FISHERMEN AND FISHERIES. 255 



reckoned A.B. if, in addition, they serve for one year only 

 in a trading vessel. The proof of service consists in 

 certificates of discharge, whilst, in order to cast no pecu- 

 niary impediment in the way of fishermen, the fee for a 

 certificate, if the proof has to be supplied by the Registrar- 

 General of Shipping, must not in any case exceed sixpence. 

 The above is a practical recognition of the fact that our 

 fisheries are a " fruitful nursery of able seamen" for the 

 Navy and Mercantile Marine. 



When the Sea Fishery Laws received further amend- 

 ment in 1 88 1 (44 Viet. c. n), clam and bait beds received 

 protection, and a restriction was placed on one class of 

 fishermen for the benefit of another class, who fished with 

 hook and line. The Board of Trade was empowered to 

 prohibit the use of beam-trawls in the territorial seas, 

 wherever it could be shown to be injurious to clam or bait 

 beds ; but the orders, when made, do not take effect until 

 they have been confirmed by Parliament. 



In the preceding will be found an outline of the relations 

 borne by the State to fishermen : it is intended next to 

 speak very briefly of the locus in qiw of the fisherman's 

 labours, and then more fully of the legislation which 

 protects spawning-beds. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE principal English ports which equip large fishing boats 

 are those of the East Coast, washed by the North Sea. 

 The chief in order of importance are Yarmouth, Grimsby, 

 Hull, Lowestoft, and Scarborough, whose boats of the first 

 class, over 15 tons, range in number from 550 to 120 

 respectively. 



