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Part III. — Eighteenth Annual Report 



(1) Any edible crab whicli measures less than four inches and a 

 quarter across the broadest part of the back ; or 



(2) Any edible crab carrying any spawn attached to the tail or other 

 exterior part of the crab, whether known as " berried crab," " seed 

 crab," " spawn crab," or " ran crab." or by any other name ; or 



(3) Any edible crab which has recently cast its shell, whether known 

 as a " caster," " white crab," " white-footed crab," " white-livered crab," 

 " soft crab,"' " glass crab," or by any other name. 



Here follows penalty : — 



Provided that a person shall uot be guilty of an offence under 

 this section if he satisfies the Court that the edible crabs found in his 

 possession, or alleged to have been sold, exposed for sale, consigned for 

 sale, or bought for sale, w T ere intended for bait for fishing. 



The Act simply protects certain crabs from being sold ; any small, 

 soft, or berried crab may be used for bait. 



Since the creation of the District Fisheries Committees in England, 

 the provisions of the Act have been modified by local bye-laws. 



Increase in the Minimum Size. — The smallest legal size has been raised 

 to 5 inches across the broadest part of the back in Devon, Cornwall, 

 Western, and Cumberland districts ; to 6 inches in Lancashire district. 



The Use of Crabs joi % Bait. — The exemption from Section 8, which 

 permits of the use of under-sized and soft crabs for bait, is withdrawn in 

 the North-Eastern and Eastern districts. 



Close Time. — In the North-Eastern district there is in force a bye-law 

 instituting a close time for crabs from 1st September of any year to 

 31st January of the following year. In the Eastern district there is 

 a close time for the crab known locally as " white-footed " between 1st 

 November of any year and the 30th June of the following year. 



"With regard to the return to the sea of illegally-caught shell-fish, 

 it is enacted in the Northumberland, North-East ern, Eastern, Western, 

 Lancashire, and Cumberland districts that any person who takes any 

 shellfish, the removal of which from a fishery is prohibited by any bye- 

 law in force in the district, or the possession of which is prohibited by any 

 Act of Parliament, shall forthwith deposit the same, without injury, as 

 nearly as possible in the place from which it was taken. 



Exemption for Scientific Purposes.— Provided that nothing in these 

 bye-laws shall apply to the removal of crabs or lobsters for scientific, 

 stocking, or breeding purposes by any person acting under the written 

 authority of the local Fisheries Committee. 



[Table. 



