§ MR. HOLT (Northumberland, Hexham)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, what were the reasons which led the Board of Agriculture to discourage the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee from attempting to introduce the American shad into British waters; and whether it was thought that any, and, if so, which, British fish would be injured if the introduction proved successful.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) We consulted the various boards of conservators of rivers discharging into the sea within the limits of the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries district with regard to the proposed introduction of the American shad into British waters, but it did not receive any support. Apprehensions were expressed that it might prove dangerous both to salmon and trout. In these circumstances, and in view of the impossibility of limiting the area within which experiments could be carried on, the Board did not feel themselves justified in affording any encouragement to the proposal.