§ Sir JOHN RANDLESasked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the total amount of money provided from Imperial funds for fishery research through English Committees and Irish or Scottish boards; and what percentage of this total reaches the county of Cumberland?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEAs regards England, no payment is made from Imperial funds to the local fisheries committees constituted under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act, 1888; the expenses of such committees, if formed, become a statutory charge on the localities adopting the Act. A grant of £1,000 per annum is made to the Marine Biological Association, in addition to the share which they administer of the grant in aid of the International Investigation of the North Sea. A sum of £770 is voted in subhead F of the Vote for the Scottish Fishery Board for scientific investigation. This sum is additional to the funds expended by that Board in carrying out their share of the International Investigation of the North Sea. No sum is specifically allocated in Ireland for scientific fishery research; but of the provision of £10,000 per annum allocated by the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act from the endowment of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Sea Fisheries, a part is expended by that Department on research814W work. The sum so expended in 1908–9 was £841, exclusive of the expenditure on the fishery cruiser "Helga," which is occasionally employed on research work. No portion of the above sums is expended directly for the benefit of the county of Cumberland.