of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



7 



shipping for the importation of salt and stave wood for barrels, when 

 the shortage of these essentials threatened to bring herring curing 

 operations to a stop, they have been instrumental in relieving the 

 situation. In the case of the home markets they have also taken an 

 important part, as a perusal of Chapter V. will show, in matters of 

 transport and distribution. 



At the close of the year the outlook, although still dark, was not 

 one of unrelieved gloom. The monopoly which had been created by 

 the German Government over the importation of cured herrings had 

 been removed, which promised to give a decided impetus to trade 

 with that country, and signs were not wanting that the resumption 

 of trade with Eussia, the other great herring consuming country, 

 might soon be possible. This was the more welcome in that the 

 Government had definitely made it known that no further financial 

 assistance would be forthcoming. The first signs of a downward 

 trend in the prices of material had also become manifest, and there 

 was reason to anticipate some reduction in the heavy burden of the 

 cost of production. 



What the future may hold in store for the industry none can 

 say with certainty, but while it may be unwise to indulge in undue 

 optimism, the Board do not doubt that the energy and enterprise 

 which founded and developed the British fisheries will again triumph 

 over difficulties, and that the industry will eventually emerge from 

 its travail with renewed stability and strength. 



The survey given in the succeeding chapters of this report of the 

 Board's administrative activities is by no means exhaustive, and to 

 those who are unfamiliar with the inner workings of the industry the 

 wide ramifications of these activities may be interesting. In many 

 instances social legislation directly affects those engaged in the 

 industry, and in the course of the year the Board were called upon to 

 advise on the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Bill, the 

 Hours of Employment Bill, and the Workmen's Compensation Bill. 

 They were also consulted with regard to the extension to Scotland of 

 certain of the provisions of Part IV. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 

 1894, while their Chairman also attended, in an advisory capacity, the 

 International Labour Conference held at Genoa to discuss conditions 

 of labour, including those prevailing in the fishing industry. Other 

 questions dealt with, to name only a few, embraced such diverse 

 matters as the claims to be made against Germany in respect of the 

 loss of fishing vessels, the proposed improvement of the Crinan 

 Canal, the training of British seamen as whalers, the housing and 

 welfare of fiah workers, the deposit at sea of explosives and of waste 

 material from industrial processes, and the classification of occupations 

 for the purposes of the census. 



The Board desire to draw special attention to one question which 

 has come up again in an acute form since the termination of the 



