iii 



Thirtieth Annual Report 



PEOSECUTIONS FOR OTHER OFFENCES. 



Particulars of prosecutions for offences other than illegal trawling 

 will be found in Appendix K, No. III. A large number of the cases 

 refer to contraventions in December, 1910, and January, 1911, of 

 Byelaw No. 19 regulating the gathering of cockles on the Traigh Mhor, 

 B;irra. As stated in last year's Report, this regulation raised difficulties 

 which pointed to the advisability of its modification or repeal, and the 

 question is still under consideration. 



Apart from these, only four cases fall to be recorded. Two trawl- 

 masters were convicted of fishing without lights, one of the offenders 

 being imprisoned for 20 days, and the other for 60 days. Another 

 was fined £30, which was paid, for disobeying the orders of the Com- 

 mander of the F.C. "Noma." The remaining case was of a very 

 serious nature, the charge being that of threatening to run down a 

 boat and crew of fishermen off Fair Isle. Various allegations have 

 been made that the crews of trawlers offer violence to fishermen 

 attempting to procure, particulars which will lead to a prosecution, 

 and it is meet that such violence, or even intimidation, should be 

 followed by condign punishment. In this instance the master of the 

 trawler was sent to prison for three months without the option of a 

 fine. 



CASUALTIES. 



Appendix F, No. III., gives particulars of the number of lives lost 

 and the pecuniary loss sustained through loss of or damage to boats 

 and gear in 1911. 



Forty-two fatal accidents are recorded as having occurred from 

 various causes, being 4 less than in 1910. A regrettable feature is 

 that 7 of these were the result of men or boys being knocked over- 

 board or killed by sails or spars, an increase of 5 under this head as 

 compared with the previous year. A collision with a Leith boat cost 

 two lives. Otherwise the figures show decreases or remain the same. 



Unfortunately, the number of boats totally wrecked was no less 

 than 57, an increase of 30 on the number for 1910. Part of this was 

 due to the severe storm in the early part of November last, and the 

 increased damage to boats and gear may be attributed largely to the 

 same cause. The total sum involved was £140,819 (an addition of 

 £14,515 to the loss sustained in the previous year). 



The figures given above are exclusive of the losses sustained by 

 Scottish fishermen at the English and Irish fishings, which, as will be 

 seen from the reports of the Fishery Officers (Appendix L), were in 

 some cases (especially those of the Peterhead, Buckie, and Findhorn 

 district fleets) exceptionally heavy. 



WHALING. 



The number of companies which have been licensed by the Board, 

 under the Whale Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1907, to engage in whaling 

 is five, four of which are stationed in Shetland and one in the 

 Hebrides. The number of whaling steamers which the companies are 

 entitled to employ has been fixed at 11, and consequently does not 

 vary from year to year, but their aggregate tonnage and value show 



