§ MR. VERNON (Ayrshire, S.)asked the Lord Advocate, If his attention has been called to the hardships inflicted upon the local fishermen of Ballantrae, Ayrshire, whose industry is stated to have almost collapsed owing to the operations of heavy English trawling vessels, which, with their beam trawls, destroy the fishing gear of the set net and long line fishermen, besides tearing up the spawning beds; and, whether the Board of Trade will cause inquiry to be made into these allegations, and also into the feasibility of having a line of demarcation drawn within which it shall not be lawful for trawlers to enter the Firth of Clyde?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. H. A. MACDONALD) (Edinburgh and St. Andrews Universities)My attention has been called to this matter. As regards any past offences by destroying nets and lines, no remedy is possible unless the port initial and registry numbers of the offending vessels have been ascertained, or they can be otherwise identified. If injury has been done to spawning beds, the Fishery Board of Scotland has power to restrict or prohibit the mode of fishing which causes the injury, and application should be made to that Board. The Fishery Board, in addition to this power, is authorized to forbid fishing by any particular mode in any part of the territorial waters for the purpose of fish culture, or experiments in fish culture. I 1581 shall communicate with the Fishery Board on the matter, for the purpose of ascertaining whether more effectual steps can be taken to protect the local fishing industry.