220 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 



least which produces little or no viable spat, is still shrouded 

 in mystery. The solution of the difficulties connected with 

 this subject would be a profitable and a worthy field for the 

 energies of the Fishery Board — more productive than a search 

 for benefits from the closure, or a costly and unsatisfactory 

 chase after marauders within the boundaries. 



A careful review of the subject and of the fish-fauna in the 

 Moray Frith indicates the absence of substantial data (1) for 

 instituting the closure, and (2) for its continuance. If the 

 results of the experiments in St Andrews Bay and in the Forth 

 had been such as to warrant the closure of a single square mile 

 of the Moray Frith, then the bold step of shutting trawlers out 

 of 2000 square miles in this area would at least have merited 

 the respect due to resolute and masterful methods. So 

 responsible a body as the Fishery Board for Scotland will 

 probably produce its reasons for such a step. So far as they 

 have been disclosed, they are by no means convincing ; indeed, 

 a careful search of the entire work of the " Garland," of 

 collateral fishery evidence, and of the history of the Scotch 

 fisheries, fails to afford an explanation. The Fishery Board 

 had the control of a large annual grant for the solution of such 

 questions, and its manipulation of the funds was more or less 

 untrammelled. The results of its experiments must have been 

 either conclusive or inconclusive, unless it is to be supposed 

 that sentiment and not fact pervaded its deliberations. It may 

 be that the laudable view of keeping the peace between the two 

 more pronounced classes of sea-fishermen formed the guiding 

 spirit of the Board's action, but this is a feature at any rate 

 which was not included in the remit by Parliament, as the result 

 of the Royal Commission under Lord Dalhousie. The country 

 has not decided that the closure is to be applied to the whole 

 of the 3-mile limit, or to the 13-mile limit, to keep the peace 

 between the various classes of fishermen. All that has been 

 done is to provide the Board with the means for proving or 

 disproving the allegations of 1883 and 1884, and of satisfying 

 itself and the country as to facts before proceeding to take 

 further steps. Yet what do we find ? Only vague statements 

 as the grounds for important measures. Thus, two thousand 



