68 BRITISH SEA-FISHERIES 



Technical Instruction receives an annual grant of 

 ^10,000, and, under the guidance of the Rev. S. 

 Green and Mr. E. W. L. Holt, is already doing 

 much to promote the fishing of the well-stocked Irish 

 seas. 



The English official fishery staff seems to have 

 sprung from the requirements of the Salmon Fishery 

 Act of 1 861. To carry out the regulations over fresh- 

 water fisheries recommended by that Act two in- 

 spectors were appointed, and these were at first 

 attached to the Home Office; a further Act in 1886 

 transferred these inspectors to the Board of Trade, 

 and extended their duties so as to include the pre- 

 paration of annual reports on sea-fisheries. In 1903 

 another transfer took place ; and the inspectors were 

 transferred to the Board of Agriculture, which then 

 became the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. 



At present the central staff consists of an assistant 

 secretary and two inspectors, in addition to a body of 

 statistical experts. Their duties are far too numerous 

 for so small a staff. Much of their time is taken 

 up with the comparatively unimportant freshwater 

 fisheries ; and these are the subject of a separate 

 report. Without actually administering the byelaws 

 of the local committees, they exercise a certain super- 

 vision over their actions. They have to attend 

 numerous inquiries all over the country, and to 

 prepare annual reports ; and they are responsible for 

 the collection of the statistics which have recently 

 assumed so extensive a development. Besides the 

 central authorities at the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, there are local fisheries committees estab- 

 lished by an Act of 1888. 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 a committee shall 

 have jurisdiction. One-half of such a committee is 



