§ Mr. PIRIEasked the Lord Advocate if the Government are prepared to take any steps to provide better facilities for the defence of trawl fishermen accused of illegal fishing by improving the method of citation of witnesses by introducing the system of postal citation, and giving reasonable remuneration to witnesses in such cases?
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§ Mr. UREThe answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's question is in the affirmative, and to the latter part in the negative.
§ Mr. PIRIEasked the Lord Advocate if he will state how long His Majesty's ship "Gossamer" was engaged in the protection of fisheries in the North Sea in 1911, and at what cost; how many trawlers were reported by the "Gossamer"; how many convictions followed; in how many cases were the fines paid; and what was the total amount of fines paid in these cases?
Mr. McKINNON WOODIn 1911 His Majesty's ship "Gossamer" was engaged on fishery duty in Scottish waters for approximately three months. I have no information as to the cost of this service. Eleven trawlers were reported by the "Gossamer" for illegal working, and eight convictions resulted. In five cases the fines were paid in full, and in a sixth case a proportion of the fine was paid after a part of the term of imprisonment had been served. The total amount of fines paid in these cases was £236 13s. 4d.