xiv 



Thirty-seventh Annual Report 



Other questions which had to be dealt with were the relaxation 

 of trawling restrictions in the interests of the food supply, the valua- 

 tion of drifters lost on Admiralty Service, compensation in respect 

 of drifter gear requisitioned by the Admiralty, and many other matters 

 arising out of the relations between the Admiralty and the fishing 

 fleet. 



The safety of the fishing fleets was naturally the subject of the 

 most careful consideration, and no efforts were spared, by the dis- 

 semination of information as to suspicious vessels, hostile submarines, 

 mines, etc., by furnishing the Admiralty each week with particulars 

 of the principal fishing grounds and the number of vessels working on 

 each, and by the elaboration of schemes of protection, to achieve 

 the desired end. 



Another phase of the Board's work was that relating to the pro- 

 vision of the raw material required by the industry. As is well 

 known, it became necessary, as the strain upon the national resources 

 increased, to control the use of various materials the supply of which 

 was limited, and to institute a system of priority certificates whereby 

 work was classified according to its national importance. The fishing 

 industry, in common with others, was affected by this system, and 

 the Board accordingly became the intermediary between the trade 

 and the Ministry of Munitions and other Departments concerned 

 in all matters relating to the manufacture or release of materials, 

 e.g. motor engines, wood for fish-boxes, oil-fuel, curing materials, 

 tin-plate for fish-canning, etc., etc., required in the prosecution of 

 the industry. 



Many of the problems which arose in the course of the war were 

 delegated to Committees for solution. Of those which dealt with 

 matters affecting the Scottish fisheries the following, on which the 

 Board were represented, may be mentioned : — 



1. Cured Fish Committee. — This Committee, of which the Board's 

 Secretary was a member, was appointed in 1917 to acquire, control, 

 and distribute stocks of cured fish. 



2. Scottish Sea Fisheries Committee. — This Committee was ap- 

 pointed in 1917 to consider the means by which the greatest quantity 

 of food could be made available from the Scottish Sea Fisheries. The 

 Board were represented thereon by Provost Malcolm Smith and their 

 Secretary. 



3. Scottish Fresh-Water Fisheries Committee, appointed in 1917 

 to consider to what extent and in what manner the food-supply could 

 be augmented by fresh fish. Of this committee the Marquess of 

 Breadalbane, K.G., was Chairman, and Mr. W. L. Calderwood, In- 

 spector of Salmon Fisheries, was a member. 



4. Demobilisation of Fishermen and Fishing Vessels Committee, 

 composed of representatives of the Admiralty and the Fishery Depart- 

 ments, on which the Board were represented by their Secretary. 



5. Food Investigation Board, established at the close of 1917, to 

 organise and control research into the preparation and preservation 

 of foods. The Board's Secretary was appointed an Assesssor to this 

 Body, and he and Ex-Provost Smith were appointed members of the 

 Committee of this Board appointed to deal with fish. 



6. Distribution of Fish Committee, formed in 1918 to consider 



