PUBLIC FISHERIES FOR SHELLFISH 201 



There are now practically no public fisheries for oysters. ^ Oysters, 

 whether native or imported from America, France, or Holland, 

 are usually re-laid for fattening purposes in suitable creeks, and 

 since the prosperity of the oyster-merchant's business depends on 

 the purity of his wares it may be taken for granted that in the case 

 of the great majority of oysters exposed for sale every effort has 

 been made to secure their freedom from sewage contamination. 

 The case of the other edible moUusca is entirely different. Cockles, 

 mussels and periwinkles are gathered from their natural habitat 

 and not from artificial layings in specially selected locahties. 



Cockles live in the sandy areas which are so frequently encountered 

 on our coasts, and they are collected for sale as food for the public 

 from Barra in the Outer Hebrides to the south coast of England, as 

 well as in Ireland. The cockle usually lives embedded about half 

 an inch below the surface, and on the whole it prefers a soft to a 

 firm sand. It is capable of a limited amount of motion from place 

 to place. Protruding above the surface of the sand, a keen observer 

 may frequently see the siphons of the cockle, the tubes through 

 which the respiratory and food-containing currents of water are in- 

 and exhaled. The cocklers call these the " eyes " or " silver-eyes," 

 but as a matter of fact the cockle has no visual organs. The position 

 of the cockle may also be indicated by the " moss," a little algal 

 tuft which is usually attached to the shell. Cockles are usually 

 gathered by a hook, small rake or hoe. They are riddled, washed 

 in sea water and packed in bags for the market. 



The mussel differs considerably in its habits from the cockle. 

 The former grows attached to a hard substratum, and it flourishes 

 best in brackish water, in which there is usually an abundant supply 

 of its food, mainly diatoms. Unlike the cockle it is sedentary, and 

 is attached to the bottom by means of hyaline filaments — ^the 

 " beard "or" weed "as the fisherman terms it. Mussels are gathered 

 by hand, or where the beds are not exposed at low water, by means 

 of long rakes. These long rakes are known in Lancashire as 

 " craams." They are toothed rakes to the back of which a piece 

 of netting is attached, the object being to prevent the mussels 

 falling out when the lake is being drawn up. These " craams " are 

 used from boats anchored in the estuaries, and they are attached 

 to handles which are sometimes 50 ft. long. Their use requires 

 considerable strength and skill. The rake is first thrown upstream 

 against the current, and the head of the rake sinks to the bottom. 

 The handle of the rake comes to rest on the right shoulder, and is 

 worked so as to drag the teeth along the bottom on the mussel bed. 



1 For a description of a " private " fishery, see The Oysters and Dredgers of 

 Whitstable, by A. O. CoUard. London, Joseph Collard, 1902. 



