CHAPTER VI 



THE FISHERY BOARD FOR SCOTLAND 



ALTHOUGH the administration of the British sea- 

 fisheries, in the modern sense of the phrase, may 

 be regarded as beginning with the consolidation 

 of the law which resulted from the inquiry of 

 the Royal Commission of 1863, it is nevertheless 

 very instructive to consider the early history of 

 the regulation of the industry both in Scotland 

 and in Ireland. The Fishery Board for Scotland 

 has existed since the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century, and though in the course of over a 

 century's administration many changes have taken 

 place, the essential features and functions of this 

 famous authority have remained much the same, 

 and its history has been one of almost continuous 

 orderly and progressive development. 



The Scottish herring fishery owed its develop- 

 ment to jealousy of the Dutch. In the eighteenth 

 century many complaints were made that the 

 fishermen of that nationality were robbing Scottish 

 seas of their fish, and several attempts were made 



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