HC Deb 02 April 1900 vol 81 cc947-8
MR. WEIR

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that the captain of a British trawler has been sentenced by the High Court of Viborg to eighteen months penal servitude and a fine of £180 for fishing in prohibited waters, resisting the authority of the State, and causing through carelessness the upsetting of a fishing boat; and, having regard to the light penalties inflicted on the masters of trawlers who make a practice of trawling in prohibited waters around the coasts of Scotland, will the Fishery Board for Scotland consider the desirability of making a bye-law for the imposition of heavier penalties and punishments than those now in force.

THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. A. GRAHAM MURRAY,) Buteshire

My attention has not been specially called to the case referred to by the hon. Member in the first paragraph of his question, and I am consequently unable to say whether the facts there stated are accurate. As regards the second paragraph, Parliament alone can enact penalties and the Law Courts impose them. The Fishery Board have nothing to do with them.