THE INSHORE FISHERIES 177 



saying that every endeavour should be made to arrest the falling 

 off in the numbers of this class of men." The Committee consider 

 that it would be an impossible task to recreate such communities 

 of inshore fishermen as at present exist, if once they were allowed 

 to disappear. At the outset a difficulty was met with. It was 

 impossible to arrive at any authoritative conclusion as to the exact 

 produce of the inshore fisheries as distinct from the deep-sea fisheries, 

 and as to the number of boats and men engaged in them at the 

 present time compared with ten years ago. This is to be at- 

 tributed to the faulty method of collecting statistics adopted by 

 the Central Authority. The general trend of the evidence, how- 

 ever, was to the effect that, while in some parts of the coast the 

 industry is fairly holding its own, in many places there is distinct 

 evidence of decline. The Committee give specific instances of 

 difficulties under which inshore fishermen labour. In the case of 

 Church Ope, Portland Bill and King's Lynn, these refer to in- 

 sufficient and inadequate landing and berthing facilities, and as 

 there is a distinct tendency subsequently in the report to blame the 

 local fishery committees for all the evils under which the inshore 

 fisherman suffers, it may be permissible to point out that the 

 remedy in the specific cases mentioned above was in the hands of 

 the Central Authority. 



Having regard to the difficulties under which the inshore fisher- 

 man plies his calling, the Committee are surprised that the general 

 condition is not worse than it is. The decline is attributed by the 

 fishermen to a number of causes. The chief complaints made were : 

 (i) The falling off in the quantities of fish. (2) The operations of 

 steam trawlers. (3) The destruction of undersized fish. (4) Depre- 

 dations by sea birds. (5) Inadequate prices obtained for the fish. 

 (6) Excessive railway rates. (7) The discharge of sewage. (8) 

 Complaints of one class of fisherman against another. 



The Committee deal with these and other complaints in some 

 detail, but owing to the lack of expert knowledge on the part of the 

 members of the Committee such treatment is inadequate and 

 unconvincing. The complaint as to there being less fish caught 

 now than formerly is of very long standing, and throughout the 

 inquiry the complaint was constantly reiterated, though unfortu- 

 nately it cannot be subjected to the test of figures. The Committee 

 report, " The system adopted by the Central Department for the 

 collection of statistics . . . doesnot provide sufficient discrimination." 



The paramount reason adduced by fishermen for the relative 

 poverty of their catches was depletion due to steam trawling. The 

 Committee state, " The complaint was as vehement as it was 

 universal." 



