58 
water quarter mile out. She was got again in August a mile 
further out and found to be “ clean ” hatched. A fisherman at 
Sea Houses told me that some crabs were placed in a box in the 
harbour in December and a week or two later there were several of 
of them berried. 
All this goes to prove what Dr. Gregg Wilson pointed out for 
this coast some years ago, that the spawning period for crabs is 
November to -January. It shows, moreover, that the crabs which 
come into berry in these months hatch out in the following July or 
August. The period during which the berries are carried by the 
female is thus 7 to 8 months, and we must thank Mr. Douglas for 
the experiments and observations which enable us to make this 
statement. Thus the scarcity of males in July and August is due 
to the fact that pairing is taking place during these months, and 
the soft females and the males may then be got in holes and 
crevices of the rocks near low water mark. Mr. Douglas told me 
for example that on 14tli August a catch of crabs consisted of 
8 males and 107 females. As Autumn advances the males become 
more numerous, as was pointed out in last year's report, and the 
fishing becomes very destructive from the considerable predomin- 
ance of soft crabs, and the small number of hard including the 
females which are just about to spawn. Many of the fishermen at 
Beadnel and Sea Houses would favour a close time from October 1st 
to December 81st, for they are beginning to realize that they are 
killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. This overfishing 
has already been referred to in the report on the conferences. I 
need only add here that the time is ripe for passing a bye-law 
making it illegal to fish for crabs or lobsters during the months 
of October, November, and December. I am convinced that the 
fishing during these mouths is very destructive and of no great 
value to the fishermen themselves. The gear is very dear com- 
paratively, and the proportion of the catch which is marketable is 
so small that no hardship whatever would be felt. Were this 
done and the close time for the berried lobster extended to the 
whole year, a marked benefit would be bound to be felt in a very 
short time. 
M ith a view to repeating and extending such observations I 
have arranged to get a tank made on the rocks off Cullercoats. 
This will be ready for the ensuing spawning season. 
Mr. Douglas and Mr. Fawcus, Sea Houses, have been keeping 
a record, in books I have provided for the purpose, of their catches 
