PISHING PORTS 221 



of id. per ton from trawlers and a due of 75. 6d. from 

 herring boats. 



In Germany the fishing harbours are constructed at 

 the expense of the States on whose territory they are 

 situated. " The central authority intervenes only in the 

 appointment of the superior officials of the Fisheries 

 Service, who direct the exploitation of the ports on 

 account of the interested States, so that the officials in 

 supreme charge of the fishing harbours are always men 

 who are expert in all the necessities of the fisheries, as 

 well as the various methods of sale" (Hart). The 

 harbour of Geestmiinde is administered by a leasehold 

 company, consisting of shipowners and fishermen, and 

 approved by the Prussian State. It was formed on 

 October i, 1896, with a capital of ^15,000. It imposes 

 three kinds of dues : 4 per cent, on all fish landed direct 

 from the fishing boats ; 5 per cent, on fish arriving from 

 without by rail ; 3 per cent, as auction dues on fish 

 sold by auction to the merchants of Geestmiinde. The 

 Prussian Government pockets 175 per cent, of these 

 taxes. The dividend distributed is about 5 per cent. 

 Cuxhaven, like Ijmuiden, is directly administered by 

 the State, which collects a due of 2 per cent, of the 

 gross sales by auction ; 3 per cent, if the boats do not 

 bring the fish themselves ; and i per cent, of the gross 

 sales for the use of the warehouses. 



Thus in Germany there is an actual co-operation 

 between the State and the fishermen. The action 

 of this beneficent partnership surpasses the limits of 

 a single city, thanks to the powerful national federa- 

 tion, "The German Society of National Fisheries," 

 which, grouping all the local associations as so many 

 chambers of commerce of the fishing ports, multi- 

 plies and co-ordinates their efforts. It is a kind 



