87 
The result of the comparison made in 1904 was to demonstrate 
that the district where a close time was in force was the only one 
of the three which could be said to have improved. The others had 
distinctly fallen away during the same period. It must be re- 
membered that from 1896 to 1906, the fishermen of the North 
Eastern district could fish only during 7 months of each year, 
whereas the fishermen in the other districts, and certainly in the 
Northumberland region with increasing strength, for the whole 
year. In spite of the fact that the fishing was thus confined to 
a part of the year the number of crabs caught in the North-Eastern 
area rose practically without interruption during the period. 
As the point is an interesting one, I venture to bring the figures 
up to date and to depict the results once more in graphic form. 
Year. 
North-Eastern. 
N orthumberland . 
Eyemouth. 
1905 
... 2,222,819 . 
1,842,144 
826,100 
1906 
... 2,420,687 . 
1,168,988 ... 
313,000 
1907 
.. 2,329,871 
1,200,828 ... 
245,500 
1908 
... 1,935,816 
1,211,362 
886,200 
It ought to be- stated that the figures for 1907 and 1908 for 
Northumberland include collections from three ports not previously 
collected from, and one of these a fairly important crabbing station. 
During the three months in question soft crabs enter the crab 
pots in large numbers. These are not brought ashore, and such 
evidence as has been available has shown that there is a great 
liability to destruction of the soft crabs in removing them from the 
creels. Not only so, but there is the added danger of the fishermen 
sending material to the market unfit for food, however carefully he 
may select, and which will therefore have a tendency to disgust the 
consumer. 
The letters which fishermen receive during the period illustrate 
this. Here is a quotation from one from an important midland 
market dated November 11th, 1908. “As wired you yesterday, we 
had one of your barrels of crabs returned to us ; we got three dozen 
out of it that were at all saleable, and the man who bought your 
other one said that his was best part useless.” A week later (Nov- 
ember 17th) the same fisherman got a letter and certificate intimating 
that sixty-eight of his crabs had been condemned in the fish market 
“as unfit for the food of man.” Fishermen themselves realise that 
during these three months the crab is out of season, and prices are 
at their lowest ebb. The evidence show’s as strongly as it is possible 
to conceive that nature is calling out for a close time at that period. 
