INDUSTRIES 



land and which worked in combination with 

 Lancashire, considered that the time had come 

 when application might advantageously be 

 made to the Board of Trade under the pro- 

 visions contained in the Sea Fisheries Regula- 

 tion Act, 1888, to constitute a Sea Fishery 

 District for the county of Cumberland and its 

 estuaries, extending to the mouth of the river 

 Sark at Sarkfoot, near Gretna, as its extreme 

 northern boundary. A scheme for the creation 

 of the district was accordingly formulated and 

 submitted to the County Council of Cumber- 

 land who, after full consideration, gave it their 

 sanction, and the committee thereupon pro- 

 ceeded to submit it to the Fisheries and Har- 

 bour Department of the Board of Trade with 

 a view of obtaining their sanction and approval. 

 Owing to the innumerable public notices 

 which are required by the Board of Trade 

 Regulations to be given to all persons and 

 bodies likely to be affected by such a scheme, 

 the question had to be fully and carefully 

 considered, and in consequence did not make 

 such rapid progress as some people wished for, 

 and in the month of November 1894 the 

 point which had been fixed as the southern 

 boundary of the proposed district was altered 

 in order to meet the wishes of the Sea Fish- 

 eries Committee which existed in Lancashire, 

 and the boundary was then defined as ' a line 

 drawn true south-west from the seaward 

 extremity of Haverigg Point in the said 

 county of Cumberland.' 



All these preliminary points having been 

 disposed of, the scheme was placed before the 

 Board of Trade and was sanctioned by them. 

 Whereupon after having had nearly a year's 

 experience of the bye-laws, it was found that 

 they were proving of much benefit to the 

 fishermen of Cumberland, not only on account 

 of the efficient system of watching which was 

 maintained throughout the whole district by 

 the officers appointed by the committee, thus 

 enabling poachers to be captured and dealt 

 with in such a way as would put a stop to 

 their nefarious practices, but also from the fact 

 that immature fish were protected from being 

 captured. The result was that as only the 

 best paying size of fish was placed on the 

 market the price of fish on the coast had risen 

 considerably. The committee has throughout 

 endeavoured to carry out the Acts of Parlia- 

 ment and the bye-laws sanctioned by the 

 Board of Trade in such a manner as would 

 prove beneficial to the fishing industry, and 

 yet not be likely to press hardly on those per- 

 sons who are dependent on that trade for 

 their means of livelihood. 



When the bye-laws first came into opera- 

 tion orders were given to the officers of the 



committee that all offenders should be warned 

 in the first instance to desist from illegal 

 practices, and it was not until warnings were 

 found ineffectual that the aid of the law was 

 invoked. 



In the year 1898 these bye-laws were 

 working admirably and proving to be of great 

 service to the fishermen of Cumberland. 

 The season was a very good one both as 

 regards the quantity and quality of different 

 kinds of fish obtained, with the exception of 

 herrings, which were very scarce. Trawling, 

 which commenced in the month of August, 

 was very good, and a large number of boats 

 came to the Cumberland district from Lan- 

 cashire, Isle of Man, and even from Grimsby 

 and other places. This experience affords 

 good evidence that the committee has a valu- 

 able fishery to protect. 



In the year 1899 the fishing season, 

 notwithstanding the rowgh weather which 

 prevailed in the autumn, was on the whole 

 exceedingly prolific, and much better than 

 that of the preceding year. Fish were for the 

 most part abundant and of good quality, and 

 very large takes of nearly all kinds of fish, 

 including haddock (which had not been 

 known to be so plentiful for years), were 

 made by the fishermen, and good prices were 

 realized. Herring and mackerel, as was 

 the case in the year 1898, were scarce, and 

 the sparling fishermen also complained, but 

 they attributed their want of success not to 

 the scarcity of fish, as they were known to be 

 still plentiful, but to the shifting channels. 



An entirely new feature in the fishing in- 

 dustry of the coast commenced in June 1899, 

 viz. that of prawn trawling, which during 

 part of the season proved very successful, but 

 the weather throughout the latter part of the 

 year was very stormy and interfered greatly 

 with this fishing. The prices realized were 

 not particularly high, but in spite of this good 

 returns were obtained on account of the great 

 number of prawns caught, and it is quite evi- 

 dent, from the large quantities of these fish 

 which have been taken, that the Solway, 

 more particularly off Maryport, abounds in 

 prawns. This new class of fishing has 

 attracted between twenty and thirty boats to 

 our fishing ground, many of them being from 

 Morecambe Bay, which is a recognized prawn 

 trawling district. 



The quantity and value of fish landed dur- 

 ing the year ending 31 December 1899 on 

 the Cumberland coast was including soles, 

 lemon soles, plaice, white flounder, sparling, 

 cod, gurnet, red gurnet, grey gurnet, turbot, 

 brill, whiting, herring, skate, bluet, conger, 

 shrimps, prawns, crayfish, lobsters, oysters, 



ii 



417 



53 



