THE IMMATURE FISH QUESTION. 61 
ment in 1886 to take over all fisheries business, the Act of 1868 is 
not administered by that department. ‘The first class of fishing- 
boats includes those of fifteen tons and upwards; the second class, 
those less than fifteen tons not navigated by oars only ; the third 
class, boats navigated by oars only. The table on the preceding 
page shows the boats on the register in successive years from 1871 
to 1891. I have also extracted the number of men and boys constantly 
employed in fishing, compiled from estimates made by the collectors 
of customs, omitting the figures of those occasionally employed, and I 
have given the number of men and boys required to work the boats 
whose certificates were produced and endorsed. But both these sets of 
figures are only approximations, for the production of certificates 
every year is not everywhere rigidly enforced. The important 
points brought out by these figures concerning boats and men are 
the following. 
The total number of first-class boats increased steadily from 1871 
to 1885—namely, from 2582 in 1871 to 4040 in 1885. Since the 
latter year the number has slightly decreased down to 3873 in 1891. 
The total number of boats of all classes steadily decreased from 
15,615 in 1871 to 8063 in 1891. The total tonnage of all classes 
included increased steadily from 131,000 in 1871 to 217,000 in 
1887, since when it has slightly decreased to 207,000 in 1891. The 
total number of regular fishermen increased from about 25,000 in 
1874 to 34,526 in 1887, since when it has decreased to 33,044. 
Now, logically to pursue the inquiry into the increase or decrease 
of the fish supply, in particular of the supply of various kinds of 
trawled fish, and of all kinds together, it would be necessary to be 
able to compare the catch obtained by equal catching power in a 
series of years. This has recently been attempted by the Fishery 
Board for Scotland, which, having adequate powers, has been able for 
the past three years to collect statistics of the tonnage and value of 
trawlers fishing on the Scottish coast, and the quantities of fish 
landed by these trawlers, apart from the fish landed by other boats. 
This has not been done for England and Wales, and could not be 
done by the present defective organisation of fishery authorities in 
this part of the kingdom. The Scottish Board has an efficient 
scientific department managed by competent scientific men, who have 
devoted their trained powers and scientific methods to the problems 
of sea fisheries. They have also the whole coast divided into 
districts, each provided with a competent fishery officer who has 
complete knowledge and experience of the fisheries, but no pecuniary 
interest in them. ‘The scientific authority can thus without 
difficulty obtain any information it requires. 
The statistics thus obtained by the Scottish Board are discussed 
