of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



li 



detections made in Shetland, 22 falling to be tried in 1911 and only 

 2 in 1910, although 6 of the 22 were cases held over from the 

 previous year. Of these 22 cases, no less than 14 referred to offences 

 committed off Fair Isle, all of which (with one exception) were reported 

 by the islanders themselves. Again, 12 British trawlers were detected 

 in the Moray Firth in 1911, as contrasted with 3 in 1910. On the 

 other hand, only 3 detections were made in the Firth of Forth and 

 St. Andrews Bay area, as against 10 in the preceding year. On the 

 North and West Coast (including the Firth of Clyde) illegal trawling 

 was reduced almost to a minimum, only 4 cases being reported. The 

 prosecutions in two of the Moray Firth cases had to be deserted owing 

 to technical flaws in the evidence. 



Apart from cases involving foreigners, which are dealt with in the 

 next paragraph, there were 45 prosecutions of British trawlers in which 

 convictions were obtained. The total fines imposed in these instances 

 amounted to £3135, of which £956 18s. 4d. was paid, the majority of 

 the accused having chosen to go to prison. It is interesting to note that 

 in the 14 Fair Isle cases the maximum penalty of £100 was awarded 

 in all except two cases, the average fine being £94-6 ; in the other 8 

 Shetland cases the average fine was £44*4 ; while in the 23 cases 

 referring to other parts of Scotland it was £63 3. It will thus be 

 gathered that, except as regards Fair Isle cases, the imposition of the 

 maximum penalty has been rather exceptional. 



The 6 prosecutions of foreigners were all for offences in the Moray 

 Firth. Three of these referred to the same vessel, but in one of the 

 three the charge was found " not proven." Some of the cases were 

 tried under the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Acts, 1889 and 1890 ; 

 others under the Sea Fisheries Act, 1883, Section 7, and the Fisheries 

 Act, 1891, Section 5. Under the former Acts the maximum 

 penalty is £100 or 60 days' imprisonment, with forfeiture 

 vi statuti of the gear in use, and under the latter £10 (£20 for a 

 second offence), with forfeiture of all fish and fishing gear on board 

 at the time of the offence. One of the convictions secured under the 

 1883 Act was afterwards quashed on appeal on the ground that the 

 ten-mile limit across Ba}^s laid down by the North Sea Convention 

 of 1882 cannot be applied to Norway, which is not a signatory to the 

 Convention. There thus remained four cases in which convictions 

 were enforced — two under each of the above sets of Acts, fines to the 

 amount of £220 being imposed and paid, and fish to the net value of 

 £139 being confiscated under the 1891 Act. 



The total sum realised for the sale of gear forfeited (including both 

 British and foreign trawlers), was £222 17s. 



Sixteen of the detections were made by fishermen or private 

 individuals (13 at Fair Isle, as indicated above), 11 by the F.C. 

 £: Freya." 10 by H.M.S. " Gossamer," 6 by the F.C. " Brenda," 4 by the 

 F.C. "Noma," 2 each by the F.C. "Vigilant" and the Coastguard, Wick, 

 and 1 each by H.M.S. "ftingdove" and the F.C. "Minna." 



Appendix K, No. IV., is a summary of details of prosecutions for 

 illegal trawling undertaken from 1886 to 1911. During that period 

 747 prosecutions have been instituted, in 677 of which a conviction 

 was obtained. The fines imposed amount to £33,350 5s., of which 

 £14,367 5s. 6d. has been paid. 



