PUBLIC FISHERIES FOR SHELLFISH 203 



they are empowered by the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Regulation 

 Act of 1894 to fix the sizes and condition at which shellfish may not 

 be removed from a fishery. 



It is difficult to estimate accurately the quantity of cockles and 

 mussels annually dispatched from the beds to the inland markets, 

 since official statistics fail altogether in England and Wales, and 

 are only partially available for Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland, 

 78,576 cwt. of mussels were gathered in 1913, but there is no separate 

 return for cockles. In Ireland the statistics for 1913 are 1138 tons 

 of mussels, value £2840, and 29,142 gallons of cockles, value £790. 

 In the Lancashire and Western fisheries district, 74,996 cwt. of 

 cockles and 96,277 cwt. of mussels were gathered from the beds in 

 1913.^ While practically all the cockles are for human consumption, 

 it must not be forgotten that some of the mussels are for bait for 

 the long-line fishing. Cockles are usually cooked before consump- 

 tion, the process of cooking tending to destroy any bacteria or other 

 micro-organisms that may be present. Mussels are eaten either 

 cooked or raw, in the latter case the consumer, as will be seen, takes 

 on himself a serious risk of contracting enteric fever. Few people 

 are aware of the enormous extent to which crude sewage is discharged 

 into our estuaries and tidal waters. Most maritime municipalities 

 discharge their sewage in an untreated condition into the sea, in 

 some cases either in close proximity to, or actually on, beds from 

 which mussels and cockles are gathered for human consumption. 

 The Royal Commission on sewage disposal, first appointed in 1898, 

 has inter alia, devoted its attention to the consideration of the 

 pollution of estuaries and shellfish beds, and has published two 

 voluminous reports on this subject.^ 



The third report of the Commission was published in 1903, and it 

 advocated the setting up of a central authority for the settlement 

 of differences between manufacturers and local authorities, the 

 general protection of the sources of water supply, and the collection 

 of facts and the scientific investigation of questions of general 

 importance relating to the protection of water. 



The fourth report (1904) deals more particularly with the pollution 

 of tidal waters, with special reference to the contamination of shell- 

 fish, and it contains the following important recommendation : 

 " After carefully considering the whole of the evidence, together 



' Lancashire mussels have long been celebrated. See Pennant's British Zoology, 

 Vol. IV, p. 3 (1777). " Ne jraudentur gloria sua littora. I must in justice to Lan- 

 cashire add, that the finest mussels are those called Hambleton Hookers, from a 

 village in that corunty. They are taken out of the sea, and placed in the River Wier 

 within reach of the tide, where they grow very fat and delicious." 



* Pollution of tidal waters, with especial reference to contamination of shell- 

 fish. Cd. 1883 and 1884. 1904. Pollution of estuaries and tidal waters. Cd. 4284. 

 1908. 



