96 
Legislation is certainly not to be sought unless when it is 
necessary, but it is the only kind of thing that usually occurs to us 
when complaints are made of a decline in any branch of our fisheries. 
In some cases it may be confessed that mistakes have been made. 
But fishermen themselves recognise the benefits to be derived from 
protection which is guided by a common sense attempt to improve 
the fisheries. The common sense of the enactments it is plain 
must arise from a clear scientific presentation of the facts for as 
long a period as possible. We certainly do not know all we want 
to know with regard to crabs and especially with regard to lobsters, 
but we know enough to say with confidence that a close time for 
crabs during the casting season (as defined above), when the advent 
of that season is accurately determined for each district, is a fair 
and reasonable approach from the legislative side ; and that, as was 
pointed out last year, if further improvement be sought in the case 
of the lobster fishery, it must be through the berried female. 
The new laboratory at Cullercoats will enable us to make 
experiments in the rearing of lobster fry. It may be mentioned 
also that Aid. Dent made an experiment to determine whether the 
lloating box system would answer at Blyth, but the box was not 
ready in time to get a satisfactory berried female of last season. 
I may further take this opportunity of stating with reference to 
the question raised by Dr. Masterman in the Report of Proceedings 
under Acts relating to Sea Fisheries for 1904, p. xxxii., that our 
Fishery Officers have been instructed practically as to the difference 
between unberried females and berried females which Lave been 
artifically stripped, and have been provided with a lens each for tbe 
purpose. An external examination is not always satisfactory, unless 
the stripping has been hurriedly done, and one or more of the 
" berries " have been overlooked. But I cannot remember a case of 
the fishery officers making a mistake when they took possession of 
lobsters which they concluded had been stripped, from an inspection 
of the condition of the seta? of the swimmerets, the general colour 
of the ventral abdominal region, and the state of the torn mem- 
branes of the eggs where they were attached to the seta?. These 
lobsters were always submitted to me, and a further more careful 
scrutiny of the external evidences, and an examination of the con- 
dition of the ovary in each case was found sufficient to settle the 
matter. It was easy by this means, that is to say, from the size 
and colour of the ovary, and the size of the ova, to determine 
whether the specimen in question was a berried female or not. At 
