36 



Fortieth Annual Report 



the additions to the number of trawlers of the drifter type at work 

 during the year also added to the responsibilities of the patrol fleet, 

 as vessels of this class are not large enough or powerful enough for 

 regular deep sea trawling under bad weather conditions in the open 

 waters round Scotland. The introduction of the Danish seine-net 

 led to very heavy calls on the cruisers, as encroachments on the 

 waters closed to this method of fishing were very numerous during 

 the latter part of the year, particularly in the Moray Firth, The 

 majority of the detections in the Moray Firth area had reference to 

 this method of fishing. 



2. Prosecutions for Illegal Trawling. 



During the year 132 prosecutions were instituted for illegal trawl- 

 ing (including ordinary seine and Danish seine net fishing) round the 

 Scottish coasts. Convictions were obtained in 122 cases ; in 5 cases 

 verdicts of " not proven " were given, in 3 cases the defendants were 

 found " not guilty," and 2 cases were dropped. No foreign vessels 

 were detected illegally fishing. 



The fines imposed in the 122 convictions ranged from 10s. to 

 £100, with an average of £42 for each conviction. 



3. Prosecutions for other Offences. 



The number of prosecutions of masters of fishing vessels for 

 offences other than illegal trawling was 33, and in all 31 convictions 

 were secured. Of the total number of prosecutions 28 were tried in 

 conjunction with illegal fishing offences. Particulars of the offences 

 are as follow: — contraventions of the Eegulations for Preventing 

 Collisions at Sea and Eules as to Signals of Distress — 15 ; con- 

 traventions of the Eegulations for the Eegistry, Lettering and 

 Numbering of British Sea Fishing Boats — 12 ; breaches of the weekly 

 close time for herring fishing on the West Coast — 4 ; refusal to 

 comply with the orders of a Sea Fishery Officer — 1 ; and failure to 

 carry the ship's register on board — 1. 



The fines imposed in the above cases ranged from £1 to £100. 



4. Trawling in Prohibited Areas Prevention Act, 1909. 



This Act, which was passed with a view to excluding foreign 

 trawlers from working in waters intra fauces of Scotland, ex- 

 tended to the whole of the United Kingdom those provisions of 

 the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act, 1889, which rendered illegal 

 the landing or selling in Scotland of any fish taken by trawlers in 

 prohibited areas. The administration of the Act is vested conjointly 

 in the Board and the Customs authorities. 



The Moray Firth is the largest and most important area coming 

 within the operation of the Act, and the following table gives (1) 

 particulars of the number of different foreign trawlers reported as 

 having been observed working in the Firth, and (2) the number of 



