Colonel BURNasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that many of the Brixham fishermen demobilised from the Navy and Army are unemployed owing to no boats being available; will he consider the allocation to that port of a proportion of the surplus trawlers and drifters in the hands of the Admiralty, so that the men may remain in the town instead of having to go elsewhere to find work; and will he take immediate steps to have those wrecks which are sunk in the fishing ground marked by buoys, as much fishing-gear has been lost owing to the absence of any sign by which the position of the wrecks can be located?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThe allocation of surplus vessels suitable for the purpose will be in the hands of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries so far as England and Wales are concerned, and I understand that that Department has already under consideration the question of enabling ex-Service fishermen of Brixham and other ports to acquire some of these vessels. As regards the last part of the question, I am advised that, owing to the difficulty and time which would be occupied in actually locating the wrecks, it is not practicable to buoy the positions. With a view, however, to giving every assistance possible to the fishing industry, the Admiralty have published a series of charts on which the positions of all known wrecks are marked from the best available information. These charts are on sale, and can be obtained by anyone interested through any of the chart agents.