Brexit fishing row

The EU has consistently got its fishing policy wrong. There used to be a flourishing inshore fishing industry all along the Sussex coast, with a self-policing mafia. After 1973, the French fishermen came across and scooped the sea clean. In another ill-conceived incarnation of fishing policy, the result was that small fish were thrown back into the sea, dead.

This is a good example of where Georgist principles could apply. The seas within UK territorial waters would be divided into zones – Worthing, Shoreham, Brighton, Newhaven, Eastbourne and Hastings, for example, for which a limited number of fixed term licences would be bid in an open auction, something like the auction for radio spectrum; there would also be zones where no fishing at all was permitted, to allow stocks to recover. There might be a limit on the size of boats which could be used – ten metres, perhaps.

The bids would be open to anyone; if French fishermen thought it worthwhile to use fuel and spend the time to cross the Channel in a small boat

to fish off the Sussex coast, then they might out-bid the locals, but locals would have the natural advantage.

The system would be a fair one and the revenue would go towards providing protection and research.

EU threat to YouTube.

When the new EU copyright rules kick-in, I would expect a lot of the remainers will be losing their enthusiasm. Being inside the EU, I have already come across numerous non-working links due to EU regulation. Reminder to self: sort out VPN.

Monster puzzle

I came across this project to restore these monster American locomotives which dated from the 1940s. In principle, they consist (since many survive as historic monuments) of two large locomotives with one boiler supplying the steam. What I do not understand is the rationale behind the immensely complicated design.

The same effect was achieved more simply by the Beyer-Garatt configuration, with two engine units and a boiler slung in between on a carrying frame. The space over the engine units was used for fuel and water. The boiler was set low down, giving the engines a low centre of gravity which made them suitable for high speed running. Large numbers of this type were built for use in Commonwealth countries and some narrow gauge (2ft) examples are running on the Welsh Highland Railway.

In principle, the Beyer-Garatt could be much larger than any that were every built; a double 2‑10‑2 would have been practicable, with no limitation to the size of the boiler. The puzzle is why, when faced with demands for more powerful locomotives, ALCO rejected, or did not consider, the Beyer-Garatt?