86 BRITISH FISHERIES 



carried out in Scotland by the officials of the Board, 

 who are the secretary, the general inspector, two 

 assistant inspectors, and a staff of fisheries officers. 

 There are twenty-six fishery districts round the 

 coast, in each of which there are one or more 

 officers. The officers must have been coopers by 

 trade, and they must pass an examination before 

 entering the service. There are five fishery 

 cruisers belonging to the Board, and these boats 

 are assisted generally by Admiralty vessels. The 

 cruisers undertake marine superintendence at sea : 

 they enforce the by-laws which close the terri- 

 torial waters against trawling (except in one or two 

 restricted areas) ; they maintain order among fish- 

 ing boats at sea in virtue of the powers conferred 

 by the Sea-Fisheries Acts, and on the high seas 

 in virtue of the regulations of the international 

 conventions. They administer several special Acts 

 relating to the herring fisheries. 



The duties of the fishery officers are confined 

 principally to the sea-coast. They see that the 

 barrels used in the export herring trade are of the 

 proper size ; they examine and brand the measures 

 employed in the trade between the fishermen, 

 merchants, and curers ; and they examine the 

 herrings submitted to them, and affix the official 

 " Crown brands " to those which they judge 

 worthy of this distinction. The collection of 

 statistics is made by them and by the correspond- 

 ents, whose returns they supervise. They carry 



