Vol. 146 No. 7
I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £71,900 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1955, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Sea and Inland Fisheries, including sundry Grants-in-Aid.
The Estimate for Fisheries for 1954-55 is for a net sum of £107,600, of which £35,700 has been granted by way of the Vote on Account, leaving £71,900 to be moved for as the Vote to complete, as stated in the Money Resolution.
As will be seen from the printed Estimates, the amount required shows a net decrease of £6,480 as compared with 1953-54. This is the result of a gross decrease of £21,480 offset by increases on certain items totalling £15,000. Several of the increases and decreases are of a casual or of a self-explanatory nature, but the following observations may be made in regard to the sub-heads which show considerable variations compared with last year or which are in respect of new services.
In regard to sub-head E (5)—International Fisheries Convention, 1946— Permanent Commission, £500, this is a new provision arising out of the setting up in May, 1953, of a permanent commission, in accordance with the requirements of the 1946 International Convention for the regulation of meshes of fishing nets and the size limits of fish. The duty laid on the commission has been that of studying the problems attending the enforcement of the broad principles of conservation laid down in the convention of 1946 and of modifying, from time to time, the measure of regulation laid down in the convention so that they may be brought into operation gradually and to such extent as appears to be justified in the interests of general policy of conservation without inflicting undue hardships on the fishing community concerned.
The provision under sub-head F (1) —Grants to Boards of Conservators and Local Authorities, etc., shows a decrease of £5,690. This has been brought about by the cutting of provision for grants to boards of conservators from £8,000 in 1953-54 to the token sum of £10. A sum of £12,000 was estimated to be required to supplement the statutory revenues of boards of conservators to enable them to provide adequate protection services. These grants are to be found this year out of the Salmon Conservancy Fund set up under recent legislation and the token provision of £10 is made to enable the services to be financed from voted moneys in the event of the non-realisation of Conservancy Fund revenues. There is an undoubted need for an additional source of revenue to enable boards of conservators to maintain our salmon rivers in a state of full productivity. This has given rise to ever-increasing demands on voted moneys until the stage has been reached where all concerned have come to realise that the additional moneys required should, in equity, be contributed by those who derive their profit or their sport from salmon fishing rather than by the general public in the form of taxation.
There is a counter-balancing increase of £2,500 in Item 1 of sub-head F (1). This provision enables recoupment to be made to local authorities arising from exemption of fisheries from local rates pursuant to the Fisheries Act, 1925, and the increased provision is due to the continued upward trend in the rates struck by local authorities.
I now come to sub-head F (4)— Scientific and Technical Investigations. The provision under this sub-head shows a decrease of £1,000, which arises from the fact that a number of experiments which have been in progress in recent years are coming to an end. The experiments, connected with the elimination of coarse fish from trout waters and the fertilisation of trout waters by the addition of chemical nutrients, while not yet complete in the sense that a final assessment of results can be published, already give indication of yielding much valuable information on the problems associated with improvement of trout waters by these means; and this information, when collated, will be made available for all who have an interest in such work.
Sub-head G—Grants-in-Aid for An Bord Iascaigh Mhara—shows a provision of £41,675 as compared with £31,330 last year. Funds are made available to the board for carrying out its own functions in two ways—by means of repayable advances from the Central Fund and by means of Grants-in-Aid as appearing in the annual Estimates. Under the Sea Fisheries Act, 1952, advances from the Central Fund are available for the development work of the board and for the supply of boats and gear to fishermen, and it is hoped in the current financial year to provide advances from this source to a total of £150,000. The chief items to be financed out of this sum are the provision of boats and gear for issue on hire-purchase terms (£75,000); the provision of two 80 ft. boats (£26,000); large scale ice-making cold storage plant (£25,000); fishmeal plant (£12,000); provision of central storage accommodation (£7,335). The sum set down in the Estimates by way of Grant-in-Aid provides towards administration expenses £25,880 and towards developmnt schemes £15,795. The latter figure is £10,795 greater than what was provided in 1953-54, the chief items of development work provided for being improvements to the pilot fishmeal factory at Killybegs (£2,000); reconditioning of marketing depots (£2,500); provision of central storage accommodation (£3,665), and improvements to Killybegs Boatyard (£1,650). The cost of each of the last three items will also be met in part by means of repayable advances from the Central Fund.
Landings of sea fish, not including shellfish, advanced to 222,516 cwt. in 1953 from 203,000 cwt. in 1952, the corresponding values being £545,105 and £478,774, thus improving further upon the increase in turnover achieved in 1952 in contrast with the preceding year. The landings of demersal fish showed a 10 per cent. increase over last year, the chief varieties showing increase being plaice, cod and haddock, and the average value per cwt. was also higher than in any of the past six years.
The landings of pelagic fish, that is, mainly herrings and mackerel came to some 74,000 cwt., valued at £93,000.
The corresponding figures for 1952 were 68,000 cwt. and £81,000. The chief increase was in herring landings at 59,000 cwt. and the Donegal winter herring fishing contributed most to the total. Elsewhere, the shoaling of herring was rather disappointing and the fishermen had little inducement to go after herring to the exclusion of other fishing. Mackerel fishing showed a marginal improvement, but the experience of the last few years was, in general, repeated, namely, that the main shoals remained far off shore outside the range of small type of craft which usually engages intensively in this fishing in season.
As to shellfish the value of landings in 1953 at £142,554 was a record one, exceeding the figure for 1952 by over £18,000. The most noteworthy increase occurred in periwinkles, which alone accounted for over £32,000 in value. The export trade to France, which is being developed in periwinkles, lobsters and crawfish, is an important factor in stimulating production which is proving of great advantage to our fishermen.
I have referred in passing to the Vote provision in connection with the International Fisheries Convention, 1946. This convention is the result of recognition by the nations interested in the fishing of the North Sea and adjoining Atlantic waters of the threat of extinction of supplies of fish through over fishing. Realising what a real threat this is, we have accepted the obligation of member States to the convention of placing restrictions on the meshes of fishing nets and on the size of fish which may be taken in order that immature fish may survive to grow to economic size and propagate their kind. The wisdom and necessity for these regulations will be recognised by all and, not least, by the fishermen, but as regulations inevitably bring with them some dislocation and hardship, it is only right to offer to the fishermen the encouraging information that the forbearance which they will be required to exercise can yield gratifying results in quite a short space of time. When it is considered that undersized flat fish at present fetching no more than 6d. to 8d. a lb. if left in the sea or returned alive, attain a size in the space of one year which would yield an increase of 100 per cent. in weight and over 400 per cent. in value, thus the fishermen will catch not only a bigger fish but also a more valuable one.
I have indicated briefly the main features of the financial provisions for An Bord Iascaigh Mhara and some brief reference to the functions and plans of that body will not be out of place. Broadly speaking, the board has been charged with securing the development of the national fishing industry on the basis of the consolidation and improvement of the inshore fishermen's position. The means employed to this end are the supply and maintenance of modern fishing boats, the marketing of fish on behalf of the hire purchasers of boats and gear and of other fishermen and the development generally of outlets for increasing catch. The board has four boatyards engaged in full production at the building of new fishing vessels and the reconditioning and servicing of boats. In addition, the output of these yards is supplemented by placing orders with other yards around the coast.
In the 12 months ended 31st March, 1954, the board issued to fishermen, on hire purchase terms, a total of 13 motor boats, ten of them built in the board's own yards. Of the total, one was of 60 foot length and nine of 50 foot class, two of 35 foot and one of 28 foot. In addition, a few non-powered boats of small size were issued.
On the marketing side, the board handled 90,135 cwt. of home caught fish, realising £386,045, exceeding by £100,000 the turnover in 1952. Catches to the value of £25,100 made by the three off-shore vessels operated by the board are included in the total sales. As I have stated, the board aims at expanding outlets for the fishermen's catch and one way in which this is being secured is by distribution of fish on the widest possible basis with a view to fostering increased demand. At present, the board distributes fish from five centres, Dublin, Cork, Killybegs, Dingle and Galway, and it plans to open up other centres in the near future. If an increased demand by the consuming public is to be fostered, supplies must be available regularly and in suitable variety. Our fleet of inshore boats has been handicapped in the past when, owing to bad weather conditions, they could not fish regularly and keep up adequate supplies. To meet this difficulty, the board has brought into operation three high sea fishing boats and intends to have built, in the near future, two 80 foot motor fishing vessels. The engines for these vessels have already been purchased and plans for construction are well advanced. I move to report progress.
