of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 21 



to be regarded by investigators and administrators as a model of 

 what such statistics should be. 



The Board's system of publishing intelligence as to the progress 

 of the important herring fishery prosecuted in Scotland is also regarded 

 as abreast of modern tendencies, but there is still room for improve- 

 ment provided the necessary funds and start are made available. 



During the course of the fishing daily telegrams are exchanged 

 between the officers intimating the extent of the fishing, the prices 

 current, and the position of the grounds in which the fish was being 

 obtained, and duplicates are sent to the head office. 



At the end of each week telegrams are sent by each District Officer 

 to the Board giving the catch of the week, the quantity cured, the 

 number of barrels branded under each brand, the quantity exported, 

 and the countries to which exported. This information is tabulated, 

 and a statement of the totals for the East Coast, Orkney and Shetland, 

 and the West Coast respectively is sent for publication to the 

 Press. 



A statement is aiso issued at the end of each month showing the 

 quantity of cured herrings of each description in stock in this country. 



Information is also received from Germany, Holland, Norway, and 

 Sweden, giving particulars, in so far as those countries are concerned, 

 of the catch, cure, and export of herrings and other seafish, and this 

 is also issued to the Press for the information of those interested. 



The publication of such information in the Press depends, however, 

 upon the convenience and the exigencies of the time and space at 

 the disposal of the various newspapers, many of which do not circulate 

 extensively among those most directly interested. The Board there- 

 fore have had long in contemplation a publication of their own in 

 order to make all the information at their disposal directly available 

 to those engaged in the various branches of the fishing industry, 

 but hitherto they have not been enabled to succeed in this object for 

 the lack of funds. 



The Board, however, are convinced that an official publication 

 devoted to the interests of the industry is essential to its full develop- 

 ment, and they trust that the importance of providing the necessary 

 funds will be fully appreciated. 



(b) Fishery Research. — There can be no doubt that scientific 

 researches conducted on practical lines and particularly (1) the estab- 

 lishment of an experimental laboratory and the appointment thereto 

 of a chemist or chemists who would conduct experiments into the 

 most effective methods of preserving fish and the extraction and 

 utilisation of bv-products, and other cognate subjects of a practical 

 character, and (2) researches or experiments in connection with the 

 development of the inshore fisheries, embracing the artificial hatching 

 of lobsters on the West Coast, and the revival of the once valuable 

 Scottish shell fisheries, especially those for oysters, mussels, and 

 cockles, would be of incalculable benefit to the industry. 



The provision ot a properly equipped trawler of greater size and 

 power than the vessel hitherto employed, and the utilisation ot com- 

 mercial fishing vessels for the deep sea investigations and the ex- 

 ploitation of new fishing grounds — a most important factor in develop- 

 ment — and improved methods of fishing, and of a suitable motor 

 launch for investigation of the minor or inshore fisheries would be 



