THE IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE SEA. 35 



number of boats engaged in each of the different kinds of fishery, it has 

 been possible to prepare a list of first class vessels which is probably 

 sufficiently accurate for my present purpose from the information 

 published in the Annual Eeports of the Inspectors of Sea Fisheries and 

 in the Annual Statements of Navigation and Shipping, supplemented, 

 where desirable, by correspondence with local authorities. 



The Annual Eeports of the Inspectors contain returns rendered by 

 the collectors of fishery statistics at each port, giving the approximate 

 number of boats of each class engaged in each fishery, whether belong- 

 ing to the station or not. These returns commenced in 1889. In 1892 

 a column was added to the returns showing the total number of boats 

 of each class belonging to each station, and, although there are slight 

 differences between the figures in this column and those in the Fishing 

 Boat Eegisters, the numbers assigned to the first class boats are 

 practically the same. 



It is not difficult from a perusal of these returns to form a fairly 

 correct idea of the numbers of local boats engaged in the different 

 modes of fishery. The irregular numbers and migrant habits of the 

 drift fleets, and the periodic movements of such vessels as the Brixham 

 and Eamsgate trawlers, undoubtedly affect the coljectors' returns for 

 various ports to a considerable extent, and preclude the possibility 

 of using their figures, without further analysis, for statistical purposes, 

 owing to the inclusion of large numbers of vessels in the returns for 

 more than one port. But, so far as the first class vessels are concerned, 

 it is always possible to trace the number of non-local boats by comparing 

 the collector's total for each port with the register of fishing vessels, and 

 in the great majority of cases it is possible also to discover the kind, or 

 kinds, of fishery in which the visitors are engaged. In this way the 

 number of local boats engaged in each fishery can be determined with 

 a considerable degree of exactitude, thus permitting the addition of the 

 numbers so obtained in order to form an approximate total of the boats 

 engaged in any one form of fishery, either for the country as a whole, 

 or for particular sections of the coast line. 



The method pursued was in the first place to tabulate the collectors' 

 annual returns of the vessels engaged in trawling for the entire term of 

 years since 1889, and for all ports, distinguishing steam trawlers from 

 smacks, first class from second and third class boats, and deep-sea from 

 inshore trawling vessels. The table showed at a glance that the numbers 

 of trawlers of the second and third class might be neglected entirely, 

 partly on account of their small size (under fifteen tons), and partly 

 from their relatively small numbers throughout the period. The in- 

 clusion of these boats, with their feeble catching power, would obviously 

 not materially affect the results. 



c 2 



