Policing the ;Fishing Grounds There was something a little ingenuous
about Mr. Noel Skelton's description in the House of Commons on Tues- day Of the efforts being made to design " Q-ships," which shall look like trawlers but be iri fact police-vessels, to put a stop to the illegal trawling on Scottish fishing- grounds discussed in a recent issue of The Spectator. There is no question of the seriousness of the evil or the damage it does, particularly to the in-shore fishermen on various parts of the Scottish coast. Hitherto the Govern- ment patrol vessels have often been much slower than the trawlers they were there to deal with. The new " Q- ships " are apparently to have a speed equal to all emer- gencies, but endeavours to make them look like trawlers seem a little purposeless, since it is certain that their true character will be known the first time they put to sea. Every trawler-skipper knows every other trawler in the fleet. The chief value of the move is as a demonstration that the- Government means business, and it is not surpris- ing that with hardly an exception Scottish members of all parties welcomed the new measures warmly.
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