§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the President of the Board of Trade what scientific advances have been made during the last five years towards improving the methods of fish trawling and towards improving the safety of vessels fishing in Northern and Arctic Seas.
§ Mr. William RodgersIt is not possible to give a comprehensive list of improvements. The Industrial Development Unit of the White Fish Authority takes the lead in developing the results of research to the stage at which the industry can take advantage of new techniques and equipment. Recent notable advances have been made in the fields of mechanisation and automation of the handling of trawls, electronic aids to decisionmaking in the course of trawling and systems for boxing fish at sea. A major contribution to the safety of fishing vessels themselves has been the determination of appropriate criteria of their stability through work in the international field in which the United Kingdom has played a full part. Improved patterns of life-saving appliances have been developed which benefit fishermen along with other seafarers.