§ 85. Mr. FREDERICK MARTINasked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether, in view of the great and growing cost of policing the territorial waters of Great Britain by means of Fishery Board cruisers, he will consider the advisability of consulting with the Admiralty with a view to this duty being undertaken in future by the Royal Navy, especially as the detection and prevention of illegal trawling in inshore waters would afford valuable means of training for the officers and crews of destroyers, and in view of the fact that officers and men of the Royal Navy would welcome an opportunity of assisting in the preservation of a means of livelihood of the coast fishermen, who were their devoted comrades in the keeping of the seas during the War?
§ Captain ELLIOT (Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, Scotland)The suggestion made by the hon. Member has been considered from time to time in the past in consultation with the Admiralty. There is at present, as the hon. Member is aware, one Admiralty vessel on this patrol. The provision of additional vessels by the Admiralty would involve a heavy charge on naval funds, which it is doubtful if the Admiralty, under present circumstances, would be prepared to undertake. The Secretary for Scotland is prepared, however, to cause the suggestion to be again examined.