FISHERMEN AND FISHERIES. 251 



maining hundred and fifty-two (found passim between 109 

 and 290 of 17 & 1 8 Viet. c. 104) relate to the certificates, 

 apprenticeships, and engagements of seamen (and fisher- 

 men) ; to the allotment, remittances, recovery of and right 

 to wages ; to leaving hands at foreign ports, to their dis- 

 charge, and to volunteering into the Navy : regulations are 

 also made concerning their food, health, accommodation, and 

 causes of complaint, whilst discipline and crimes at sea are 

 dealt with generally. A perusal of the above provisions of 

 the Shipping Acts is important, as it exemplifies the 

 sanction which State Legislation affords the relation of 

 master and servant on registered sea-going ships, although 

 employed exclusively in fishing off the coasts of the United 

 Kingdom. 



It will be observed that the mere fact of registration in 

 many instances brings fishing vessels within the operation 

 of the Merchant Shipping Acts. As another instance of 

 this, by the Shipping Act of 1873 (36 & 37 Viet c. 86), 

 agreements with "seamen fishing off the coasts of the 

 United Kingdom " have been authorised where the remune- 

 ration consists in a share of the profits alone. 



The system of payment by shares is very frequent in 

 our fisheries. Few industries require so much the personal 

 interest of each individual employed. The whole business 

 is more or less speculative ; there are occasionally large 

 and successive prizes in the form of " miraculous draughts," 

 whilst large blanks may still more readily be drawn. To 

 attempt to secure the former the alacrity of each fisherman 

 must be aroused, whilst, in the event of the latter, by means 

 of payment by share, and not by wage only, the loss is less 

 heavily felt by those whose capital has been invested in the 

 equipment of the boat. Large fishing companies in Ireland 

 and elsewhere, paying mostly by wage alone, have signally 



