Molluscs, Mussels, Whelks, Etc: Used for Food or Bait (Classic Reprint)

It is supposed that out of the 150,000 wash caught, not more than 6,000 wash are eaten; the other 144,000 are used for bait by vessels engaged in catching Cod, Ling, and Haddocks, each vessel using on an average voyage 45 wash, which in fine weather they would use in four days. The Grimsby smacks engaged in catching Whelks are fitted with wells, into which the Whelks are put after being first placed in nets ;by this means they are kept alive, as they are almost useless for bait when dead. The vessels used in catching Whelks are from 15 to 30 tons register, and some of the better ones cost from ;f 600 to 700 each. Most of the Whelks caught by Lynn smacks are sent to London for human food. The edible Whelk is considered a very nutritious and strengthening food, and is always free from poisonous matter. I have heard fishermen say that a dish of Whelks does them as much good as a beefsteak. I am indebted to Mr. D. Barnard, of Lynn, and Mr. W. G. Marshall, of Great Grimsby, for the above statistics concerning the Whelk. I consider the only legislation necessary for the protection of Whelks is that the fishermen should return to the sea all Whelks less than i inch in length. Mussels, The most important mollusc, both for food and bait, is the Mussel. In British waters, spatting usually takes place in the spring, and does not appear to be at all dependent on warm weather. On December 7th, 1877, I examined some of the embryo taken from a spatting Mussel with a microscope, and found it to have a reddish appearance, and about the five-hundredth part of an inch in diameter. It would not polarize, so I conclude the shell was not formed.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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