of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xvii 



abortive, the innate individualism of the Scottish fishermen proving 

 to be too deeply rooted to be overcome by the arguments put forward 

 in favour of the co-operative idea. 



In the meantime no time was lost in taking up the question of boat- 

 building, and enquiries having shown that the shortage of boats 

 was most acute in the Clyde, a specification of a model Lochfyne motor 

 skiff was drawn up and tenders to build were invited from a number 

 of boat-building firms experienced in the construction of this type of 

 vessel. 



On the tenders being received it was found that the cost of a boat 

 and motor of the type in view would be about £1 1 00. By this time also 

 the situation in the fishing industry in the Clyde had undergone a radical 

 change owing to the consistently poor quality of the herrings obtained. 

 The season had been exceptionally unfortunate, many men having been 

 compelled to seek other forms of employment in order to obtain a 

 hvelihood, and it was found that none of the fishermen was now pre- 

 pared to undertake the heavy responsibility of taking a vessel at so 

 high a price. The Board had therefore no alternative but to decline 

 the tenders. 



They remained nevertheless convinced that assistance in some 

 form was still a pressing necessity, and as it was clear that the stip- 

 ulations which had been laid down as a condition of the advance were 

 too rigid, in view of the changed position of matters in the fishing in- 

 dustry, it was decided to apply for a relaxation of the conditions to 

 enable loans to be made direct, and to assist fishermen in installing 

 motors in existing sailing boats, to purchase suitable second-hand 

 motor boats, or to build boats to their own specification. 



A representation on these fines was accordingly made to the 

 Development Commissioners, at which stage the matter rested at 

 the close of the year. 



Disposal op Admiralty Vessels to Ex-Service Fishermen. 



At the end of the war the Admiralty were left with a large number of 

 steam trawlers and drifters, either completed or in course of construc- 

 tion, which had been ordered for naval purposes, but which were no 

 longer required, and with a view to recognising the valuable services 

 which had been rendered by fishermen during the war, it was proposed 

 that fishermen who had been on service should be afforded an oppor- 

 tunity of acquiring them on reasonable terms. 



This proposal was remitted to a sub-committee of the Admiralty 

 Reconstructiqn Committee (of which the Board's Secretary was a 

 member) by whom the question of the most suitable basis for a scheme 

 such as that in view was exhaustively considered. 



A number of conferences of representatives of the Departments 

 concerned were subsequently held in London, and it was ultimately 

 arranged that 160 drifters should be transferred by the Admiralty to 

 the Fishery Departments for sale to ex-service fishermen on the in- 

 stalment system, and that 200 trawlers should be offered on similar 

 terms to a company to be formed of ex-service fishermen. 

 . It was agreed that the drifters should be divided between the Board 

 and the English Fishery Department in the ratio of 3:2, and the Board 

 immediately proceecjed to draw up a detailed scheme for the disposal of 

 h 



