LEGISLATION AND THE SEA FISHERIES 167 



a superintendent and over thirty fishery officers, with a large 

 policing steamer and an annual income of thousands of pounds ; 

 while, on the other hand, there are committees with one fishery 

 officer and an income of £200 a year or less. Now it is obvious that 

 however much a committee with an income of this kind may desire 

 to protect or encourage the coastal fisheries, it is, for financial 

 reasons alone, entirely helpless. The remedy is for the isolated 

 committees to amalgamate, as they are empowered or authorised 

 to do under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act of 1888, so that three 

 or, at the most, four large committees might be formed with the 

 power and the means to carry out the regulations for the protection 

 of the inshore fisheries. 



As an example of a large committee one may quote the Lancashire 

 and Western. Originally formed as a Committee for the County of 

 Lancaster for the protection of the fisheries of that county, it has 

 been extended gradually until it comprises a good part of the west 

 coast, and is by far the largest fishery committee in the country. 

 The Committee is constituted by an Order of the Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries under the provisions of the Sea Fisheries 

 Regulation Act of 1888. Its finances are provided by a local rate, 

 limited to a maximum of one-sixteenth of a penny in the pound, 

 and levied over an area, the rateable value of which is at present a 

 little more than 34 million. The contributing authorities are the 

 County Councils of Lancashire, Cheshire, Flint, Denbigh, Carnarvon, 

 Anglesea, Merioneth and Cardigan, together with the County 

 Boroughs of Barrow, Birkenhead, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, 

 Burnley, Bury, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Preston, 

 Rochdale, Salford, St. Helens, Southport, Stockport, Wallasey, 

 Warrington and Wigan. All these bodies are represented on the 

 Joint Committee which meets at Chester. The following Boards 

 of Salmon Conservators are also represented : The Kent, Bela, 

 Winster, Leven and Duddon ; the Lune, Wyre, Keer and Cocker ; 

 the Ribble ; the Dee ; the Clwyd and Elwy ; the Conway ; the 

 Seiont ; the Dovey, Mawddach and Glaslyn ; the Ayron ; the 

 Teify and the South Carnarvonshire Board. In addition the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries nominates a number of representatives 

 of the fishing interests of the district so that the full Committee 

 consists of no less than eighty-four members. The Joint Committee 

 has jurisdiction over the territorial waters from Cumberland to 

 I'embrokeshire, with a length of coast-line measured round the 

 larger bays and estuaries, but not up the rivers of 441 statute mUes. 

 The income of the Committee for police work and scientific investi- 

 gations into the sea fisheries is about £10,000 per annum. The 

 Committee employ several scientists, who are stationed either at 



