160 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



established by an Act in 1888, a period when 

 local government was much to the fore. These 

 committees can be established by the county 

 and borough councils on application to the 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, which defines 

 the area over which the committee shall have 

 jurisdiction. One half of the committee is 

 chosen by the local councils and one half by 

 the central authority. The necessary money 

 is raised by a local rate. The committee may 

 draft bye-laws, but these only become operative 

 if confirmed by the Board. These bye-laws 

 differ in different parts of England as the con- 

 ditions differ. They deal largely with restric- 

 tions of trawling, in fact no steam trawler is 

 allowed to trawl within the three-mile limit 

 around the coast of England, and off the Northum- 

 brian coast even the sailing-trawler is forbidden. 

 They also deal with the sizes of the meshes of 

 nets for shrimping, crabbing, etc. 



On the whole the local committees, with the 

 exception of one or two, cannot be regarded as 

 a great success. They have power to collect 

 statistics, but the money with which to do so 

 has not been forthcoming ; they have no power 

 to spend money upon investigation, except so 



