PROTECTION OF DEEP SEA FISHERIES. 353 



boating and fleets, duration of voyage, methods of curing at 

 sea, and return to harbour. 



4. The disposal of fish, and mode of settling up. 



5. The capital invested in, and the annual value of the 

 fisheries, and the number of people employed in or 

 dependent on them. 



Having done this it will be possible to point out how the 

 present law affects the fisheries ; how the proposed legis- 

 lation would affect them if carried out, and to conclude 

 with a few suggestions for the improvement of the said laws. 

 This will be best done by omitting as far as possible legal 

 terms and forms, and avoiding many quotations from the 

 Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, which is well known. 



In building a fishing vessel a full official survey for con- Building, 

 struction is not necessary as in the case of merchant ships, 

 as they are not classed or lettered for any number of years ; 

 and as the insurance clubs are as a rule mutual and local, 

 there is no need of it for the guidance of insurance companies 

 and underwriters. The plan usually pursued is this : the 

 order is given to build a fishing vessel of a certain size 

 and for a certain class of fishing. Upon the completion 

 of the vessel the builder hands to the owner a certificate 

 stating that the vessel has been built for him, and the 

 measurement based on the instructions of the Act for that 

 purpose. 



The certificate just alluded to is then taken by the owner Registration, 

 of the vessel to the custom house, and the vessel is then 

 measured by a Board of Trade surveyor. If she is over 

 fifteen tons a certificate of registry is granted, which gives 

 the particulars as to where, when, how and by whom she 

 was built, the measurement, the owner's name, or in the case 

 rf there being more than one owner the number of shares 

 .held by each. This register should always be on board 

 VOL. i. E. 2. 2 A 



