SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 147 
If the tanks for purifying the mussels are erected, 
one in each estuary, additional difficulties are set up. 
It is necessary to place these tanks on such parts of the 
foreshore as are convenient from the point of view of 
construction, and where water of sufficient purity can be 
obtained. Further, pumping cannot be employed in such 
small installations because of the initial and working 
expense of the plant of engines, etc., so that the tanks 
must be tidal ones. Finally, the tanks must be placed 
where they are convenient for the fishermen, that is, near 
to the musselling grounds, and to the railway stations. 
Places which are, from the point of view of construction 
and purity of water, the most suitable ones may involve 
much difficulty by way of getting the mussels there and 
removing them after treatment, and it is to be feared 
that insistence on such places would simply kill the 
industry. Add to these difficulties that of supervision— 
the treatment of the mussels in the tanks for the 
necessary time, and the certification of the bags before 
despatch to the markets—and it will be seen that the 
problem of devising means of purification for the 
Cardigan Bay mussels is by no means an easy one. 
I am putting the difficulties as clearly as possible, 
but as things are the adoption of the present scheme is 
imperative in the interest of the industry, and much is 
to be gained by making the attempt. We hope, also, to 
overcome the difficulties suggested above when the scheme 
is made to work. 
We may now consider each estuary separately. 
(1) Aberdovey. 
The sketch chart on the next page shows the part of 
the estuary adjacent to the proposed tank. The dotted 
line, in the water, represents approximately the middle 
line of the channel. It is proposed to place the tank on 
the foreshore to the east of the Lifeboat Slip. The tank 
K 
