SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 213 



" in their growth as to be of little or no marketable value 

 ' k either as bait or food. Under the present conditions 

 " the beds are allowed to seed themselves, and consequently 

 " it takes much longer for the mussel to spread over any 

 " considerable area than if the young mussels were trans- 

 " planted from places on the present beds where they are 

 " too close to new ground. By this means the mussels 

 " would certainly reach a marketable size much sooner 

 " than if left to look after themselves, and a convenient 

 " time for moving the seedlings would be when the close 

 " season begins, as they would be less liable to be dis- 

 " turbed than if done at any other period, and by the 

 " time the close season had expired they would, no 

 " doubt, have firmly established themselves under their 

 " new conditions." We reproduce these remarks in case 

 any of the Members of the Committee have no copies of 

 the earlier reports, and to show that over-production has 

 been going on for a long period. 



Early in 1903 the Sea Fisheries Committee passed a 

 resolution granting a sum of £50 to enable the Morecambe 

 fishermen to thin the overcrowded beds.* The money was 

 not intended to be regarded as a payment for the work, 

 but rather a small inducement to the men to do something 

 that would eventually be for their own benefit. In April 

 of that year a large number of men gave several days to 

 the work for a very little sum, and one or two days for 

 practically nothing. The transplanting was not com- 

 pleted when the money had all been expended, but the 

 fishermen, recognising the importance of the work, and 

 to mark their appreciation of the assistance from the 

 Committee, continued the operations for a few days 

 longer. The quantity of mussels transplanted then was 



*Mr. John Fell, then Chairman of the Committee, did much to 

 bring about the initiation of this successful result, and the improve- . 

 ment in the mussel fishery at Morecambe dates from that time. 



