12 THE FISHING INDUSTRY 



which make it possible for them to compete with the 

 steam drifters for herring and mackerel. 



Generally speaking, however, the outlook for the small 

 fishermen of the English and Scottish coast villages the 

 real fisher folk is discouraging. The tendency of 

 legislation, however, just before the war was to encourage 

 this class of fishermen by restricting the operations of the 

 steam trawlers in certain localities. In 1910-1914, 

 with the object of protecting the inshore fishermen, the 

 Fishery Board of Scotland prohibited trawling in the 

 Moray Firth area, only drifting and lining being per- 

 mitted. Since this prohibition only applied to British 

 subjects, certain East Coast fishing companies evaded 

 it by transferring their vessels to foreign flags, register- 

 ing them in a foreign port and employing a foreigner as a 

 dummy skipper. The Board secured convictions against 

 these offenders in the Sheriff's Court, but the convictions 

 were upset subsequently by the Foreign Office. The 

 original prohibition was then strengthened by a new 

 law which made it illegal to land fish in Scotland, if 

 caught by vessels registered in a foreign port. 



During the war, the inshore fisherman found himself 

 in a comparatively advantageous position, as the high 

 price of coal made steam fishing less profitable. Fur- 

 ther, the offshore trawling grounds were mostly 

 closed, and the majority of the steam trawlers and 

 drifters were on war-service. For the time being, 

 therefore, inshore fishing with smacks was placed at an 

 advantage. 



A number of fishermen's co-operative societies were 

 formed to organize the sale and distribution of the 

 produce of these inshore fisheries. This also tended to 

 make the position of the inshore fisherman more secure. 



The old order changeth, and although there is that 

 connected with this transformation in the fishing 



