Debate on the Address

Part of Orders of the Day — King's Speech – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 5 December 1944.

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Photo of Mr Robert Boothby Mr Robert Boothby , Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Eastern 12:00, 5 December 1944

I support what the hon. Member for East Fife (Mr. Henderson Stewart) has so ably said. I think that fishing constituencies all round the coast have reason to be grateful to the hon. Member for raising this topic. I should like to begin my remarks by a brief quotation from one of the great books of our time, "The Social History of England," by the Master of Trinity. Dr. Trevelyan writes: The two chief nurseries of English seamen were the 'colliers' plying between the Northern ports and London, and the fishermen of Cornwall and Devon, many of whom ventured to the foggy shores of Newfoundland for cod. No less important was the growth in Tudor times of the herring fleets of the East Coast. Camden noted the size of Yarmouth, the out-port of Norwich, now out-stripping its rival Lynn, 'for it seems incredible what a great and throng fair is here at Michaelmas and what quantities of herring and other fish are vended.' The fishermen were favourites of the Government— I ask my right hon. Friends particularly to take note of that and to compare the record of Queen Elizabeth in this matter and their own record prior to the war— —because they so often helped to man the mercantile and royal navies. Laws were passed ordering the observance of 'fish days': none of the Queen's subjects were to eat meat during Lent, or on Fridays—sometimes Wednesdays were added. It was expressly stated that the object was not religious but political—to maintain our seafaring population, to revive decayed coast towns, and to prevent the too great consumption of beef and mutton which resulted in the conversion of arable into pasture. These fish laws were enforced by actual penalties. In 1563 we read of a London woman being pilloried for having flesh in her tavern during Lent. … In this and every other way, Secretary Cecil strove to maintain the seafaring population and shipping of the country. He exempted seamen from military service on land; and he enforced Navigation Laws against foreign ships, particularly in the coasting trade. The English marine could not yet carry the whole of English exports, but the Navigation Laws were aiming in that direction. This was the foundation of the Royal Navy. We can surely take a lesson from Queen Elizabeth, who presided over a great age in the history of this country, for she showed great sense in dealing with the fishing industry.

This Amendment deals with the fishing industry as a whole. Broadly, it can be divided into four sections, each of which has its own problems. There is, first, the great deep-sea white fishing, based on Hull, Grimsby, Fleetwood and Aberdeen. Second, there is the herring fishing industry based on Lerwick, Buckie, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Stornoway and the Clyde. Third, there are the very interesting specialist fishings, such as the sprat and mullet fishing from Brixham, and the pilchard fishing from Falmouth. Finally, there is the great in-shore fishing, the line fishing, based on an infinity of small harbours round our coasts. Each one of these sections has its own separate problems, and it is impossible to deal with them all in a speech of a quarter of an hour's duration.

But there is one motto which can be applied to all sections—"First catch your fish." I would ask my right hon. Friends first of all to consider carefully the whole question of seasons, because it requires most careful investigation in the light of modern knowledge. I have observed in the past that the later the spring fishing in the herring industry began in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the better the season was likely to be, because fewer immature fish were caught. That can be applied to the other fishings as well.

My hon. Friend the Member for East Fife mentioned the development of seine net fishing and I think that it is full of possibilities. On the other hand, I have had complaints from some of the line fishermen in my constituency, who say that if seine netting is allowed to continue without any control within the three-mile limit, it may result in putting them out of business. I am not qualified to express an opinion on this; but I am sure that this new development of seine netting inshore wants careful investigation by the Government. It may require some regulations to protect the in-shore line fishermen whom we certainly do not want to see put out of business. Then we have the vexed question of deep-sea trawlers fishing close inshore. That has gone on for at least 20 years, and it is still going on. One or two fishery cruisers are not enough to look after that problem. I agree that under war conditions it is difficult to keep a sharp look-out, but after the war there should be some more cruisers—there will be plenty of craft available for the purpose—to see that these deep-sea trawlers do not come close inshore and ruin the livelihood of the small fishermen. In this connection there is also the thorny problem of the Moray Firth. We shall be in a pretty strong position when the war is over and I think the time will then come to say to foreign trawlers, "Keep out of the Moray Firth"; and to make a general proclamation to that effect.

I pass from fish to bases. You cannot fish without adequate bases, just as you cannot conduct naval warfare without bases. The harbours from which the white and herring fishings are conducted should be a national responsibility. They must be well found if the industry is to prosper, and supplied with adequate storage and repair facilities, electric light and power, and the most up-to-date equipment. For the smaller harbours the responsibility must rest on the local authorities. They should be given every facility and encouragement for developing these little harbours, and keeping them in good repair. My hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir W. Beveridge) got hold of a good idea the other day when he brought forward the question of local development funds. One of the projects of that fund at Berwick, as I understood it, was not only the improvement of the harbour but also the purchase of four of five small boats in order to supply the inhabitants with fresh fish locally caught in the morning.

On the question of boats, I believe, without being dogmatic, that the future lies with the Diesel engine so far as the fishing industry is concerned, and probably with dual-purpose craft. I want to ask my right hon. Friends whether any experiments are being carried out with regard to the type of craft which will be most suitable for fishing after the war. If there are not, there ought to be. Then we come to the question of releases of craft. It is most important that the largest possible number of craft should he released by the Admiralty at the earliest moment. My hon. Friend the Member for East Fife was right. So far as the fishing industry is concerned the record at the Admiralty is really a shocking one. Over and over again, before the war we pleaded with the Admiralty to make a small contribution for the upkeep of the trawler and drifter fleets, so that the boats could be kept in good order and repair. We were answered by the Admiralty to the effect that if war came the Admiralty would have no use either for the fishermen or their craft. Within a fortnight of the outbreak of war, every serviceable craft in the fishing industry together with the men was commandeered by the Admiralty and now, of course, nobody yields to them in admiration of the fishermen for the services they have rendered in the war. Some of us can never forget the record of the Admiralty in this matter. They never lifted a finger to help the fishing industry in time of peace, but when the emergency came they rushed to it, and commandeered every man and boat they could lay hands on. We hope that will not happen again. Lastly there is the question of the men. They, as well as the boats, must be released; and unless the Government can give them some assurance of being able to earn a decent livelihood, they will not come back to fishing, and nobody can blame them.

On the question of research I must confess that, having once observed a dehydrated herring, I do not think there is a great future for dehydration in the herring industry. I do think, however, that there is a great future in the modern methods of freezing. I believe that if they are developed it will be possible to ensure a continuous supply of fresh herrings all the year round, which would obviously be an enormous advantage. There is also a great future for the canning industry. In this connection, the work that is being done at the Torry Institute at Aberdeen is of the greatest value. I think I must also say a word in defence of the much abused kipper. I am afraid that my hon Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Mr. Loftus) may not like this. There has been a good deal of nonsense talked in the past about the dyeing of kippers. I agree that kippers should be of the highest quality; but the dye that is put on to them is a pure vegetable dye. They have to be put in a brine solution in any case; and if the dye adds a little yellow, and the public like to see them a little brighter, it does not do the public any harm, and it may do the industry some good. I quite agree that they should be well smoked, and that a minimum standard of smoking might be laid down; but I do not want the impression to get around that because a kipper looks nice and bright it is somehow or other poisonous, because there is not the slightest foundation for that charge.

I turn in conclusion to markets. So far as the home market is concerned, I hope that my right hon. Friend will agree that the pooling of transport charges should be continued after the war. It is of great benefit to the industry as a whole, and there is no reason why fishermen who land their catches at ports far distant from our towns should be penalised. There is also something to be said for the encouragement and revival not only of the country van going round the villages with fresh fish, but also of the hawker, who made a good living in days gone by, and played a considerable part in the distribution of fish. I yield to no one in my admiration for the Ministry of Food, but no one can say that the distribution of fish in this war has been their brightest spot. They might consider quite seriously the problem of the distribution of fish in the rural areas of this country, by rather unorthodox means if necessary. There are many small towns and villages which have not seen a herring in the last four years, even when there was a glut of herring in the North.

We can undoubtedly increase the home consumption of herring; but that side of the trade by itself cannot restore prosperity to the industry. I would remind hon. Members that the herring is the only article of food we export from this country. The great markets were, and will be again, I hope, Russia and Northern and Central Europe. Hon. Members may not realise that before 1914 we exported every year over £1,000,000 worth of herrings to Russia alone. Poland was at that time included in Russia. It was on that export market for cured herrings that the industry as we know it to-day was built up. If we are to build up the industry after the war to anything like its old size, we must recapture that market. This brings up the whole question of international trade, which is to be considered by the House to-morrow. I shall only say this in that connection—I am afraid that not all hon. Members will agree—I do not believe that international trade, as such, is necessarily beneficial in the modern world. I do not believe we should spend the whole of our time trying to get gods out of this country, and nit trying to bring something in. I believe that, in order to be beneficial, trade must be complementary. There are things we need from Russia, timber and other things as well. I believe that, whatever my right hon. Friend may say, the Russians will want Scotch herrings again when this war is over, because they are incomparably better, as everyone knows, than any other herrings in the world; better flavoured, and of better quality; and the Russians were once accustomed to them.

The truth is that in the modern world the uncontrolled interplay of supply and demand upon regulated markets is an impossibility; and a high degree of purposive direction of trade is essential, if chaos is to be averted. In connection with this business of securing an export trade in herrings, I believe two things to be essential. So far as the catches are concerned, we should come to an agreement with the Norwegians and the Dutch, who are our only competitors in the North Sea, in order to avoid cut-throat competition, and the production of herrings at prices which are, in the end, below the cost of production. I hope that my right hon. Friend will be able to give some assurance that tentative negotiations with the Norwegian and Dutch Governments have already begun. If we can come to an agreement with them as to the rough proportion of herrings we are each to take from the North Sea per annum, we should have taken a long step in the right direction.

The other thing to bear in mind, and I hope it will be borne firmly in mind, is that the conditions of trade vary, not only in respect of industries, but also in respect of different countries. Just as, in the case of meat, overseas producers have now organised themselves to a high degree and would welcome a corresponding organisation of our buying policy, so in the case of selling herrings to Russia, we require to centralise our sales organisation in order to deal with the purchasing organisation of the U.S.S.R. It is no use thinking we can conduct trade with Russia on an individualist competitive basis. This does not mean we have to socialise industries in this country. It simply means that every industry which wishes to do trade with Russia has to centralise its sales organisation in order to conduct trade with that particular country. Unless we do so, I do not see how we can expect to expand our Russian trade. There has to be some body, capable of speaking on behalf of the herring industry, and saying to the Russian buying organisation, "We will guarantee to supply you with so many barrels of herring per annum at a fixed price; and you can give us so much against that." On the other hand, a considerable degree of competition will be desirable in dealing with Holland, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia and what is left of Germany. There is no reason why the sales organisation of the herring industry should not be able to conduct trade both on an organised basis, and a competitive basis. The exporters in the herring fishing industry have in fact come together and formed a company to do this; but they must receive the full backing and whole-hearted support of His Majesty's Government. They are hard bargainers in Moscow; and no sales organisation can expect to a good deal with the Soviet Government unless it has the whole authority and force of His Majesty's Government behind it.

I hope that in to-morrow's Debate the Government will be pressed for a clear definition of commercial discrimination. There would appear at present to be a sharp division of opinion between us and the United States about this, and it needs to be cleared up. They seem to think that non-discrimination means doing away with all forms of preference, all forms of long-term purchase contracts, exchange restrictions, and reciprocal trading or payments agreements. If that view were to prevail, it would be the end of us. After this war we shall only have two assets, our productive capacity and our internal market. Unless we retain the necessary powers to enable us to trade those assets, I cannot see how we can get through, unless we choose to live indefinitely on charity, which I do not think anyone in this country would wish to do.

There is this God-given gift of shoals of most wonderful herrings, swimming round our coasts year after year. They used not to do it. Suddenly, in the reign of Henry VII, they came over here from the Baltic; and, at odd intervals, we have taken advantage of them. But between 1919 and 1940 we made practically no use of them. These herrings, which are to me a form of gold mine, I wish to see utilised to the full. I wish hon. Members could have stood with me at Fraserburgh Harbour this summer and seen this marvellous harvest being landed; hundreds and thousands of crans of herrings of superb quality. My right hon. Friend did see them, and even tasted them; and I am sure he would agree with me that it was a most remarkable and encouraging spectacle. I do not want to see these fish dumped into the sea when the war is over. I believe they could be a source of great wealth for this country. If the Government put their back behind the fishing industry after the war as they never did between the two wars, we have here a source of great prosperity and strength to this country. We want to trade these herrings for goods. Unless we do so there is no great future for the herring industry.