§ 54. Mr. MACLEANasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any orders have yet been placed for the new vessels which are to replace the obsolete cruisers under the Scottish Fishery Board; and, if not, whether he can state when the order will be placed?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for SCOTLAND (Sir Godfrey Collins)Orders for new fishery cruisers have not yet been placed, but it is hoped that a commencement with the new construction proposals will be made at an early date.
§ Mr. MACLEANAs the Secretary of State for Scotland announced earlier in the year that it was the intention of the Government to proceed with the placing of an order for three new fishery cruisers, surely when the fishermen are complaining against the illegal trawling that is going on it is carrying the delay on too long to give such a doubtful statement as to whether the orders for the cruisers are likely to be placed next year?
§ Sir G. COLLINSThe real difficulty has been in regard to the plans and specifications of the new boats, but I may inform my hon. Friend that four drifters have again been hired for the specific purpose of checking illegal trawling, which was very successful last year.