§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Lord Advocate if he will state the tonnage of the vessels employed for scientific fishery researches by the various Governments signatories to the North Sea Convention. Will he say whether, in connection with the international scheme for investigating problems connected with the fisheries of the North Sea and adjacent waters, any specified area has yet been designated for research; and, seeing that the British Government have arranged to spend £42,000 for the purposes of the scheme, can he state how much each of the other Governments concerned propose to spend.
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. A. GRAHAM MURRAY,) ButeshireI am not at present in a position to give the hon. 1081 Member the detailed information asked for. A meeting of the International Council appointed to carry out the programme of investigation is to be held this month at Copenhagen. The steps taken by each participating Government, including the particulars desired by the hon. Member, will doubtless be reported to the Council, and it will be for that body to designate the precise areas to be jointly investigated.
§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether, in view of the fact that the Fishery Board for Scotland have reported that the small steam yacht "Garland" has proved incompetent to effect the scientific research she was expected to perform in I he Moray Firth, he will state what duties it is intended to assign to this vessel now that the Government propose to extend fishery research to an area in the North Sea.
§ MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYIn view of the arrangements recently made for international scientific investigations in the North Sea, the Fishery Board propose to dispose of the "Garland" because of her unsuitability for that work. The Board will carry out the more northerly portion of the British part of the international programme, and will receive funds to enable them to hire a suitable vessel.