STATE AID AND FISHERY RESEARCH 249 



The scheme must have been in preparation at the time Mr. 

 Runciman's Committee were considering their report, which was 

 published in January, 1914, since it was received by the Develop 

 ment Commissioners in December, 1913. 



The contributions of the Scottish and Irish Departments to the 

 general scheme are, as might have been anticipated from bodies 

 which have done such excellent scientific work in the past, of 

 practical utility and, considering the importance of the issues 

 involved, of modest expenditure. The position in England and 

 Wales is complicated by the fact that there local statutory bodies 

 exist, some of whom have for years carried out fairly extensive 

 schemes of scientific investigation. These bodies, moreover, were 

 the first to recognise the bearing of the Development Act on the 

 future of scientific fishery investigation, and to apply for financial 

 assistance. When the Board's first scheme was submitted to the 

 Development Commissioners, all these local bodies were ignored, 

 in spite of the fact that several of them had been successfully 

 undertaking fishery research for years. Although the Board 

 endeavoured to assure them that their schemes, or the essential 

 portions, at any rate, were incorporated in the Board's scheme, the 

 Commissioners pointed out that the Board's scheme " in no sense 

 covered " the local applications. 



The revised scheme of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 contemplates the expenditure of £60,000 the first year, and over 

 £25,000 per annum afterwards. Of this only £6,000 a year is to be 

 devoted to all the local authorities in England and Wales, the 

 remainder being absorbed by the Board. The local authorities 

 who have not been in any way consulted in the preparation of this 

 revised scheme, and who were deceived by the Board on the first 

 occasion, are naturally anxious for the future of scientific investi- 

 gations, which have in at least one instance been carried on con- 

 tinuously for over twenty years. In addition to the £26,000 a year 

 the Board expect under this scheme, there is the expenditure on 

 England's share of the international investigations which amounts 

 for the financial year 1914-5 to £7,530. The only hope of the local 

 authorities is in the fairness and impartiality of the Development 

 Commissioners, who fortunately are not at all likely to act in a 

 hasty or injudicious manner. 



It is obvious from this brief summary of the pre-war conditions 

 that the proposals outlined in the Introductory Chapter (p. xxiii) 

 for the establishment of a Central Fishery Council are an urgent 

 necessity, if in the future scientific research is to be properly carried 

 out in relation to the British Sea Fisheries. 



