

 present in any quantity. The trawl used by the prawners is similar 

 to that used by the shrimpers, except that the foot -rope is provided 

 with small wooden rollers (" bobbins "), similar to those used by 

 the steam trawlers. This device enables the prawners to drag 

 their net on rough ground. The commoner fish taken in the 



x^ As an example see, Abhandlungen des deuischen Seefischerei-Vereins (Berlin), 

 Band V. (i) " Der Gaxneelenfang und die Garneelenfangapparate an der olden- 

 burgischen, preussischen, und hoUandischen Ktiste," von W. Decker ; (2) " Den 

 Garneelenfang und die Garneelenfanggerate an der oldenburgischen, preussischen, 

 und hoUandischen Kiiste," von de Vries ; (3) " Die Garneelenfischerei an der olden- 

 burgischen und preussischen Kiiste bis zum DoUart," von Prof. Henking. Berlin, 

 1900. 



' See Annual Report Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory for 1900. Paper by 

 J. Johnstone and J. T. Jenkins on " Statistics of the Mersey Shrimping Grounds," 

 and Annual Report Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory for 1907. Two papers by 

 H. J. Buchanan-Wodlaston on " Blackpool Closed Ground Trawling Statistics " and 

 " Mersey Shrimp Trawling Statistics." 



