42 



Thirty -ninth Annual Report 



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 

 separate occasions on which those trawlers were observed, for the 

 thirteen years ending 19 th October last : — 



Nationality 



Before Act 

 in Operation. 



After Act in Operation. 



1907-8. 



1908-9. 



1909-10. 



1910-11. 



1911 



-12. 



1912-13. 



1913-14. 



1918-19. 



1919-20. 



of Trawlers. 









































02 



03 



S3 



02 

 U 



m 





a 



2 



B> 



c 



oi 



m 

 S3 





03 



a 



05 



02 



c 



50 



02* 



i 



02* 



02 



d 





© 



O 



© 



O 



© 



O 



© 



o 



© 



O 



© 



o 



© 



o 



© 



o 



© 



o 







02 

 C(3 





on 





0» 



c« 





02 

 ci 





m 



ce 



1 



02 



a 





s 





02 



* 



02 





s 



o 





g 







u 



© 



g 



o 





o 





o 





o 









H 



© 

 O 



EH 



o 

 O 



EH 



o 

 O 



EH 



O 



H 



o 

 O 



H 



© 

 O 



EH 



o 



EH 



© 

 O 



EH 



© 



O 



Norwegian 



16 



171 



13 



112 



7 



103 



8 



141 



7 



84 



6 



112 



6 



87 











Swedish - 



1 



3 







1 



1 



1 



8 



8 



28 



2 



7 















Danish .... 



8 



25 



16 



99 



9 



60 



1 



10 



2 



14 



4 



47 



5 



44 











Total Scandinavian 



25 



199 



29 



211 



17 



164 



10 



159 



17 



126 



12 



166 



11 



131 











German - 



1 



2 



1 



1 



5 



12 



16 



33 



28 



55 



15 



21 



15 



27 







1 



1 



Dutch .... 



2 



2 



6 



8 



7 



15 



11 



15 



10 



24 



13 



29 



21 



58 







5 



7 



Belgian - 



8 



27 



10 



19 



9 



26 



3 



6 



5 



18 



6 



16 



15 



58 



i 



i 



9 



21 



Total 



11 



31 



17 



28 



21 



53 



30 



~^4~ 



43 



97 



34 



66 



51 



143 



l 



i 



15 



29 



Grand Total 



36 



230 



46 



239 



38 



217 



40 



213 



60 



223 



46 



232 



62 



274 



l 



i 



15 



29 



War operations effectively closed the Firth to foreign trawlers, 

 and it was not until some time after the termination of hostilities 

 that the first foreign vessel appeared, this being a Belgian trawler, 

 which was observed in September 1919. During 1920 foreign 

 trawlers commenced to reappear with greater frequency, but it may 

 be noted that the pseudo-Scandinavian element, against which the 

 Act of 1909 was principally aimed, is no longer present. These 

 Scandinavian vessels worked all the year round, but the Belgian and 

 Dutch vessels practically confine their operations to the limited 

 period during which the cod shoals are present. 



The Firth of Clyde is the only other closed area in Scottish waters 

 which has been frequented by foreign trawlers, and trawling there 

 practically ceased with the passing of the Act. ISTo foreign trawlers 

 were observed at work in the Firth of Clyde during the period. 



Fish landed in the United Kingdom in contravention of the Act 

 is liable to confiscation by the Customs Authorities, but only four 

 such cases have come under the notice of the Board since the 

 passing of the Act. 



Enquiries into Complaints of Damage to Boats or Gear. 



Complaints by fishermen of damage to their boats or gear by 

 other fishing vessels, investigated by the Board's fishery officers 

 during the year, numbered 22, representing a decrease of 14 as 

 compared with the figures for 1914, the last year in which the 

 information was published. In 10 of the cases dealt with, the 

 officers succeeded in arranging matters amicably, with the result that a 

 total of £86, 10s. was recovered as compensation for damage caused. 

 In the remainder of the cases, with the exception of 2, which have 



