[ 141 ] 



Die Veneris, 18^ Martii 1904 



PRESENT : 



Marquess of Abeecorn (Duke of Abee- 

 corn). 



Earl of Yaeborough. 



Lord Meldeum (Marquess of Huntly) 



Lord TwEEDMOUTH. 



^arl of Onslow. 



The Right Hon. the Earl op ONSLOW, g.o.m.g., in the Chair. 



Sir ARTHUR VIVIAN, k.c.b., is called in ; and Examined as follows ; 



Chairmam 



2508. You. are, I think, a member of one of the 

 Fisheries Committees ? — I am an Alderman of 

 the County Council, and a member of the Fisheries 

 Committee, of Cornwall. 



2509. You have had a very considerable ex- 

 perience, have you not, of fishery matters round 

 the south and west coasts of England ? — Yes. 

 but I am here entirely to state my own personal 

 views ; I am not expressing the views of the 

 Fisheries Committee at all ; whether the views 

 of the Fisheries Committee may be the same or 

 not, I am not aware. We had your Bill before 

 us the other day, but it was not discussed at all. 



2510. There is one clause in it to which no doubt 

 your attention has been drawn, that is the clause 

 giving power to the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries to make bye-laws in the same manner 

 as those powers are now possessed by the Fisheries 

 Committees ? — Yes, Clause 2. 



2511. Have you any opinion as to that ? — I 

 have looked at that clause, and I think it is a very 

 valuable clause towards the protection of under- 

 sized fish ; at the same time I hope it will tend to a 

 uniformity of bye-laws along our coast, and also, 

 if it is possible, to a uniformity of authorities. 

 In our part on the south coast we have estuaries 

 which are really the nurseries and breeding grounds 

 of fish ; but which are subject to a different juris- 

 diction to the three-mile limit outside. They are 

 called " Rivers," and as such, I suppose, originally 

 they were put under the jurisdiction of the Fowey 

 Conservators, who have really more to deal with 

 salmon and fresh fish ; and I think it would be 

 very desirable indeed if they were all under the 

 authority of the County Council Sea Fisheries 

 Committee. 



2512. You probably, as a member of the County 

 Council, have had some experience of the working 

 of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act ? — Yes. 



2513. And ymi know that it has been the 

 desire of the Board of Agriculture to get uniformity 

 in the administration of that Act by the local 

 authorities as much as possible ? — Yes. 



Gkarrman — continued. 



2514. And do you think that a similar attempt 

 at uniformity in fishery matters is likely to meet 

 with as much success as has attended *^ the uni- 

 formity under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) 

 Act ? — I think so, certainly. I think it would 

 be a very good thing. 



2515. I suppose there are no steam trawlers 

 round your coast ? — Yes, there are. 



2516. Belonging to the ports ? — The steam 

 trawlers do not belong to our part, but they come 

 down ; and I think it would be for the benefit 

 of our fisheries, which have been to a great 

 extent denuded and spoilt by the excess of 

 netting of different sorts, that the sailing 

 trawlers should be put under the same bye-laws 

 as the steam trawlers. 



2517. What is the largest size of sailing trawler 

 in your ports ? — I suppose some of them "which 

 come down our coast, must be up to 100 tons 

 burthen. 



2518. Though they are registered in ports 

 within your district ? — I think a great many of 

 the sailing trawlers belong to Brixham in Devon- 

 shire, and perhaps to Plymouth too. 



2519. Do they ever come into the territorial 

 waters ? — No ; but the small trawlers come into 

 the shallow waters. I have myself seen this j^ear 

 as many as four trawlers, perhaps of 20 or 30 

 tons, sweeping the Helford Estuary, which is under 

 the jurisdiction of the Fowey Conservators, and 

 which is not above a mile and a half across. Four 

 trawlers of that size, it may be well imagined, 

 rake up the whole of the ground. 



2520. How do the Fowey bye-laws and your 

 bye-laws differ ? — The Fowey bye-laws do not 

 allow any trawling inside their estuaries ; but, inas- 

 much as the Fowey Conservators are a different 

 authority, and they have no funds at their 

 command ; they are quite ready to meet us in 

 allowing us to prosecute. At the same time, it is 

 rather a cumbersome business to act on ; and I 

 think myself it would tend much more to the 



preservalion 



