xviii THE SEA FISHERIES 



There remains the alternative of a Central Fishery Board for 

 each country, the chief permanent official being responsible direct 

 lo the Secretary of State. Ireland may well be left out of account, 

 since the Irish will probably be left to settle their own administra- 

 tion ; Scotland already has a model of this kind, and an excellent 

 one it has proved, as reference to the following pages will 

 show. 



A Central Board in each country formed for the special purpose 

 of fisheries administration or a department directly responsible to 

 the Secretary of State are the only possible alternatives if the 

 country is to have a satisfactory scheme. The objections to a 

 Board are almost certainly outweighed by the advantages. In 

 Scotland, at present, the Fishery Board consists of a salaried 

 chairman, who, however, is not a member of the Civil Service, and 

 six additional members (unpaid). Four of the members should be 

 " representative of different branches of the fishing industry," 

 the other three being ex-officio members. The Scottish Depart- 

 mental Committee of 1914 were much interested in the form of 

 central fishery administration of the various North Sea countries. 

 The Committee reported, " In so far as in Scotland we have a 

 separate department for fisheries and not a branch of the ministry 

 of agriculture, we are more fortunate than these countries. From 

 the tendencies visible at work therein, we are convinced that 

 fishery administration is best managed through a department under 

 a minister responsible to Parliament, and our foreign studies have 

 confirmed this view." This strengthens the opinion one had already 

 formed from an independent study of the question, and it is certain 

 that very Uttle improvement in fishery administration is to be 

 expected in England and Wales until a more resourceful Central 

 Authority is established. 



Members of the Scottish Fishery Board hold office for five years, 

 but it has been customary for some time to reappoint the chairman, 

 the scientific and legal members. Other members come and go, 

 and it is evident that the Departmental Committee do not regard 

 this as an unmixed blessing, since they report, " There can be no 

 disguise of the fact, however, that appointments to the Board being 

 made by the Government of the day have the character which all 

 such appointments have," but if the Committee assume that the 

 staffing of other Central Fishery Departments in the British Isles 

 is free from the suspicion of poUtical or social influence, they are 

 labouring under a misapprehension. The Departmental Committee 

 recommend the abolition of the Fishery Board as at present con- 

 stituted. The fishery administration in Scotland should be entrusted 

 to a permanent head, who should be a member of the Civil Service, 



