A Review of the Irish Lobster Fishery

Records of the actual numbers of lobsters caught in Irish waters prior to 1887, are difficult to obtain. However, during the last thirteen years of the 19th century, the fishery had assumed such importance as to be included with the other major ones of the period i.e. salmon, herring, mackerel and cod. In 1891, the Inspector of Irish Fisheries, W.S. Green, commented that "the lobster fishery had reached such proportions as to deserve separate reporting". The help of the Coast Guard officers was sought for the task of compiling catch statistics, with the result that, from 1892 until the outbreak of the 1914-18 war, excellent records of the catch in the fishery are available. Since then the system of statistics collection has changed and now both catch and effort in the lobster fishery are assessed. This paper deals mainly with the period 1900 to 1967