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Appendices to Fourth Anmial Report 



ignored and neglected throughout the Long Island; and that, in con- 

 sequence, the lobster fishery was decreasing in value, owing to the 

 systematic destruction of immature lobsters, which the 9th section of that 

 Act was intended to preserve and protect. That section provides that — 



A person shall not take, have in his possession, sell, expose for sale, consign 

 for sale, or buy for sale, any lobster which measures less than 8 inches from 

 the tip of the i3eak to the end of the tail, when spread as far as possible flat. 

 Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable to a fine 

 not exceeding .£2 for the first off'ence, and £10 for every subsequent ofi'ence, 

 and to forfeit all lobsters found in his possession, sold, exposed for sale, 

 consigned for sale, or bought for sale in contravention of this section. 



Section 12 provides that — 



All oysters, crabs, and lobsters of which the possession, exposure for sale, or 

 purchase for sale, is prohibited by this Act, may be searched for, seized, con- 

 demned, destroyed, and disposed of by any authority lawfully acting under 

 any act, charter, or bye-law, or by any persons appointed by that authority, or 

 in Ireland by the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries, with the approval of the Lord 

 Lieutenant, in like manner as if such oysters, crabs, and lobsters respectively 

 were found to be diseased, unsound, unwholesome, corrupt, unfit to be sold, 

 or unfit for the food of man. 



All offences against this Act, or against any order made in pursuance 

 of it, may be prosecuted, and all fines recovered in Scotland under ' The 

 ' Summary Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1864.' The above quoted Act of 

 1877, which prescribes a guage for lobsters, in order to prevent and 

 punish the sale of immature fish, is one of those Acts which, under the 

 11th section of 'The Sea Fisheries (Scotland) Amendment Act, 1885,' 

 now falls to be administered by the Fishery Board for Scotland, instead 

 of by the Board of Trade ; and I humbly venture to think that it would 

 tend much to the improvement and development of the lobster fishery 

 in these islands, if some steps were taken by the Board to prevent the 

 sale of immature lobsters.* It was stated to me several times, that in 

 many parts of the Long Island the lobster fishers were not aware of the 

 prohibitory clauses of the Act of 1877, and that they continued to take 

 the undersized and immature lobsters in ignorance of these clauses ; and 

 it was suggested that it might be expedient to print the prohibitory 

 clauses of the Act, in English and Gaelic, and post them up in some 

 frequented and conspicuous place at Stornoway in the Lews ; at Tarbert 

 in Harris ; at Loch Maddy in North Uist ; at Creagorry in Benbecula ; 

 at Loch Boisdale in South Uist; and at Castle Bay in Barra. This matter 

 was so often and so strongly pressed upon me in every part of the Long 

 Island, that I trust I may be excused from bringing it thus briefly under 

 the notice of the Board. 



THE ISLAND OF MULL. 



Mull is the largest of the Hebridean group of islands, next to the Lews 

 and Skye, having an area of 351 square miles or 224,802 acres. Its 

 extreme length is 30 miles and its extreme breadth 29. Its shores are 

 irregular and deeply indented by sea-lochs ; and in one place — between 

 the head of Salen Bay and the head of Loch-na-Keal — it is only 3 miles 



* Since the above was written, the Board has drawn up and circulated throughout 

 Scotland, by means of its Fishery Officers, a printed notice calling attention to the 

 above mentioned clauses of the Act of 1877, and stating that those who infringe 

 them, after this notice, will be prosecuted by the Officers of the Board. 



