36 



Thirty -ninth Annual Report 



2. to enable fishermen to instal motor engines in existing sailing 



boats; and 



3. to enable fishermen to purchase efficient second-hand motor 



boats, on the understanding that loans for this purpose 

 would be made only in exceptional circumstances. 



It was, however, stipulated that the fishermen should be required 

 themselves to contribute a substantial proportion of the cost of the 

 boats. 



Notwithstanding the concessions made, the applications for loans 

 have been much less numerous than was anticipated. The condition 

 of the industry, and particularly the high prices of boats, engines and 

 gear, have deterred ex-service fishermen, for whose benefit the scheme 

 was chiefly designed, from undertaking the obligations involved, while 

 the majority of the applicants have been unable to comply with the 

 requirement that they must themselves contribute part of the cost of 

 the boat or engine they desire to acquire. 



In four cases loans amounting in all to £1095 have been actually 

 advanced over boats and engines costing £1418. In four other cases 

 loans amounting to £782 over boats and engines to cost £1157 have 

 been negotiated. 



Grants for Civil Liabilities. 



As mentioned in the Board's last report, the administration of the 

 scheme of Government grants to enable ex-service men to resume 

 their civil occupation is entrusted to the Military Service (Civil 

 Liabilities) Department, but by an arrangement made at the request 

 of that Department all claims for compensation lodged by Scottish 

 fishermen are referred to the Board, and a recommendation in 

 each case is made by them after investigation by their local Officer. 



Early in the year the Boaifa also undertook the responsibility of 

 ensuring, again through their local Officers, that the amounts granted 

 were expended to the best advantage in equipping the grantees for 

 fishing. Up to the end of 1920, 1438 applications had been referred 

 to the Board for investigation, and grants had been made in 688 of 

 those cases amounting in all to £20,700. 



Oyster Fishery Development. 



The resuscitation of the Scottish oyster fisheries was one of the 

 problems which the Board had under consideration immediately prior 

 to, but which had to be deferred on account of the outbreak of war. 

 These fisheries were at one time perhaps the most important in 

 Europe, furnishing supplies not only for local needs, but also for 

 export to England and Holland. Now, with the exception of that in 

 Loch Kyan, they are either moribund or extinct, a state of matters 

 which is due in a great measure to reckless over-fishing and absence 

 of regulation. 



Attempts have been made from time to time to revive the 

 Scottish oyster fisheries, but these have been uniformly unsuccessful, 

 owing to the fact that the operations, often ill judged, have been 

 conducted on too small a scale, and with an insufficient expenditure 

 of capital and energy. But provided operations are conducted on an 

 adequate scale, backed by expert knowledge, the Board are sanguine 



