172 



THE RELATIONS OF THE STATE WITH 



Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry, who 



condemned both restrictions on the fishermen. In the 



meantime another subject for investigation arose in the 



Law of close result of a law passed in 1860, establishing a close time 



time. 



for herrings on the west coast of Scotland from January 1st 

 to May 3 1st The fishermen, deprived of their means of 

 livelihood, suffered the keenest distress during the close 

 time, and did not have the satisfaction of finding that 

 their enforced abstention from fishing had the slightest 

 Enquiry into effect in increasing their subsequent harvest. A second 

 Taws. Commission was appointed to investigate these and all 



other matters connected with the sea fisheries, and reported 

 in favour of the entire abolition of all restrictions. The 

 Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, put these recommendations into 

 force, and the result is, broadly speaking, that the sea 

 fisheries of this country are exempt from all restrictions or 

 protective legislation whatever. 



Unfortunately there are no general statistics to show 

 whether the fisheries have improved or deteriorated under 

 the new system. But in the returns of the Scotch Herring 

 Fishery Board we have accurate figures, showing the fluc- 

 tuations, year by year, in the produce of the Scotch herring 

 fisheries ; and, as it happens that these fisheries were more 

 closely affected by the "protective" provisions regarding 

 mesh of net and close time than any other fisheries, these 

 returns will afford a very fair criterion of the relative 

 P ract i ca l effects of protective legislation on the sea fisheries 

 an d o f its abolition. The following table, taken from the 

 last Report of the Scotch Herring Board, shows the total 

 quantity of herrings, the produce of the Scotch fisheries, 

 cured in each decennial period from 1812 to 1881, both 

 inclusive : 



Abolition of 



Relative 



and absence 



of restrictions. 



