" RECONSTRUCTION " xxix 



curing and by-product factories. It is further stated that there 

 were before the war 25,000 fried fish shops in the country which 

 employed 50,000 persons and distributed 150,000 tons of fish 

 annually, that is 18 per cent of the total fish consumption of the 

 country. As examples, Bradford and Sheffield are given, in the 

 former £8,000 and in the latter £20,000 a week are spent in fried 

 fish shops ; " 560,000 square meals in two towns." 



The Association appeal for State help in four main directions : 

 Improved methods of capture, discovery and charting of new 

 fishing grounds, industrial experiment and international research, 

 the latter including the regeneration of impoverished grounds. 



It is thought that the requirements of the fishing trade will 

 best be met by the establishment of a Ministry of Fisheries, and 

 previous suggestions for a National Fisheries Authority are quoted. 

 But here the statements are of an ex parte nature, though as this 

 question has already been fully dealt with in this book it is un- 

 necessary to recapitulate the arguments. 



The outlines of the Association's recommendations are : — 



A Minister of Fisheries with a Chief Secretary. The Ministry 

 to consist of eight main branches. Departments of Marine, In- 

 telligence, Trade, Research, Industry, Finance, Training and 

 Inland Fisheries. 



The relations of this proposed new Ministry to existing organisa- 

 tions is not worked out fully ; but presumably the present Fisheries 

 branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries is to constitute 

 the nucleus of it. 



In short, the Fisheries branch of the Board is to be born again, 

 and in the ©Deration is presumably to acauire all those desirable 



