§ MR. CALDWELL (Glasgow, St. Rollox)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests have 895 recently sold or leased the foreshores, or any portion of the foreshores, of Loch Sween; if so, to whom and on what terms; and if the Commissioners have had regard to the undertaking of the Government that sales of such Crown rights would not be made?
§ *THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir MICHAEL HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.(who replied): No sale or lease of any portion of the foreshores of Loch Sween has been recently made. In June, 1891, the Board of Trade granted to Colonel Malcolm, M.P., and Major Campbell, the undertakers of an oyster fishery in Loch Sween, established by a Provisional Order confirmed by Parliament in May, 1891, a lease of the Crown rights in the soil comprised in the fishery—about four thousand acres—below water mark. The lease will be valid during the time the Order is in force, but not longer than for sixty years; and the annual rent is for the first three years £3, for the next six years £7, and for the remainder of the term £12. I am not aware of the undertaking to which the hon. Member refers, but the Fishery Order established by Parliament could not be efficiently worked without full possession of, and control over, the soil of the area of the fishery.