of the Fisher u Board for Scotland. 



80 



place where tliey are caught is at least of equal importance for the purpose 

 as the quantity landed. If the trawling skipper was provided with a 

 form, of the following description, on which certain simple information 

 was required to be written, and the form was then sealed in an envelope 

 provided and posted to the central official, all the necessary information 

 would be obtained, without any expense to him and with complete secrecy. 



No. 



Port of- 



Vesscl- 



Date of Landing - 



Place ok Fishing. — jVote. — If the fishing during the voyage is made at mure than 

 one place the particulars for each place must be inserted. 



* Insert place. f Course and distance to be stated from previous place of lishing. 



The information indicated in the above form is well-known to the 

 skipper and fishermen of the vessel, and a few trials and a little explana- 

 tion would, I am sure, ensure the form being filled up -with accuracy. 



There are other means whicli may be taken to safeguard the trust- 

 worthiness of the information given. ]n the first place, it ought to be 

 made a duty of all cruisers and Government vessels to log and report the 

 distinguishing number and letters of every fishing vessel they encounter, 

 with the date and place observed, and whether they are fishing or not. 

 This information is obtained and published by certain foreign states, as 

 the Netherlands and Germany, and refei-s not merely to national vessels 

 but to all fishing vessels observed, a great number of which are Britrsli.J 

 Similar information as to foreign trawlers working off the Danish coast, 

 obtained both from cruisers and from lightships, is published in condensed 

 tabular form in the Danish Eeport, and no doubt the number and letters 

 are ascertained in each case and could be made available. § Particulars of 

 the kind in question would be very useful as a check. 



Probably even more important would be the construction of charts 

 showing the proportional distribution, or the percentage numbers, of the 

 various marketable fishes taken in different parts of the North Sea with 

 an ordinary commercial otter trawl. At present, as stated above, it is 

 possible by a cursory examination of a catch to say within certain limits 

 where it has come from, owing to the presence or absence of certain kinds 

 and the proportion between the fishes generally. It will probably be 



J The information collected by the Netherlands cruisers is imblished in tlie 6'(aaU- 

 (.'ourant, and is re-published month\y in 3f if cdce/iiiffeii over Visscherij ; that collected by 

 the German cruisers is published in Mitthcilnngen dcs Deutschen Seefisckeni-Vcreins. For 

 example, from the litis rapport of the Dolfijn for 11-29 November 1901, it appears the 

 English steam trawlers G.Y. 252, 348, S.N. 241, B.N. 172 and 187 were working at the 

 Outer Silver Pit on 26th November. 



§ Fiskeri-B( retiiiny. Thus in 1900, 2191 trawlers were recorded, of which 156 were 

 English and 469 German. The distance from the coast up to 15 miles and the position 

 are given. 



