SEA FISHERIES 109 



Commissioners, but as they understood that a number of 

 applications relating to fishery matters had been addressed to 

 the Treasury by scientific bodies, local fishery committees, and 

 other authorities, and were awaiting report by the Board, the 

 Commissioners thought it desirable to obtain these before pro- 

 ceeding with the consideration of the Board's scheme. Not 

 being able to approve of the Board's scheme, they suggested 

 to the Board (after the Commissioners' meeting in September 

 191 1) that its application should take the form of a compre- 

 hensive scheme, prepared in consultation with the Scottish and 

 Irish authorities, for the acquisition of further knowledge of 

 the fisheries of the United Kingdom. Interim grants were 

 recommended to the following bodies : The Lancashire and 

 Western Local Fisheries Committee, £1,640 ; the Marine Bio- 

 logical Association, £500 ; the Liverpool Marine Biological 

 Committee, £100; and the Eastern Local Fisheries Committee 

 and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, £50 each. 

 Of the £78,000 asked for by the Board the sum of £4,100 was 

 granted, £600 for research on the lobster fisheries and £3,500 

 in aid of the general research work conducted by the Board. 



In January 1913 Mr. Runciman appointed a Committee to 

 advise the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries on matters con- 

 nected with scientific fishery research. While this Committee 

 was considering the situation the Development Commissioners 

 issued their third annual report (in August 191 3). In April 1912 

 the Board submitted to the Commissioners in outline a proposal 

 for the provision of three research steamers which were then 

 estimated to cost £10,000 each, and to consider annual grants 

 of £10,000 for maintenance and £6,500 for the collection and 

 study of material. The estimate of capital cost has since risen 

 to £16,000 for each steamer. This, it will be noted, is an entirely 

 different scheme to that first submitted by the Board. Possibly 

 by now some one in the Department had looked up the pro- 

 visions of the Development Act ! The Commissioners agreed 

 in principle to this scheme of the Board's, but thought it best to 

 defer a grant for the construction or acquisition of the vessels 

 until the scheme for which they are primarily required has 

 been settled by consultation among the fishery authorities of 

 the United Kingdom. 



In January 1913 the Commissioners received the Board's 

 application for the year 1913-14. The Board explained that 



