^8 
1.— PEOPORTIONAL NUMBERS OF HARD, SOFT, AND 
BERRIED. - 
The results for the past six years are brought together in 
Table III. to show the numbers caught each month of hard, soft, and 
berried crabs, and of hard, small, and berried lobsters. The pre- 
dominance of the crab, the large number of soft, the remarkably 
small number of berried of this species, are at once clearly contrasted 
with the inferior captures of lobsters, the practical non-appearance 
of the soft lobster in the catches, and the large number of berried 
lobsters caught especially in the months when the crab-pots are 
close in-shore. These features are rendered still clearer when the 
results are arranged to show the percentage relationships as in 
Table IV. 
From Table IV. Charts I. and II. have been prepared. The 
charts represent the percentages of the totals at Sea Houses, and the 
Beadnell results are shown by the smaller columns in Chart II. In 
Chart I. the black portion of the column exhibits the catch of hard 
crabs in each case, the clear portion the soft, and to the right the small 
proportion of berried females is indicated by a small space enclosing 
horizontal lines. In the case of Chart II. the hard lobsters are shown 
by heavy lines, the males being defined on the left by small vertical 
lines and the females by the clear portion. The berried females are 
indicated thus : — ooooo. 
Ckabs. — Chart I. shows that the proportion of the hard and soft 
crabs varies in an interesting manner in the succession of months 
throughout the year, and that when the results are thus brought 
side by side, the relationship runs into an S-shaped curve. Soft 
crabs are caught all the year. Relatively few occur in the early 
part of the year and the spring ; the numbers of soft crabs increase 
rapidly in the autumn, reach a maximum in October and November, 
and decrease almost as quickly during December and January. Our 
figures do not extend to the months when the soft crabs are particu- 
larly abundant, for the two fishermen to whom we owe the tables 
are amongst those who do not prosecute the crab fishing during 
these months. I have indicated however the descent of the curve 
during the months in question, because of the many general 
statements which have been made by fishermen as to the numbers 
of soft crabs at this period, the results arrived at by Williamson^" 
from the statistics he gathered at Dunbar and indicated on the 
‘^Williamson. Contributions to the Life-History of the Edible Crab. Report Scot. Eish. Board, 
1900, p. 138. 
