HC Deb 01 March 1898 vol 54 cc263-4
MR. J. C. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate if he will explain why the fishery officer at Stornoway failed to take steps to identify the five trawlers which he reported were at work close inshore off Tolsta, Broad Bay, Island of Lewis, on Sunday, 6th February; and if fishery officers are only empowered to report the presence of illegal trawlers to the Fishery Board, will the Secretary for Scotland consider the desirability of extending those powers, so that fishery officers may employ means on the spot for the immediate identification or capture of trawlers working within the three-mile limit, so that the onus and expense of performing the duties of the Fishery Board shall not fall on the line fishermen, as was the case on the 17th December last, when they hired the steamer Alice in Stornoway Harbour for the purpose of effecting the capture of the steam trawler Faraday, of Hull, while illegally fishing in Broad Bay?

MR. T. C. H. HEDDERWICK (Wick Burghs)

I beg, at the same time, to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that on Sunday, the 6th ultimo, no fewer than five trawlers were operating off Tolsta Sands, within a very short distance of the shore, and that subsequently, in the course of the same week, three trawlers were at work off Tolsta Beach, two of them close inshore and one further to seaward, and that neither funnels, colours, nor numbers were discernible?

THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. GRAHAM MURRAY,) Buteshire

I shall answer the hon. Member's Question and Question No. 8 together. I am informed by the Fishery Board that their officers had no means at their disposal for identifying the vessels illegally trawling in the waters named beyond those at the disposal of the local fishermen. The Secretary for Scotland expects that the Fishery Board will be able, in conjunction with the services always rendered by the Admiralty, to afford better sea police protection, in terms of section 19 of the Sea Fisheries Regulation (Scotland) Act, 1895, as soon as their new vessels are ready.