THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM TRAWLING 149 



ing table gives particulars of voyages of a few Dutch trawlers in 

 the months mentioned : — 



Returns of Dutch Trawlers 



In these two months the average quantity per day for the North 

 Sea was 20-4 cwt., and for Iceland, 46-8 cwt. 



Prior to the discovery of the distant grounds there was a great 

 outcry among the steam trawlers at the destruction caused by 

 unrestricted fishing in the North Sea ; and the Government was 

 frequently and persistently urged to introduce legislation to remedy 

 the mischief. With the opening up of profitable ventures in remoter 

 regions, the outcry of the trawlers died away, and the tales of pitiful 

 distress were hushed for the time being. Signs are, however, not 

 wanting that the unrestricted fishing of the virgin grounds of the 

 distant regions is producing its inevitable effect, and we may hear 

 much more in the future of trade crises. 



It is difficult to fix the time when the complaint of overfishing 

 in the North Sea was first reasonably put forward. The Royal 

 Commission on Irish Fisheries of 1837 s-'^d the Royal Commission 

 on Herring Trawling (Scotland) 1863, are not relevant in this 

 connection. In 1863 the attention of Parliament was directed to 

 the condition of the Sea Fisheries, and in that year a Royal Com- 

 mission was appointed to inquire whether or not the value of the 

 fisheries was increasing, stationary or decreasing ; whether or not 

 the existing methods of fishing caused permanent injury to the 

 fishing grounds, and whether an extension of existing legislation 

 was necessary. There were then practically no steam trawlers in 

 the North Sea or anywhere else, and probably the maximum 

 number of fishing smacks engaged in trawling in that area did not 

 exceed 700. The Commissioners found, in our opinion rightly, 

 that trawling in the open sea was not wastefuUy destructive, and 

 required no legislative interference, for, if any ground were over- 

 fished the fishing there would become unprofitable, and the trawlers 

 would go elsewhere. 



The Buckland-Walpole Commission was appointed in 1878. 

 Before this Commission, as before that of 1863, allegations of the 

 destructiveness of trawling were made, but it should be noted that 

 they were again made by non-trawlers. The chief point they 

 endeavoured to establish was that the trawl destroyed the eggs or 



