of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
45 
is in the Firth of Clyde, off Port Glasgow, but mussels are found, 
in more or less abundance, in a large number of the West Coast 
lochs, and afford the local fishermen a plentiful supply of bait. 
The districts which showed the largest returns were Montrose 
75,267 cwts., Anstruther 33,638 cwts., Leith 24,765 cwts., Cromarty 
12,921 cwts., and Peterhead 11,250 cwts. Occasionally the East 
Coast fishermen get large consignments of mussels from the north 
of Ireland. ' 
Clam. — Last year 23,817 cwts. of these shell fish were landed, 
valued at £2564, being an iucrease of 3143 cwts. in quantity, but 
a decrease of £354 in value, as compared with 1888. The average 
price was 2s. l£d. per cwt. or 8d. less than in the previous year. 
Clams are chiefly found in the Firth of Forth, on extensive beds 
lying off Prestonpans and Cockenzie. Leith district contributed 
21,545 cwts., and Anstruther district 2266 cwts. A few were also 
landed in Stornoway and luveraray districts. 
Lobster. — The number landed last year amounted to 576,448, 
valued at £24,449, being a decrease under 1888 of 101,727, and 
£3644 respectively. The average price obtained was lOd. each, 
against 9|d. in the previous year. Stornoway district gave the 
largest return, the number landed there being 223,700 or one- 
third of the total catch, while Orkney accounted for 82,850, Wick 
41,475, Loch Broom 38,150, and Campbeltown 33,895. With the 
exception of Shetland, a few hundred lobsters were landed at each 
of the other districts. It is very remarkable that, while lobsters 
are very numerous in the Orkney Isles, none are found in the 
neighbouring Shetland Isles. 
Crab. — Fewer crabs were taken last year than in 1888, the 
number landed being 2,774,300, valued at £13,397, or a decrease of 
307,470 and £1320 respectively. The average price was Is. lid. 
a score, against 2s. in 1888. The most productive districts were 
Leith, Anstruther, Montrose, Eyemouth, and Fraserburgh. A few 
were landed in Orkney, but none in Shetland, Fort William, or 
Greenock. The quality of those found on the West Coast is not con- 
sidered as good as of those found on the East Coast, and consequently 
the former are not in such demand as the latter, and if forwarded to 
the southern markets would scarcely realize sufficient to cover 
carriage and other expenses. 
Other Kinds of Shell Fish. — The varieties which come under 
this head are chiefly, the cockle, whelk, limpet, and razor-fish. 
The total quantity landed was 53,631 cwts., valued at £9661, a 
decrease under 1888 of 1947 cwts., and £231 respectively. The 
average price obtained was 3s. 7d. per cwt., against 3s. 6Jd. in 
1888. The districts which contributed the largest quantities were 
Orkney, Stornoway, Wick, Campbeltown, Fort William, Loch Broom, 
Shetland, Loch Carron and Skye, and Inveraray. Cockles have 
always been found in great abundance on the West Coast, and have 
been largely used by the natives as an article of food, and occasion- 
ally as bait. The richest beds are in the Outer Hebrides, particu- 
larly at the north end of Barra, where large quantities have been 
regularly gathered for many years and despatched to the southern 
markets. During the last five years the Barra cockle beds have 
