^98 THE SEA FISHERIES 



diminution in the supply of shrimps as a result of overfishing 



d?v:C;tZ"FSrx9r^ "-''''''' ' -amorphoslTS 



is earned on by means of baited basket-like traps, known as " pots " 



W.°^ .T' "^?^'"*^^ *° *^^ ^^^S ^^« ^^"ied out in open 

 ^f *!:.^-g-.the cobles of the Northumberland coast. This method 

 of fishing IS naturaUy to a large extent dependent on the weather, 

 but the supply can to some extent be regulated, since both crabs 

 and lobsters can be kept alive for lengthy periods, except in very 

 warm weather in store pots. The following table gives the statistics 

 ot the crab and lobster fisheries for 1913 :— 



Lobsters. Crabs. 



Number. Value Number. Value 



England and Wales . 640,916 30,581 5,720,869 60,756 

 Scotland . . . 681,059 36,775 2,213,866 14,170 

 Ireland . . . 1,207,332 43,003 293,916 1,645 



Total . . 2,529,307 110,359 8,228,651 76,571 



The lobster is a much more valuable species than the crab. In 

 Scotland the extreme range of prices during the last ten years 

 has been for lobsters from 95s. id. per hundred in 1909 to io8s. per 

 hundred in 1913 ; for crabs from iis. 9d. per hundred in 1905 to 

 I2S. lod. per hundred in 1912 and 1913. In Scotland the crab and 

 lobster fisheries seem to be holdiiig their own. In 1887 the number 

 of lobsters landed was 681,100 and of crabs 2,215,700 ; and these 

 numbers may -be taken as a fair average year for Scotland. In 

 England and Wales the statistical returns of this fishery are very 

 inaccurate, but there is reason to think that the lobster fishing is 

 falling off in some localities and holding its own or even increasing 

 in others. It is diificult to make any general statement as to crab- 

 bing, but the fishery probably shares in the general decline of the 

 English inshore fisheries. 



In England and Wales both lobster and crab are protected by 

 statute, and in certain localities by additional local by-laws. 



According to the Fisheries (Oysters, Crabs and Lobsters) Act of 

 1877 it is illegal to take, have in possession or sell any crab which 

 measures less than 4 in. and a quarter across the broadest part of 

 the back, or a lobster which measures less than 8 in. from the tip 

 of the beak to the end of the tail when spread out flat. The same 

 regulation applies to the " berried crab," but not to the " berried 

 lobster." Certain of the local committees have extended the size 

 limits for removal from a fishery to 4I or 5 in. in the case of the crab. 



