HC Deb 03 March 1925 vol 181 cc216-7
14. Mr. MacKENZIE LIVINGSTONE

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the injury done to the Scottish in-shore fishermen by the depredations of illegal trawlers, he will put into operation Section 469 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, which gives his Department power to suspend or cancel the certificate of any master who has been convicted of any offence?

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

The Board of Trade will give any assistance they can in finding an effective remedy for illegal trawling, but they doubt whether the power to cancel or suspend certificates was intended for cases of this kind, and they do not think that the duplication of penalties by administrative action would be a satisfactory way of dealing with the problem.