SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE SEA FISHERIES BILL. 



Ill 



17 March 1904. J 



Mr. Fell. 



[Continued. 



Chairman — continued, 

 wood, and elsewhere, who used to fish in the 

 Firth of Clj-de, are now prevented from doing so 

 by statute. 



2062. Is it a statute or an order of the Scottish 

 Fisheries Board ? — It is under the same legisla- 

 tion which affects the Moray Firth. 



2063. I think that is by order of the Scottish 

 Fisheries Board. With regard to the clause in 

 the Bill giving the same power to the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries to make byelaws which 

 are now possessed by fishery committees round 

 the coast, do you see any objection to that ? — 

 None at all ; I think it would be very desirable ; 

 it would be an enormous advantage to the 

 sea fisheries districts if regulations could be 

 made applicable to the 'modes of capture 

 so that tne modes of capture were regulated as 

 to the taking of flat fish of unreasonable size. 



2064. The greater the uniformity the better 

 would be the regulation ? — Yes, and the more 

 general assent it would have within theterritorial 

 area. 



Duke of AbercoDi. 

 2064a. Do 3'ou consider that the water with 

 which j^ou are connected on the coasts between 

 your coast and the Isle of iliui is over-fished at 

 the present time ? — I am not so practicallj' 

 acquainted with that as my superintendent who 

 is here ; but I believe it is over-fished and very 

 much over-fished. 



2065. Both b}' the deep sea trawlers and by 

 what may be termed the inland trawlers ? — The 

 inland trawlers do not go so far out. Those 

 trawlers who live along the coastline rarely go 

 out much beyond the territorial Avaters; they 

 occasionall)- do, but in the main they keep 

 Avithin the territorial area. 



2066. And you have a good many stake nets, 

 have you not, on your coast ? — Yes, we have, 

 all under regulations and carefully regulated. 



2067. Do you know tbe size of the mesh of 

 those stake nets ? — I think it is two inches from 

 knot to knot. 



2068. And I suppose they catch a large 

 number of undersized fish ? — They capture a 

 good many undersized fish, because the small 

 fiat fish coming down seaward again after being 

 up feeding stop about these nets I believe, and 

 they are not exactly, many of t,hem, captured in 

 the nets, but thej' are checked by these nets and 

 caught. The nets now take on an average (I 

 often see the products of them) what would be 

 regarded as pretty fair sized flat fish, mainly 

 plaice and flounders. 



2069. What happens to them when they are 

 caught ? — They are all sold. 



2070. Landed and sold ? — Yes, hawked about 

 by local fishermen or sent to the more populous 

 places. 



Lord Tiveedi no idli. 



2071. Is it your opinion that the fisheries in 

 your district are improving or falling off? — The 

 only fish which has significantly increased is the 

 sole; there has been a significant increase of 

 sole, and we attribute that very much to the use 

 of a larger mesh. There was an agitation a few 

 years ago, and the Board of Trade, wlio then had 

 the Fisheries Department, acceded to a reduc- 



Lord Tweedmouth — continued. 



tion. We had originally a 7 inch mesh ; that 

 is If inch, from knot to knot ; and then the 

 fishermen agitated and succeeded in getting the 

 mesh reduced to 1^ inch from knot to knot for 

 certain periods in flie year. We go back to the 

 7 inch after November ; but there are a greit 

 abundanrc of soles in the district, and a fair 

 sized sole can get through a 7 inch mesh. We 

 go to a 6 inch mesh, but there is no smaller 

 mesh than a 6 inch one; and that enables com- 

 parativel}? small soles to get through. Any- 

 how the whole line of our sea fishery district 

 has significantly increased in soles. In plaice 

 the last year or two there have not been so 

 many as formerly. Occasionally there were a 

 great number of plaice coming into the district; 

 but in the last year or two there have not been 

 so many. As to round fish, there is a great 

 shrinkage in that. Haddock have not been in 

 the district for some time; mackerel do not come 

 so numerously as other fish ; but cod, whiting, 

 are pretty much as they have been. 



2072. Then the result of your operations as 

 a sea fisheries committee has been that the 

 quantitj- of soles has increased, but with regard 

 to plaice and other fish, round fish, no increase 

 has taken place ? — I think not. 



2073. Do you attribute any such decrease as 

 there may have been to over-fishing ? — To the use 

 of the small mesh net immediately external to 

 the territorial area ; it is cjuite notorious. Take 

 a steam trawler: she finds herself amongst a 

 fair collection of plaice. I have not seen the- 

 operation, but I know it occurs ; she ranges this 

 area stocked with fish, puts clown a buoy, and 

 works round this until fhc has practically cleared 

 up the whole area. 



2074. Then really, so far as your district is 

 concerned, what you think is desirable woukl 

 be, sound regulation checking the steam trawlers ( 

 — It would be most desirable that there should 

 be regulations to prevent the steam trawler 

 capturing flat fish of an immature size. 



2075. Then, so far as you are concerned in 

 your district, if the steam trawler was pro- 

 hibited from landing undersized fish, that would 

 meet the' requirements of your district ? — Yes. 

 You can of course capture, even with a 7-inch 

 mesh, dozens of very small fish. 



2076. I think you might almost say you can- 

 not help capturing them ? — You cannot help ca p- 

 turing them. I am only an amateur, but I have 

 very often seen trawls worked experimentally, and 

 the gTeat bulk of the small fish are alive tor a 



conside.iable time afterwards. Soles and plaice 

 seem to live, I might say, some hours ; it is ex- 

 traordinary how they live; and there is no diffi- 

 culty really in sorting them and putting theni 

 overboard. 



2077. It depends very much upon the length 

 of time the trawl is down, does it not ? — Yes, and 

 also as to the condition of the trawl, and the 

 weight of the trawl and so on ; there are a great 

 many points of that sort. 



Loi'd Heneai/e. 



1011(1. You are of opinion, are you not, that 

 it is advisable to have the Bill in this form that, 

 the department may learn by experience in 

 the future '( — Exactly ; that is just my view, 



2078. I 



