THE RISE OF THE HERRING FISHERIES 119 



sea who would, in all probability, not otherwise have been so 

 trained. The places from whence this fishery is carried on have 

 increased in wealth and numbers, and have not been backward, 

 during the last war, in furnishing their quotas to the manning of 

 the Navy. Your Committee are not prepared to recommend to 

 this House the discontinuing immediately the bounty on the buss 

 fishery ; for, as many people have embarked their property in 

 this trade, it may be advisable to continue the bounty for some 

 time longer, till the effect of other measures shall be known." 



Four reports on the state of the British Fisheries were made by a 

 Committee of the House in 1786. All these reports were brief, and 

 to some extent concerned with other fisheries than those for herring. 

 Recommendations were, however, made to the effect that part of 

 the bounties paid to the busses should be tonnage, and part for the 

 herring actually caught. The boat fisheries for herriag were also 

 recommended for participation in the bounty system. Both these 

 suggestions were incorporated in the Act of Parliament passed in 

 the following year. 



The next Parliamentary Committee was that of 1798-1800, 

 appointed to inquire into the state of the British Herring Fishery, 

 the most effectual means of its extension and improvement, and on 

 the means of procuring a plentiful supply of fish during the high 

 price of provisions. This Committee made three reports in 1798, 

 one in 1799 and two in 1800. 



By this time the herring buss fishery had become firmly established, 

 as the following statistics, presented to the Committee, show. 



Annual Average Statistics of the Herring Buss Fishery, 

 1762-1796, Scotland 



The first report of 1798 merely proposes an extension of the 

 existing legislation until 1st March, 1799. The second report 

 contains the evidence and papers arranged under nine headings, 

 viz. the buss fishery, the boat fishery, the Liverpool and Yarmouth 

 fisheries, miscellaneous relating to British fisheries in general, the 



