INTRODUCTION xvii 



in the former case with Agriculture and Technical Instruction (in 

 congested districts the Congested Districts Board), in the latter with 

 Agriculture. Which of these three methods is to be preferred ? 



In England the fisheries were formerly at the Home Office ; in 

 1886 they were transferred to the Board of Trade and finally in 1903 

 to the Board of Agriculture. In 1919 the Board of Agriculture was 

 organised in five divisions : Land, Intelligence, Statistics, Animals 

 and Fisheries, each in charge of an Assistant Secretary. The associa- 

 tion of Agriculture and Fisheries in a maritime country like England 

 is a mistake, and probably arose from an erroneous analogy with 

 those countries, e.g. Russia and Sweden, in which the fresh-water 

 or inland fisheries predominate, and where the two departments 

 are combiaed. There can be no question but that this unnatural 

 association has reacted unfavourably on the fisheries and should 

 be terminated at the first favourable opportunity. The Board of 

 Trade having been already tried and found wanting, there remain 

 two alternatives. Either the Fisheries Department should become 

 a subordinate department at the Admiralty or it should be a separate 

 department, the head of which, a permanent Civil Servant, should 

 be responsible direct to the Home Secretary. 



There is a good deal to be said in favour of transferring the 

 Fisheries to the Admiralty. It is impossible to ignore the value of 

 fishermen to a country whose first line of defence is the Navy, and 

 it must not be forgotten that in modern naval warfare there is 

 much of the greatest value that can be done by fishermen, 

 even though they have not been trained in the Navy or Naval 

 Reserve. 



There is, however, one great, and in the writer's opinion fatal, 

 objection to the transfer of the administration of the fisheries to the 

 Admiralty, and that is the extent of the burden the latter has to 

 bear. At the most favourable interpretation the Fisheries would 

 be a small and relatively unimportant department, and its adminis- 

 tration would come to be regarded as a perquisite of the less brilliant 

 members of the Admiralty staff. Moreover, naval discipline is hardly 

 suited to the needs of the fisheries, which at the present time require 

 encouragement, not repression. If we regard the normal life of a 

 nation as peaceful, then the normal activities of fishermen must 

 be the catching of fish. If in spite of this, preparations of a war-like 

 nature have to be made in times of peace, then fishermen, like other 

 classes of the community, must take their share of such preparations. 

 But to admit that this must be the main occupation of the fisherman 

 is to despair of the future. For these reasons, which might be 

 developed at greater length, one is inclined to reject the association 

 of Fisheries administration with the Admiralty. 



