OYSTER FISHERY LEGISLATION. 957 



tons ; in Ireland, 7312 tons; total, 272,952 tons, which, at 

 6d. per lb., would be worth ^"15,288,000 (nearly). 



In our own country the fisheries have, from time to 

 time, commanded the earnest attention of the State on 

 different grounds, and legislation on the subject has 

 passed through at least three distinct phases, which may 

 be defined as : ist. Restrictive or Protective. 2nd. Pro- 

 motive. 3rd. Administrative or Regulative. 



" Promotive " legislation :- -The good of the people, 

 by the preservation of a valuable property and an important 

 source of food supply, was the ground on which the State 

 based its legislation for the protection of the fisheries. The 

 good of the people, by the encouragement of commerce 

 and by providing employment for the poor, was the osten- 

 sible motive which prompted the later statutes, whose 

 direct object was the promotion of the fisheries. Another 

 motive, indeed, underlay that which was first put forward 

 as the ground for this legislation, and comes more distinctly 

 into notice as the fisheries increased in importance, and as 

 the power of the country extended ; for we find that the 

 Legislature frequently refers to its anxiety to keep up the 

 supply of seamen for manning the navy, as a reason for 

 " promoting" the fisheries. 



The only form of directly " promotive "legislation 

 now existing is in the shape of a law giving authority for 

 the appropriation of portions of the foreshore for the pur- 

 pose of oyster or mussel cultivation. But the expense 

 attending an application for such a grant is often so great 

 as to prohibit the very class of persons who might be 

 expected to utilize it to the best possible advantage viz., 

 fishermen and others, with local knowledge of the capa- 

 bilities of a particular spot, from availing themselves of 

 the opportunity which the law is intended to afford them. 



