of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 119 

 Table IX. 



Measurements of Crabs— 10 Catches. Dec. 1897 to Aug. 1899. 



Size. 



Hard and Soft Crabs. 



Size. 



Hard and Soft Crabs. 



Inches. 



Cm. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male + 

 Female. 



Inches. 



Cm. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male + 

 Female. 



2| 



! 

 i 



8 



3 



1 

 \ 



§ 



1 



3 



% 



I 



4 



1 



3 



§ 

 I 

 I 



5 



1 



67 

 7 



7-3 

 7-6 



7- 9 



8- 2 

 8'6 



8- 9 



9- 2 

 9-5 

 9-8 



10-2 

 10-5 



10- 8 



11- 1 



11- 4 

 117 



12- 1 

 123 



12- 7 



13- 0 



1 

 1 



8 

 11 

 24 

 29 

 36 

 70 

 1 9 

 76 

 91 

 76 



103 

 81 



120 

 75 



i 



1 



1 



8 

 13 

 15 



m 



35 

 62 

 72 

 6k 

 78 

 61 

 95 

 77 

 109 

 86 



1 



1 



1 



2 

 16 

 24 

 39 

 58 

 71 

 132 

 151 

 140 

 169 

 137 

 198 

 158 

 229 

 161 



5i 



5 



5. 

 3 



2 



6 



I 

 i 

 u. 



5 

 1 



i 



7 



i 



8 

 i 



f 

 1 



133 



13- 6 



14- 0 

 14 3 

 14-6 



14- 9 



15- 2 

 15-5 



15- 9 



16- 2 

 16-5 



16- 8 



17- 1 

 17-5 



17- 8 

 181 



18- 4 



18- 7 



19- 0 

 19-4 

 197 



84 

 83 

 90 

 64 

 65 

 43 

 46 

 42 

 17 

 17 

 29 

 17 

 11 

 g 



4 

 2 

 2 

 1 

 2 



1 



87 

 60 

 112 

 77 



60 

 5h 

 39 

 31 

 35 

 2k 

 13 

 20 



12 

 3 

 k 

 1 

 1 



171 

 143 

 202 

 141 

 142 

 103 

 100 

 81 

 48 

 52 

 53 

 30 

 31 



16 



5 

 6 

 2 

 3 



1 



Total, 



881 



807 



1688 



Total, 



626 



715 



1341 



TOTAL-Hardand SoftCrabs,|pg n ^ le) J^} " " 3029 Crabs. 



The Migrations of Crabs. 



That the adult crabs undertake definite seasonal migrations — viz., 

 in the spring to the shallow shore waters, and in autumn to the deeper 

 offshore areas — has been long known to fishermen. During the 

 enquiry held in Scotland by the Crab and Lobster Commission of 1876, 

 Mr. George Findlay, of Whitehills, Banff, exhibited a chart of the sea- 

 bottom adjacent to Banff, Macduff, and Whitehills, showing that in the 

 autumn months the crabs are three miles from land, and in the 

 summer months, May to August, near the land for shelling.* 



With a view to arriving at more definite data regarding these migra- 

 tions, a considerable number of crabs, 1567, were labelled and set free in 

 the sea near Dunbar. Of that number 876 were put away at the 

 mouth of the harbour, t and 691 at various distances from | to 3| miles off 



* Report of the crab and Lobster Commission, 1877, p. 18. 



fThe Crabs were labelled under the supervision of the writer, or of Mr. Hutchison. 

 Dunbar. They were then taken to sea by a fisherman who had instructions where to set 

 them free. 



