io8 BRITISH FISHERIES 



plated by the Sea-Fisheries Regulation Acts, 

 cannot be said to have been very successful. It 

 is obvious, when one considers the conditions of 

 the fishing industry, that the area of administration 

 is much too limited. Overlapping of interests 

 must continually occur, and there is not necessarily 

 any co-ordination between contiguous authorities. 

 Then it is the case that the rateable value of 

 some of the districts is too small to allow of the 

 upkeep of an adequate inspection staff. These 

 considerations have been instrumental in leading 

 to the amalgamation of authorities in some 

 cases, as in that of the Lancashire and Western 

 District Committee, which includes not only 

 Lancashire, but also Cheshire and most of the 

 Welsh maritime counties. This general tend- 

 ency may be observed, and there is little doubt 

 that the fisheries would be much better regulated 

 by authorities representing groups of counties 

 than by committees of the councils of each of 

 those areas. This amalgamation of the district 

 authorities was the plan suggested by the Com- 

 mittee on Ichthyological Research for the purpose 

 of scientific investigation. Where it has taken 

 place, the administration has been most successful. 

 As a result of the amalgamation of authorities in 

 some cases, the work of the committees is very 

 unequal, as a glance at the last report of the 

 inspectors of fisheries for England and Wales 

 will show. Thus, the Lancashire authority has 



