THE IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE SEA. 47 



average catches of the smacks in the same years ; for, assuming that the 

 efficiency of the smacks has remained the same, any difference in the 

 relative efficiency of the steamers since 1885 would be attributable 

 to improvements in the type of vessel and fishing gear. Unfortunately 

 exact returns of individual catches for these later years are not yet 

 available either for steamers or smacks, though Mr. Alward tells me 

 that he has long intended, and still hopes, at some future time to bring 

 his figures up to date both for sailing and steam fishing vessels. I have 

 tried in various other directions to obtain such information from smack- 

 owners, but hitherto without success. 



Nevertheless Mr. Al ward's opinion is entitled to consideration. When 

 sending me his returns already quoted, he wrote : " The figures for the 

 two steam trawlers which I am submitting will convey a very poor idea 

 of the quantity of fish caught in the interval between 1885 and the 

 present time. They will serve only as a comparison of the early class 

 of steam trawlers and the sailing trawlers of that day. In the interval 

 between 1885 and the present time several new fishing grounds have 

 been worked, and the modern steam trawler would catch about double 

 the quantity caught by either of the two steam trawlers whose figures I 

 give, if they had heen fishing on the same ground at the same time!' 



In a further communication Mr. Alward writes, " With regard to the 

 tonnage of the steam trawlers in 1883, as well as at the present time, 

 the returns of the Board of Trade give only the nett tonnage, which is 

 very misleading as to the size of the vessel, owing to the deductions 

 from gross to nett of the space occupied by engine space and coals. 

 These deductions have increased from 1883 up to the present time 

 on account of the increased power demanding larger space. In many 

 instances a gross tonnage 180 is now reduced to 50 nett, whereas in 1883 

 a gross tonnage of 100 would not be reduced to less than 50. These 

 figures apply to Grimsby and no doubt to most ports. The average 

 gross tonnage here at the present time will be 150 tons, whereas in 1883 

 it did not exceed 100." (cf. Mcintosh, Resources of the Sea, p. 59.) 



From these quotations it is clear that, in Mr. Alward's opinion, the 

 relative efficiency of the modern steam trawler compared with the 

 smack is about eightfold (i.e. twice the relative efficiency in 1883). 

 Other correspondents, all of them being smack-owners or men equally 

 familiar with the practical side of the trawling industry, have assigned 

 a catching power to the modern steam otter trawler of from at least 

 sevenfold to at least tenfold the power of the sailing trawler. The 

 grounds for their opinions are various, and need not be detailed. The 

 limits which they assign show that Mr. Alward's opinion is by no 

 means an exaggerated one, and that it forms indeed a kind of average 

 of the views generally held by practical men. 



