HC Deb 04 April 1911 vol 23 cc2175-6W
Mr. WEIR

asked the Lord Advocate "whether he is aware that, owing to inshore fishing beds off the coast of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland having been largely depleted of fish in consequence of illegal trawling, it has become necessary for fishermen engaged in the line fishing industry to prosecute their calling further out at sea than formerly; and, seeing that this entails the employment of a larger class of boat, which the men are unable to secure with the means at their disposal, will the Congested Districts Board follow the example of the Irish Board, and arrange to grant loans to line fishermen for the purchase of fishing boats?

Mr. URE

The answer to the second part of my hon. Friend's question is in the negative. Loans to fishermen for boats and gear were for some years issued by the Fishery Board for Scotland, but the experience then gained was unfavourable, and the Congested Districts Board is not in any case the proper Department in Scotland to undertake such a policy.

Mr. ROBERT HARCOURT

asked whether the Congested Districts Board for Scotland voted £2,000 to the Scottish Fishery Board for the purpose of the experimental motor fishing boat "Pioneer" in 1905; and whether, since the Board has power to make grants in aid of fishing craft, if applications for loans were to be made to them by Scottish fishermen, they would have power to grant loans on terms identical with those imposed by the Congested Districts Board for Ireland under similar circumstances and for similar purposes?

Mr. URE

The answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's question is in the affirmative; the circumstances being set out in the Eighth Report of the Congested Districts Board. The special experiment so undertaken was in no sense a precedent for grants to individual fishermen in aid of fishing craft, and the Congested Districts Board are not prepared to enter into such a policy.