§ Mr. Kennedyasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of fishermen and fishing vessels working from Scottish and English ports, respectively, at the last date for which figures are available, with the corresponding numbers at the same date last year?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonThe figures compiled by the Board of Trade give the number of fishing vessels registered in all ports in England and Wales on the 31st December, 1937, as 6,514, compared with 6,729 on the 31st December, 1936; the numbers of fishermen at the same dates were 30,567 and 31,734 respectively.
For Scotland, statistics compiled by the Fishery Board for Scotland indicate that the number of Scottish fishing vessels in 1937 and 1936 were 5,217 and 5,512 respectively and the number of fishermen 19,364 and 21,480.
Figures as to the numbers of men and vessels actually working from ports in the respective countries on any particular date are not available as vessels registered in one country frequently operate temporarily from ports in the other.