Fisheries are of high importance to almost all nations, and peculiarly so to those whose territories are either entirely insular, or partially bounded by the sea. The direct and chief advantage is, of course, to such people as capture, as well as feed upon, the finny tribes; but the curative process, whether for a lengthened period by means of salted pickle, or for a shorter preservation, by the use of ice, now spreads the benefit far inland, into many a distant land which never heard the surging of the sea. As the great nursery for sailors, and the producer of habitual hardihood, and a fearlessness of winds and waves, our British fisheries are altogether invaluable—that is, they greatly transcend all those merely pecuniary advantages, however great, which can be calculated and made manifest by statistical documents of whatever kind. Sir Henry Wotton was of opinion that there was something in the capture of fish, even when pursued as a trade, which tended to improve the moral, if not the intellectual character of those engaged in it, and to bring them up for the most part, however unlettered, as a patient, simple, humane, and hardy race—not insensible, in the midst of stormy days and nights of darkness, to the sublime feeling of dependence on a higher power, and with a preparedness to acknowledge and obey the divine will.
We are told from the highest source that they that "do business in the great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." How far they are permanently impressed thereby, to their own advantage, we are not prepared to say; but the difficulties which beset their adventurous calling, and the early period at which their professional life commences, and becomes of value, make it all the more incumbent upon others to attend both to the educational and spiritual interests of a peculiar people to whose hardihood we owe so much. "Men-of-war, and merchantmen," writes Sir Robert L'Estrange, "consume men and breed none; the collier brings up now and then an apprentice, but still spends more than he makes; the only other and common nursery of seamen is this fishery (that of herrings), where every huss brings up, it may be, six, eight, or ten new men every year, so that our fishery is just as necessary to our navigation as to our safety and well-being. And it is well observed that all the princes are stronger or weaker at sea, according to the measures of their fisheries." Lacepede regards the herring as "une de ces productions dont l'emploi décide de la destinée des empires;" and the great Cuvier has recorded that the government of all nations possessed of any sea-coast where that fish is known, has given special attention and encouragement to its capture—regarding such occupation as the finest nursery for the formation of robust men, intrepid sailors, and skilful navigators, and so of the highest consequence towards the ensuring of maritime greatness. This remark, it has been well observed, coming from the native of a country with a limited sea-coast, has irresistible force when applied to islands like Great Britain and Ireland, possessed of immense colonies in every quarter of the earth, "on whose dominions the sun never sets," and thus requiring unceasing supplies of seamen for a naval and commercial marine of greater size and power than any known in ancient or modern times.
Let these authorities suffice as an introductory exordium.
It does not matter much which department of our subject we begin with. Let us take up the fresh waters first, and in these, we need scarcely say, the most important species we can encounter is the salmon—Salmo salar of naturalists.
As regards the historical view, we may state, that the ancients knew little of trout, and nothing of salmon, which are the glory of the group. If observed in any way by the Greeks, the latter would not have escaped the notice of the lynx-eyed Aristotle. The salmon is not a Mediterranean species, and so does not occur in such of the rivers of France as debouches into that inland sea. It is cursorily alluded to by Pliny, who of course does not describe it as an Italian fish, but as native to certain rivers in Aquitaine. Ausonius is the first Latin poet who mentions the salmon under its present title:—
Nec te puniceo rutilantem visceris, Salmo, Transierim;
And in another place he writes of:
Purpureoque salar stellatus tergora gattis.
We have here to do, however, with the natural and commercial rather than the classical history of the finny tribes, and so shall proceed to consider them as they are known to us in this our day.
The parent salmon show themselves at the mouths of rivers, and endeavour to ascend the same during almost every month throughout the year, although the process of spawning does not usually take place till winter, that is, from the beginning of October to the close of January—November and December being the principal months in the majority of rivers. They generally delay their ascent in any great number till the streams are somewhat swollen by heavy rains, although in the lower portions of the larger rivers there may be a more frequent run. When the fresh or flood has fairly intermingled with the estuaries the upward movement is often rapid and multitudinous, especially if there has previously occurred a long continued course of dry weather. This marvellous instinctive desire to return to their native streams is irrepressible. It induces them to stem the current of surging rivers, to force their perilous way into many a "hell of waters," to ascend precipitous falls, and pass over weirs and similar obstacles of human intervention, which no other or less pervading power could either vanquish or evade.
The spawn is deposited in troughs made by the parents to a considerable depth in the gravel, and is afterwards covered over in like manner. Both sexes are necessarily present, but observers differ as to the share assumed by the male in the removal of the gravel, and whether the female, supposing that she is the chief builder, makes most use of her head or tail. According to Mr Andrew Young, the fish al-
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1 An amusing and instructive volume on the literary history of fish has been recently published. See Press Hallucinosis, or Ancient and Modern Fish Tactics, by the Rev. C. D. Baidham, M.D., London, 1854.
2 The greatest haul of salmon that we know of on record, is that which befell the fishermen of Thurso, more than a century ago. At a single sweep one day in July the enormous number of 2500 were secured. A large net was used sweepingly, from the cravats of the river down to the lower end of the pool, being taken by 18 or 20 men, who kept the ground-rope low with long poles. The fish (including, we doubt not, grilse, as well as adult salmon) were afterwards taken ashore in a smaller net.
3 Mr Shaw is of opinion that the labour of the trenches devolves upon the female, and that the excavation is performed chiefly by a flapping movement of the tail, which is obviously an engine of great force in fishes. The same observation, or rather inference, had been made (unknown to Mr Shaw) by Mr Potts, in relation to the Tweed salmon, as long since quoted by Pennant in his British Zoology. That gentleman regarded the tail as the instrument by which the gravel is displaced, in consequence of his having so frequently found that part rubbed or abraded as it were by violent action. Mr Fraser of Dochnalurg (to whom we owe a pamphlet on the salmon ways approach the spawning bed in pairs. The places usually selected are rippling fords or shallows of not more than two or three feet in depth, sometimes less, where the gravel is clean and not too heavy, and the water clear and in constant flow. Their first object is to dig a trench, a work of some labour, as they prefer a somewhat firm or compacted bed, less liable to shift than one of looser gravel. They begin the operation by falling down a few yards below the chosen spot, and then tilting up against it with their heads, thus by repeated efforts displacing a portion of the gravel, and so forming the commencement of their first parallel. The excavation varies in depth from nine to eighteen inches, according to the nature and consistence of the material, or the requirements of the situation, of which, no doubt, the fishes themselves are the best judges. When the trench is regarded as of sufficient depth, the female deposits in it the ripest portion of her ova, and the male sheds his milt among them. A careful observer may perceive both products falling into, and settling at the bottom, and as soon as all is right in that respect, another tilting takes place against the gravel, the effect of which is to continue the trench, while the loosened materials are aided in their movement by the current, and falling into the previous hollow, help to cover up the ova. This higher portion in like manner receives its share of ova and milt, and so the work proceeds till it is finished. In this labour several days may be consumed. The parent fish then fall down the river into the first deep they come to, and there they abide for a time for repose and restoration. They are usually much discoloured at this period, the females dark and inky, the males streaked and stained with rusty red, and the under jaw very obtrusive, and upturned into a snout or kip. They then gradually make their way through stream and pool towards the tide-way, and by this time, although flabby and flavourless, their stains have been in a great measure washed away, and the silvery lustre re-assumed. Hence the Scotch expression of "a weel-mended kelp," signifying a fish in this half-recovered but still impoverished condition, and which the deluded (and deluding) angler not seldom seeks to glorify by the name of salmon. The majority of early spring fish taken by the rod are keits, and many a man would much rather never fish at all than kill a score of them. In general the males are the first to leave the river, many of the females abiding there till March or even May, especially in dry weather when they cannot pass in safety downwards from pool to pool. It is believed that they no sooner reach Early state the salubrious sea than their muscular firmness, fine flavour, of salmon, and brilliant lustre are restored. They then increase rapidly, and after a few months return to the rivers as beautiful, and far bigger than before—the soonest down being probably the earliest to re-appear. So much for the old fish! Let us now inquire after the spawn.
The period of hatching of the ova varies with the rigour of the season and the time of deposition. If spawned early the young will burst their cementations in from 90 to 100 days, while such as are laid in December may require 140 days before they break the shell. There are also intermediate periods corresponding to the temperature of the place or season. The fry are at first very slender, but extremely agile little things, about three-quarters of an inch in length, with none of the fins distinctly developed save the pectoral, and bearing beneath the body a comparatively large bag of a beautiful transparent red, like a pale-coloured currant, attached to the abdomen, and affording the young fish an ample supply of nourishment for several weeks. This is the yolk or vitelline portion of the egg. They continue for a length of time to keep themselves in a great measure concealed from public view among the stones and gravel, are quick-sighted as well as active, and have the instinct of self-preservation so strongly implanted from the first, that the waving of the smallest wand, or the passing shadow of an outstretched arm, is sufficient to cause their instantaneous disappearance among the multitudinous little caves and arched recesses with which their shingly bed abounds. While quiescent, they seem to be almost in a helpless state, and are not only borne down but over-balanced by the pea-like body attached to the abdomen, and which, gravitating in accordance with its own constitution, throws the fry over on their sides. In this position they so resemble the subjacent soil, that though a score of them may be lying in the impressed mark of a horse's hoof, they can only be discovered by the brilliant colour of their "provision bag." As soon, however, as they are set in motion they assume their natural position, and swim away with the bag beneath them, and with great facility. They continue in this independent and inconspicuous state for several weeks, being nourished all the time, so far as has been ascertained, by the gradually absorbed remains of the vitelline portion of the egg, which constitutes the bag just mentioned. The period of absorption seems to vary with
fisheries describes the action as resembling that of a hen shuffling with her wings in earth or sand. The spawners, he alleges, lie on their sides, and, while making the furrows, remove the gravel by a quick jerk and curvature of their bodies, but principally by the fins and tail. At this period, as he further informs us, they are always accompanied by a horde of trouts, which are very alert in picking up the ova as they drop, and the male spawner is every now and then seen chasing them away.
The following are Mr Shaw's most recent observations, regarding the same process as performed by the common river trout, Salmo fario, and which he regards as confirming by analogy the proceedings of the salmon. "I have had many excellent opportunities this last autumn of observing the interesting process of trouts depositing their spawn in a small stream which runs into a well-stocked loch in this neighbourhood. The stream in which they were spawning was not more than six inches deep, and the fishes were as distinctly seen as if in a glass on the drawing-room table. By creeping up to them on hands and knees under the shade of a dark bush, I was able to watch them for hours unseen, and so near that I could have put my hands on them with ease. The male, as I have already often stated, took no part in the process of digging, contenting himself by keeping nearly parallel with the female, and close to the bottom of the spawning bed when at rest. The female, while in the act of removing the materials, always had her head thrown into the air above the level of the gravel at the bottom, while her tail was at the same time working actively on the gravel immediately under it, and the small pebbles could be distinctly seen in motion at the same time. I do not mean to say that the female salmon removes the gravel with her tail, as it actually with a spade, but that by the broad surface of the tail extended horizontally on the water near the bottom, that water readily removes the gravel below, which is always loose and shining on spawning streams. In short, the fact of the salmon removing the gravel by the motion of tail can be logically admitted of a doubt."—MS., 16th March 1855.
We are now ready to believe that salmon enter by a forced retention in the sea, as well as from a too prolonged sojourn in the fresh waters. A case of this kind is supposed to have occurred at the mouth of the Grimsula, in the island of Lewis, in August 1852. During a continuance of dry weather at that time, the fish were found dying in great numbers in the salt water, just off the river's mouth; and this was attributed to their inability from want of water to ascend the stream. The immediate ailment, whatever might be its cause, seemed to be a softening and slight discoloration of a part of the upper portion of the skull, with an appearance of sinking or indentation in its centre: a specimen was kindly transmitted to us by Mr Francis W. Wilson for examination. We have preserved the skull. Another cranium of a salmon in our collection is slightly disorganized from a different cause. While a friend was playing a kelt one morning in early spring, near Cardross, on the Tweed, our notice was attracted by a bright red light (the signal of danger) which the fish seemed to bear aloft upon its forehead. When stretched upon the dewy turf, we found on closer examination that there was a large fresh wound, which seemed nearly to have fractured the skull, laying it bare for about a couple of inches. It had no doubt been quite recently inflicted by a violent though misdirected blow from a leister, and yet the fish had not been so sickened thereby as to lose its appetite for artificial flies, one of which, though a frail thing compared with a poacher's trident, had just caused its capture. Early state the temperature and other circumstances, and admits of a range of from 27 to 60 days. While lessening, it assimilates somewhat in colour to the rest of the body; and finally disappears. That animalcular food is also, towards the conclusion of this period, obtained through the month, there need be no doubt. It is not, however, till they are nearly two months old that they can be perceived as in pursuit of prey.
The growth of salmon fry is by no means rapid during their first summer. For several months they require to be narrowly looked for among the shingle (into which they are so fond of darting) before they can be seen. But as at this period, and throughout the season, our rivers are amply stocked with small fry of the same kind, but much more conspicuous from their larger size, and less timid habits, it becomes evident that we have two broods in hand, the smaller of which are the product of the immediately preceding spring, the larger than of the spring of a year and some months passed and gone. Both broods taken together constitute what are termed parr, and the larger set are those which afford such frequent though improvident amusement to the more juvenile class of anglers. Now the great constitutional change which converts an old parr into a young salmon (commonly called a smolt) takes place in spring, and consists mainly in the following alterations. The black spots upon the opercles or gill-covers disappear; the pale-coloured pectoral fins become deeply suffused with an inky hue at their extremities; the broad and conspicuous bars or blotches on the sides are effaced or rendered invisible, and the prevailing hues of dusky brown and yellowish white are converted into a dark bluish black upon the upper parts, and into a brilliant silvery white upon the lower sides and abdomen. The old opinion was that salmon fry grew to the length of six or seven inches in as many weeks. What led to this long-continued error was the rapidity with which the mature parr assumed the aspect of the acknowledged smolt. Superficial observers, and almost all were so on this particular point at the time referred to, taking cognisance, first, of the hatching of the ova in early spring, and secondly, of the sudden appearance and seaward migration of smolts so soon afterwards, erroneously imagined these two facts to take place in immediate or speedy succession and connection, whereas in truth they had no more to do with each other than an infant in the nurse's arms has to do with any active lad who may be setting forth to push his fortunes in a far country. It is now known and universally admitted that the parr remains at least an entire year in the fresh water streams before it becomes a smolt, so that the latter is necessarily not of the same generation as those hatched during the spring, in which it seeks the sea.
We owe the demonstration of this important fact, which had been previously nothing more than surmised, to Mr John Shaw of Drumlanrig. The essential value of Mr Shaw's discovery consists in his having proved the identity of that abundant little fish commonly called parr, with the young or earliest condition of the salmon. He also showed its long continuance in fresh water, its after conversion into the smolt, and the consequent absurdity of supposing that the latter went off to the sea in a few weeks after it was hatched. The importance and originality of his observations are independent of the fact—whether a certain portion of parr require one or two years in fresh water.
That excellent observer had been long convinced, in opposition to the prevailing sentiments upon the subject, that the small and most abundant, though by no means well-known fish, commonly called parr, was the young or natural produce of the salmon, and that all previously recorded attempts to trace the true history of the latter noble species in its early state were delusive and without foundation. So far back as the 11th of July 1833, he captured a few score of these small fishes, and placed them in a common pond, supplied by a wholesome streamlet, where they were as happy as the day was long. They thrived and prospered to a wish, and in the ensuing month of April began to assume a somewhat different aspect, and in the earlier part of May were converted into what are usually called salmon smolts—that is, they lost the perpendicular or transverse bars, became of a fine deep blue upon the back, the sides and under portions being as lustrous as silver, and the scales deciduous, or coming easily off upon the hand. In March 1835 he renewed the experiment, by taking from the river about a dozen parr of a large size—that is, about six inches long. They at this time bore the transverse blotches, and all the other obvious characteristics of the so-called parr. He transferred them to his pond, and by the end of April of the same year they too assumed the livery of the salmon fry, the dark bars becoming overlaid by silvery scales. It is clear that if all parr were converted into smolts when they were only about a year old, then so soon as the smolting process and the immediately ensuing migration to the sea have taken place, none would remain in the river except the small and inconspicuous fry of a few weeks old, already referred to as the darkling denizens of the shingle. But as this is not the case—as June, July, August, and so on, have from the first their shapely well-grown parr, besides those more minute and unobtrusive relatives amid the stones below, we can draw no other conclusion than that which Mr Shaw has drawn—to wit, that all the larger summer and autumnal parr are in truth young salmon advancing into their second year, and not ripe for the smolting process till the ensuing spring, by which time of course they must be two years old.
Prior to this ingenious identification of the parr and salmon smolt, and the demonstration of the lengthened sojourn of the latter in fresh water, the former was unavoidably regarded as constituting in its proper person a distinct and permanent species—that is, a continuous and inconvertible parr. What might be its early history no one knew, and as no female parr with matured roe had been ever met with, a considerate observer must have been sorely perplexed when he thought of its maternity. Its predecessors and posterity were alike a mystery—the only ascertainable fact being a truism, and fortunately self-evident, that the existing race existed. Mr Shaw, while making in the month of May 1834 a minute examination of some streams in which salmon were known to have spawned during the preceding winter, found there in vast numbers a very minute but extremely agile fish, which, from its position, he naturally concluded to be the young parr or actual samlet of the season. To test the truth of this opinion he scooped up a few score, the individuals not measuring more than an inch long. He placed them in his ponds, where they thrived well, although after the lapse of an entire year they were only three inches and a half in length. At this time (May 1835) they entirely corresponded to the small or medium-sized parr to be seen in the natural streams of the river, and neither the free nor the captive brood of these dimensions exhibited any tendency to assume the silvery aspect of the smelt. Our observer, however, felt satisfied, from the result of his former tentative experiments on the parr, that they would ultimately assume that aspect; so he allowed them to hide their tune, and accordingly in May 1836 they were transmuted into smolts or salmon fry. They then measured six inches and a half in length, the colour of the dorsal region being a fine bluish-black, the sides and abdomen silvery white, the dorsal, caudal, and especially the pectoral fins tinged with black. The smolts in the river were at this time descending seawards,—no difference could be discovered between these and their brethren in captivity,—the latter were known to have completed their second year, and so Mr Shaw very naturally asks, It thus appears that the fry of salmon may be seen by any careful observer, in such rivers as produce them, early in the month of April, but so young and weak, in consequence of their recent emergence from the spawning beds, as to be unable to struggle with the current. They therefore betake themselves to the gentler eddies and other quiet places during spring and the earlier part of summer; but as they gain an increase of size and strength they begin to scatter themselves more independently over all the shallower portions of the river, especially where the bottom is composed of fine gravel. They thus continue comparatively unobserved throughout the whole of their first summer, during which they seldom take the angler's fly. But no sooner do the two-year-olds, according to Mr Shaw's theory, disappear as smolts in spring than these smaller fishes, now entering upon their second season, become bolder and more apparent, and then constitute, and continue for another year to constitute, the parr of anglers and of other observers. Their shy and shingle-seeking habits during the early months of their career so screen them from ordinary observation as to have induced the erroneous belief already mentioned, that the silvery smolts were the actual produce of the very season in which these are first observable, and were only a few weeks old—the fact seeming to be, that prior to their seaward emigration they had dwelt for a couple of years in "rivers of water." Now that we know this strange history, it seems still stranger that in the days of our ignorance no angler should have troubled himself to inquire what became of the older generation of parr—that is, of the comparatively large individuals which may be captured late in autumn and in early spring, but scarcely one of which can be detected after the departure of the smolts into the sea. If the two were not identical, how did it happen that one so constantly disappeared simultaneously with the other? But their identity has been demonstrated, and the disappearance of these full-grown parr is caused by their conversion into smolts.
In giving Mr Shaw's view of the comparatively slow progress of the development of parr, and stating our own belief, for the reasons assigned, in the general truth of the biennial theory, as it may be called, we must not omit to state that several excellent, experienced, and trustworthy observers have come to another conclusion, and, while admitting the value and importance of Mr Shaw's discoveries, maintain that a single completed year suffices to convert a parr into a smolt. It may be here mentioned, that in the course of Mr Shaw's experiments, it happened each time that some of his captive specimens smolted when they were little more than a year old; and this, say some, instead of being an exceptional occurrence, was rather an indication of what would have happened to the whole, had they been in their natural and unconstrained condition in the open river, instead of being shut up in a pond. We think Mr Shaw has fenced the matter well, by showing that a similar change was very obviously going on in the river among the larger and older parr, but not among the younger and smaller; and his opponents can in no way explain or account for (consistently with their annual theory) the continuance of so many obviously year-old parr in the river for such a continuous length of time after the departure of the smolts in spring. At the same time it is proper to consider the facts on both sides. Mr Andrew Young of Inver-shin, who has well availed himself of the amplest opportunities for experimental observation, informs us that the fry (or parr) of his ponds became smolts at the end of the first year, and that frequent trials brought forth the same result. We have every confidence in Mr Young's statements, and therefore know not how to reconcile the opposing facts. This much, however, consists with our own knowledge, that the river Shin, by the banks of which Mr Young's experiments were made, abounds all summer with well-grown parr in their second season—that is, we find them there, as elsewhere, for many a month after the smolts have taken their departure to the sea. These specimens we have not seldom had it in our power to exhibit to Mr Young himself. We observe that Mr Ramsbottom has also recently followed the same course. He observes, in a note addressed to us from the banks of the Shin, and dated 12th May 1855, "I killed for him (Mr Young) in his own river, with a small midge fly, both the year-old parr and the two-year-old smolt, and could kill a hundred of both ages in one day if he required them." And we continue to find them in, and to have them transmitted from, numerous other salmon rivers. They are now (August 1855) plentiful in the Tay, although the smolts are long since gone. It will be seen then that Mr Young's opponents may also on their part assume that his cases might be deemed exceptional, by reason of being pond-bred, and that they were thereby rendered more mature—just as he alleges that Mr Shaw's were made exceptional by the same means though in the opposite direction, being retarded rather than hastened in their great change. The truth is that perfect accuracy of observation is by no means easy, even with the best intentions. Of this we have a good example in the reports published from time to time regarding the parr brought up in the great and successful breeding pond at Stormonthfield, a few miles above Perth. The ova were deposited after subjection to the artificial or mechanical process of impregnation in the winter of 1853, and were hatched in the spring of 1854. Though necessarily of very small dimensions during the first summer, they thrive well, and were reported on as being not only a healthy colony of young fish, but as by the month of October attaining "nearly the size and getting the silvery appearance of smolts." This silvery appearance had never been seen or heard of before, as manifested by any parr of salmon born, when it was scarcely seven months old. Nothing of the kind was observable in any of the natural streams of Scotland. So also, early in the ensuing month of April a party of gentlemen from Perth visited the ponds, and brought back with them "a smolt completely covered with silvery scales, and fully as forward as any at present in the river." The fish was caught with the rod and a small fly, and was the only one that rose, and may be considered as a fair average specimen of what the pond contains. In shape it is faultless, being finely grown, and the parr marks obliterated by the newly-acquired scales. So this long-disputed question has at length been settled, and Mr Andrew Young's, of Bonar Bridge, statement has been proved the true one." If by this it was meant that all parr assume the aspect of smolts, and become fit for their seaward migration when little more than a year old, the
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1 In regard to these supposed exceptional cases, Mr Shaw, in a recent letter, observes as follows:—"The circumstance of some individuals assuming the smolt condition at the end of twelve months, in each brood, does not in the least degree invalidate my statement that by far the larger portion of them do not. The smolts of the Nith have now all departed for the sea, and consequently the truth of what I have so often stated is at this moment very clear, there being no other parr to be caught with the fly, but the one-year-olds, measuring from 3 to 4 inches long, while the young of this year measure about 1½ inches. There is one very important fact which has escaped the notice of my opponents, that is, the characteristic condition of the male autumnal parr, in respect to the maturity of its milt, not one of the persons connected with the Perth ponds having ever asserted that even a single sample of their brood had been yet found in that condition. Now it is notorious to every one that parr are found in thousands in that state every autumn, in every salmon river, and that they are then capable of reproduction."—MS., June 11, 1855. conclusion is certainly erroneous, and can easily be disproved. We believe there is some risk that, when the matter under discussion comes to bear upon the commercial or industrial branches of the subject, the wish may be the father of the thought. As all parr in spring, just like the feathered tribes during the same season, become beautified by a great freshening in their general aspect—an increase of blue and silver, a decrease of brown and yellow—they are thus apt to be designated as smolts, when they are really far from that condition. The term, too, is very vaguely applied. All parr are smolts in the sense that they are young salmon, but the title, to avoid confusion, ought to be restricted to that brief period of the spring in which these small fishes have changed their barred and spotted livery into a more contrasted coating of bluish-black and shining silver, and are at the same time under the influence of the migratory movement to the sea. Of course this universal conversion at a year old, if the correct view, would be by much the more advantageous one for the artificial breeder, in so far as, in the rearing of his young fish, he would save a year's care and keeping; and where there is only a single artificial pond, that pond might be emptied of its contents each season, and the newly-hatched fry let down into it from the spawning-troughs above, without any risk of their being swallowed alive by their stronger if not more carnivorous connections.
Having our own prepossessions in favour of Mr Shaw's views, although we trust without undue bias from any spirit of partizanship, we felt anxious to satisfy ourselves by personal inspection regarding facts which did certainly not accord with our own experience. So in company with Mr Shaw, we availed ourselves of an invitation to meet the parties principally concerned at Stormontfield on the 2d of May 1855. This was more than six months after the time of these fry having been first reported as assuming the smolt aspect, and a few weeks after that of their being for the second time so reported. We shall now state what occurred. The most ample opportunity and every convenience were afforded us for a satisfactory examination of the contents of the pond, which is excellently well constructed for the purpose in view. We saw many thousands of these imprisoned parr with sufficient distinctness to receive a correct impression of their actual state; and we moreover netted a sufficient number to serve as representatives for a closer and more minute examination. Although these fish were by that time at least about thirteen months old, and were in fine condition, there was not a single smolt among them. They corresponded entirely to the year-old parr, which we took for comparison from the adjoining river Tay. The only example of a smolt exhibited to the meeting, in the course of a careful and prolonged investigation, was one caught by a gentleman while angling in the river, and who had tried his skill for a corresponding specimen in vain within the precincts of the pond. He brought it up to us without delay, and when placed in a vessel beside the pond-bred parr, its greater size, more salmon-like shape, and spotless silvery lustre, made its difference of aspect obvious to all. The meeting, therefore, came to the unanimous and unavoidable conclusion that the multitudinous inhabitants of the pond were still, without exception, parr; and in this opinion Mr Shaw and the writer of this article cordially concurred. Lord Mansfield and others pressed for their detention for another year, and their continued captivity was, as we understood, determined on.
We here record only to the extent that we have personally ascertained and seen. But we doubt not that fishes, like flies and flowers, are under the influence of temperature, and as the preceding winter and spring were seasons of great severity, an unusual retardation may have taken place. Mr Robert Buist of Perth, to whom we have been indebted for much valuable information on these matters, informs us that in the course of a week or two after our visit a marked change took place, and that a great number of smolts, in the genuine silvery state, began to show themselves, while many others exhibited unmistakable symptoms of a corresponding change. It is not alleged that this conversion was complete or universal, but we can entertain no doubt, from the evidence laid before us, that at least a transformation of some kind occurred. Samples have been sent us which, though somewhat discoloured by the medium in which they were preserved, seem to have lost the parr markings, and assumed the silvery aspect. We do not know in what proportion this took place, but we may presume, from the ascertained fact of so many midsummer parr of good size being still found in the Tay, that these would have continued and been recognised as likewise in the ponds, if not set at liberty with their more brilliant brethren. The determination as to further detention was, however, altered, the sluice was lowered, and the fry allowed their freedom. We have no doubt they will make a good use of it, and that such as prefer a second season in fresh water will rejoice in the pleasant reaches of the Tay. Meanwhile the thing to guard against on the one side is the assertion that no parr becomes a smolt till the termination of its second year, and on the other, that all parr become smolts soon after the conclusion of their first twelvemonth. If it takes some time to prove the former statement, there is scarcely a day in the year in which we cannot disprove the latter.
We have ourselves repeatedly demonstrated, by observations of the easiest and most simple kind, that there are three distinct stages or different broods of parr, that is, young salmon, in our rivers during early spring. We have, first, those which, recently excluded from the ova, are still, if not invisible to common eyes, so small and inconspicuous as to be unobservable till notice is directed towards them. We have, secondly, those which are just completing their first year, and which, owing to the continued cold of the preceding winter, and consequent deficiency of insect food, are very little larger than they were at the end of the preceding month of October—seldom measuring more than three inches. They increase, however, rapidly as the summer advances, and then form the obvious and admitted parr which stock our rivers. We have, thirdly, for a short time, along with the two preceding broods, those large and (so far as concerns the males) sexually developed parr, which have completed their second year, and are characterized by their brightness as well as size. In the months of April and May these lose the parr appearance, are converted into silvery smolts, and immediately take their departure downwards to the sea. After this all those parr that are only a year old, or a little upwards, are found in the rivers (whatever they may be in the ponds) apparently as numerous as ever.
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1. "The rapid growth of the fry, the large proportion which immediately progressed into indisputable smolts, and the striking evidences which the larger inhabitants of the ponds themselves clearly manifested that the time of migration had really arrived, led to the wiser resolution of the committee, that the more advanced and matured of their charge should be allowed to follow the dictates of their nature."
Perthshire Courier, 26th July 1855.
2. Mr Ramsbottom of Clitheroe, who has had great experience as an angler, and has of late been largely employed in conducting the process of artificial impregnation, of which he has watched the results, records his opinion as follows:—"Artificial propagation has not only proved and settled this great question, but it has taught me to see it in thirty-three different rivers in Great Britain and Ireland, in which I have angled with the rod. You must understand that the parr or salmon fry, towards the close of the second year, has to undergo a change which it cannot attain to in its first. Every male fry or parr belonging to the salmon gets a developed milt at the close of its second year, and parts with it in winter in the spawning bed of the adult salmon. It then becomes a smolt in spring, just..." We may now notice some anomalous and very peculiar circumstances connected with the natural constitution of the parr, which some have recently supposed to throw great light upon this vexed question, if they do not reconcile its apparent contradictions. It is well known to every experienced observer that a vast proportion of the larger parr so frequently referred to are males; that is, that so far as any sexual characteristics are manifested, it is the milts alone which show such signs. The male parr is sexually mature when sixteen or eighteen months old (of course, if converted into smolts when a year old, they could have no existence at such an age), while the female, even in her most advanced state, has the ovaries so slightly developed, and their contents so extremely minute, that they generally require the aid of a lens to detect the granular form of the incipient ova. (Exceptional cases occur, though rarely.) Mr. J. C. Heysham of Carlisle took a female parr in March with the ova largely developed. Other instances are recorded by Mr. Yarrell, *British Fishes*, vol. ii., p. 48). The observation is as old as the joint work of Ray and Willoughby (*De Historia Piscium*, Oxon., 1686). In this early, though admirable volume, we have first a description of the salmon, and then of a small fish resembling the young river trout, and which these authors properly regard as identical with the *branlin* of the north of England; in other words, the parr. The passage is headed—“Salmothus, Herefordiae salmolet dictus, Branlinus D. Johnson inferiori descripto, ut nobis videtur, idem.” “Hujus generis,” he adds, “omnes (quod mirum) marces esse aiunt.” Trutte persimilis est, at certamen speciei differe videtur.” We have, then, an enumeration of “Pisces fluvialites et anadromi e genere truttae in Septentrionalibus Angliae observati a D. Johnson,” in the course of which the branlin above named is described in more detail, and some very remarkable peculiarities in its sexual character and constitution are particularized:—
“Branlinus, nonnullis fingentis, i.e. digitales, dicti, quia notas seu arcolas transversas nigricantes quinque aut sex, veluti tot digitorum vestigia impressa, in lateribus obtinent, cum macula rubra in unaquoque arcela. Caudae sunt forcipatae, salmorum ritu; quoque mirum est, omnes marces. Cum salmonibus, procreandi causa, misceri eos mihi persusum est. Quum primum enim salmo ovorum editurum congeriem, seu acervum, malis dicere, reliquit, branlinus mox ei incumbit, ovate (ut verisimile est) spermato suo irrigat et fecundat; nec aliibi unquam inveniuntur branlini quam in locis quae salmonis frequentant.”
It need scarcely be noted that the preceding observations were not likely to be known to Mr. Shaw. But, guided by what he had actually seen occurring in the river beds, he took, in the month of January 1837, a female salmon, weighing fourteen pounds, from her natural spawning place, from whence also he secured a male parr, weighing one and a half ounce. With the milt of the latter he fecundated the ova of the former, and placing the spawn in the small streamlet which acts as the feeder of one of his ponds, he carefully observed its growth, as he had previously that of the salmon spawn impregnated in the ordinary way, and found both the hatching and subsequent growth to correspond in all points with the usual ongoings of nature. This alleged remarkable experiment was repeated with the same results during the winter of 1838, and the parr (taken from the river) which had been used as males were kept alive till spring, when they assumed the migratory dress of young salmon. He then tried a corresponding experiment by impregnating the ova of three adult salmon taken from the river with the milt of three parr bred in confinement, and the results in these cases were the same, both as regards hatching and final growth. The subjects of these trials are now preserved in the museum of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As these male parr are not mature till well advanced into their second year, and some months after all smolting has ceased, it is clear that, so far as they are concerned, the *biennial* theory is the one that suits them, and which they confirm.
We have already said that certain observations had recently been made which some regarded as reconciling the opposing views. We have seen them in the *Scotsman* newspaper (of June 6, 1855), from which we make the following extract. The writer begins by stating his belief that, as not unfrequently happens in such discussions, while both parties are in the right, both are also in the wrong. He knows, from observations continued during several years under peculiarly favourable circumstances, that about one-half of the salmon fry produced descend to the sea when one year, and the other half when two years old.
“This important and certainly very singular fact I learned under the following circumstances.—The River Wharfe in Yorkshire was, from forty to fifty years ago, and is yet, for anything I know to the contrary, a sort of experimental breeding-stream for salmon, where the progress and appearance of the young fry may be observed with great accuracy and certainty. Owing to the existence of a very lofty and difficult weir at Wetherby, the salmon can only pass beyond that place when there is a peculiarly favourable concurrence of high floods in autumn; and the consequence has been, that for many years past the fish have succeeded in making their way as far as Harewood and Otley about, on an average, once in five or six years, and the fishermen are therefore enabled to observe what follows the spawning of a few salmon in any particular year without being puzzled and misled by having fry of different years mixed together; from which fact nearly all the uncertainty that has attended this subject in former years has unquestionably arisen. They are thus enabled to state beforehand what sort of salmon fry will be found in the first, second, and third years after spawning has taken place.
“During the first summer they find in the river small parr, which in autumn begin freely to rise at the fly, and are then of two perfectly distinct sizes. In the following spring, generally in April, but varying according to the temperature, the larger of these two species of parr assume the silvery appearance of the smolt, and descend to the sea, leaving behind them all those which were of the second size, and which still retain in perfection the peculiar marking of the parr. These grow considerably during the summer, and in autumn afford, when numerous, sport to the... juvenile angler. I have caught hundreds of them in and about the month of October, and have almost invariably found them to contain milt, showing that they were male fish. The necessary inference from this fact is, of course, that those who had descended to the sea during the previous spring were females. These male fish, during the following spring, generally about the beginning of March, assume the blue and silvery appearance of the smolt, the change being evidently due to the greater opacity of the scales, which no longer permit the spots and markings of the parr to be visible through them. Another change also takes place in these fish about the same time; their pectoral fins assume a deep blue colour. This change, if I recollect rightly, is not observable in the females when they descend to the sea at the end of the first year.
"When the males have descended the rivers, no salmon fry of any kind are left in the Wharfe, and none will be found there probably for two or three years, when another arrival of the parent fish will cause a repetition of the facts which I have just detailed.
"It was by a careful observation of these facts that the fishermen on the Wharfe were, fifty years ago or more, well acquainted with the natural history of the salmon, when the wildest absurdities were almost universally maintained respecting it in other quarters. It was generally asserted and believed that the smolts which filled the river in the spring were the produce of the spawn deposited during the preceding winter, although that spawn was at the very time still lying in the spawning beds; and Mr Yarrell, in the first edition of his excellent work on British Fishes, was so perplexed by what he had heard on the subject, as to make in two different pages of his book the two utterly inconsistent statements to which I have just referred.
"I may here remark—lest it should be supposed that the two different classes of smolts to which I have just referred were, or might be, the produce of different fish of the salmon kind—that no salmon-mort, sea-trout, or bull-trout, was ever, so far as I know, seen in the Wharfe above Wetherby. None but good strong salmon could, in fact, overcome the difficulties of ascending the river above that place; so that no confusion could possibly arise from a difference of origin.
"Of course I am not so unreasonable as to suppose that my statements on this subject will convince those who have taken up decided opinions to the contrary, but it cannot be difficult to put these statements to a satisfactory test. Let the inmates at the ponds of Stormontfield be carefully examined. No doubt some few will still be left there with the silvery appearance of the smolt. Let one or two of them be examined anatomically to determine their sex. Let the same be done with some of those which now retain—and, if my theory is correct, will be found to retain all the summer—the appearance of parr. Let some portion of these be kept in the ponds until next spring, and it will then be found, if I am not mistaken, that they will assume the silvery appearance, and at the same time the peculiar indigo blue colour of the pectoral fin, which is characteristic of the salmon. A few careful observations directed to test the accuracy of my views on the subject will probably tend to remove an uncertainty which has long and generally prevailed; in which case I shall be extremely glad to have contributed in any degree, however trifling, to the attainment of such a desirable object."
This statement is worthy of consideration. It certainly accords with, if it does not account for, the anomaly already noticed, of the number of mature male parr, and the great rarity of females in the same condition. No doubt Dr Heyslam informs us, that he has at different times and seasons examined 395 parr (or samlets, as they are called at Carlisle), and found 199 males, and 196 females. But this may have been when they were intermingled; or he may have counted many females at one time, and many males at another. It does not, however, reconcile the contending theorists. We cannot suppose that certain salmon produce only male ova, and others only female, yet something of this kind must be assumed, to account for Mr Shaw's specimens, almost all requiring two years to smolt, while Mr Young's never needed more than one. How could the former chance to be almost all males, and the latter almost all females? Another odd circumstance will result from this new view, viz., that no pair of grilse, of different sexes, can ever be of the same age. A brood of young salmon are hatched, say in the spring of 1853. In that of 1854 all the females become smolts, descend to the sea, and return from it as grilse in summer. But their male companions abide for two years in the river, and so have no chance of being grilse till the summer of 1855. On the other hand, the actual male grilse of 1854 must (according to the theory) have been bred in 1852, and so are necessarily a year older than those with which they pair. So also must there be a difference of at least a year in the age of all salmon (as such) of different sexes. A female fish hatched in the spring of 1853 becomes a grilse in the summer of 1854, but all the males of her early acquaintance must wait for their conversion until the summer of 1855, by which time she has herself become a salmon. Her brothers, no doubt, become salmon in 1856, and they are then all in the same state, and also actually of the same age, although the females have the advantage of being in their second year as salmon, while the males (having lost a year in fresh water) are only in their first. Of course there are both male and female smolts descending together to the sea during each and every spring, but according to this new notion the former are two-year-old, and the latter only one. Let this point be henceforward looked to carefully by anglers, and all others who have opportunities of observation. The whole subject of the age of smolts has now become of high importance in an economical point of view, to those who raise the fish in ponds. As a consequence of the annual theory (if founded on fact) being reduced to practice, we shall have it in our power to produce good marketable grilse in fifteen or sixteen months from the hatching of the ova, while, according to the biennial view, that advantage will not be obtained until the lapse of about two years and a quarter. It is like the sudden conversion of "gimmers" into four-year-old mutton, a mutation which the sheep-farmer would fondly see.
Having now endeavoured to explain the prevailing opinions regarding parr and smolts, we shall proceed to consider briefly the third stage of a salmon's life, that which
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1 We are indebted to Mr Robert Buist of Perth for giving us recent information regarding the condition of the parr and smolts of the Stormontfield ponds. It appears that although so obvious a change was observable among the majority by the end of May that they were allowed to take their departure into the river, a great number of a smaller size neither exhibited the same external change nor a like willingness to leave the pond. There they still abide as parr, no doubt waiting for the spring of the ensuing year. Some hundred thousand are supposed to have been successfully hatched, and of these Mr Buist calculates that about 130,000 took their departure towards the sea. Of these about 10,000 were marked by cutting off the small dorsal or adipose fin; and several of them have been already captured on their return as grilse. The hope is entertained that for every marked grilse that returns, 100 others (also original inmates of the pond) return with it. It may not be easy to ascertain the actual proportion which still remain in the pond. If the original number brought up there amounted to 300,000, then the exodus consisted of not one half. "One third," says the Perthshire Courier of 26th July 1855, "of the original stock are still in the pond, and although the sluice has never been closed since it was first opened in May, they manifest no desire whatever to leave it. In point of fact, with perfectly free means of egress, not one of them has left the pond since the general migration ceased at 7th June last. Thus, while one portion of the same hatching are being captured in the river, Conversion immediately precedes its adult state—to wit, the condition of smolts of grilse. So salubrious is the sea, so enlarging the influence into grilse, of its wide domain, that no sooner has a smolt of a very few ounces in weight been launched into that vast abyss than it suddenly expands in growth, even as the children of the Anakim. In a couple of months it will then weigh more pounds than it previously did ounces. This great and rapid growth seems to depend entirely upon what the fish obtains in salt water, and the longer it remains there the larger it becomes. The chief run of grilse into the rivers does not take place till summer is well advanced. Very small grilse are sometimes caught in early spring. They cannot then be otherwise than small, because they have chosen to return to the rivers in a few weeks after they had left them as smolts. Larger grilse, but still of small dimensions, are caught in early summer, and they thus increase in size in proportion to the length of their sojourn in the sea. Of course, a smaller grilse may be sometimes caught in August, and a larger one in July, but this quite conforms to the general principle which regulates their growth—the latter having been longest in the sea, as one smolt may migrate early in April, and another not till the beginning of June, some being sooner ready for their journey, because earlier hatched. There is no proof of anything like a lengthened and continuous succession in the migratory movements of smolts. These movements may be in some measure modified by the temperature of the preceding season, and so extend, more or less, over several weeks in spring. Thus, also, the size of grilse and the periods of their appearance vary, but the great mass begin to ascend about the middle of July, by which time they have been nearly three months in the sea. The largest grilse are found in autumn, and the least in spring. We regard this as a sufficient proof that the smolting process ceases soon after the commencement of summer. If any parr became smolts in autumn (as some suppose, thereby seeking to account for the continuance of the middle-sized kind in the rivers after spring), and made Conversion only a short sojourn in the sea, then we should have small of smolts grilse coming up in winter, which is not the case; or if they remained in the sea for a longer time, then we should have large grilse in spring, which is equally well known to be not the fact.
That smolts become by conversion grilse has been satisfactorily demonstrated by Mr Andrew Young. In the spring of 1837 he marked a number of the former, just as they were about to descend towards the sea, by making a perforation in the caudal fin by means of a small pair of nipping irons constructed for the purpose, and in the course of the season he re-captured a considerable number on their return to the rivers, all in the state of grilse, and varying from three to eight pounds, "according to the time which had elapsed since their first departure from the fresh water, or, in other words, the length of their sojourn in the sea." In the spring of 1842 he likewise marked many descending smolts, by clipping off the small rayless protuberance upon the dorsal line, called the adipose fin. In the course of the ensuing June and July he caught them coming up the river as grilse, bearing his peculiar mark, and agreeing with those of 1837, both in respect to size and the relation which that size bore to the lapse of time.
Note of Smolts marked in the river Shin, and recaptured as grilse on their first ascent from the sea.
| Period of marking | Period of recapture as grilse | Weight when recaptured | |-------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------| | 1842, April and May | 1842, June 28 | 4 lb. | | | July 15 | 5 lb. | | | 15 | 5 lb. | | | 25 | 7 lb. | | | 25 | 6 lb. | | | 30 | 3½ lb. |
As the growth of grilse is dependent on the sea, fish in that stage, though necessarily younger, may be of greater dimensions than adult salmon, and for the following reasons:
beautifully grown grilse of four and twenty inches in length, another portion is still enjoying the shelter of the pond, tiny creatures, none of them more than three or four inches long."
It is impossible at present to say what the effect of superabundant feeding may be in hastening the process of development. If scattering quantities of boiled and ground bullock's liver several times a day into the ponds, has produced an earlier smolting, then the triumph of artificial feeding of salmon stock is all the greater, and the more assiduously should the process be put in practice. We certainly missed and pointed out to others, during our examination of the ponds, that all those parr which continued to swarm in the small streams, let which flowed from the hatching troughs into the large feeding pond, were much smaller and otherwise less mature than such as swam and fed in the expanded piece of water, in the comparative stillness and extent of which they had no doubt a more ample supply of food, and a greater range of ground, than what were enjoyed by the inmates of the running water. We know from observation that the increased rate of growth in young trout, when their native streamlet has been converted by damming into a large pond, is sudden and extraordinary; and it is possible that the constitutional change which parr undergo in their natural conversion into smolts, may be induced at an earlier period by artificial feeding. Mr Shaw's specimens, so few of which smoltsed when a year old, were left to their own resources. In the meantime, many considerate people view the combatants in this field as they would the knights of old, who disputed from opposite sides whether the face of the shield was of gold or silver. There are now also many who undoubtedly parr still in the pond, though far advanced into their second year, while it seems just as certain that a great multitude took their departure two or three months ago as smolts, and are now returning, there is every reason to believe, as grilse. "So," says Mr Buist, "Young and Shaw will be both right. Young's smolts are off, Shaw's parr remain. What can be the cause?"
The following is a note of the number, weight, and sex of the marks which I taken in the Tay up to the 4th of August of the same season (1855) as that in which they were marked as smolts. July 7, 2½ lb., female, taken near the junction of the Earn and Tay. July 20, 5¼ lb., likewise a female, taken four miles below Perth. July 24, 5½ lb., a male, taken fourteen miles below Perth. July 30, 7½ lb., a male, taken near Perth. August 7, 1½ lb., a male, taken at Perth. August 4, 6 lb., taken near Perth; also one of 7 lb., taken below Elcho Castle, and two others reported, but not transmitted for examination. The sex of these last four was not stated. We may add that our recent observations and reports do not confirm the idea that the female parr become smolts and migrate in one season, and the male parr in another. We now find both sexes among the midsummer parr, the males being sexually developed, the females in that respect immature, that is, with the ovaries but scarcely formed, and only minutely granular in their contents.
1 Mr Young states that the majority of grilse remain in the sea only for about a couple of months, and he has shown that the longer they remain there the larger they become. He admits that the smallest are caught in spring and early summer, the largest towards the close of the latter, and in autumn. Now if the majority of smolts soon return from the sea, and all that abide in it for a lengthened time become grilse, what is the result or produce of such smolts, as, according to Mr Young's view, descend to the sea in October? If they return soon they would necessarily be small grilse, if late, large ones; but no small grilse ascend in winter, and no large ones in spring, although that would unavoidably happen, in accordance with his supposition of an autumnal smolting, if that supposition were correct.
2 See a paper by Mr Young, On the Growth of Grilse and Salmon, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xv.
It is an object, in regard to the important points now under discussion, being to ascertain and convey the truth, we have always great pleasure in receiving information or opinions from people of practical experience. We believe in the rapid transmutation of smolts into grilse as recorded by Mr Young, and confirmed by the corresponding change undergone by the sea-trout of the Nith (Salmo trutta), where their smolts are as rapidly converted into hefting, which are true grilse of that minor species, as shown by Mr Shaw. But we shall here protest, not conforming with those views, the sentiments of Mr Paulin of Berwick, agent for the shipping company there, to whom we are otherwise indebted for some valuable statistical information concerning the salmon fisheries of the Tweed.
"I observe at Perth there is a strong belief that the smolts of this season, which have just lately gone to the sea, will return as grilse..." One grilse leaves the sea early and ascends into the river, where his growth gains no increase. He descends after spawning, and makes his second return to the river, in early spring, a small but a hulst salmon. But he may not have been more than six weeks each time, that is, three months altogether in the sea. Another grilse abides continuously in the salt water all summer, and having gone down early (as a smolt) and ascended late, he may weigh 8 or 9 pounds when he goes up the river, being, as a large grilse, heavier than a small salmon. Grilse, then, ascend the rivers, and breed there when their time comes, after the manner of adult salmon. They re-descend to the sea in like manner towards the close of winter, or in early spring, undergoing the same process of deterioration by long residence in the river, and of restoration through marine agency, and on their second return to the fresh waters they are salmon, properly so called.
This conversion of grilse into salmon had been known from an early period of the fish's history. The rate of progress has more recently been shown by Mr Young. He commenced marking grilse as far back as 1837, and has frequently done so since. We shall here record only the result of two successive seasons. In the spring of 1841 he marked a number of spawned grilse of four pounds weight soon after the conclusion of the spawning period, by putting a peculiarly twisted piece of wire through the dorsal fin. They were immediately thrown into the river, and of course disappeared, making their way downwards with other spawned fish towards the sea. In the course of the ensuing summer he recaptured several of them, and found that they had grown in the short period of four or five months into beautiful full-formed salmon, varying from 9 to 14 lb. in weight, the difference depending on the length of their respective sojourn in the sea. In January 1842 he repeated the same process of marking four-pound grilse which had spawned, and were therefore about to seek the sea; but instead of placing the wire in the back fin, he this year fixed it in the upper lobe of the tail. On their return from the sea he caught many of these quondam grilse as before. The following table, which we owe to Mr Young, illustrates the rate of growth.
| Period of marking | Period of recapture | Weight when marked | Weight when recaptured | |-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-----------------------| | 1841, Feb. 18 | 1841, June 23 | 4 lb. | 9 lb. | | 18 | 23 | 4 lb. | 11 lb. | | 18 | 25 | 4 lb. | 9 lb. | | 18 | 25 | 4 lb. | 10 lb. | | 18 | July 27 | 4 lb. | 13 lb. | | 18 | 28 | 4 lb. | 10 lb. | | March 4 | July 1 | | | | 4 | 1 | 4 lb. | | | 4 | 27 | | | | 1842, Jan. 29 | 1842, July 4 | 4 lb. | 8 lb. | | 29 | 14 | 4 lb. | 9 lb. | | 29 | 14 | 4 lb. | 8 lb. | | March 8 | 23 | 4 lb. | 9 lb. | | Jan. 29 | 29 | 4 lb. | 11 lb. | | March 8 | Aug. 4 | 4 lb. | 10 lb. | | Jan. 29 | 11 | 4 lb. | 12 lb. |
We commenced the preliminary portion of our present treatise by an indication of this fine fish in its parental state, and we now complete the somewhat complicated circle by coming round to the point from which we started. There is no proof before us that salmon, after once fairly ascending a river, however early in the season that ascent may be, ever return seawards that same summer. They seem to abide continuously in the rivers till the breeding season commences on the occurrence of cold weather, and do not descend again till they have spawned. The following bears on this important point. Mr Stephen stated, in his evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, that "our cruives on the river Don are so constructed, that salmon of ten pounds weight can at all times go up, but none can descend past the cruives." We fish generally in the pool above the cruives; and if the unspawnd salmon returned again down the river, we would undoubtedly catch them there, which is never the case. They are never seen to descend the river except as kelts after having spawned? The after conditions of the adult salmon life being beset by difficulties which no man can number, its ultimate term of existence, and the size to which it might eventually attain, are as unknown quantities, or at least can only be approximately inferred from casual cases. Such individuals as for several seasons succeed in avoiding the deadly and deceptive chambers of the bag and stake net (Lasciate ogni speranza, voi che 'strate), and escape, moreover, the sweeping meshes of the boatmen, the wily prison of the darksome cruives, the angler's gaudy lure, and the poacher's relentless leister, will no doubt continue to increase from year to year. But such are now the multiplicity and perfection of our various fisheries, and so great the facilities for preserving and transmitting this princely and highly-prized species from even our far northern rivers, to the luxurious cities of more southern districts, that it may be greatly doubted whether any British salmon ever attains to a good old age, or dies a natural death. We therefore possess but few data from which to judge of either their natural term of life, or their final dimensions. They are still occasionally, though rarely, killed of the weight of forty, or even fifty pounds. But these are giants of their race. We know, however, that a few years ago, in the then comparatively slightly-fished rivers of Norway, salmon of those sizes were by no means uncommon; and it is authentically recorded that even in this country, and in our own days, a female fish came into the possession of Mr Groves of Bond Street, which weighed 83 lb. Pennant had previously recorded one of 74. We shall here note one or two cases of the ascertained increase of size in adult salmon. In the year 1841 Mr Young marked some spawned salmon by means of copper wire. One of them which had been marked on the 4th of March, when it weighed 12 lb., was recaptured on its return from the sea, on the 16th of July, weighing 18 lb. He found that the majority of his marked fish did not continue absent more than two months, and his experiments not only demonstrated this fact, but another of great consequence to the breeder of salmon—
in July and August next. From my own experience I think this will be found not to be the case, although among the fishermen it was the universal belief only a few years ago. In May 1851 there were a great many smolts in the Tweed marked by a silver ring being put in their tails. At this time they could not be above two or three ounces in weight, and the first of them that was caught was in August 1852, when it weighed four pounds four ounces. There were several others taken during the same season, some with the wire in the tail, and others with the mark of the wire worn out, so that the experiment was very satisfactorily proved, and one of the specimens is preserved in spirits in the Tweed Commissioners' office until this day. It would appear, therefore, that grilse are the smolts of the second year, but to what part of the sea they retire during the intermediate time is yet a mystery.
The rapid growth of the grilse has been argued as a reason for the belief that they are smolts of the first year. When they first make their appearance in April or May, they are certainly found to be less than two pounds in weight, and before the end of the season (15th October) many of them weigh perhaps as much as seven or eight pounds; but taking the average of seven years (1845-1851) I found the growth to be as follows—
Average Weight of Tweed Grilse—June, 3 lb. 3 oz.; July, 4 lb. 7½ oz.; August, 5 lb. 2½ oz.; September, 5 lb. 10½ oz.; October, 6 lb. 11 oz.
Now it is almost impossible to believe that a fish weighing only two or three ounces in April or May should increase in its growth with such rapidity as to weigh fifty-five ounces in June (which would be twenty times its weight in six or eight weeks), while the same fish, weighing 3½ pounds in June, does not double its weight in the next four months ensuing.—MS., 29th June 1855. Varieties of that these fish invariably (if permitted so to do) return to salmon. The rivers in which they have been bred. Mr Young's position was peculiar in the opportunities which it afforded for the ascertainment of this feature in their history. Although five good rivers fall into the estuary, or central course of the Oikel, the marked fish were always found again, each in the particular river in which its badge had been imposed; and although all these rivers fall into the same estuary at different places, and the fish must come up promiscuously together through the briny waters of the lower portion for twenty miles, each river has its own peculiar race, and each race always finds out and enters its own river.
"The first of these rivers," says Mr Young, referring to the upper portions of the so-called Dornoch Frith, "that falls into the estuary, has a run of well-shaped salmon, whose average weight is about 10 lb. The second has strong, coarse-scaled, rather long to be well shaped, but very hardy salmon, whose average weight is about 17 lb. The third has a middling-shaped fish, whose average is about 9 lb. The fourth river has long ill-shaped salmon, averaging about 8 lb. And the fifth river, though the smallest of the five, has fine-shaped fish, averaging fully 14 lb.; and although the fish of all these rivers mix together, and all travel together on the common road to the sea, feed there promiscuously on the common feeding ground, and then return by the same common path, each party finds out its own home with the greatest precision, for scarcely ever is one of them seen in its neighbour's possessions. This precision is yet a mystery, among many others; for although we see rivers of different temperature arising from the size or situation of lakes from which they are fed, we find others of the same situation and temperature, and yet the fish must know a distinctive quality that leads them to their own native streams. It is true that salmon have their summer and winter courses for travelling in the same river, and that is also kept with the most exact precision; for in winter, and up to the first of May, salmon invariably run up the north side of rivers, whereas from 1st May to November they run on the south side."
The most remarkable instance of rapid return, with extraordinary increase of growth, of any salmon we have ever heard of, is that recorded by the Duke of Atholl. A fine fresh-run fish, much exceeding the ordinary size, was transmitted to his Grace from the lower portion of the river Tay. It bore the badge of "No. 129." "On referring to my journal," observes the Duke, "I find that I caught this fish as a kelt this year on the 31st of March with the rod, about two miles above Dunkeld Bridge, at which time it weighed exactly 10 lb.; so that in the short period of five weeks and two days it had gained the incredible increase of 11 lb. and a quarter, for when weighed here on its arrival, it was 21 lb. and a quarter."
That all the individuals of the fish commonly called the salmon (Salmo salar) belong to one and the same species, we entertain no doubt, although the variations of that species are considerable. Whether these are original conformations, or the result of local influences, it would be hard to say. That the fish of each river naturally desire to return to that river is also an ascertained fact; and it is Varieties of salmon by taking advantage of the facilities afforded by that strong and steady instinct that the age and growth, within a certain period, of individual salmon (and so approximately of the whole) have been ascertained. In one river a large breed of salmon is found—so large as to average nearly eighteen pounds in weight—while in another almost adjoining, that is, in the same district, the breed is so small as not to exceed an average of seven pounds. In some rivers the salmon, even in their best condition, are long and lank; in others broad and short, so much so, that when cut up their transverse section is almost circular. In one river we may find all the salmon nearly straight along the dorsal line, while in others they are rounded or hog-backed. In some places all these fish have large and clumsy heads; in others that part is small and neat. Even in the very variable character of spots and scales, there is often an obvious, that is, a permanent or abiding difference. Mr Fraser has stated that in the Ness and its branches there are three sorts or varieties of salmon—one with three rows of spots, one with four, and one with five, exclusive of the difference in shape and size. But it is the difference in the river that generally manifests the difference in external aspect, and this, when dimensions are concerned, is still a mystery. All salmon gain their growth in the sea, and the same marine food (whatever it consists of) is open alike to the natives of all rivers. The waters which flow through the Kyle of Sutherland, and, becoming confluent with the Carron, discharge themselves into the head waters of the estuary of Dornoch, near Bonar Bridge, have each, as we have said, a distinguishable kind of salmon; and those which eventually enter the Shin are twice the size of most of the others. Yet they must seek the same parts of the sea by the same channel, and while parr, or during their early period of fresh-water growth, seem as well fed in one river as in another. As the increase of growth undoubtedly depends on sea-feeding, it is less easy to understand the cause of difference when the feeding is the same. Why has a Shin parr the power of becoming a much larger salmon than one from the Oikel? Or how have the Shin salmon sprung up into a large race under apparently the same physical conditions as those with which, in the sea and estuary, they are intermingled? If the growth was in the river, then we could comprehend how great differences in size might result from existing differences in the breadth and depth, as feeding grounds, of our multitudinous and very varied streams. But as it is known that fresh waters have nothing to do with the growth of salmon after they have ceased to be either parr or smolts, and the fish of one river cannot appropriate to themselves any marine food distinct or different from that which is also at the option of all the others, we find it more difficult to understand how a large average size of fish should result from one river, and a small average size from another near it. But so it is.
Before proceeding to take a view of the commercial bearings of the subject, and the modes by which these fish are captured, we shall inquire briefly into the laws which regulate that capture, and constitute the legal rights of the captors.
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1 The Natural History and Habits of the Salmon, London, 1854. 2 In regard to this marking of grilles and salmon, the following apprehension has sometimes come into our mind. It is easy to suppose an individual of high rank, great wealth, and large public spirit, taking pains to mark certain fish, and record their re-capture after a certain time. To secure or induce fishermen to whom might by others in some far-distant portion of the river, a reward is probably promised (besides the market value) to whoever takes and delivers up the marked fish on its re-ascent from the sea. If the identical fish is re-produced, and the times and weights compared, of course the rate of growth is correctly ascertained, and may be relied on as a fact. But it is also quite as easy to suppose an individual of low rank, no wealth, and as little public spirit, catching, by leister or otherwise, a 10-lb. marked kelt on its way downwards. He removes the mark (kippers the kelt), and in due time attaches it to a fresh-run fish of 17 lb. 8 oz., which he carries as quickly as he can to some palatial residence where rich men congregate. The fact is easily ascertained that the latter fish now weighs 7½ lb. more than did the former when laid in the balance; but is it equally an ascertained fact that the original kelt has really gained that increase in a given time? These observations do not apply to such practical experiments as Mr Young's, conducted from first to last by the same individual, seeing with his own eyes, offering no reward to any one, and having the great advantage of the entire control of a short though productive river. Mr Young can keep the Shin, as it were, under lock and key. By the law of Scotland salmon-fisheries are regarded as *inter regalia*, and the result of this is that they are not carried by a general grant of the lands and their appurtenances in any grant holding of the crown (which is the way in which all land rights are held in Scotland ultimately), but must be the subject of special grant, either express or implied. The subject of the former is, where a charter is given by the crown expressly *cum piscationibus salmonum*. An implied grant is where the words used may be simply *cum piscationibus*, without any addition of *salmonum*, or where the grant is of a barony. In the former of these two later cases, if the salmon-fishing has been possessed by what is accepted as a legal mode of possession—not simply fishing with the rod, which is not so regarded, but by some greater, we shall not say nobler, exercise of the right of fishing;—if the salmon-fishing has been so possessed under a grant *cum piscationibus* simply, the salmon-fishing will be carried. With respect to the grant of a barony, it is doubtful whether a mere grant with possession gives prescriptive right. Lord Rutherford has stated his opinion that the grant of a barony, followed by possession of salmon-fishing, exercised by some higher species of possession than that of the rod, would carry the grant of salmon-fishing also. Scotch salmon-fishings do not require any parliamentary ratification, and the grants are equally good at whatever period they have been made. There is no reason why the crown should not now make a grant of salmon-fishing which shall be quite effectual to the grantee, provided, of course, it does not interfere with any previous grant already made by the crown, whether that previous grant is expressed or implied, and if in the latter case it has been made effectual by prescriptive possession. To establish a right in Scotland the period of prescription is forty years; but the possession for that time, to establish the prescriptive right, must proceed upon what is termed a sufficient title. It is a sufficient title, in the case of salmon-fishing, if there has been continuous and uninterrupted possession for forty years following the grant simply *cum piscationibus*, or the grant of a barony. Salmon-fisheries, in Scotland, belong to the crown by beneficial title, and not merely in trust for the public, after the manner of highways. Thus all grants of salmon-fishings hitherto made by the crown have been for a consideration, although, through favour to the subject, the payment may be made illusory, as a penny yearly, or the blast of a horn. This right of salmon-fishing has been very extensively granted by the crown along the shores of navigable rivers and on the sea-coasts, and may be quite distinct from the possession of the land upon the banks or shore. Thus the grant of a salmon-fishing may not be the grant of the shore on either side of the river—the party may not be the grantee of the shores of the estuary, or the coast of the sea. These regal rights were not constituted by any acts of the Scotch parliament, but are part of the immemorial law of Scotland.
There are three natural positions in regard to which salmon-fishings may be the subject of royal grant in Scotland. First, they may be simply upon the sea-shore, and in the sea, and at such a distance from the mouth of a river that they cannot be considered as part and parcel of any other fishing, either of river or estuary. These being less special than the others, and impinging upon the open or public sea, have been less jealously regarded, and there is no doubt that many shore proprietors, with no deputed right from the crown, exercise that right erroneously, though to their own advantage. Secondly, these salmon-fishings (in this case often of great value) may be in what are called estuaries, a somewhat ambiguous term, differently construed at different times and places, but the fisheries of which the ancient Scotch acts of parliament define as being "in fresche watteris, quhair the see fillis and ebbis," and "upon sand and schaudles far within the water." The third position in which salmon-fishings may be carried on is in pure rivers, Regulating laws of salmon-fisheries, where the water is always fresh, and always descending.
As there is a prohibition by statute of all fixed machinery for the fishing of salmon in the "rivers" and "waters" of Scotland, where the sea ebbs and flows, disputes have not seldom arisen (from the difficulty of applying the principle to special localities) between the seaward proprietors who desire to extend the region of stake-nets riverwards, and the upper proprietors who equally desire to drive them downwards. It has been held, according to Mr Bell—1st, that the prohibition extends to all rivers and estuaries to the fullest extent to which the sea ebbs and flows, and down to the *fauces terre* at the mouth of the firth, and the sands dry at low water, as well as in the channel; 2d, that it does not comprehend the proper shores of the sea; 3d, that stake-nets are prohibited in the land-locked estuary of a river, being the intermediate space between what is strictly the river and strictly the sea, but where the river and fresh water still exists with predominating influence; and that they cannot lawfully be placed either in the channel of such river or estuary, or on sands which are left dry by the ebbing of the sea; and, 4th, there is an exception in the statute of 1563 (prohibiting machinery where the sea ebbs and flows), "that it shall not be extended to the cruives and zairs being upon the water of Solway," which is the subject of particular regulation, being a border fishery.
The protection and encouragement of the breed of salmon in the rivers of Scotland appear to have engaged the attention of the legislature from a very ancient period, and numerous enactments have been passed from time to time. Some of these related exclusively to the regulation of the cruives or other engines in which the fish were caught, without reference to the localities in which they might be placed; and it seems not improbable that originally this matter of regulation was the thing chiefly in view. But in progress of time, when the importance of the fisheries began to be felt and acknowledged as a great branch of international wealth and source of subsistence, other laws were enacted, not merely to regulate the cruives and zairs, but also to prohibit them absolutely in certain situations where their existence was ascertained to be adverse to the important object of maintaining the breed of fish. With this purpose in view, a numerous series of enactments was passed from the reign of James I. down to the union of the two kingdoms; and in one respect those enactments proceeded invariably on the same principle. While they permit cruives and other kinds of fixed machinery in the *fresh* waters of rivers to which the tide does not extend (subject to certain regulations and conditions), they absolutely prohibit all such machinery below that point, or within the influence of the tide. They prohibit it "in fresche watteris, quhair the see fillis and ebbis,"—"in watteris that fillis and ebbis,"—"in Rivers that has course to the sea," and "within the fludemark of the sea,"—"in waters quhair the sea fillis and ebbis,"—"within salt watteris, quhair the sea ebbis and flowis,"—"within salt waters that ebbis and flowis,"—"upon sands and schaudles far within the water," and in general "upon the water sandis."
An estuary is admitted to be different from a river, and the difference is constituted by a certain intermingling of marine features. The ascertainment of the upper portion of an estuary, where it is gradually lost in the river, is, we presume, a point not mooted in any stake-net question, which rather seeks to determine the lower limit of the estuary, where the remnants of its fresh-water characters fade away, and its marine ones increase, to the eventual entire exclusion of the others. It is clear that where a river discharges itself upon an open coast at once into the sea, its independent character is almost instantaneously destroyed, without the intervention of any estuary or other debatable region. The ocean waters are so boundless and redundant, Debatable those of the river so narrow and restricted, that no effect is produced upon the former by the latter. This is the case with one of our noblest streams at Tweedmouth, where we have river and sea, yet no estuary. But where the river, as in the instances of Tay and Oikel, has to work its way through "sands and schanules," and along the centre of what, in comparison with the open coast, may be called an inland valley, the basin of an extensive watershed on either side, and which receives at its head a confluence of rivers flowing from remote and ramified upland districts, the position of affairs, as between salt and fresh water, becomes entirely changed. There we have a small, confined, and shallow sea, crossing; it may be, an obstructing bar or other sand-bank, its force during flow being exhausted by having to expand over wastes of mud and shoals of gravel; its saltness decreased, and ere long destroyed, by the influence of the multitudinous streams and rivers which rush ceaselessly by night and day into its bed (to say nothing of an extensive though unobservable drainage from the land); and the sea itself, such as it is, allowed to advance so far inland merely by the flatness of the upper portion of the landward basin.
The term estuary, though not seldom very vaguely applied, is always intended to signify such waters as lie between the undoubted fresh-water river and the firth or sea. An arm of the sea (such as Loch Fine, Loch Sunart, and others, on our western shores) is a lengthened body of marine water entering inland, and varying in height with the state of the tide as relates to ebb and flow, but never withdrawing itself from its retentive basin, the productions of which are essentially marine. The purest of all sea water is of course that found at a great distance from land, where neither animal nor vegetable productions are at all abundant, and where even birds and fishes, each and all of whom are "winged messengers" in their way, are much less numerous than nearer shore. The closer, within certain limits, we approach the coasts, the more abundant are marine productions. But as we ascend firths, and enter the mingled waters of estuaries and the fresh ones of rivers, these gradually diminish, and eventually disappear.
It has been argued that the ascertainment by philosophical investigation of some single great physical fact, such as the precise point inland at which the tide is always either ebbing or flowing, would and ought to determine the disputed question, as to where the sea ends and the estuary commences. This, of course, would be where the fresh water of the river meets the salt water of the sea at lowest ebb; a theoretical test not likely to have been much in the minds of Scotch barons in the days of Robert the Bruce, and which, if applied in our own days, would destroy at least the majority of the net-and-coble salmon-fishings throughout the country. Mr James Jardine, our eminent civil engineer, was the first to point out and ascertain this test for determining where a river ends and a firth begins, having been employed in that investigation in 1810, in the great Tay case, the Duke of Atholl v. the Honourable William Maule. Mr Jardine gave in a report, in which he professed his object to be, to inquire into such circumstances in regard to the localities of the Tay, "as might seem of importance in determining the common boundary of the firth and river;" and among the various points which he states as ascertained are the following:—First, that of the common section of the mean surface of the sea and river, which he determined to be at a place called Friarton; secondly, the line in the firth above which the sea-ware ceases to grow; and, thirdly, the point of the lowest ebb in the channel of the river. That part of the report which relates to the last-mentioned point, is entitled "Of the highest point at which the sea is always either ebbing or flowing," and under this head we have as follows:—"From a series of observations on more than fifteen tides, it was found that the highest point at which the medium tide was always either ebbing or flowing, was immediately above the confluence of the Earn and Tay. This determination, however, must be considered as less accurate than could be wished, on account of the advanced season of the year in which the observations were made." The report then concludes with a general summary. "Having thus examined in detail the several circumstances proposed, I am led, in estimating their comparative importance for determining the common boundary of the river and firth of Tay, to lay the greatest stress on the three last, particularly on that which determines the highest point at which the tide is continually ebbing and flowing. This boundary cannot, I think, be placed higher than Friarton, where the common section of the mean surfaces of the sea and river has been shown to take place; nor can it be lower than the line which stretches across the firth from Errol-Dyke to the stone above Bambreck Castle, where the sea-ware ceases to grow. It appears to me, therefore, that the confluence of the Earn and Tay is the proper place of the boundary in question, since it is nearly the mean between the limits above mentioned; is the commencement of the character of a river, as indicated by the appearance of gravel; and, lastly, is the highest point or place where the medium tide is continually ebbing or flowing." To this Professor Playfair added a brief opinion, in which he states, that "the highest point in the river where the tide is continually either ebbing or flowing, furnishes, in my opinion, the best criterion for ascertaining where the firth ends and the river begins; it is a rule applicable in all cases, and much more definite than what could be deduced from the mean level of the sea, the saltness of the water, or the growth of sea-weed,—all of which, however, Mr Jardine has determined in the present case with all the accuracy of which their nature would admit. This criterion, therefore, which I believe to be new, is valuable, not only as applicable to the present and all similar questions, but as establishing an important fact in the natural history of rivers."
We believe that no single character or criterion can be adopted in the solution of this question as it bears upon salmon-fishing. That referred to, however interesting as a question in hydrology, or the geography of physics, is certainly not the test of the statutes, and their construction in accordance with it would, in most cases, exclude the greater portion of the space which falls within their meaning and consequent protection. The adoption of what is called the medium level of the sea would of course be still worse. That level, for example, cuts the surface of the river Tay at Friarton, and the bottom at the Townfird, and so would carry the fixed engines above the best regions of the net-and-coble. The same point, in relation to the estuary of the Oikel, would carry the sea several miles above Bonar-Bridge, where the water is fresh even at high tide, and where at ebb the river descends with all the rapidity, and a thousand times the strength, of a mountain torrent. We believe that each estuary must be tried upon its own merits, so greatly do those inland reaches differ in their natural character and conditions. The sea is a great intruder, and is sure to find its own level in spite of all opposing obstacles. If, in pursuit of such level, it flows over vast hollow basins, and into lengthened ravines of great depth, scooped out into the very bosom of the loftiest hills, as is the case in all our western lochs (Sunart, Nevish, Hourn, Alsh, Torridon, Broom, Laxford, &c.), it necessarily abides there continuously and for ever, in the ratio of the excess of depth over the difference between high and low water; so that if the actual depth of these great sea-lakes is one, two, or three hundred feet, a difference of 12 or 16 feet (consequent on the rise and fall of tide) makes really no alteration upon them whatever. They are essentially the same at low-water as at high, and are arms or branches of the sea, not estuaries. Though goodly streams may pour into them abundance of Debatable sweet water, the general watershed above and around them is quite insufficient to deprive them of their strictly briny attributes, and their steep cavernous shores are haunted habitually by lobsters and other truly marine creatures, and visited periodically by millions of herrings, which, as in the branching lochs of Shieldag and Torridon, or the still deeper indentations of lochs Dhu and Cul, between Assynt and Edderachillis, swim up in glittering hordes to the very bases of the inmost hills. It is this character of depth, and consequently of abiding quantity, which in truth distinguishes the western sea-lochs from the so-called firths upon the eastern side of Scotland.
It is equally clear that fresh water, being specifically lighter than salt, can never so plunge beneath a depth of sea as to make and keep an alveus fluminis, or maintain any permanent or influential character of its own, after meeting a great mass of abiding sea-water. It reaches at once its final bourne—has no struggles to endure with sands and shalds, but sinks into immediate insignificance among the great sea-waters. The consequence is, you may have herrings, haddock, codling, skate, mackerel, and many other fishes, up to the very inmost parts of these saline branches, where also lobsters and other crustacea, with oysters, and more of the testaceous class, rejoice respectively in holes or flatter scalps, over which fresh water cannot flow.
But if the sea far below its line of lowest ebb is extremely shallow and of small extent, if it be so broken up by "sands and shalds far within the water," and encompassed by a broad continuous stretch of gravel and slimy or alluvial soil, on either side, so as to present at low water an appearance along shore as if there "was no more sea;" these are characters different from those just alluded to, and which form most important elements in estimating the true attributes of a particular locality, of which the essential features result from differences in depth and quantity. Most of the exposed space may (and indeed must) be below the medium level of the ocean, but this is not the question, which, in truth, does not concern levels. That question we conceive mainly to be, the proportional power and influence of the salt water over the fresh, or vice versa, because by that power, one way or other, are marine or fresh water productions respectively encouraged or destroyed. Now, it seems clear, that if the sea in its usual state at low water, is merely commingled with and partly overcome by the linum fluminis which pervades its centre, and constitutes its main channel; and even after the completion of its upward flow, has still spread its shallow waters only over the bare and broad expansions, before mentioned, upon either side; if the actual quantity of fresh water poured in above and around remains the same, the proportional quantity of that water must depend upon the mass of sea with which it is required to mingle; or, in other words, the solution of the question, "Sea or estuary?" must depend almost entirely upon the depth of the trough into which the river falls.
The machinery permitted in pure rivers or streams of unmixed fresh water, in which the sea does not ebb or flow, is regulated on the principle, that there shall be a sufficient passage left for the descent of the young fry, and, to a certain extent, for the ascent of the full-grown fish. The hecks, or open frame-work of all cruives, must be pulled up every Saturday evening during the fishing season at 6 o'clock, and the space remain open till the same hour on Monday morning.
A general belief prevailing that bag-net fishing for salmon was practised along our shores by parties not legally entitled to exercise that privilege, the advisers of the crown have recently interfered by bringing an action against a Kincairdshire proprietor for fishing along shore ex advena of his own lands. These were the lands and barony of Portlethen, belonging to Mr Ernest Gammell, and possessed by him under a charter from the crown, in which they are described as "All and whole, &c., with the seaport, haven, and harbour of Portlethen, and whole tolls, duties, customs, and anchorages pertaining and belonging thereto, with the white fishings in the sea adjacent to the said lands, and whole privileges and pertinents thereof, all lying within the parish of Banchory and sherifflonds of Kincairdine, now erected into a free barony, called the barony of Portlethen," &c. The property is situate to the southward of Aberdeen, and is bordered by the open sea. The action was brought at the instance of the Lord Advocate, on behalf of the commissioners of the woods and forests, against the proprietor and the lessees of his salmon fishery, and on the expressed ground that all salmon fishings around the coasts of Scotland, and in the navigable estuaries, bays, and rivers thereof, so far as the same have not been granted to any subject by charter or otherwise, belong to the sovereign jure coronae, and form part of the hereditary revenues of the crown in Scotland; and that as the charters of the defendant and his predecessors contain no such grant of salmon fishings, he has no right, &c., and never attempted to exercise that right till within the last few years. The prosecutors for the crown had offered to grant a lease of these salmon fishings at a moderate rent, which the defender had declined. The defences were as follows:—1. Mr Gammell being proprietor of lands erected into a barony, the right of salmon-fishing in the adjoining water is attached thereto. 2. The right of salmon-fishing in the sea does not belong to the crown as part of its hereditary revenue. 3. The right of fishing within the British seas is a privilege belonging to, and may be exercised by, all British subjects, and cannot be constrained, or defeated, or interfered with by the crown. 4. According to constitutional law, the right to public fishings vested in the crown is a right of protection for the benefit of the subject, but is not a right of property. 5. The right of salmon fishings in the sea is not inter regalia, and therefore the crown has no right to grant it, or any other right which will apply to the fishes of the sea, or interfere with the rights and privileges of the public. 6. The defenders being entitled to take fishes in the sea, and the crown having no right to interfere with the exercise of their constitutional privileges, they are at liberty, and have the legal power of using and erecting such apparatus as they may consider best suited for the purpose of taking and catching fish in the sea.
The question was argued before the court, as regarding a right at common law (the alleged right by charter—which is the first defence, being waived for the time), and the defences were repelled by a majority of the judges; that is, a verdict was given for the crown, by sustaining the first conclusion of the summons—that the salmon-fishings around the sea-coast of Scotland belong exclusively to the sovereign, and form part of the hereditary revenues of the crown in Scotland, so far as not expressly granted to any vassal.
In England, as we understand, the general law is, that no right of fishing can be acquired by an individual upon the sea-coast, or in a navigable river, unless by prescription as ancient as the reign of Henry II., or by act of parliament vesting such right in that individual. So jealously have the rights of the public been protected in England, that there is said to be no instance since the passing of the Great Charter of a grant of free fishery being made by the crown, submitted to by the public; and allowed in a court of justice. No such grants as those so frequent in Ireland have been made in England since the days of John, and there is no English authority for saying that they could be made.
Lord Mansfield states the rule of law to be uniform. In English rivers not navigable, the proprietors of the land have the right of fishing on their respective sites, and it generally extends ad flumen medium aquae; but in navigable rivers the proprietors on each side have it not, the fishing is common, it is prima facie in the king, and is public. All the authorities concur in declaring that the right of fishing in the sea and public navigable rivers belongs not exclusively to the king, but is common to every one of his subjects. So clear is this, that a plea of prescription of common right of fishing in the sea, as appurtenant to certain lands, has been held to be as idle and absurd as a claim of travelling on the king's highway, or breathing the common air, as appurtenances to a certain estate. Sir Matthew Hale thus expounds the great charter:—Before the statute of Magna Charta, chap. 10, it was frequent for the king to put as well fresh as salt rivers in defenso for his recreation, that is, to bar fishing or fowling in a river till the king had taken his pleasure and advantage of the writ defensio ripariae, which ancients was directed to the sheriff to prohibit rivia- tion in every river in his bailiwick." "Riviation," adds Blackstone, "I suppose is a word which implies fishing rights. I never saw it elsewhere." The great charter having been extorted from King John, to prevent a recurrence of illegal encroachments, the construction put upon it in the courts of justice has been, that it is only declaratory of the common law. All the old enactments regarding England are alleged to have been made applicable also to Ireland by the 10th Henry VII. cap. 22. This last is usually called Poyning's act.
Sir Mathew Hale states, that public rivers for the common passage of vessels, whether large or small, are "highways by water," and as much under the control of the king as "the common highways on the land;" and as the highways by land are called aliae viae regiae, so these public rivers for passage are called fleuvi regales et haut streams le roi, not in reference to the propriety [property] of the river, but to the public use; all things of public safety and convenience being in a special manner under the king's care, supervision, and protection; and therefore the report of Sir John Davis, of the piscary of the Banne, mistakes the reason of those books that call these streams le roi, as if they were called so in respect of propriety, for they were called so because they are of public use, and under the special care and protection of the king, whether the soil be his or not." Schults says, "A high-way is called in the old books le haut chemin le roi; yet it was all
to the proposition that all the salmon in the rivers of Scotland, if not granted out, form part of the hereditary revenues of the crown. The right is derived from this, that a salmon-fishery being a jus regale, that is, one of the higher rights of property, supposed by fiction to be peculiar to the monarch personally for his own sport or pleasure, and so reserved from ordinary grants, must be given specially with a view to its being devolved upon a subject. But assuredly no one has ever said that the salmon of all the rivers in Scotland formed part of the hereditary revenues, that is, of the proper patrimony of the crown, for if so, then no grant whatever would be competent, being struck at as an alienation contrary to the statutes. His lordship apprehended that there was no authority whatever for holding salmon-fishings to be any part of the hereditary revenues of the crown, or for regarding a jus regale as a portion of those revenues. After a careful review of the statutes regarding just regale, he had satisfied himself that none of them included, or was intended to include, salmon-fishings in the sea proper, and that all the writers are treating of those mouths of rivers as often called sea or salt water, in reference to the flow of the tide, and it may be in one or two land-locked estuaries which extend to within the proper line of the land coast, and included as it were within that line. The argument founded on the fact that grants had actually been made by the crown of salmon-fishings which were said to be in the sea, was, in his lordship's opinion, inconclusive in point of principle, and weak even as a matter of practice, most of these grants being really in firths, estuaries, or the mouths of rivers, or at a turn where the coast begins to trend off, and where it is difficult to say where the proper sands of the tidal river cease. This he believes to be the explanation of the expression used,—of fishings as well in salt as in fresh water, in aquas dulcibus quam salinis. That some grants have been made of salmon-fishings in the sea proper is undeniable; but this may be accounted for by the manner in which grants were formerly obtained from the Scotch exchequer, of subjects which ought not to have been so granted, and to which the crown had advanced no claim, a practice stopped by Baron Hume. "It by no means follows that the rights of salmon-fishings enjoyed by the proprietors who have obtained such grants are therefore not maintainable as valid rights of fishing; although I do not think that the right depends on the grant, I think a station on the shore, or in the sea for stake-nets, bag-nets, or other such machinery, is quite capable of appropriation by the proprietor of the lands ex adverso, as a fair adjunct to his property, and a natural use for him to make of the coast, so far as he does not interfere with the right of navigation."
"I have no doubt that proprietors, without any such grants, will be able successfully to defend this appropriation of the sea-stations or stations in the sea, as a fair adjunct of their right of property. The plea of the crown would equally prevent the proprietors fishing by net and cobbles—and the summons distinctly goes that length—and catching salmon by long nets set out by a person, and then drawing them up in the sea, as in the sea-coast, which, I am of opinion, the proprietors may make for salmon as well as for white fish, and the denial of which seems to me to be totally repugnant to all notions of constitutional or feudal law which I have ever heard. I may further add, that I am satisfied that the legislation as to stake-nets and fish engines was limited in the Scotch statutes to estuaries, where the sea ebbs and flows, and was not extended to the sea, because the legislature was intended to regulate fishings which were the proper subjects of exclusive grants, and did not intend to apply such regulations to the general right common to all, to fish salmon as well as other fish in the sea."
"I see that a distinction is attempted to be taken between fishings in alto mare as something different from the fishings along the sea-coast. That distinction seems to me wholly to fall, and in the authorities 'in alto mare' is used as contradistinguished from the sea in estuaries, but directly as applicable to the sea along the open coast of the island."—Cases decided in the Court of Session, &c.—(Messrs Tennent, Fraser, and Murray's Reports)—vol. xiii., p. 893.
It will thus be seen that some "glorious uncertainty," so far as great difference of opinion is concerned, still pervades this important question. Meanwhile the ruling judgment maintains the general doctrine of the law of Scotland to be that salmon-fishing is a beneficial interest, and remains with the crown, unless it has been conveyed away. That doctrine is not made to depend upon special situation, but upon the object and nature of the operation. It is true that the localities most generally resorted to were rivers, estuaries, or other inlets, for the best situations afforded the greatest facilities for catching this particular fish, which is remarkable for its instinctive desire to leave the open sea and ascend the restricted waters. Our earlier salmon-fishers feared the "injurious sea," because the howling winds and rolling waves seemed too much for their comparatively feeble gear. "But if in process of time," says the judgment just referred to, "it was discovered that even along the open coast the occupation of the shore might be turned to account for the same purpose, it would be difficult to see in principle why the same occupation afforded by the same extent of the coast for the purposes of salmon-fishing should be held to have been carried by the crown charter (meaning a charter without a special grant) eum piscarii (levis salmonis) any more than if the lands had lain along a river or estuary," p. 892. It was well observed by Lord Medwyn that the recent statute, 7th and 8th Vict., cap. 95, which declares that a penalty may be inflicted on any person who shall fish for salmon in the sea within one mile of low-water mark, without permission of the proprietor of the salmon-fishery, necessarily recognises the royal right as one pertaining also to a sea-fishing.
1 A compendious statement of the Fishery Laws, as concerns England and Ireland, will be found in the Dublin Review for Nov. 1841. judged by the whole court, that all profit arising therefrom, and trees growing thereon, belonged to the lord of the place; and again, that every one has an interest in the king's high-way." Hale compares the king's "right of propriety or ownership" in the sea and its branches to that of the lord of a waste or common, and says, that although he "is owner of this great waste, and, as a consequent of his property, hath a primary right of fishing in the sea, and the creeks and arms thereof, yet the common people of England have regularly a right of fishing in the sea, or creeks or arms thereof, as a public common of piscary, and may not, without injury to their right, be restrained of it unless in such places, creeks, or navigable rivers, where either the king or some particular subject hath gained a propriety exclusive of that common liberty." And the latest writer on the subject says, "All the writers on the common law of England agree that the supreme dominion or jurisdiction of his British seas belongs to the sovereign as the head and representative of his people, and that the free and universal right of fishing and navigation in such seas, ports, and arms of the sea and navigable rivers exercisable under his jurisdiction belongs to the subjects in general. The right of fishing in these seas never was vested in the crown exclusively, and of course is not to be considered as a legal franchise. As a public right belonging to the people, it prima facie vests in the crown; but such legal investment does not diminish the right of the subject, and is merely reposed in the crown for the sake of regulation and government."
We shall now endeavour to illustrate the past and present condition of the salmon-fisheries of Scotland, by exhibiting the returns of the river Tay, the greatest and probably the most productive we possess. We shall confine ourselves, in the first place, to the two principal fishings of the upper portion of the estuary.
Table showing the Produce of Lord Gray's and Sir Thomas Moncrieffe's Fishings for five periods of ten years each.
| Before the Erection of Stake Nets | During the Existence of Stake Nets | After the Removal of Stake Nets | |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------------| | Ten Years | Ten Years | Ten Years | | Kinfauns | Moncrieffe | Kinfauns | | Salmon | Grilse | Salmon | | Salmon | Grilse | Salmon | | 1788 | 5,773 | 1,538 | | 1789 | 9,096 | 2,036 | | 1790 | 6,635 | 1,829 | | 1791 | 8,639 | 1,320 | | 1792 | 15,242 | 2,206 | | 1793 | 7,836 | 1,517 | | 1794 | 9,924 | 1,549 | | 1795 | 9,392 | 2,320 | | 1796 | 6,255 | 441 | | 1797 | 7,451 | 2,699 | | Total | 87,293 | 17,140 | | Average | 8,720 | 1,714 |
The following affords the means of comparing these same fishings for ten years before and ten years after certain artificial alterations had been made in the bed of the river Tay.
| Before Perth Navigation Bill | After Perth Navigation Bill | |------------------------------|-----------------------------| | Ten Years | Ten Years | | Kinfauns | Moncrieffe | | Salmon | Grilse | Salmon | | Salmon | Grilse | Salmon | | 1825 | 7,005 | 12,774 | | 1826 | 3,500 | 7,000 | | 1827 | 2,629 | 6,078 | | 1828 | 4,721 | 12,342 | | 1829 | 5,566 | 7,853 | | 1830 | 5,828 | 10,605 | | 1831 | 3,218 | 6,836 | | 1832 | 5,292 | 9,822 | | 1833 | 3,672 | 9,016 | | 1834 | 5,960 | 10,196 | | Total | 47,391 | 92,522 | | Average | 4,739 | 9,252 |
The most remarkable feature in the former of these tables is the great preponderance which its early periods exhibit of salmon over grilse. We cannot easily account for this disparity upon any natural principle, and have sometimes thought it must have arisen from the nets used in earlier times being larger in the mesh than now, and so admitting of many of the least-grown grilse making their way through the cordage. This escape would tell in two respects, as diminishing the amount of captured grilse of that year, and adding to the number of adult salmon during the one which followed; and this effect would continue to be produced each successive season. However, we have failed to ascertain the fact, that any change or restriction in the dimension of the meshes took place in the Tay so recently as the year 1823. It will be observed from the table, that grilse preponderate during two or three prior seasons—those of 1816, 1819, 1820,—and fall off again for a couple of years; but that after that they greatly increase,
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1 Report of the Select Committee on the Irish Fisheries, p. 8. (1849) 2 The Perth Navigation Bill, above referred to, is an act of parliament passed with a view to the improvement of the river Tay, so as to admit of easier access from the sea to the "Fair City." Although the young of all animals are naturally more numerous than their parents, it is not necessarily so as respects the proportion between grilse and salmon. Young salmon, including their various adolescent stages, are doubtless more abundant than old ones; but as concerns simply grilse, it must be borne in mind that these are all the produce of one season, and represent only a single summer of the salmon life, whereas salmon, properly so called, are the congregated or abiding produce of several years. A grilse, whether he lives or dies, can exist, as such, for only a portion of a single season. If he is captured, and sent to market, his days are ended; if he escapes till the ensuing summer, he is converted, by a law of his nature, and whether he will or no, into a salmon. So in either case he must cease to be a grilse. The later of the Tweed returns show that of the whole of the salmon kind captured, including young and old, four-fifths are killed on their first ascent from the sea, and consequently before they have become parents, or added to their kind. The severity of fishing now practised decreases the average duration of salmon life. The result of this is, that the fish are not only fewer in number, but smaller in size. The reason that so many forty-pound salmon were found by our anglers in Norway is, that they were old fish in a new field. Far fewer of that size now occur there, because the veterans have been killed out, and the increase of sportsmen has become so great and continuous, that the fish have no sufficient time to grow. The same causes, multiplied a thousand-fold, affect our fish at home. The small proportion that escape from year to year must be a wonder to themselves. To pass from the sea to the far shallows where the spawning-places lie, as many salmon must be successfully surmounted as those which beset our troops between Cabul and Jellalabad. We believe that only a single man ever gained the fortress. Had the conditions of his life required that he must, under a constant continuance of the same peril, have gone back to Cabul, and then rejoyned to Jellalabad, and so on every season in succession, we could scarcely marvel at his not becoming an old man. A very large salmon must be rather an elderly one, but as no salmon now dies a natural death, and almost all are cut off in the very blossom of their days, it is easy to see how their dimensions have decreased. It is many years since Mr Hogarth (at one period the greatest lessee of salmon-fisheries in Britain) gave his opinion that overfishing had diminished their size as well as number. "We now seldom see a salmon above two years old." The weight of fish, from the undue prevalence of the imaginative faculty among the sons of men, is frequently exaggerated, especially by the votaries of the rod and line. This inaccuracy seems sometimes to obtain even among the working people of the commercial fisheries. When the celebrated "Rob Kerse of the Trows" (on the Tweed, at Makerstoun) was asked, somewhat upbraidingly, how it happened on a certain occasion that those above him were catching larger fish than himself, he replied, "It's no that the're gettin' ony bigger fish than us up yonder, only the folk themself's are far bigger leasers."
We have no note of the produce of the Tay since the season of 1844, but the following Rentals will show the money value of these fisheries for the last 30 years.
### Rental of Fishings in the River Tay, from Perth to Newburgh, for the seasons from 1825 to 1855, both inclusive.
| Proprietors | 1825 | 1826 | 1827 | 1828 | 1829 | 1830 | 1831 | 1832 | 1833 | 1834 | 1835 | 1836 | 1837 | 1838 | 1839 | 1840 | |-------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------| | Lord Gray | 4000 | 8500 | 4000 | 4000 | 4000 | 3600 | 4000 | 2000 | 2500 | 2700 | 2700 | 2700 | 2700 | 2700 | 3000 | 3000 | | City of Perth | 1100 | 1300 | 1200 | 1200 | 1300 | 1300 | 1305 | 1305 | 1305 | 1305 | 824 | 824 | 824 | 824 | 1000 | 1000 | | Sir J. Richardson of Pitfour | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1475 | | Sir Thomas Moncrieffe | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 400 | 400 | 355 | 355 | 355 | 386 | 386 | 386 | 386 | 386 | 650 | | Inchyra Fishings | 270 | 270 | 250 | 350 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 490 | 490 | 490 | 490 | 490 | 490 | 600 | | Earl of Wemyss | 160 | 160 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 185 | 185 | 220 | 195 | 195 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 95 | | Mr Hay of Seggieiden | 130 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 120 | 120 | 100 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 167 | 167 | 167 | | Mr Hay of Mugdrum | 250 | 250 | 250 | 300 | 330 | 300 | 330 | 295 | 295 | 295 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 287 | 287 | 287 | | Mr Patterson of Carpon | 190 | 199 | 175 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 102 | 102 | 102 | 95 | 91 | 91 | 55 | 101 | 101 | 101 | | Mr Allan of Errol | Total | 8500 | 8759 | 8735 | 9033 | 9183 | 8283 | 8067 | 6862 | 7162 | 7210 | 7775 | 7296 | 7325 | 7418 | 7942 | 8176 |
The preceding table shows no great variation in the total value of these fisheries during the last thirty years; the produce of 1825 being L.8509, and of 1855 L.8417, with a decline in 1852 to L.6094. But individual properties will be seen to exhibit a wide range in both directions. Thus the fishings of Lord Gray and Sir Thomas Moncrieffe have fallen off, while those of Lord Wemyss, Mr Hay of Mugdrum, and Mr Allan of Errol, have largely increased.
Our next table presents a complete exposition of the captures in the Tay, and its tributary the Earn, for a period of fifteen years.
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1 We have made a calculation from the foregoing tables, that during the three given periods of ten years prior to 1824, there was a total take,—of salmon 352,955, of grilse only 168,611; while during the two periods of ten years between 1825 and 1845 the take was, of salmon 152,950, of grilse 261,633, the proportions being thus reversed. ### Fisheries
#### Table of the Salmon and Grilse caught in the Rivers Tay and Earn, commencing with the season of 1830, and ending with that of 1844.
| Proprietors | 1830 | 1831 | 1832 | 1833 | 1834 | 1835 | 1836 | 1837 | |-------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------| | Lady Keith | | | | | | | | | | Lord Willoughby | | | | | | | | | | Lord Dunmore | | | | | | | | | | Mr Richardson, Ballathy | | | | | | | | | | Duke of Athol | | | | | | | | | | Stanley Company | | | | | | | | | | Lord Lyndoch | | | | | | | | | | Lord Mansfield | | | | | | | | | | Lord Kinross | | | | | | | | | | Sir Thomas Moncrieffe | | | | | | | | | | City of Perth | | | | | | | | | | Lord Gray | | | | | | | | | | Mr Hay of Seggleden | | | | | | | | | | Lord Wemyss | | | | | | | | | | Mr Cristal of Inchyra | | | | | | | | | | Mr Paterson of Carpon | | | | | | | | | | Sir J. Richardson | | | | | | | | | | Mr Hay of Leys | | | | | | | | | | Miss Yeaman of Muir | | | | | | | | | | Mr Allan of Errol | | | | | | | | | | Lord Dundas | | | | | | | | | | Hon. Mr Stuart | | | | | | | | | | Mr Wedderburn | | | | | | | | | | Mrs Morrison of Naughton | | | | | | | | | | Mr Stewart, St Fort | | | | | | | | | | Lord Douglass | | | | | | | | | | Town of Dundee | | | | | | | | | | General Hunter | | | | | | | | | | Colonel Fotheringham | | | | | | | | | | Mr Kier of Grange | | | | | | | | | | Mr Hunter of Blackness | | | | | | | | | | Mr Dalgleish of Scotscraig | | | | | | | | | | Lord Pannure | | | | | | | | | | Mr Hunter of Seaside | | | | | | | | |
Total of each year: 27,658, 53,249, 19,827, 38,754, 25,898, 53,085, 20,556, 50,012, 28,045, 47,409, 32,934, 60,953, 27,623, 32,572, 23,871, 54,069
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| Proprietors | 1838 | 1839 | 1840 | 1841 | 1842 | 1843 | 1844 | |-------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|------| | Lady Keith | | | | | | | | | Lord Willoughby | | | | | | | | | Lord Dunmore | | | | | | | | | Mr Richardson, Ballathy | | | | | | | | | Duke of Athol | | | | | | | | | Stanley Company | | | | | | | | | Lord Lyndoch | | | | | | | | | Lord Mansfield | | | | | | | | | Lord Kinross | | | | | | | | | Sir Thomas Moncrieffe | | | | | | | | | City of Perth | | | | | | | | | Lord Gray | | | | | | | | | Mr Hay of Seggleden | | | | | | | | | Lord Wemyss | | | | | | | | | Mr Cristal of Inchyra | | | | | | | | | Mr Paterson of Carpon | | | | | | | | | Sir J. Richardson | | | | | | | | | Mr Hay of Leys | | | | | | | | | Miss Yeaman of Muir | | | | | | | | | Mr Allan of Errol | | | | | | | | | Lord Dundas | | | | | | | | | Hon. Mr Stuart | | | | | | | | | Mr Wedderburn | | | | | | | | | Mrs Morrison of Naughton | | | | | | | | | Mr Stewart, St Fort | | | | | | | | | Lord Douglass | | | | | | | | | Town of Dundee | | | | | | | | | General Hunter | | | | | | | | | Colonel Fotheringham | | | | | | | | | Mr Kier of Grange | | | | | | | | | Mr Hunter of Blackness | | | | | | | | | Mr Dalgleish of Scotscraig | | | | | | | | | Lord Pannure | | | | | | | | | Mr Hunter of Seaside | | | | | | | |
Total of each year: 21,492, 41,536, 23,931, 21,754, 12,650, 30,162, 24,373, 39,563, 26,779, 80,539, 35,126, 43,917, 31,213, 31,333 It will be seen from the preceding table that the captures frequently vary considerably from year to year, but that on the whole there has been no diminution. In fact, the total of the last three years is greater by nearly 5000 fish than that of the first three. The best year was 1842, the next best 1835. The worst year for grilse was 1839, the worst for salmon 1840.
We shall now exhibit the produce of the Tweed (one of the greatest of the salmon rivers of our country) for the preceding forty-four years. It includes only the commercial fisheries, which are those of its lower districts, and excludes all captures by the rod and the nefarious leister.
**Calculated Produce of the river Tweed as transmitted from Berwick.**
| Year | Salmon | Grilse | Trout | |------------|--------|--------|-------| | 1811-1815 | 40,297 | 68,057 | 31,235 | | 1816-1820 | 37,938 | 57,089 | 48,078 | | 1821-1825 | 22,920 | 57,647 | 62,475 | | 1826 | 12,040 | 55,378 | 69,203 | | 1827 | 10,725 | 54,034 | 43,441 | | 1828 | 13,511 | 39,248 | 39,563 | | 1829 | 5,250 | 34,773 | 64,630 | | 1830 | 7,415 | 60,520 | 37,485 | | **Average for five years** | 9,804 | 53,990 | 48,894 | | 1831 | 13,197 | 43,244 | 77,037 | | 1832 | 9,769 | 41,411 | 77,308 | | 1833 | 10,428 | 93,939 | 60,178 | | 1834 | 16,106 | 59,262 | 48,852 | | 1835 | 22,642 | 87,707 | 82,229 | | **Average for five years** | 14,416 | 65,112 | 69,121 | | 1836 | 16,937 | 54,864 | 63,616 | | 1837 | 14,577 | 60,429 | 57,426 | | 1838 | 12,785 | 78,577 | 40,876 | | 1839 | 15,508 | 35,449 | 66,124 | | 1840 | 10,920 | 52,117 | 66,342 | | **Average for five years** | 14,149 | 52,283 | 64,877 | | 1841 | 15,464 | 71,254 | 64,672 | | 1842 | 19,198 | 102,933 | 76,071 | | 1843 | 17,777 | 66,293 | 54,209 | | 1844 | 21,830 | 88,003 | 99,256 | | 1845 | 18,952 | 69,782 | 64,355 | | **Average for five years** | 18,846 | 81,047 | 69,712 | | 1846 | 17,578 | 37,506 | 88,679 | | 1847 | 9,032 | 55,076 | 67,796 | | 1848 | 14,478 | 97,102 | 62,641 | | 1849 | 11,484 | 29,405 | 39,435 | | 1850 | 9,522 | 33,864 | 49,701 | | **Average for five years** | 11,479 | 56,190 | 49,630 | | 1851 | 8,789 | 16,855 | 45,326 | | 1852 | 8,808 | 28,902 | 24,773 | | 1853 | 9,199 | 43,075 | 37,341 | | 1854 | 15,299 | 16,739 | 32,645 | | **Average for four years** | 9,774 | 26,393 | 35,691 |
It will be seen from the preceding columns that the Tweed, although with periods of resuscitation, is suffering from symptoms of a deep decline. The greatest year in our record for salmon is that of 1814; the most remarkable for grilse that of 1816. More recently, 1842 was a very productive season for grilse, and that of 1844 was a good one for salmon. These and the adjoining years being favourable, the quinquennial average, as taken in 1845, mounted up. But since 1846 there has been a sudden and large decline, especially of salmon (1848 was great in grilse); although in 1854 salmon rose in number, while grilse fell. It will be seen that the supply of sea-trout is also going down.
| Salmon | Grilse | Trout | |--------|--------|-------| | First five years | 201,484 | 340,285 | 156,176 | | Last five years | 48,617 | 139,435 | 189,786 |
Decrease, 151,867 Decrease, 210,850 Increase, 33,610
We entertained some hope, from the apparent improvement, at least of salmon, in 1854, that the current season might have turned out a good one. We regret to learn, however, that this is not the case.
In regard to the rental of the Tweed, it may be observed that it does not vary in the same way as the produce, as much depends upon the length of existing leases, the prices at which the fish happen to sell for, and a good deal upon the profit and loss account of the tenants, who in some seasons may have a considerable gain, and in others a heavy reverse. For the present year of 1855, it is believed that (unless a very favourable change takes place before the close) not one shilling will be gained by any fishing in the Tweed, and the tenants will consequently have to bear the loss; while the rental, as assessed for taxes, will probably appear not much less than that of the preceding year. At the same time the rent must always in some degree be regulated by the state of the fishing, and the following is the amount at which the Tweed tax has been assessed during the last nine years for all the salmon-fishings in the lower district of the river, which extends from Eden-mouth to the sea:
For the Year | For the Year ---|--- 1846 | L5,358 2 0 1847 | 5,453 19 6 1848 | 6,654 10 7 1849 | 5,214 1 0 1850 | 5,051 12 6
We have taken some pains to ascertain the average value of salmon, which, however, we have found it by no means easy to do, in as far as both the weight of the fish and the prices vary much in different seasons; and, therefore, to arrive at anything like an exact idea of the money value, the weights and prices for each season would require to be taken separately. Mr Paulin informs us that, taking a general view, the Tweed salmon will average from 11 to 12 pounds, the grilse about 6 or 6½ pounds, and the sea-trout from 4 to 5 pounds. Among the latter there is often a pretty large supply of whitlings, which are the younger fish, and which reach about 2 or 2½ pounds each. In the earlier part of the season the Tweed salmon do not average above 8 pounds, but before the end of the season they will weigh above 14 pounds. The following is a note of the
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1 In a communication with which we have been favoured by Mr Paulin of Berwick-upon-Tweed, from whom we received the above statement, he remarks as follows:—"You will observe that the tendency is still downwards, especially with grilse; and I regret to say, that, so far as this season has gone, salmon are not more than one-third of what they were last year—grilse are considerably short of what they were last year, although it was the worst upon record—and trout are not much above one-half; so that this season has all the appearance of turning out to be the very worst ever known. This is something very accountable; for from the extended protection that has been afforded to the Tweed for these four or five years past, and the great expense incurred in keeping up a large police force, it has not been expected that the numbers of salmon, grilse, and trout would have all increased, which is quite the reverse, and almost makes one think that there must be some natural law in operation affecting the breed of salmon other than is generally supposed."—7th August 1855.
2 Mr Paulin adds:—"You will see from the above that the rental of the Tweed has fallen off considerably of late years, and I have no doubt but it will continue to go lower yet, as I have every reason to believe that even the above sums have not been realised as rent from the balance of the produce less the working expenses, for several years past." average value (wholesale prices, we presume) at Berwick for three years:
| Year | Salmon | Grilse | Trout | |------|--------|--------|-------| | 1847 | L.0 7 10 | L.0 2 2½ | L.0 1 2 | | 1848 | L.0 8 10½ | L.0 2 1½ | L.0 1 1½ | | 1849 | L.0 8 3¼ | L.0 10 7½ | L.0 1 0½ |
Average of three years: L.0 8 4½ | L.0 2 1 | L.0 1 1½
We are unable to give the exact rental of all the fisheries on the Tweed, but as concerns the lower portions, that is, from the mouth to about 20 miles upwards, we may state the following facts. In 1814, the rent was L.20,000; in 1823, L.10,000; and for seven years preceding that, the average was L.12,000. In 1831 the assessment was upon L.4691; in 1838 it had fallen as low as L.3759, after which it gradually rose again till the recent fall in 1852. As a trading speculation, salmon-fishing may be regarded as precarious, and seldom in the long-run successful. The hope of a successful year, from natural causes, is indulged in, and sometimes gratified, but the profession is an adventurous one, and subject to great mischances. It is understood that frequent losses are incurred by the lessees of fisheries both in Tweed and Tay. But let us hope that the expenses are often more than paid by a successful catch and good markets during the earlier portions of the season, and then, as fish require no feeding, and come uncalled for from the "vasty deep," whatever afterwards enters the net may realize Franklin's phrase, "a bit of silver pulled out of the water." A beautiful and sumptuous bit it often seems to be, although to the angler's eye of brief presentiment—"a moment white, then gone for ever."
We may state that there are no fixed nets of any kind allowed within five miles of either side of Tweed-mouth. They are prohibited by an act passed in 1830. But that salmon course, or run, as it is termed, along the sea-shore, instead of entering rivers directly from the open sea, is shown both in a general way by the success of bag-nets along our eastern coasts, often in places remote from rivers, but more specially by certain stations near the above five-mile boundary. The number of salmon and grilse captured at a station with two small clusters of nets, occupying only a few yards of beach, and near no flow of fresh water, or indentation of the coast, averaged during the last four or five years preceding 1851, nearly one-half of the whole number taken in the Tweed.
In considering the deficiencies of our salmon rivers, we must bear in mind this increased supply of sea-salmon from our outer shores, and the general fact that no animal killed in one place can be captured in another. The decline during recent years of the salmon-fisheries in so many of our estuaries and the mouths of rivers, may, we doubt not, be attributed to various causes, of which, however, the great increase of stake and bag nets, is the chief. The greater cheapness of salmon in earlier times, so often quoted in proof of its former abundance, must be considered in connection with a much smaller population, a deficiency in the means of transport, and entire ignorance of any plan of preservation by ice. We have been told that the practice of sending Scotch salmon to the London markets packed in ice was introduced by the late George Dempster, Esq. of Dunichen. This, of course, raised the price of fish, and gave a great stimulus to an increased capture. Too many can scarcely now be taken at a time, seeing that a well-known method is at hand for their at least temporary preservation. In former times all redundant salmon were salted, and this indeed became so regular a trade, that 1000 barrels have been annually preserved and exported from certain stations, the entire produce of which would not now equal one-half of that amount. The salting vats were soon filled, and the fishing ended so early, that grilse, which arrived later, were deemed of little consequence. Of course the upper portions of such rivers as had a good run of water were well supplied with both early and breeding fish, and thus anglers, and all others, whether legal or illegitimate, had ample sport, without interfering with futurity.
The increase of land-drainage, especially of the open sheep drains of the pastoral districts, is supposed to have proved injurious, by bringing the surface water more rapidly, and in greater volume, into the river, and hastening its descent into the sea. Salmon prefer travelling upwards when the river water is neither muddy and uproarious on the one hand, nor too low and limpid on the other. They prefer it full but clear, that is, by no means clayey. But these required natural conditions are now less easily obtained than formerly, in consequence of man's artificial labours in the improvement of the land. These sudden floods also alter the character and structure of the spawning beds by shifting the gravel, or destroy them altogether after the parent fish have performed their duties to posterity. Many of the more lowland streams are deteriorated in their nature by the increase of human settlements along their banks, and the consequent increase of various manufacturing works, the operations of which produce refuse, abhorrent to the tastes of salmon. Suppose one of these fish about to leave the translucent basin of the Firth of Clyde, and desirous to enter what he considers as a tranquil change into pure sweet water. He first shows himself... near Dumbarton like a wedge of lustrous silver, with deep cerulean back, and breast like that of leper, white as snow. He passes upwards, and finds himself in the course of the first night at the Broomielaw, or other now not very rural portion of the river, in the midst of many ships, in the immediate vicinity of 11,965 inhabited houses, and surrounded by a population of 329,097 men, women, and children—his own actual object being to seek some solitary stainless pool, reflecting a lichen-coloured rock or emerald bank, and dappled with many a golden light playing as with living lustre over the beautiful mosaic of its pebbly floor. We cannot wonder that after losing sight of his fair partner in that turbid stream, he should turn tail with disgust, and revisit the mouth of the Molendinar burn no more for ever.
The destruction of fish about to spawn during close time is another alleged cause of the decrease of salmon. Of course a fish killed before it spawns will never voluntarily spawn afterwards, but we doubt not that great destruction of this sort took place likewise in bygone days, and that it is not a new evil under the sun, although the more it is now prevented the better for the future fry. It has been argued that a considerable extension of the period of angling after the commercial close would be beneficial, by enabling the legitimate sportsman to check or overawe the illegitimate poacher. "When we look at the circumstances and the localities in which salmon are bred, and those in which they are killed, the wonder seems to be, not that the supply of this noble fish should be so rapidly diminishing and deteriorating, as that even its immense natural powers of reproduction should have hitherto been able to prevent its absolute extinction. The seed is sown above, and the harvest is reaped below. Those who sow do not reap, and those who reap do not sow,—what, then, more natural than that both processes should be ill performed? There is too little sowing and too much reaping. Those in whose waters the seed is sown say, 'The fish are never allowed to reach us till the law prohibits us from killing them; why should we incur trouble and expense, and offence, for the benefit of the very people who do their utmost to intercept what nature sends us?'—let the poachers work their will." Those who reap say, 'The people above will take no care of these fish; let us by all means capture all we can, careless of the future—it will last our time,' that being seldom so much as a five-years' lease. And so, between these two operations—a careless and wasteful sedentime, and a rigorous reaping and gleaning—the crops are becoming poorer and poorer, and the harvest-grounds hastening to absolute sterility." There is no doubt that if some accommodating arrangement were entered into, by which more favour should be shown to the upper heritors, resident proprietors, and the higher class of farmers in those uplands, would do much more among their people to check all illegal and nocturnal malpractices in the way of burning and leistering, than however large a squad of hired bailiffs have it in their power to do. The present mode of prevention is not only precarious but expensive—the proprietors of some fisheries paying about 20 per cent. of their rental for that object alone. We hope it may be felt as a check upon the over-fishing with nets before referred to, that it is now beginning to tell along the sea-shore, as well as in the estuaries, at the mouths of rivers, and up the streams and tributaries. It may again be found, as it was once of old, to be but a short-sighted policy to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
But it is evident that when the seaward salmon-fisheries were unknown or neglected, those in the higher stations must have been necessarily in a more flourishing condition. The fisheries on the Tay above Perth bridge produced 11,500 fish in the year 1792, 10,400 in 1793, and never less than 5000 in any one year up to that of 1800. Their take in 1850 was reduced to about 1500, and may possibly be decreasing from year to year. This is in no way owing to fewer fish being bred above than formerly, but to far more being captured below. The lower fisheries of the river and tideway have increased in number and activity, and must be worked hard to keep up a remunerating produce, while the owners make a corresponding complaint that the sea-shore fisheries intercept so large a portion of what was in use to ascend their way. In salmon-fisheries, as possibly in several other things, the terms productive and destructive are relative, and even convertible. A successful stake-net fishery is regarded by its proprietor as very productive, while it is viewed as destructive, exactly in the same proportion, by the owners of more inland stations. There are now as many fish bred as ever, but that they are killed at an earlier age is evident from our tabular views, in which it will be seen how greatly the slaughter of grilse now exceeds that of salmon. But so long as the shore fisheries are worked only by those who have the legal right to do so, the other proprietors can scarcely complain that a new field has been opened by others, which may reduce or equalize their own previously exclusive gains. Of course all that the pensive public desires is a fair field and no favour, in the hope that a larger supply, at a lower price, may accrue to itself.
Mr James Bell, a lessee in former days of salmon in the Tay and Tweed to the amount of L.9200 a-year, stated in evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Commons (1824), that salmon taken in the stake-nets were often inferior to those secured by net and coble, because, unless removed before low tide, the water receded, and left the fish "floundering about, heated, and dying." It is no doubt quite possible to convert, in the lapse of no long time, a good stake-net salmon into a bad one, but the folly of the owner would be more surprising than the state of the fish. Mr J. Crawford, who had been long engaged in the Waterford salmon-trade, gave his opinion to the Select Committee of 1849, that as good a sale could not be made of salmon caught by the fishermen with cots (small boats) and nets as of what were taken by the weir, as, by plunging about in the nets, they are apt to knock their scales off, and injure their aspect and condition. He, moreover, mentioned, in regard to the difference of value between a salmon caught in the sea or in fresh water, that the London salesmen give fourpence a-pound more for a tide-water fish, caught near the mouth of a river; that fish going up, and remaining above three weeks out of the tide-water, into fresh water, become "gray" and of a gluey nature, and that salesmen mark in their account the number of gray fish at 4d. per lb. less than what they pay for the tide-water take. However much people may vie with each other, and even vary their views to suit a change in their own position, we consider no fact in the posthumous history of a salmon more firmly established than this, that the nearer the sea the better the fish. "A salt-water salmon," says Mr Brahacon, "is far superior to one that has been even a short time in river water, the flesh is a better colour, with a large flake of curd between each flake of fish, which is both firm and rich."
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1 Edinburgh Review, vol. xlii., p. 358. 2 We have sometimes fancied that even a few hours in river water made a difference in the flavour of salmon. Among other fisheries of his grace the Duke of Sutherland, there is one at Loch Inver, a small sea bay upon the north-west coast, into which the river Inver is discharged at once without any intervening estuary. The salmon is caught with a scringe-net near the mouth, but still in salt water, and about a mile upwards fish of the same tide are captured in a cruive. Both kinds may be tasted at the same meal, and our impression was that the difference was at least perceptible in the slightly fresh-water flavour (so manifest in trouts) of such as were taken from the cruive. Yet an entirely different opinion seems to be entertained by others of greater experience than ourselves. The late Mr... As the public is beneficially served by stake-nets, and their erection is legal in sea-firths and on open coasts, it would be in vain to complain that they injure the upper fisheries. No salmon can be caught and killed twice over, and the opposing interests cannot be easily reconciled. When up an estuary, or near a river's mouth, there is no doubt that the injury is direct and demonstrable. Mr Buist has shown, from the books of the Dundee Shipping Company, by whom the almost entire produce of the Tay was in former times despatched to London, that during the last three years of the stake-net operations in that estuary (1810, 1811, 1812) the average annual export from the river fishings was only 1665 boxes; while the stake-net fishers exported 4000 boxes—making together 5665 boxes yearly. But during the first three years after the stake-nets were removed, the average yearly product of the river fisheries rose to 4552 boxes, while during the next three years, when the recovery of the river was completed, it amounted to 5930 boxes, being for that later period 265 boxes a-year beyond the product of both fisheries while the stake-nets were in operation. Of course the alteration in the individual fishings and their rents was conformable.
Lord Gray's portion of the river, which during the stake-net practice produced in two years only 8534 grilse and salmon, yielded in the same period after the removal of the nets 46,332 of these fishes. The rent, which during the former period had fallen to L1205, immediately rose to L4000; and that of the whole river fisheries from L5101 to L12,005.
In other estuaries, of course, similar causes produce the same effects. Mr John Stevenson stated to the Committee of the House of Commons, that previous to the introduction of stake-nets into the Cromarty Firth his fishing in the Conan produced in one year 7656 salmon, while subsequent to their introduction the same fishing produced during another year only 633. But during that latter year Mr James Taylor had intercepted in his stake-net no less than 6500.
It was stated to the Committee by Mr Alexander Fraser, that the rent of the fisheries in the river Ness was, sixteen years ago (prior to 1828), L1055, and had then fallen to L124. We believe that its commercial value is now even less than the latter sum, although the revenue which is derived from angling may have increased there, as in most other rivers.
In relation to the supposed decline of our salmon fisheries, we may state that the late Sir Humphrey Davy delivered into the hands of the select committee of the House of Commons (which sat some years prior to the passing of the Scotch act of 1828) a paper containing the following observations and recommendations. "There is a general complaint," he observes, "of the diminution of salmon in fisheries. In the Thames it can scarcely be said to exist; and even in the Avon, the Severn, and the Trent, it is becoming comparatively a scarce fish. The great northern fisheries, and the Irish fisheries, are much less productive than formerly." He then states the remedies for this national evil to be as follows: 1. To suffer more fish to spawn, and fish of all ages and sizes; 2. to prevent any fish from being killed in rivers after spawning; and, 3. to prevent the young or fry from being destroyed. He is, moreover, of opinion that as all salmon and salmon-trout return to their native rivers, so stake-net fishings ought to be abolished, as they enable persons having no interest in the river remedies, to cut off almost entirely its supply of fish, as salmon do not go far out into the sea, and always return along the coast, scenting out, as it were, their own river; and that a strong net put across an estuary might destroy in one year the whole fishery of a river. He recommends that no close weirs should be allowed, but that there should be always a free passage for fish, so that early fish may go up as well as late fish; that no machinery should be permitted in a river by which the spawning fish may be killed; that nets should be limited to a certain size, so as to render it impossible to sweep a river; and that no angling should be allowed for salmon till May, nor after October.
The remedies named above are more obvious than easy, and have been not seldom proposed both before and since. They undoubtedly go to the root of the matter, but their enforcement is the difficulty. It has been often tried, but seldom effected. The suggestion as to stake-nets, considering the nature of now vested rights, could never be carried into effect, and, so far as the public interest in a supply of good salmon is concerned, ought not to be so. Besides there are no fixed nets in estuaries, as they are illegal wherever the estuary character is demonstrable. At all events, there is no such thing anywhere allowed as a net across an estuary, or even limus fluminis. A free passage must be left, and the so-called estuaries have had ample justice done them,—1st, as in the Tay case, where the sea is declared to end when we reach the "Drumly Sands;" and, 2d, in that of the Dornoch Firth, where the estuary is made to extend to the wild moaning of the "Gizzen Briggs," opposite to, and below the town of Tain. Close weirs on rivers do little harm (such are the productive powers of fish) if properly constructed, and the legal "slap" of 24 hours every week is observed. If a free passage were so left open as to accommodate the fish in the favourite portion of their run up the river, they would all escape, and the weir-dyke would not defray the expense of its erection. Like sheep leaping in single files "each after each" over a broken fence, so would the salmon vault through that watery way. If, again, the main rush of the river were deceptive, and contained a cuive with hecks, and the actually open space were in some out-of-the-way quiet corner, the eager and impatient fish would never make the discovery, nor find out their mistake till it was too late to mend it. If any of these early summer fish got through, their after capture would no doubt please one or more of the upper proprietors, but they would be of little use, parentally considered, because they must bide their natural time to the close, and when that time comes there will be many far fitter for parental functions than themselves, even should they escape the angler's lure.
To limit the dimensions of the net would be of little use in rivers the two sides of which, as so often happens, belonged to different persons, and who, if they did not agree to the usual practice of taking alternate sweeps of the whole, would each incessantly harry his own half. To allow no angling till May would deprive the rod-fisher in the earlier rivers of his best months, when the fish are fresh and the waters full. To debar angling after October, or, in other words, to permit it to the close of that month, would be merely an extension of the present period (except as concerns the Tweed, which has seven days more), although, from the mode of expres-
Mackenzie of Ardross, who cherished peculiar views of many other things besides salmon, writes as follows:—"Salmon are always better for being a few days in their native water. It increases, like crisping, the firmness of the fish; insomuch that while a salmon caught in the morning in the sea is soft enough to be boiled and pickled the same evening, one caught in the fresh water retains its firmness, and would break in the kettle if boiled before next morning. The fish curers or boilers, who are great spicers, always accordingly prefer for their own palates fish that have been some days in fresh water."—View of the Salmon Fishery of Scotland, Note to p. 42. In regard to the practice of parboiling salmon immediately after they are captured, in order to preserve the curdy texture, it is a good plan if a couple of days has to elapse before they are eaten. But a friend of good taste in Berwick (who dines on the produce only of the afternoon tide), tells us, that if a person must partake of a salmon killed in the morning of the day it is eaten, it is better to keep it cool till dinner time, and then boil it once for all.
VOL IX. Proposed sion used, we know not that extension was the object in view. As leading to stricter preservation in the uplands, we doubt not it would be of use.
In regard to the interest of the upland proprietors, which we have always advocated, and have already referred to, we should like to guard against extreme views. They chance to possess a good supply of fine clear shallow water of a rippling lively character, with abundant beds of clean-washed gravel, such as a fond parental salmon loves to haunt. In these, without much trouble to the proprietor, the parr are hatched, and there they dwell during the days of their innocent childhood, and till such time as they migrate seawards. They measure even at the last only a very few inches in length, and do not weigh more than half as many ounces. In obedience to a mysterious and most irresistible, but wisely ordered, instinct, they suddenly descend to certain marine pastures, where their increase of growth is rapid and remarkable. But they are by this time, it may be, a couple of hundred miles from the margin of those tiny streams where they had passed their childhood. They are now well-grown grilse, or even (supposing their second journey to the sea) large-sized salmon. They have descended by a difficult and devious route, along many intervening lands, into the open sea, have wandered at their own sweet will far into that blue profound; and coasting again shorewards in pursuit of food or frolic, to whom do they belong? Certain shore proprietors, to whom the royal right has been deputies by our gracious Queen, or her august predecessors, erect at great expense, and work with difficulty and sometimes danger, bag-nets, or other ingeniously-constructed modes of capture; and when they thus secure a splendid salmon of 30 pounds weight which calls no man master, can any reasonable being maintain that it belongs to some small proprietor, one of the "children of the mist," who owns the barren banks of a feeble tributary among the distant hills, where it no doubt first saw the dim light of day, but from which it had departed of its own accord, so soon as it felt proudly conscious of having become a smolt? There is surely no unjustifiable interference here. The parr may have originally belonged to another person (though not necessarily to the proprietor of its native land, who in all probability had no salmon rights whatever), but it has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis, and passed, it may be said, into another state of existence; and, as a salmon, it now belongs to whoever possesses and puts in action the legal right to catch it, whether in salt or fresh water. But undeniably there is a natural and necessary connection, as in the relation of cause and effect, between the breeding places above and a productive fishery below; for while we know that without the sea there would be no salmon, so we also know that without the streams there would be no parr—therefore no salmon. But the sea, as usual, is the mightier and more influential power, and eventually yields upon the river produce an increase of many hundred fold. Thus, all that any upland heritor could reasonably claim as his particular share in any salmon would be a small cut about the length of, but otherwise no larger, than his middle finger. At the same time he is entitled to many of these, as his progeny, though minute, are multitudinous; and the unkindest cut of all is that which debars his almost ever seeing a single fin of them again till they are as black as ink, or as rusty as old iron,—for these are the conditions in which the grown fish revisit the shallow streams of their nativity. But the case is too often argued, as if a parr bore the same relationship, even in its extrinsic conditions, to a salmon, as a lamb does to a sheep,—as if the first owner not only bred, but fed and brought it up, and so was entitled to it in its final and complete condition. It is obvious that it is not so. But as the river heritors alone have the direct power of improvement, by breeding and preservation, in their own exclusive hands, it would be good policy to in-
duce them (by making it worth while) for their own sakes as well as those of others, to exercise that power. There is no doubt that the royal grants of river fisheries were given long before those of the coasts were thought of. They proceeded on the observed and ascertained habits of the fish—their periodically entering into narrow waters, and were expressed in relation to rivers, estuaries, and other inlets; and mainly for this reason, that salmon-fishing, unlike many other kinds, cannot be accomplished independent of the uses of the land. These fine fish do not take in the sea with hand lines, or long lines, or in any other way requiring an act of volition on their own part. They afterwards, no doubt, exhibit a fantastic fancy for artificial flies; but this, with scarcely an exception, is an appetite acquired or manifested only in fresh or running waters. In earlier times the mechanical portion of the art (with the exception of crutches) was comparatively feeble, if not imperfect; and it is only in modern days, when men have sought out many inventions, that the continuous strength of stake-nets planted upon shoal ground, and the resisting power of bag-nets placed in deeper waters, have been brought to bear up enduringly against the force of winds and waves, and the surging swell of the heaviest tidal currents.
Many regard it as a great loss both to Tweed and Tay, that these noble and productive rivers should be divided into so many distinct fishing stations, all wrought separately, whereby the expenses are much increased. Fixed nets require far fewer men, and catch far more fish. On the other hand, the tear and wear at the fixed stations is greater than for net-and-coble. The comparative advantage of simplification in the mode, and fulness of occupation to the people, forms the problem in political economy before referred to.
"The grand evil in the salmon-fishery," observes Mr Mackenzie of Ardross in 1834, "is the multiplicity of fishings, which begets so many contending interests, and makes each individual pursue a selfish system of destruction incompatible with the improvement on a great scale of the fishery. If anything could justify the violation of private rights for the benefit of the public, the owners of minor fishings should be made to sell their rights for a just equivalent, in order to concentrate the fishery as much as possible. If a whole river belonged to one individual, he might do with it as he liked. In such a river there should be no close time. The owner of it would take care to keep it at all times full of breeding fish. He might make it like a game preserve, in which immense quantities would be reared. He would restrict the fishery entirely to a few stations near its mouth, and fish these constantly while clean fish appeared, supplying the public with new fish as they came on, even at the period the old fish were breeding in the upper parts of the river, without the smallest injury to the fishery; but a single upper heritor, were his fishery not worth £5 a-year, could put a stop to the whole plan. There are, accordingly, no rivers in the kingdom at present under so complete a system of improvement as those of the Duke of Sutherland in Sutherlandshire, under the able direction of Mr Loch, M.P. But this cannot happen in rivers which belong to different proprietors, and, therefore, a close time seems absolutely necessary for such rivers, that is, such a close time as a majority of the proprietors should consider best suited to each river, it being always understood, as we have already said, that the interest of the owners of the rivers and of the public is necessarily the same, viz., the production of as many fish as possible. On the coasts, if coast fishings are to be allowed, the close time should always commence some weeks earlier, as the fish towards close time do not proceed quickly on, and may take that much time to reach the rivers, so that the fish that would pass the coast fishings during that period would not be killed at the rivers, but would be left for breeding. We believe that one of the reasons which influenced Mr Drummond in establishing a general close time for all the rivers was, lest the salmon of one river might be smuggled to market as coming from another. But what did it signify, if the fish were clean, from what river they came? And foul fish never can be sent to market as clean fish, for their appearance would betray them at once. The deception would be seen at a glance. As well might a man attempt to sell a black horse as being a grey one. In truth, no salesman would now venture to present foul fish at market; and if the fish are salted or kippered, we would defy any man to determine whether they were killed a week before, or after close time, or, indeed, to bring legal evidence to bear on the subject; since, as we said, salmon are as foul in some rivers in August as they are in other rivers in October. Besides, protection to one river can never be a good reason for injustice to the owners of another; and nothing can be more grossly unjust than to deprive the owners of the rivers Ness and Thurso of a great part of their properties, lest foul fish from the Tay or Tweed should be sent to market as coming from those rivers. If the Tay or Tweed are poached, let the proprietors be at the expense of a greater establishment of river keepers, and not look to the annihilation of other properties to save their own purses.
There is no doubt that the Ness and certain other early rivers are put at a disadvantage by the longer continuance of the close time now than formerly. It was proved in evidence before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1825, that when the mid-winter fishings were open, the amount of salmon killed in the Ness during eight years (from 1811–12 to 1818–19) made a total for the months of December 2405, January 3554, February 3239, March 3029, April 2147, May 1127, June 170, July 263, August 2192, September 439.
It further appears, from the evidence above referred to, that during these years no grilse ran up the Ness till after the month of May. The month of June produced 277, July 1358, August 4299, September 1493.
We may here observe, that the fluctuations in the salmon fisheries seem to result not unfrequently from causes over which we have not only no control, but regarding which we have scarcely any acquired or actual knowledge. Clear dry weather, not unusual during the midsummer months of June and July, never fails to affect disadvantageously all fisheries at any distance upwards from a river's mouth. July and August are the chief months for the upward run of grilse. The longer they abide in the sea the bigger they become, so that a September fish fresh from the salt water is twice the size of a June one. The existence in our rivers towards the end of winter or in early spring of grilse which have spawned, and yet weigh only three or four pounds, is of itself a conclusive proof of the retardation of growth in fresh water. These small fish must have entered the river water soon after midsummer of the preceding season, but had made no progress. Had they remained in the sea till autumn, their dimensions would have been considerably greater; or had they spawned sooner, or descended more speedily to the sea, they might have returned riverwards in spring as small salmon, while their less adventurous brethren of the same age were still in the streams as grilse.
The working of net and coble does little or no harm to the fry, and cannot injure the spawning beds, either by displacement or otherwise, because these are always either higher up, or in shallower water, than suits the process. Many of the best breeding places are in the tributaries, and the majority of these have never any salmon in them during summer. The clearness of the water at that time, and its small amount, as effectually debar their ascent as if a cravice dyke were thrown across their mouth. Fish in a large river have been known to wait for six weeks near the still too shallow mouth of a favourite tributary, that they might ascend the latter with a view to spawn, rather than continue their journey up the former, which was not their native home. They ascend in the course of the autumn floods, and descend again when the winter is well advanced, and during early spring. Thus the majority of these upland beds are nothing but nurseries, of little or no value to the proprietors, but of infinite importance to the seaward owners of the salmon-fisheries down below. In the Tay, for example, there is no fishing of any consequence (angling of course excepted) beyond the mouth of the Isla, about eight miles above Perth, although Lord Breadalbane has a few good hawling places in Loch Tay, and fish continue their courses into the wild uplands watered by the Dochart, as far as they can go. We saw, when last in that quarter, a brace of fine salmon, rather gray, but in excellent eating order, and weighing nearly 42 lb. the pair, killed with the fly, a short way below the well-kept hostelry of Luib. But upon this principle of non-ascent in summer, many upper proprietors of small streams, although entitled to consideration, are in error when they suppose that fine angling would necessarily come their way if there was an earlier close in autumn, or less assiduous fishing down below. There cannot be many well-conditioned fish in the smaller streams, because they do not desire to run till the commencement of the autumn floods. If there was no net-and-coble fishing during the first fortnight of September, no doubt some fine fish would make their way well upwards; but even if all obstructions were removed, there would still be no good summer angling for salmon in the higher or smaller streams owing to the deficient supply of water, and its extreme clearness. No modification of the present law would give good angling in the upper countries that would not be too injurious to the commercial fisheries; but a somewhat earlier close would be of advantage to both parties—immediate to the one and eventual to the other.
In favour of an altered close time, that is of an earlier close, it ought to be borne in mind that the parent fish which ascend from the sea in autumn are the best and most productive breeders, although themselves of less value as articles of food. Those which ascend later, or in wintry weather, may be also good breeders; but the conditions under which they then exist are less favourable for the deposition and future safety of the spawn.
It has been distinctly ascertained that no salmon grows, or at least increases in weight of flesh (although the bony structure may be enlarged), after it has entered the fresh waters. On the contrary, it rather decreases in weight, as it admittedly deteriorates in condition, and consequently in value, as a marketable commodity. We think it is a fair inference, and believe it to have been confirmed by actual observation, that salmon, whether male or female, entering a river in spring or early summer, and remaining there for months, would, from the deteriorating influence of river water, and the absence of their highly nutritious marine diet, whatever that may be, suffer not only in the fulness of their general condition as to fat and muscle, but also in the development of their sexual attributes. It is indeed an ascertained fact, from repeated observations by various individuals, that many female salmon which have been long in fresh water, have the ovaries not only not increased by the advance of the season, but sometimes diminished almost to expiration. Thus it is probable that the use of such individuals as breeders is lost for a year at least, if not for ever.
Some of the Irish rivers also yield a good December fishery of clean salmon, or did so before restricted by a change of close time. If, on the other hand, they are still able to propagate their kind after this lengthened sojourn in the "rivers of water," there is a probability that their progeny will be less numerous, and of inferior nature, to such as derive their origin from parents fresher from the sea, and in which the sexual system is capable of more fully performing its functions.
It is satisfactory to consider, in connection with this view of the subject, that the capture of salmon in spring and summer does not in fact interfere with a good and abundant supply of future fish. On the contrary, that it is better that such supply should proceed from the autumnal run, and thus two objects are attained,—1st, the markets are furnished for a length of time during spring and summer with fresh-run and finely seasoned fish, the spawning period of which is far distant; and, 2dly, the young brood are produced by parents which have been nourished for a prolonged period in the sea, and although deteriorated as articles of food by the advanced condition of the spawn, that spawn itself is fully developed—the chief consideration in respect to breeding fish.
But although the late-run fish are the best breeders, the sooner that these are encouraged to spawn the better. When the net-and-cobble and stake-net fishings are continued working well into September, a large proportion of the finest early-breeding fish are destroyed, and just at the time that their breeding functions might be most successfully performed. About this period the fords or shallows (the chief spawning places) are well filled, although not overfilled, with water. The fish are consequently not tempted to spawn too near the margins, which they are apt to do in floods, and in which case the spawn is likely to be left dry when the waters recede. At this time, too, the rivers are free from ice, which is injurious to the brood, not so much by destroying the spawn, which is of a hardy nature if once properly laid and covered up, as by preventing the process of spawning itself. Or if there is no severe frost during the late or winter spawning, then floods or spates occur, and are very hurtful, because, although the parent fish always prefer spawning in lively or rippling water, they cannot of course do so advantageously if the current over the shallows is too strong. This increased current is apt to sweep away what would otherwise be the sinking spawn, or prevent its being properly covered up.
Thus, as either flood or hard frost is disadvantageous to the successful performance of the spawning process, the greater number of fish that are allowed to spawn early the better. For this an additional argument may be assigned. There is every reason to believe that fish which spawn early descend again all the sooner to the sea as kelts, are there invigorated and renewed in strength and condition, and return early to the rivers, so that at least a portion of them will seek to re-ascend as clean fish in spring, when the marketable value of salmon is greatest. A sufficient number of salmon will always remain throughout the summer season in the sea, and ascend towards the spawning beds in autumn; and so great is the productive powers of these fish, that a comparatively small number of breeders, if properly protected, and allowed to spawn successfully during the most fitting period, will suffice to stock the rivers, so that no limitation need be made of the numbers caught during spring and summer.
From the principle here set forth, it will follow that no particular advantage need be expected to follow from preserving the courses of a river from the angler during the earlier or middle portions of the season. For example, we do not see that any great benefit would arise to the Sutherland rivers from the spring and summer jubilee of 1848, because, as no fixed obstructions are offered to the ascent of the fish there after the 25th day of August, a sufficiency of spawning fish would be sure to make their way upwards in good time from the sea, and would prove better spawners than those which had previously ascended the rivers. We would therefore even go the length of saying, that it would be better for the spawning beds not to be subjected to the chance of being occupied except by the autumnal-run fish, and therefore the smaller the number of early (and necessarily deteriorated) salmon which have abode long in the fresh water that are allowed to remain in it during the actual spawning season the better. This is of course an argument in favour of rod-fishing, and the mere fact of its being agreeable and advantageous to the angler is certainly in no way against it, if otherwise true. If all stake-nets were dismantled, all bag and crive nets removed, and all net-and-cobble fishing terminated, by the 20th of August, we have no doubt that a deal of productive spawning would take place in September, and that a corresponding increase of grilse and salmon in our rivers would eventually take place. Rod-fishing might be continued without disadvantage up to the 20th of September. The chief damage to spawning fish is done by the poacher's leister rather than by the angler's rod. The fish, while engaged on the shallows best adapted for spawning will not take the angler's fly, although the leister takes them whether they will or no. There are always, even in autumn, fish less advanced with spawn than others, and which keep for a time in the deeper pools and stronger currents, where the angler chiefly plies his vocation; and the taking out of these fish is much less wantonly injurious than destroying the others, both because they are themselves in better condition, and so of greater use, and because, as winter breeders, they would run the risk of spawning (as already stated) under disadvantageous, possibly unproductive, conditions. Angling being also a favourite recreation, and frequently advantageous to the proprietor as a source of income, it carries its compensation along with it. And another direct advantage, we doubt not, would arise from the fact, that while the authorized and legitimate angler is on the river, the illegal poacher is more likely to keep away from it, and the greater value of the privilege of angling, if continued after all kinds of netting have ceased, would induce proprietors and lessees to be more active and zealous in their general guardianship of the streams. As a matter of political expedience also, it may be advisable to allow an extension of time in the angler's favour, as not unlikely to propitiate some legislators, who might otherwise object to any change at all.
We doubt whether a bill proceeding, as was at one time proposed, upon a presumed knowledge of the varying habits of salmon as entering certain rivers sooner or later than others, and so dividing the country into different districts, could be either made practical in its application, or worked with good effect. A lengthened inquiry and investigation of the actual facts, and a detailed and authenticated report upon their ascertainment, would be indispensable; and it might be difficult to reconcile competing interests, or draw distinctions between rivers physically the same though in different districts, or physically different though in the same district. A river flowing out of a valley filled with water (that is a lake) may fall into the sea in the near neighbourhood of another river which in early spring draws its main sources from numerous alpine streams subjected to the icy influence of frost. The lake-born river will be an early one, that of the open valley and hilly district a late one, or at least later than the other, although both co-exist in the same district; so that almost every river might require to be defined and designated in the act, and an appropriate clause inserted in relation to each. This complication would be found inconvenient if not impracticable. At all events a commission of inquiry would be necessary to furnish the groundwork of any admissible enactment proceeding upon the principle of local divisions, or districts. A general act may doubtless entail some little hardship by debarring the natural advantages of a few peculiar rivers, but on the whole the general interests will be best guarded by an act of general application. A restricted act, applicable to a single river, might, in many cases, be difficult to decide upon, even by the proprietors themselves, in so far as the interests of the upper and lower heritors are not only different, but stand directly opposed, or at least are deemed to do so. A proprietor of a stake-net in the sea, or of a net-and-coble fishery in an estuary, might possibly deem himself aggrieved by such an early close as would benefit him whose restricted stream winds its far upland course among the desolate hills, and whose only chance of a well-conditioned fish must almost entirely depend on, or at least be greatly increased by, an early termination of the commercial fishery down below. In the long run, we believe, the advantage would be mutual in the more careful protection of the breeding fish, which would soon ensue, and the consequent increase of the general stock.
The upper proprietors would thankfully accept of what, under the circumstances, they are entitled to—a week or two of rod-fishing—as some compensation for what they have lost in modern times by the increased and more skilful application of the various devices now fallen upon by the lower and seaward proprietors to ensnare the finny tribes. These upper heritors have but a slight chance of ever catching a good fish in their own waters, although the responsibility, and a portion of the expense, of protection during the breeding season, are not seldom thrown upon them. They are thus, as Sir Walter Scott used to express it, reduced to the condition of mere "clockin' hens" for the hatching of other people's eggs. As to actual injury committed by the angler, it ought ever to be borne in mind that the rod is but a precarious engine of death, at no time very deadly. From the frequency of floods in the end of autumn, not a great many days during the last three weeks of the season would with certainty afford successful angling; and a strong salmon not seldom takes his own way both with hook and line, although he must succumb to the nocturnal glare of the burning brand and the leister's deadly spear.
The art of angling has been for a length of time among the most highly favoured and most assiduously pursued of all our British sports, and has consequently become of great value to proprietors in a pecuniary point of view; so whatever is likely to add to that value becomes of great importance. Many considerate people are of opinion that some modification of the laws relating to salmon would be advantageous, but the subject is jealously regarded by others, and several attempts to obtain a modification of the existing act of parliament (9th Geo. IV., cap. 39) have failed. In rivers which pertain entirely to a single person, or in others where the various proprietors have agreed to act in unison, the use of nets and cuivres is voluntarily given up some time before the legally required period, and advantage has been found to result therefrom. It has hence been inferred, that if this wise practice were enforced in all rivers, still greater benefit would arise. What is called the close time, during which it is illegal to kill salmon, or fish of the salmon kind, extends at present, as regards all rivers north of the Tweed, from "between the 14th day of September and the 1st day of February"—that is, as we construe it, no one is permitted to angle for or otherwise kill salmon from the 15th day of September to the 31st day of January, both included. Certain southern rivers of Scotland are regulated by special acts of their own, with a reservation for an additional time in favour of angling. The Tweed, for example, closes as concerns nets or commercial fishery on the 15th day of October, but continues open for rod fishing till the 7th of November. It opens both for net and rod fishing on the 16th of February. The Annan, in accordance with its own special act (4th Vict. cap. 18, May 1841) is closed "between the 25th day of September and the 10th day of March" as against net-fishing; the legal period being prolonged in favour of rod-fishing until the 1st day of November inclusive, while the day of opening is the same for both modes. The Nith opens on the 10th of March for rod and net fishing, and closes for both on 25th September.
Nothing is more frequently observable, or better known, than the fact that there is a remarkable difference in the habits of salmon of different rivers as regards their period of entering these rivers. Whatever their ultimate object may be, it is clear that the spawning process, which does not usually take place till towards the commencement of winter, cannot be much in the minds of such fish as seek the fresh waters in early spring. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that there is a corresponding difference in the actual periods of spawning. Some rivers have a greater proportion of well-conditioned fish for a later period than others, but to delay or greatly alter the close time on their account would be very injudicious, notwithstanding the admitted hardship upon the proprietors of certain places where fresh-run fish are found in good order even for some weeks after the present close. A select committee of the House of Commons, appointed to inquire into the expediency of regulation by a varied rule, reported (in 1836) as follows:—"The only object of the close season being to afford protection to the fish when they are breeding, and during their state of exhaustion consequent upon it, your committee are of opinion that the legal close time ought to be so regulated as to coincide as nearly as possible with the period so defined by nature. It has been established in evidence, that in different rivers the periods at which the salmon ascend the rivers for the purpose of spawning, and afterwards descend towards the sea, vary considerably, and therefore, upon the principle above laid down, your committee are of opinion that it would be advantageous to the general interests of the salmon-fisheries of Scotland to have the fence-months or close time so regulated according to the respective rivers or districts, instead of having one uniform season as at present." It was upon this principle that the bill introduced by the late Mr Patrick Stewart and Mr James Loch was framed, not, we fear, without some confusion of the running and the spawning periods, which have often little to do with each other. It divided Scotland into twelve districts, the majority of which were made to differ from each other in their times—the Ness, for example, being made to close from the 16th day of July to the 1st day of December, and so on with the others, only three of them remaining as they are now. Fourteen clear days were to be allowed in each district after the close for the
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1 The illustrious sheriff of Selkirk had a kindly bias towards the sports of the people, of which the spearing of salmon is one of the most ancient and exciting. He no doubt often saw, amid his own nocturnal musing, the flickering lights along that turfy shore, staring the far reaches of the river, while he listened to the leisterers' cry, with no "act amont the killin' of black fish" in all his thoughts. He has even thrown himself (dramatically) with great gusto into the feelings of those who have sometimes taken the law into their own hands by the destruction of "fixed engines" at a river's mouth. "In truth I heard it, provest; and was glad to hear that the scoundrels had so much pluck as to right themselves against a fashion which would make the upper heritors a sort of clockin' hens to hatch the fish that the folks below were to catch and eat."—Redgaiter.
2 The subject of the close time is still further complicated by the fact that several rivers yield both early and late fish, because certain of their branches or tributary streams produce some the one and some the other, all having previously to ascend by the same channel from the sea. purposes of angling. This bill was either abandoned or thrown out, and a similar fate has attended several others.
A previous one had been introduced by the same parties (in 1835), which proceeded on the principle that the proprietors of salmon-fishings in rivers, at a meeting to be called as therein provided, should determine, by a majority of their number and value, the period of close time in each river, &c.; that there should be no fishing for salmon after 1st September, but that twenty-one days should be allowed for the exclusive use of the rod after the commencement of the close time. In 1839 two bills were brought in by Mr Wallace and Mr Hume—one proposing that the fishing season should commence generally over all Scotland upon the 10th of January, and terminate upon the 24th of August—the other legalising twenty-one exceptional days in favour of angling with the rod. Passing over one or more intermediate attempts at legislation, we may briefly notice the bill prepared and introduced by Mr Edward Ellice and Mr Thomas Mackenzie in the spring of 1842. With a view to reconcile or accommodate the interests of all parties, it threw the arrangement and decision of the whole affair into the hands of the commissioners of the Board of Fisheries, thus assimilating the Scotch to the Irish system. It was likewise laid upon the shelf. The latest attempt at salmon legislation was the bill introduced by the Duke of Argyll, and which passed through the House of Lords in 1851. It made the close time commence somewhat earlier than it does now, was more stringent in its enactment in relation to the "Saturday's slap" of stake-nets, &c., and gave the angler a chance of some amusement for a week or two in the upper country by prolonging the period of the rod. It was rejected by the House of Commons. So the regulating act for Scotland is still the 9th of George IV., commonly called Home Drummond's Act, passed in July 1828.
One of the boldest proposals for the simplification of the salmon-fisheries of rivers has been given in recent years. The writer holds that the entire system, whether by fixed or moving nets, proceeds on a false plan, bequeathed from times under different conditions, which performs badly and expensively what might be well accomplished at a small cost. His plan of radical reform is this—to erect and work in each river, at such place or places as might be found most suitable, some engine which shall, with easy and well regulated alternations, capture every ascending fish, or allow all, or a sufficient number, to pass up at proper times, dividing the produce among the proprietors of the present fisheries, in such proportions as shall be equitably ascertained by evidence and arbitration. We fear, from what we know of human, as well as of salmon, nature, that this scheme is Utopian, and will never come to pass. Another and a prior proposal was made by Mr John Younger of St Boswells, an ingenious writer of the hard-working and self-taught school. Having full knowledge, and a high estimate, of the great angling value of the Tweed, he is of opinion that no other engine but the rod should be allowed at all, and that its use should be legalized by act of parliament all the year round. There is no doubt that our rural and village population, having an impression, however erroneous it may be, that their natural rights are somewhat unfairly abridged by the privileged claims of the higher orders, consider close time as the poor man's proper, because now only, period. Being also a time of delegation to the water-bailiffs, these watchmen of the night are more easily evaded, or eluded, than would be the local lairds or tenants, had the latter any great inducement to interfere. Of all the fresh-water practices, the practice of leistering is the most deadly and destructive, as well as daring, and is habitually effected in spite of whatever police force may be arrayed against it. As the use of the leister is, for the most part, a nocturnal practice, and lights (in themselves illegal) are necessary both to detect the fish and to astound them, the poachers can scarcely hope to conceal their nefarious proceedings, and so assemble in full force. With "visage discomposed," that is, with blackened faces, and otherwise arrayed in wild attire, they descend upon a spawning place, where, it may be, fifty pair of large and heavy fish are gathered together, and with blazing lights and long-shanked leisters they com-
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1 Although exceptional cases may occur in several rivers, it is certain that the great mass of salmon are in bed condition by the month of October, and frequently long before it. They continue, with the same exceptions, in that unsound state for many months thereafter. The present act of parliament is an "Act of Uniformity" for all rivers north of the Tweed, and although it may bear hard upon the Ness and other early streams, it would be difficult to enact local regulations, giving a difference of times to different districts. As the subject, however, is not unlikely to have legislative attention again directed towards it, we think advantage may arise from our here re-printing the boundaries and their respective seasons, as given in the bill constructed on the local principle, and presented to the House of Commons:
First District. From Duncansbayhead in Caithness, to Tarbetness in the county of Ross, comprising all the rivers, streams, lakes, waters, estuaries, and sea-coast, situate between these two points, from the twentieth day of August to the fourteenth day of January, both days inclusive. Second District. From Tarbetness aforesaid, to Fort George Point in the county of Nairn, including the Beauly Frith and the rivers connected therewith, except the River Ness, from the nineteenth day of August to the fifth day of January, both days inclusive; and for the said river Ness, from the sixteenth day of July to the first day of December, both days inclusive. Third District. From Fort George Point aforesaid, to Knockhead of Cullen, in the county of Banff, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of January, both days inclusive. Fourth District. From the Knockhead of Cullen aforesaid, to Tromphead in the county of Banff, from the fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days inclusive. Fifth District. From Tromphead aforesaid, to Demottar Castle in the county of Kincardine, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of January, both days inclusive. Sixth District. From Demottar Castle aforesaid, to the Redhead in the county of Forfar, from the fourteenth day of September to the last day of January, both days inclusive. Seventh District. From the Redhead aforesaid to Fife Ness, from the twenty-seventh day of August to the twelfth day of January, both days inclusive. Eighth District. From Fife Ness aforesaid, to Berwick Bounds, from the twenty-seventh day of August to the twelfth day of January, both days inclusive. Ninth District. From the confines of the Solway Frith to the northern boundary of the county of Ayr, from the fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days inclusive. Tenth District. From the northern boundary of the county of Ayr, to Ardnamurchan Point in the county of Argyle, including all Western and other islands situated within the parallels of the said two points, from the fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days inclusive. Eleventh District. From Ardnamurchan Head aforesaid, to the Point of the Coygach in the county of Ross, with all the Western Islands situated within the parallels of these two points, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of January, both days inclusive. Twelfth District. From the Point of Coygach aforesaid, to Duncansbayhead first hereinbefore mentioned, from the twentieth day of July to the sixth day of December, both days inclusive; and for "the Lewis," from the first day of August to the seventeenth day of December, both days inclusive; and for "Harris," from the tenth day of September to twenty-sixth day of January, both days inclusive.
When about to apply to Mr Loch for some information regarding the natural data on which the preceding divisions were established, we heard with deep regret of the death of that estimable person.
Edinburgh Review, vol. xxxii., p. 367.
Mr Younger is by trade a tailor, maker, and dresser of artificial flies, in the village of St Boswells. He has written an excellent little book On River Angling for Trout and Salmon (Edin. 1840), and is also the author of an essay On the observance of the Sabbath, which gained for him an English prize, and led to his showing himself on the platform of Exeter Hall, from which we doubt not he gladly returned to the gentler murmurs of the Tweed. Mr Young's proposal, and speedily complete, their remorseless slaughter. Meanwhile a dozen paid bailiffs may be innocuously shivering on some neighbouring height, but no more able to interfere with what is going on than Tam O'Shanter in the midst of the witches' joyous dances would have dared to seize upon the black piper. This practice is still a prevailing one in the higher portions of the Tweed, and is prosecuted with the greater facility and success, in consequence of the tenants, or resident proprietors, if such there be, finding it more difficult to sally forth at dead of night to prevent such improvident destruction, than to tarry at home and divide the spoil. Such a dialogue as the following may be not unfrequently heard between a farmer's servant and his employer during close time.
"Maister, twa or three o' us are thinking o' lighting a bit breeze at the reds (spawning beds) the nicht, up at the shaw-brae fords, whar we saw them tumlin up this afternoon, like brewers' swine drunk we maun-draff."
"Weel, Davie, I daresay, for my pairt at least, ye may just tak what ye can get when ye hae them here, as I'm sure I havena seen three good fish in our water thro' a' the simmer. They kep them a' about Berwick or Norham now, wi' their lang nets, except just a while at the tail o' the saison, when the floodings get over heavy for their net warkes."
Before the passing of the present act of parliament the Tweed opened on the 10th of January, which was much too early for so late a river, and interfered with the breeding fish. As it now stands, the time (15th February) is fully too soon, as it gives occasion to the catching of so many newly-spawned, or otherwise ill-conditioned fish. It also involves this further inconsistency, that leistering, and all other unkindly and injurious practices, which are illegal on the evening of the 14th of February, become legal on the morning of the ensuing day, when they cannot be put in practice without an equally unnecessary waste of life, in the destruction of fish almost utterly useless for all domestic purposes.
Now Mr Younger's proposal is, that as the proprietors consider the produce of the running waters of as much importance as the productions of the solid land, they might make the former much more valuable as concerns both profit and pleasure, by abolishing all net and leister fishing at whatever time, and instead of expending their money in maintaining a strong, though seldom effective force of bailiffs, they should raise funds to lease all the now commercial fisheries at the river mouth, or upwards, so as to admit of a free and continuous accession of fresh-run fish all the year round. "If the net-fishings are worth being rented by individual tacksmen, they are surely worth more in value (overlooking the sport) to the whole proprietors of seventy miles of the Tweed. Those rents would be, individually, a mere fractional consideration to the rents that might be drawn in letting mile-lengths to gentlemen rod-and-line anglers, who cannot, under present arrangements, be one-hundredth part accommodated. The benefit, too, to the localities where the anglers would be thus attracted by their favourite amusement, would be worthy of consideration. The distribution of salmon in the river generally would depend solely upon casual floods throughout the year. There would always be plenty of fish for the rod; many would live to attain to a great size, and rod-fishing would then be one of the most pre-eminent, desirable, healthful, and exhilarating standard amusements in our country. It would beat Grecian games, as well as English horse-racing and hound-coursing, all to nothing. The bodily exercise then would place the angler on the top of the calculation of the bill of health. The excitement would be one of the most nourishing principles of the mind, without the engrossment of the faculties from higher pursuits. It would be a charming relaxation from sedentary employments and severe studies, besides an honest source of livelihood for a few poor fellows like myself, who, living by the side of the waters, have from observation and practice, acquired a taste and use of hand in practical fly-dressing, and the preparation of other necessary tackle, rods, and lines, to dispose of to our richer amateurs of high fancy for the gentle craft." We believe that the angling rent of a river, with such a lengthened and continuous, yet finely varied flow, as that of Tweed, might really be made to equal, if not exceed, the present commercial result, which we have shown has not much exceeded £5,000 per annum for many years, and is now far below it. But the plan might be modified so as to admit of an occasional, yet advantageous, working of one or two seaward stations for the markets, with ever and anon, especially in showery weather, a prolonged period of free ingress to a few thousand "bits of silver," with permission to make their way upwards and along that lengthened course, to be assayed in fair proportions, here and there. An objection, however, to the practical fulfillment of such a plan, must not be overlooked, in the exclusive right which some of the older proprietors possess, not only to their own salmon but those of their neighbours. Many portions of old estates have been sold to new families, the original proprietor reserving the right of salmon-fishing to himself and his successors. We believe, for example, that he who, in one sense, was the greatest man upon the Tweed, Sir Walter Scott, had no legal power to take a single salmon from the Abbotsford portion of the river, the "Royal Fish" being, by reserved right of ancient grant, the property of an old border family, the Scotts of Gala, who had in earlier times dispossessed themselves of the land eventually acquired by the great Magician. We believe the scheme could never be reduced to practice.
Although all salmon deteriorate rapidly in fresh water, and are always the better-flavoured the nearer to the sea, or the shorter their time out of it, yet the sea-borne fish also decline greatly in condition by the close of the season. However, good individuals do continue to show themselves from time to time, which have not yet lost "all their original brightness," and these, of course, would bring a high price, supposing their capture and sale were legalized. The largest, and some of the finest of the late or winter running fish, are those called locally on Tweedside the "grey school." The lateness of their arrival indicates that they are also among the last to spawn. Though always late, they are by no means pointed as to the precise period of their advent, being guided, if not constrained, by the conditions of the river. They seldom show themselves till towards the close of November, and become more frequent in the course of the two ensuing months. Their arrival in close time, according to Mr Younger, in a great measure accounts for their large size, "escaping in their youth the nettings within tideway, unlike most of our other summer fish, and thus live to increase with age. Hence, if not our finest fish, they are at least our heaviest and most valuable, weighing from 12 to 25 lb. Hence, too, when they get early up the river, they are
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1 Blackwood's Journal of Agriculture, new series, No. 15, p. 505. 2 It might be supposed that the bad condition of these fish would prove their safe-guard, and that although their capture may be often unavoidable, they would be immediately returned into the river. This was formerly and in some stations may be still the case; but in many instances they are sent off with their false fresh-water shine upon them to Leeds and other large inland towns, where there are many thousands of worthy people who have no knowledge of fish. 3 Blackwood's Journal of Agriculture, No. 15, p. 506. 4 The Duke of Roxburghe, and other great proprietors, would be enormously benefited by the removal of the commercial fisheries, but who could force them to share their increase with others, or to join with the general company of anglers, when they have already as much as they need, and are not asking for more? The "grey grand sport for the rod-angler, strong and fresh, like a grass-fed heifer a little gone in calf. It has a spirit-stirring effect to feel their tug, and see their first grand sally and plunge abroad in the river; at the end of a tight gut line." We do not agree with our author in supposing that these fish of the "grey school" constitute any special kind of themselves, or that there is anything in the habits of their early life that renders them less liable to fall victims to the ruthless net than their neighbours. They have not escaped in consequence of belonging to a particular school, but the converse is the case; and had they been sooner killed, they could not have been detected as belonging to any school at all. They have chanced to escape the net and other accidents by flood and field; but the chief cause both of their diminished lustre and increased bulk, is simply their having remained for a month or two longer in the salubrious sea than the rest of their relations. We have already said, that it is only among its marine pastures that any salmon grows. In a river it never increases at all except in ugliness.
Although the Tweed does not now open till the 15th of February (a fortnight later than all the more northern rivers), many think the time is still too soon. It is well known that on that day a great slaughter sometimes takes place at several of the netting stations, not only of kelts (or spawned fish), but of what are called hippers and baggits, that is, male and female unspawned salmon. Mr Stoddart states, that scores of ripe spawners have been captured below Tweed Mill during the opening week of the season, and that he has known of eighty she-fish, all large and primed with ova, having been taken in a single day from the Tweed near Twizel. In connection with this wanton waste of life, he makes the following very judicious proposal—that the proprietors, or others holding salmon-fishings on that fine river, shall instruct competent persons to attend at the netting stations when the season opens, for the purpose of expressing and mingling the ova and melt of the unspawned fish, and immediately committing it to "redds" in the river, formed, in imitation of the natural places, by plow or spade. He opines, that for every clean or fresh-run fish taken in the Tweed for the first fortnight, there are at least a dozen of kelts, and four or five unspawned fish in a very forward or mature state. These are unavoidably captured by the same sweep of the net that secures the marketable fish, and therefore no extra expenditure would be required to obtain a great supply of spawn. There is here a vast amount of incipient life to be rescued from destruction, and which, if placed in properly prepared receptive beds of gravel, would eventually produce a great increase. Two hundred baggits, each yielding say 10,000 ova, would produce, supposing all were hatched, two million of fry, all vitalized at the expense of a few pounds sterling. Even supposing many of the eggs to be unproductive, and the greatest and most reckless destruction also to ensue of the future fry, still an addition might surely be relied upon of many thousands.
Mr Stoddart assumes the number of female fish which spawn annually in the Tweed to be 15,000, and he takes 10 lb. as their average in respect to weight. A ten-pounder is believed to carry 10,000 ova, and that number multiplied by the amount of fish, gives 150,000,000,—a very fair supply, as it seems to us, for the general market, if they all came to hand.
The great abundance (as shown in our Tweed table) of that large species of sea-trout (Salmo eriox), called bull-trout, or Berwick trout, in the lower portions of the Tweed, is too remarkable to be passed without remark. The number taken on an average of many years back has been about equal to that of grilse, and about four times that of salmon. This applies to the river, while on the outward or coast fisheries it is quite different, the proportion of trout in these latter reaching to not more than a ninth of that of grilse, and a fourth of that of salmon. Thus by net-and-coble are taken three or four trout for every salmon, while the fixed engines secure three or four salmon and nine or ten grilse for every trout. This curious disparity is explained by the local fishermen as follows. When a salmon or his aspiring progeny, a grilse, strikes the leader or shoreward portion of the fixed net, he follows close along its side till he voluntarily, though in ignorance, enters the inclosed chamber or trap into which it conducts; whereas the bull-trout, whether naturally more acute and observant, or, for his size, of greater age, and, consequently, experience in the world, when he comes upon the leader, falls away backwards from, instead of submitting to, such treacherous guidance. He has thus an increased chance of eventually making his escape, at least from these marine dangers, by taking more outward bearings for his next approach. A glance at our table of the produce of the Tweed will suffice to show, that during the first quinquennial period, the average proportion of trout to salmon was as three to four, while during the later of those periods it was as four to one. This enormous change of proportion between the kinds of fish which the fixed nets spare and those they capture, has been noted as of "terrible significance." It has been found, that on an average of seven years the proportions of the three kinds above referred to, taken respectively by the shore and river fisheries of the Tweed district, is as follows:—For every 100 salmon, the shore takes 313 grilse and 34 trouts; the river 438 grilse and 333 trouts. For every 100 grilse the
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2 The quantities of spawn said to be contained in various fishes are probably in many cases assumed rather than ascertained. The general statement in regard to the species with which we are now engaged is, that a grilse, or a small salmon, contains about 5000 ova, and that a fish of 20 lb. contains as many as 20,000 ova. We have not ourselves acquired any precise knowledge of this matter from actual observation. The following statement, however, may be relied upon, as coming from the pen of an excellent sportsman and persevering inquirer, the late Robert Wallace, Esq. of Kelly.—"I went yesterday, 11th September 1848, to fish in the river Carron, which falls into the Dornoch Firth, where the counties of Ross and Sutherland meet, at Boar Bridge. The banks showed evidently, by the footmarks along them, that the river had been closely fished before my arrival, and left but little prospect of much sport; and it so happened that I had not a rise till past four o'clock, after which I raised four fish in very shallow water, slightly hooking two, and killing one of the others with a favorite grilse of only five pounds weight, nearly one pound of which was roe, already grown about the size of No. 2 shot; and this, be it remembered, in a small grilse, which my self-sufficient and very learned sportsmen insist are not breeders, although all really practice, may be whether the fishers or dealers in salmon, know quite well that grilse are even more early breeders than full-grown salmon. Well, the roe in my eye-pieces grilse was not fewer than 2732 grams, and in the extent of that much I have assured the chance of a similar quantity of smolts going to sea, and returning free of any kind, as a most delicious fish to eat, and a capital size to angle. The mischief I happened to do on the Carron has been done in a manner or to degree by every successful angler over all Scotland, including of course those on the Ness, and especially the fortunate captor of its annual boast, 'the big fish.' The law sanctions the destruction now universally complained of, so that those who set under it must not be found fault with; but the law itself, and those who doggedly maintain it, must bear the blame; thus raising the question, Should such a law remain any longer unrepealed?"
The following further statement on this curious subject is from Mr Foley of Lismore in Ireland. The left lobe of the roe of every salmon is larger than the right; and in his opinion the right and left lobes contain distinct genders of fish. On the 17th of September 1824, he took a 15-lb. female salmon, the roe of which contained 10,260 eggs. On the 16th of October he took a 10½-lb. fish, the right lobe of which contained 4512 eggs, and the left weighing 14 ounces, 4816 eggs.
*Edinburgh Review*, vol. xclii., p. 355. It is alleged that these sea-trout, or bull-trout, of the Tweed, prey upon the ova and fry of the true salmon; and it certainly appears from the above as if the Tweed salmon were diminishing, while sea-trout were on the increase. At the same time it is not easy to understand how the supply of grilse is not diminished in the same proportion by the destruction of the young. As sea-trout are not alleged to prey on grown grilse, it might naturally be supposed that a river well frequented by the latter would also in each successive season produce a corresponding amount of salmon; but it may be, that by means of a more skilful and assiduous mode of fishing a greater proportion of existing grilse are captured than in former years, and so the supply of salmon is diminished by two causes combined, viz., the destruction of ova and fry by the bull-trout, and an increased proportional capture of a diminished number of grilse,—that proportion still yielding the same supply to the market as before, but necessarily debarring the after occurrence of the old amount of salmon, which are the fish of the ensuing year. Whoever kills a grilse one season, destroys a salmon in expectancy for that which follows.
The destruction of salmon spawn by trout is strongly illustrated by the following extract of a letter from Mr W. H. Haliday. It relates to the capture of salmon in Galway, preparatory to the stocking of a small rill at Outerard with impregnated ova:—“A very curious fact was also ascertained in the course of this experiment. In taking up the spawning salmon we also caught a quantity of trout, and in every instance we examined, save one, these trout contained salmon ova, on which they were preying. From the gullet of one large trout we considered that 600 were by pressure ejected; and I retained this, along with a further quantity from other trout, deposited it in boxes isolated from the others, and found that a considerable portion of it came to life.” Mr Buist confirms this destruction of ova by informing us of the fact, that the men employed upon the Tay in taking up the breeding fish secured a whiting or sea-trout, of not more than three-quarters of a pound in weight, and observed salmon ova coming out of its mouth. This fish being brought to Perth for examination, 300 impregnated salmon ova were taken from its stomach in an undigested state. “It may therefore fairly be presumed that this youngster had taken this quantity to his breakfast; and if he dined and breakfasted in the same style each day during the breeding season, it is difficult to estimate the expense of his keep. Such is the amount of loss of impregnated roe in one morning from a trifling fish; what must it then be throughout the season from the various enemies that it has to encounter!” Facts of this kind are the strongest arguments in favour of the breeding and bringing up in ponds, where food is plentiful and foes are few.
Mr Young, too, informs us regarding the voracious habits of the common river-trout. He has caught numbers during the spawning time, but never found one of them that was not full of swallowed ova. He adds, that their destruction is not confined to the ova, but that, as soon as the spawning process is over, they attack the fry of the river, and continue to feed on them until they take their departure to the sea. As an experiment, he put into a pond, one fine evening, along with a trout of not more than half a pound in weight, a dozen fine smolts of five inches long. When the pond was examined next morning, it was found that the whole dozen were devoured. Mr Young entertains rather peculiar, but in many respects, we think, well-founded views, regarding another supposed enemy of salmon. He thinks that otters, owing to the vast quantity of trout they kill, should be encouraged as much as possible in all salmon rivers, and is of opinion that these cunning creatures seldom kill salmon, and do so chiefly at a chance time, when the lochs and pools are shut up by frost, and they are induced to prowl into a still open stream. We know not exactly how this may be, but we remember distinctly more than once finding a good cut, consisting as usual of the caudal half, of grilse or salmon, left by the otter on the banks of northern rivers. “This animal fishes for sport often when food is not required, and when he falls in with a well-stocked pool he leaves dozens of trout upon the bank unbroken, which he never returns to eat; for when the river is open there is no difficulty of procuring plenty more, and at a cheap rate. And on the whole, when all circumstances are taken into consideration, in place of the otter being ranked among the salmon’s enemies, we must give him the credit of being the first of their four-footed benefactors.”
We shall conclude this portion of our subject by a brief notice of the different means employed in the capture of salmon. The principle upon which stake and bag nets are constructed is the same. Each has a lengthened arm called a leader, stretching for some hundred yards seawards of the high-water mark, and at right angles with the shore. The leader of the bag net has floats above and weights below, and conducts to an oblong bag or chamber of the same materials as to mesh, cork, and lead, but its walls are kept apart by means of anchor ropes at the quarters, and light staves a-top. Where the leader joins the bag there are openings (on the mouse-trap principle), narrowing as they recede, and admitting the salmon into the chamber, within which it may reside for a length of days without ever finding the narrow and now projecting slit by which it entered, and to which it presents its broad side as it swims around within its prison wall. These anchor nets are usually set in deep water, over rough or stony shores, upon the open coast, and are not left dry at low water. They are visited by boats at every tide, and their contents extracted. Stake nets are of greater extent, and more expensive structure. A leader of great length, composed of strong netting, supported by stakes, is stretched across a comparatively shallow shore with smooth bottom, and conducts to a staked and netted chamber, with easy though deceptive ingress. This terminal prison is often so placed as to be left dry at low water, and the fish are taken out by men entering the chamber when the water has receded.
The net-and-coble fishing is worked by one or more men in a small boat, making a semicircular sweep from the shore or bank outwards and downwards, paying out the net from the stern as they proceed. The upper end of the net continues to be held by men on shore near the point of departure, the boatmen ere long land again, and the two terminations of the net being brought together, the ground rope with its sinkers rather in advance of the surface one with its floats, the whole is drawn upon the shallow shore; the fish, if within range, being inclosed in a wall of net-work on either side, and finally captured in the purse-shaped form which the middle portion of the net assumes when it impinges on the shore. Each salmon as it emerges from the water gets one or two taps on the head with a stout stick, to put an end to any further contention or dubiety as to its ultimate destination. Lastly, cranes are traps constructed of
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1 If the increasing deficiency of salmon could be distinctly traced to or connected with the great increase of sea-trout, we should not hesitate to regard the advent of that decidedly inferior fish as a disadvantage, but if it is not in any way the cause of the destruction or disappearance of salmon, then, of course, its own abundance being admittedly of considerable value, must counterbalance rather than occasion the loss. stone walls set across a river with an intermediate chamber of wooden spars, into which salmon may enter, but from which there is no escape.
We shall now advert to a very important subject—the salmon-fisheries of Ireland. Of these there has as yet been no proper historical or other exposition, and our own limited space, even if we possessed the requisite knowledge, would not here admit of our attempting to fill that great hiatus. All we can do is, to present a few miscellaneous notices, gathered from recent and authentic sources, such as the Reports and Correspondence of the Irish Board of Works.
It appears that the salmon-fisheries of Ireland are to a far greater extent public property than those of Britain; and the public in Ireland, to a corresponding extent, exercise the common-law right of fishing in the estuaries and tide-ways. In Scotland there is a vastly greater amount of private rights, mile after mile of estuary and sea-coast being leased, and rents paid to individual proprietors. It is not so in Ireland—the exclusive individual or "several" fisheries there being few and exceptional; and for this reason it is probable that a different mode of legal regulation is required. Although royal grants of Irish fisheries were given from an early period, the royal prerogative was chiefly exercised by our James VI., who, on ascending the English throne, seems to have carried up with him the Scotch national view of the fishing franchise. Many of the weirs, though since transferred by patents to other parties, owe their origin to the church, in other words, they were encroachments by priors and abbots on the "King's Rivers."
In the year 1537, when "coming events cast their shadows before," and the advent of the Reformation induced inquiry into the possessions of the monastic establishments, four high commissioners were sent over to Ireland to inquire into and reform abuses. It appears from a manuscript in the British museum (quoted by Mr Hore), that a jury of the city of Kilkenny presented, that "Item, the prior of Inystoke, the abbot of Jerypont, and divers others dwelling near unto the ryver, doe make and set such weares from banke to banke in the same ryver, from Inystoke unto the mountayne of Bleme, that no ferye ne bote may have their course." Accordingly the act of 28th Henry VIII. was passed, reciting that "where at all times necessarie boates, scowtes, wherries, coltes, and other vessels, have been used to passe and repasse in the king's rivers of the Barrow, the Noyre, the Suir, and the Ric, yet now of late divers wilful persons, having no respect to the premises, but more rather to their own wilfulnesse, singular commoditie, and benefite, have in divers places made such wires, purpressures, ingines, strictes, and other like obstacles, that by no means any boates, &c. can conveniently passe, and through which the salmon frie be cleerly destroyed, contrary to the effect and purport of the statutes therein provided;" and it was then enacted, "that any person in company with the sheriff, or seneschal of the neighbouring shires, might prostrate and break down all such obstructions. It was also declared that a convenient gap for passage was to be made in every mill-dam.
"A remarkable feature," observes Mr Hore, "in the history of the river fisheries of Ireland is the amount of property obtained in them by the clergy, and by monastic foundations. Their claim, whether founded on that of the church of St Peter, or for the sake of enhancing their power in capturing an article of food, the use of which is enjoined by their creed, seems to have been universally recognised, whether on the part of the crown, the nobles, or the people; and to have occasioned the frequent establishment of those means forbidden by the laws, solid wiers or dams constructed across the entire bed of rivers, on the banks of which the seats of the church were more numerous than in any other country in Christendom."—Inquiry, &c., p. 11.
Ireland derives advantage, so far as her salmon-fisheries are concerned, from the comparative absence of great commercial cities, which so often injure the rivers on the banks of which they stand; and many of the tributary streams being clear and rapid, with a gravelly bottom, are well fitted for the production of these fine fish. The majority of the English streams are too slow and silent in their courses, are often artificially obstructed, and labour under disadvantage from the increase of civilization, which is against the superabundance of all creatures, of whatever kind, that require to be left in a great measure in a state of nature. The ancient Irish traditions point to the number of fish in the rivers or estuaries; and it is characteristic of the country that the warrior Finn MacCool was killed by a fisherman of the Boyne with his gaff. His father-in-law, the monarch Cormac MacArt, was choked by the bone of a salmon. It is recorded in a tract on the O'Sullivan family, in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, that Mac Fineen Duff of Ardee was in use to receive L300 per annum from the Spaniards for the liberty of fishing in the river of Kenmare.
The value of some of these Irish fisheries, as producing an export trade, may be deduced from the sombrigue of O'Donnell, chief of Tyrconnell (now Donegal), who was called in Spain "the King of Fish," in consequence of the quantity imported in exchange for wine. The poet Spencer, in his State of Ireland, after bewailing the "lamentable desolation" and "utter waste" brought by civil war upon the province of Ulster, breaks forth into praises of the land—
"And sure it is yet a most beautiful and sweet county as any under heaven, being stored throughout with many goodly rivers, replenish'd with all sorts of fish most abundantly, sprinkled with many very sweet islands, and goodly lakes, like little inland seas, that will carry even ships upon their waters." "And lastly, the heavens most mild and temperate." In his Faerie Queen he takes note of many a river—of
"The goodly Barrow, which doth hoord Great heaps of salmons in his deepe bosom."
And the—
"Fair Suir, in which are thousand salmons bred."
The great poet also describes the "fishy fruitful Ban;" and, according to Pennant, 320 tons of salmon were taken at Coleraine in the year 1760.
There is no doubt that the great Irish rivers, with their numerous tributaries, if managed with judgment and assiduity, might be made of high commercial value. The Waterford estuary, though supplied by a less area than the Shannon, is the most important salmon-fishing in Ireland, as its entrance is not injured by a weir. We have no river in Britain comparable in capacity to "the spacious Shenan, spreading like a sea," and continuing open for boat-work, with short exceptions, for upwards of 200 miles above its entrance into the Atlantic.
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1 Mr Wakefield takes some note of these fisheries in his Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, 2 vols. 4to, 1812. Sir Charles Morgan has compiled an Historical Sketch of the British and Irish Fisheries. Mr John Finlay has given us a Treatise on the Game and Fishing Laws of Ireland, in 1827; and some useful information will be found in Mr Herbert Francis Hore's Inquiry into the Legislation, Control, and Improvement of the Salmon and Sea Fisheries of Ireland, published in 1859.
2 The following table gives the areas of the catchment basins from which the principal Irish rivers and their tributaries derive their But for the weir at Limerick, the Shannon would be navigable for some distance above its site. The tide rises to a height of 12 feet on either side. The weir is made of stone piers, extending across the river like those of a bridge, and lath-work is stretched securely from pier to pier at the western side, or that on which the salmon ascend from the sea. To every alternate pair of piers there is lath-work affixed at the eastern side also, so as to inclose a complete chamber. There is an aperture for the salmon to get in, but none to let them out. Between the other piers there is no passage, so that when the salmon push their snouts against the lath-work they are forced to grope their way alongside till they get into "chambers," of which they have a short lease, though one for life. This weir stands continually, night and day, during the fishing season. It now has in its centre the *mona-reca* gap, or queen's share. Up to the winter of 1825-6 this obstruction was so formed that no salmon could pass, and it had not even the "middle passage" required by statute. It was carried away by the floods, and the lessee of the corporation of Limerick replaced it by the present contrivance. (See *Dublin Review*, vol. xi., p. 387.) Although the corporation had at one time claimed the exclusive fishing of the Shannon for a distance of 63 miles from their weir above the city, to the river's junction with the main sea (as granted by Queen Elizabeth), they afterwards restricted their claim from the "great Lax-wier, down the river, to a place examined by the viewers," namely, a castle near Cratloe-more, which is a distance of three or four miles westward on the river, and which has been but recently ascertained as the boundary. On this reservation the right of fishing was ruled in their favour. We believe its commercial value is much decreased. It formerly realized in certain seasons £2500 a-year. At an after period (though before the introduction of stake nets at the mouth of the estuary) it still yielded an annual rent of £1150. The lease of 1813 was for £800 a-year, and the present contract (dated 1834) is for £300 only, with a clause of surrender.
In all fishing questions there seems a tendency to partizanship. The word *rivendry* is supposed to be derived from *rivalis*, belonging to a bank. We believe that the legal rights of the corporation of Limerick to this great weir, whether by patent or prescriptive title of many hundred years old, cannot be questioned; but the obstruction it offers both to a free run of fish, and to the still more important purposes of navigation, is undoubtedly a crying evil, and one which ought to be lessened by every lawful means. It now stretches diagonally across the river, where the breadth of the stream is 1141 feet, and has only a single central opening, where, in summer, in consequence of a neighbouring bank, the water is so shallow, that a keel boat drawing only a few inches cannot pass upwards. It is built of stones, bound together by upright posts of timber, and does not quite touch the banks on either side.
There is no doubt that in various parts of Ireland stake nets and fixed weirs have, in opposition to the express provisions of the act of parliament, been erected in improper places, and even worked during illegal times. They have sometimes been re-constructed by the same parties after prosecution and conviction. In one instance of a very valuable salmon fishery, iron spikes were found so placed across the "free pass," or queen's share, as to prevent all upward migration; and in another case an endeavour was made to defeat the object of the statute enforcing that open space, by placing glaring substances within it, and particularly a huge uncouth figure in the form of a crocodile, to frighten the fish from going farther.
Although not a few of the fishing privileges in Ireland have the sanction of a very high antiquity, many of the prescriptive claims to the powers exercised are of a more or less doubtful nature. The prevailing belief in Ireland is, that the law as it now stands (5th and 6th Vict., cap. 106, 1842) is in opposition to Magna Charta, and the common-law right. It has, in fact, been sometimes so declared by the judges, who have laid it down that notwithstanding that act gave permission to parties to erect Scotch weirs where the river was more than three-quarters of a mile wide, yet that neither that law nor any other can or does interfere with the common-law right, which is this, that no man can put up an obstruction, either to navigation, or to the passage of fish, in the king's highway, or in the tide-way. "With regard to the other portion of that clause which says that a person who has maintained a Scotch weir over twenty years, where the river is not three-quarters of a mile wide, shall be entitled to fish that weir, there again the judges have declared that that is illegal, insomuch as it is a fixed engine, and an obstruction both to navigation and the passage of fish; and although the act of parliament does in a certain degree legalize it, yet it does legalize it against the common law of the land." (Evidence of the Earl of Glengall, *Report of Select Committee* in 1849.)
There is no doubt that after the passing of the act of 1842 a great increase of fixed engines followed. The 22d section of that act permits the erection of fixed engines within one mile on either side of the mouth of a river, where the channel of the tideway is more than three-quarters of a mile wide at low water of spring tides, by persons not previously possessed of a "several" or exclusive fishing, either inwards or outwards of the mouth of a river less than half a mile wide. The exact position of what is to be deemed the "mouth" of a river, is to be defined by the commissioners. Their task is neither easy nor enviable.
Lord Glengall stated, in his evidence before the Commons' committee of 1849 (*Report*, p. 150) that great advantage would arise to the revenue of Ireland from the removal of obstructions in the rivers, and the suppression of poaching; and for this reason, that the moment the upper proprietors find that the fish ascend the river in the open season, and that they have a direct interest in protecting the breeding fish, they will protect them, just as they would their sheep or bullocks; but at present they feel little interest in the breeding fish, as those in good condition are "all taken by the Scotch weir owners." His lordship further informs us, that before the introduction of the Scotch weirs the Suir was, without exception, the best salmon river in Ireland. Fine fish, weighing 18 and 20 pounds, frequently ascended as high as 55 miles above Waterford; but soon after the Scotch system commenced very few salmon got up the river except during some heavy
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**Supply of Water**
It is taken from Sir Robert Kane's *Industrial Resources of Ireland*, and was chiefly furnished by W. Mulvany, Esq., Commissioner of Drainage:
| River | Total basin, square miles | |------------------------|---------------------------| | Shannon | 4544 | | Barrow, Suir, and Nore (Waterford) | 3400 | | Erne (Ballyhannon) | 1855 | | Foyle (Derry) | 1476 | | Galway Waters | 1374 | | Bann, Upper and Lower (Coleraine), and the Main | 1266 | | Blackwater, county Waterford | 1219 | | Boyne and Blackwater, in Meath | 1066 | | Moy | 1033 |
| River | Total basin, square miles | |------------------------|---------------------------| | Slaney | 815 | | Lee | 735 | | Liffey, Dodder, and Tolka | 568 | | Blackwater (Armagh) | 526 | | Mayne and Inny (Killarney) | 511 | | Feale and Gale (Listowel) | 479 | | Roughty (Kenmare) | 475 | | Bandon | 228 | | Lagan (Belfast) | 227 |
Irish salmon fisheries.
The Suir River Preservation Society was afterwards instituted, and as it was not only well conducted, but "as many as 27 of the Scotch weirs were prostrated," the fish not only ascended the river again for 55 miles as they used to do thirty years before, "but to our great astonishment we last year captured many fish of 30 and 25 pounds weight, 45 miles from the sea. Now, no man had ever seen a 30 or 25 pound fish for 30 years in those waters before." The case of the Lake of Killarney is also a curious one as regards the effects of fixed engines near the mouths of rivers. In former days the lake was full of salmon, and vast numbers of people resorted to that beautiful region for the sake of angling. It is chiefly the property of Mr Herbert of Mucross, and Lord Kenmare. For many years after the erection of Scotch weirs at the mouth of the river, scarcely any salmon ascended to the lake; but when the act of 1842 was passed, the proprietors of the lake were instructed how to proceed against the parties holding the weirs, and six of them were prostrated. One still remains, but, in spite of it, the lake is now remarkably well supplied with salmon.
The Irish salmon fisheries are regulated chiefly by the act 5th and 6th Vict., cap. 106. It was passed in 1842, for the purpose of consolidating and amending the others then in force, and repeals all former acts relating to the salmon fisheries of that country. The commissioners of the board of works are thereby constituted commissioners for the execution of the act, and have had conjointly with them two inspecting commissioners of fisheries. They are instructed with a variety of important duties, and can make bye-laws for the alteration of close time, and its variation in different districts. The main object of the act of 1842 was to induce the capture of the largest quantities of fish, in the best condition, during the open season, consistently with the increase of the breed. It fixed a uniform close time, from the 20th of August to the 12th of February, to come into operation after the 1st of January 1844. It was not attempted to be enforced until after the 20th of August 1844, and was in truth but little attended to for some time afterwards.
In a later act, that of 9th and 10th Vict., cap. 14, which was prepared and submitted to parliament, in order to carry into effect certain regulations regarding close time, a clause was introduced in its passage through the House of Commons, whereby eight counties (viz., Antrim, Tyrone, Donegal, Londonderry, Mayo, Fermanagh, Leitrim, and Sligo) were exempted from the operation of the law. This produced great confusion, and the Irish commissioners have since had applications from almost all those counties for the extension to them, by bye-law, of the benefits of the former close time, from which they were excluded by the clause just referred to.
The annexed tabular view (see page 621), for which we are indebted to the kindness of Thomas F. Brady, Esq., one of the inspecting commissioners of the Irish fisheries, exhibits the exact state of the close-times of the various districts up to August 1855. We believe that some of the changes indicated in the table have been made rather with a view to meet the wishes of the individuals interested in the localities, than from a conviction on the part of the commissioners of their absolute expediency. But as the commissioners have the power, under the 35th section of the act, to rescind any order for change of season after three years, they are probably induced to allow persons to have their own way for a time, and not a few are said to have become convinced of their error from practical experience. The laws on the subject of the annual or weekly close seasons in Ireland are now very stringent, and the penalties for their infringement heavy. Assuredly they ought to be strictly enforced, because any wide departure from the legal principle is the more to be regretted in a country where so large a portion of the salmon and trout fishing is, by law, public property.
For some seasons after the passing of the act of 1842, large captures ensued, and thus the practical operation of the amended law was to produce improvident destruction—nothing in the way of counteracting remedies being used to replenish or keep up the stock. Voluntary contributions having failed in their sufficiency to afford protection and remove obstructions, the act of 11th and 12th Vict., cap. 92, was passed (in 1848), authorizing assessment upon engines used in fishing, in order to create a fund for the purposes of preservation, to be administered by local boards of conservators, elected on a broad basis. This act did not come into operation till 1849, but it is now believed to be producing the desired effect. It also empowers the Irish board of works to divide the "Green Isle" into districts, and the recent arrangements will be seen from the annexed table.
The same variations take place in the Irish rivers as in those of Scotland, and the same somewhat contentious complaints are made by opposing parties against each other. The natives of the more upland streams bewail the unsparing and irresistible captures by sweep nets and fixed engines, while those who rejoice in, because they benefit by, the latter, are shocked at the unprincipled poaching and general want of protection which prevail in places where the spawning beds abound. The select committee on the fisheries of Ireland (1849) conclude their report by desiring "to record, once for all, their decided conviction, that the wholesale and wasteful destruction of the breeding fish and fry has materially injured the inland fisheries, and has excited and kept alive much local discontent, and demands the immediate attention of parliament, in order to the adoption of such alterations in the existing law as may be found expedient." In the minutes of evidence taken by that committee, Mr Ffennell, one of the inspecting commissioners, while referring to the advantages arising from a private protective association, and when asked, "Why did your association cease to exist?" replies, "Many persons found that they were going to expense, and taking a great deal of trouble in protecting the fish for the persons in the tideway, not one of whom would subscribe one farthing." Being asked, "to whom do you allude when you say 'persons in the tideway?'" he answers, "all the persons, the river owners, the cot fishermen, and every class of persons in the tideway; we found that we could get no subscription whatever from them, and that we were doing it all at our own expense, and that others were making the harvest. The largest benefit of our protection must be to the tideway people, and it is there that the commercial value of the fish must always exist."
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1 An odd effect of these exceptions was that, for example, during a portion of the season, it was illegal to fish in one side of a river and bay in the county of Mayo, while it was legal to fish in the other side of the same river and bay in the county of Galway.
2 The Irish Commissioners are appointed for the execution of the Fishery Acts by the 2d sect. of the 5th and 6th Vict., cap. 106, and the 2d sect. of the 11th and 12th Vict., cap. 92, and are empowered by the 33d section of the former, and 39th section of the latter act, to alter the close seasons in any river or district upon inquiry made and proof presented that such alteration is expedient. The 3d sect. of the 11th and 12th Vict., cap. 92, also directed the Commissioners to divide Ireland into districts, which they proceeded to do accordingly. That section, and the 6th sect. of the 13th and 14th Vict., cap. 88, conferred the power on the Commissioners to alter such districts, and to fix other boundaries, and to subdivide them as they saw fit. The districts of Bantry, Westport, and Londonderry have thus been subdivided, and so many alterations have been made in the close times (tending to uniformity) that Sligo, Fermanagh, and Leitrim are now the only excepted counties. In addition to these changes, the Commissioners have been called upon by persons interested in the fisheries of several districts to alter the seasons as fixed by law, and they have accordingly done so in the districts of Killarney, Limerick, Wexford, and Cork. Our tabular view will show these details distinctly. Table showing the Close Seasons for Salmon and Trout in the different Districts in Ireland, as fixed by Statute Law, or the Order of the Commissioners.
| No. and Name of District | Principal Rivers in District | |--------------------------|-----------------------------| | 1. Dublin | Swords or Meath Water, Ticks, Liffey, Bray, Vartry, Rahoon, Slaney, Janner, Blackwater, Peter, Avoca, Carrow or Owenartagh, Sear, Nore, Barrow, Milles, Stradbally, Blackwater, Bally, Dunglin, Colligan. | | 2. Wexford | Lee, Barren Carrigaloe, Arrigle, Oweakhedy, Rorry, Han, Leamavaran or Ballykeel, Four Mile River, Slane, Slane, Blackwater, Blackwater, Slane, Oweakhedy. | | 3. Waterford | Cork & a portion of Kerry. | | 4. Limerick | Limerick, Clare, Westmeath, Longford, King's, Roscommon, and small portion of Leitrim, Galway, Mayo, and part of Clare. | | 5. Galway | Mayo, Owemore, Easky, Rahmna, Shipe or Gargree, Ballodare, Dromore, Breanull. | | 6. Ballinakill | Sligo, and part of Sligo. | | 7. Kilkenny | Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan. | | 8. Letterkenny | Donegal. | | 9. Londonderry | Londonderry, Tyrone, and part of Derry. | | 10. Coleraine | Coleraine. | | 11. Ballycastle | Ballycastle. | | 12. Drogheda | Drogheda. |
Close Seasons for Net Fishing.
| No. and Name of District | Principal Rivers in District | |--------------------------|-----------------------------| | 1. Dublin | Swords or Meath Water, Ticks, Liffey, Bray, Vartry, Rahoon, Slaney, Janner, Blackwater, Peter, Avoca, Carrow or Owenartagh, Sear, Nore, Barrow, Milles, Stradbally, Blackwater, Bally, Dunglin, Colligan. | | 2. Wexford | Lee, Barren Carrigaloe, Arrigle, Oweakhedy, Rorry, Han, Leamavaran or Ballykeel, Four Mile River, Slane, Slane, Blackwater, Blackwater, Slane, Oweakhedy. | | 3. Waterford | Cork & a portion of Kerry. | | 4. Limerick | Limerick, Clare, Westmeath, Longford, King's, Roscommon, and small portion of Leitrim, Galway, Mayo, and part of Clare. | | 5. Galway | Mayo, Owemore, Easky, Rahmna, Shipe or Gargree, Ballodare, Dromore, Breanull. | | 6. Ballinakill | Sligo, and part of Sligo. | | 7. Kilkenny | Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan. | | 8. Letterkenny | Donegal. | | 9. Londonderry | Londonderry, Tyrone, and part of Derry. | | 10. Coleraine | Coleraine. | | 11. Ballycastle | Ballycastle. | | 12. Drogheda | Drogheda. |
Close Seasons for Rod Fishing.
| No. and Name of District | Principal Rivers in District | |--------------------------|-----------------------------| | 1. Dublin | Swords or Meath Water, Ticks, Liffey, Bray, Vartry, Rahoon, Slaney, Janner, Blackwater, Peter, Avoca, Carrow or Owenartagh, Sear, Nore, Barrow, Milles, Stradbally, Blackwater, Bally, Dunglin, Colligan. | | 2. Wexford | Lee, Barren Carrigaloe, Arrigle, Oweakhedy, Rorry, Han, Leamavaran or Ballykeel, Four Mile River, Slane, Slane, Blackwater, Blackwater, Slane, Oweakhedy. | | 3. Waterford | Cork & a portion of Kerry. | | 4. Limerick | Limerick, Clare, Westmeath, Longford, King's, Roscommon, and small portion of Leitrim, Galway, Mayo, and part of Clare. | | 5. Galway | Mayo, Owemore, Easky, Rahmna, Shipe or Gargree, Ballodare, Dromore, Breanull. | | 6. Ballinakill | Sligo, and part of Sligo. | | 7. Kilkenny | Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan. | | 8. Letterkenny | Donegal. | | 9. Londonderry | Londonderry, Tyrone, and part of Derry. | | 10. Coleraine | Coleraine. | | 11. Ballycastle | Ballycastle. | | 12. Drogheda | Drogheda. |
Close Seasons for Single Rod and Line Fishing.
| No. and Name of District | Principal Rivers in District | |--------------------------|-----------------------------| | 1. Dublin | Swords or Meath Water, Ticks, Liffey, Bray, Vartry, Rahoon, Slaney, Janner, Blackwater, Peter, Avoca, Carrow or Owenartagh, Sear, Nore, Barrow, Milles, Stradbally, Blackwater, Bally, Dunglin, Colligan. | | 2. Wexford | Lee, Barren Carrigaloe, Arrigle, Oweakhedy, Rorry, Han, Leamavaran or Ballykeel, Four Mile River, Slane, Slane, Blackwater, Blackwater, Slane, Oweakhedy. | | 3. Waterford | Cork & a portion of Kerry. | | 4. Limerick | Limerick, Clare, Westmeath, Longford, King's, Roscommon, and small portion of Leitrim, Galway, Mayo, and part of Clare. | | 5. Galway | Mayo, Owemore, Easky, Rahmna, Shipe or Gargree, Ballodare, Dromore, Breanull. | | 6. Ballinakill | Sligo, and part of Sligo. | | 7. Kilkenny | Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan. | | 8. Letterkenny | Donegal. | | 9. Londonderry | Londonderry, Tyrone, and part of Derry. | | 10. Coleraine | Coleraine. | | 11. Ballycastle | Ballycastle. | | 12. Drogheda | Drogheda. | The attention of the public, however, has recently been much directed towards Ireland and its capabilities, and an interest in the salmon-fisheries has evidently been on the increase from year to year. We believe the more they are considered the higher will their importance be appreciated as a branch of industrial occupation.
"And although," says Mr Pfennell, "an alleged decrease must be admitted to have occurred, yet some exaggeration prevails on the part of those persons whose interests have been diminished in value by the changes which have recently taken place in the capture of fish, and some miscalculations also arise in consequence of the more rapid and extended flow by which the tide of commerce, through the agency of steam, conveys the produce from local to distant markets. Proprietors of several fisheries sometimes judge the question of supply by the amount of their own capture solely, forgetful of, or misinformed on, the aggregate quantity captured by the many who fish outside, and which is there taken. The consumers in the principal towns, who, before the extension of railroads and steam navigation afforded means of cheap and quick transit to other markets, and before the facility of obtaining ice for its preservation at a reasonable charge existed, obtained salmon at low prices, complain of high prices, advance it as a test also of diminished supply, forgetting or overlooking the fact of the large quantity which is daily transmitted from their immediate vicinity to more remunerating customers in distant places. The grounds of disappointment and miscalculation are evident with regard to these classes, while others, who have been restrained by the enforcement of the law from undue interference with public as well as private rights, pronounce the alleged decrease in the salmon-fisheries of Ireland to be progressive in proportion as legislation has advanced for the purpose of meeting the evils complained of; and although the latter class may find some discontented persons, from selfish motives, ready to join in this too summary mode of disposing of the question, very many must conclude that it tends to mislead rather than induce a useful or disinterested discussion of the subject. Salmon having attained a price in the market as a luxury only available to the wealthy portion of society, and this increased value having stimulated a corresponding energy on behalf of the public to procure it for such profitable disposal, an improvident desire of over-capture has for some years been induced, which we believe to be the main point necessary to guard against and restrain. The ingenuity of man has also increased the efficiency of the means of capture, and the legislature having sanctioned the use of engines, under certain limitations, before restrained, at the same time, however, giving increased powers to protect; whilst the power to take has been injuriously applied, the intended equivalent of better protection has been too much neglected."—Report, 1832, p. 237.
Of course, the same nefarious practices prevail among the natives of the sister isle as with ourselves. The habit of "burning the water" is common in many of the wilder districts. The excitement of the sport, in addition to its productive nature, may be viewed as affording some excuse, but none can be offered for that deadly and altogether indefensible act of "poisoning" which is not seldom had recourse to. This is sometimes practised in Scotland by means of lime, a small quantity of which will destroy every fish in a pool. An equally opprobrious procedure is followed, too, in the county of Kerry. There, and elsewhere in Ireland, a species of spurge occurs in woods, and is called *Euphorbia hibernica*. It has a white juice, which may be extracted by pounding in a tub. If some of this liquid is thrown into a river when the water is low, the fish are killed for a considerable distance, and soon show themselves by floating on the surface. They are, unfortunately, not thereby rendered unfit for food; and when the country people hear that a river has been "poisoned," they assemble on its banks to share the spoil. Poaching is also carried on to a great extent, and, according to one authority, this has been greatly increased by the diminution of salmon during the open season.
"I remember," observes Mr J. D. Croker, speaking of the Blackwater, "when the river was so well stocked that the lower classes were universally permitted by the gentry to angle in every place without any obstruction. We found that by so doing we enlisted them, I may say, as bailiffs to protect the breeding fish in the winter, and that we had a sufficient quid pro quo. By and by, when their weirs were closed, and their mill barrers were shut up, the salmon decreased in the river in numbers, and the consequence was then, that the gentleman fond of angling prohibited, to a certain degree at first, those men who used before to be permitted to fish; and finally, I may say, they found there were so few salmon that they kept them for themselves, and in many places they were not allowed to fish where they formerly enjoyed the sport; the consequence was, that these fellows, when they could not get them in the summer, turned to poaching in the winter. When there is a flood in the river, and the weirs are open in the winter, they come up in thousands, and the destruction is beyond anything which you can conceive. The landed proprietors, finding that in the whole of the open season they had no fish, take no interest in preserving the spawning fish for the proprietors who have the monopolies at the mouth of the river; and I believe this to be the chief cause of the decline of salmon."—Report from the Select Committee on Irish Fisheries (1849), p. 36.
It is difficult to obtain actual data from which to ascertain the money value of the general salmon-fisheries of a country. In regard to those of Ireland, we observe it stated in evidence by Sir Richard De Burgo that he calculated the value of salmon caught by "every engine" (for the year 1847) to be close upon £300,000. He had ascertained that there were £18,000 worth caught in the estuary of the Suir, Nore, and Barrow. He put down the Shannon at £20,000; and so on with the Lee, and other districts, however small. He applied to various parties for information regarding their own vicinity. "I then received from the same parties, as closely as they could give it to me, the number of rods, and every other engine that was used in their estuary, river, or in the entire district; and they fixed what they conceived the productive properties of the weirs, or whatever else the engine might be." It was thus that he made up his data. He regarded the above as a low estimate, and was of opinion that if some changes in the law were effected, and due protection afforded to spawning fish and fry, the Irish salmon-fisheries might be raised to the annual value of not less than £2,000,000.
The following list, though imperfect, will show, at least approximately, the produce of the principal salmon-fisheries of Ireland, and will also indicate the names of the rivers, &c., where these occur. It was obtained in the year 1844-45, and applies to the quantities and value of that period.
| Name of River | Number of Fish, or money value, as far as could be ascertained | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 1. Liffey | From 5000 to 7000 salmon, of an average weight of 7½ lbs., was the produce of 1844; the average price was from 8d. to 1s. per lb. | | 2. Owenavarra | About £1,400. | | 3. Slaney | About £2,000. | | 4. Barrow | About £17,000 or £18,000. | | 5. Nore | From £3,500 to £4,000. | | 6. Suir | About £1,900. | | 7. Blackwater | About £1,700. | | 8. Lee [Upper] | About £1,700. | | 9. Bandon | About £1,900. | | 10. Ilen | About £1,900. | | 11. Snae and Ballylickey | About £1,800. | Irish salmon fisheries.
| Name of River | Number of Fish, or money value, as far as could be ascertained. | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | Blackwater | About L60. | | Roughly | | | Curran | | | Eenagh | About L7000. | | Carrs | | | Laune | | | Maine | About 1500 salmon. | | Cashen | | | Feal | | | Shannon (Upper) | About 6000 salmon and 24,000 peal. | | Lower | | | Corrib or Galway | 4221 salmon; 10 tons average yearly produce. | | Spiddal | About 400 salmon. | | Costello | | | Ballinahinch | 5114 salmon, 34,747 lb.; 14,885 Ib. trout, average yearly produce. | | Benoyle Fishery | About 10 tons annually. | | Delphi | 610 salmon, 3947 lb.; 606 trout, 1417 lb., average yearly produce. | | Erribe, or Ass | 60 salmon, last year's produce. | | Killarney | Between L300 and L400. | | Belclare | L18 or L20 a-year. | | Newport | In 1845 the produce was 8 tons salmon, and 3 tons trout. | | Burrisboole | | | Ballycroy | 1841, 34 tons salmon; 1843, 21 tons; 1844, 24 tons. | | Owenmore | About L50. | | Munham | Between 2 and 2½ tons. | | Glenamoy | 23 cwt. was last year's produce. | | Moy | | | Easky | 6 tons, 13 cwt., 3 qrs., 20 lb. last year. | | Ballysadare | About 300 salmon yearly. | | Silgo | 7 tons, 7 cwt., 3 qrs., 2 lb. average. | | Drumcliff | About L20. | | Bandrows | 9 tons, 18 cwt., 1 qr., 2 lb. | | Erne | | | Inver | 1844, 753 lb. salmon, 2185 trout; 1845, 1242 lb. salmon, 1106 lb. trout. | | Owentorker | | | Owences | | | Clady | | | Lagh | 1116 salmon, 7712 lb. average. | | Rathmellon | Average 9625 lb. salmon. | | Foyle | About 82,000 salmon. | | Roe | | | Bann | 51 tons, 1 cwt., 17 lb., average of six years. | | Bash | 10 tons, 6 cwt., 1 qr., 10 lb., average of four years. | | Glyde and Dee | About L600. | | Fane | Between L20 and L30. | | Boyne | |
We anticipated the power of obtaining some detailed and accurate information regarding the pecuniary value of the Irish salmon fisheries from the returns of the assessment laid upon them by the Poor Law Act. That such assessment must, however, be carried on in a very lax and careless manner, is evident from the fact that their total rated value, as laid before the select committee of the House of Commons in 1849, was only L12,366, and even in that sum were included a few oyster and eel fisheries. It appears that the public fisheries, which comprise the chief portion of the tidal rivers, are not rateable. It must also be borne in mind that the rating is only upon what is fixed or stationary—no floating nets, draught-nets, sweep-nets, or such like, being charged at all. There are even many fixed engines not rated; because those who work them in the tideways do not do so as having any private right, thus gaining the benefit of a private property, but avoiding the poor-rate on the ground that it is public. But whatever may be the cause, there is no doubt of great neglect in the true valuation of the Irish fisheries under the poor law. The stake-nets, or Scotch weirs as they are called, are taxed at a certain sum whatever may be their productive value, and many of them are not rated at all.
In the Report of the Commissioners for 1836, we have the following table, showing the produce of the Fowle fishery for 16 years prior to the introduction of the stake-nets:
| Year | Number of Fish | |------|----------------| | 1808 | 14,837 | | 1809 | 14,113 | | 1810 | 7,145 | | 1811 | 9,601 | | 1812 | 19,285 | | 1813 | 14,375 | | 1814 | 18,434 | | 1815 | 20,630 |
Gross produce of 16 years—277,862
This gives an annual average of 17,363. In the same report we have another table, showing the take of the same fishery for 9 years preceding 1836, during which years the stake-nets were in full operation.
In 1827, the number of salmon taken was, Stake-nets, 13,911 Draught-nets, 32,090
| Year | Number of Fish | |------|----------------| | 1828 | 13,070 | | 1829 | 9,770 | | 1830 | 30,257 | | 1831 | 23,267 | | 1832 | 31,497 | | 1833 | 20,757 | | 1834 | 20,576 | | 1835 | 22,344 |
Gross produce in nine years—Stake-nets, 186,148 Draught-nets, 296,290
Annual average, 53,603.
Total, 482,428
The following is the scale of license duties for each engine, net, instrument, or device used in salmon, trout, pollen, or eel fisheries in Ireland:
- Single salmon rods: L1 0 0 - Cross lines and rods: 2 0 0 - Snap nets: 1 10 0 - Draft nets or seine: 3 0 0 - Drift nets: 3 0 0 - Trammel nets or draft nets for pollen: 1 10 0 - Pole nets: 2 0 0 - Other nets or similar engines, not named above, to have the license duties fixed by the Commissioners.
Bag nets: L5 0 0 Fly nets: 5 0 0 Stake nets or stake weirs (Scotch): 15 0 0 Head weir: 3 0 0 For every box, crib, cradle, or drum-net in any weir for taking salmon or trout: 5 0 0 For every gap, eye, or basket in any weir for taking eels: 1 0 0 In a subsequent report (1846), we have the following statement in relation to the six seasons, from 1839 to 1844, both inclusive:
| Year | Number Taken | |------|--------------| | 1839 | 43,181 | | 1840 | 59,305 | | 1841 | 52,582 | | 1842 | 82,106 | | 1843 | 62,348 | | 1844 | 49,387 |
It appears from the preceding tables, that while the annual average of certain seasons prior to the introduction of stake-nets was 17,363 fish, the smallest number taken in any year afterwards (that of 1839), was 43,181, of which 23,934 were taken by means of draught-nets alone, being 6571 more than the average of those nets in earlier times. It further appears, that while in 1830 the produce of both kinds of nets was 66,590, that of 1842 was 82,106; so that after fifteen years working of the stake-nets, the quantity taken by both means had increased. The report for 1836 is headed—"The product of the Foyle salmon-fisheries has increased very much within these last ten years, in consequence of the introduction of stake-nets, and an improved mode of fishing with draught-nets; also, by establishing a more vigilant and effective system of water-keeping." We doubt not that the productive powers of these fish are so great, that if the fry (parr and smolts) are effectively protected while in the river waters, a great increase of captures may be looked for. The practice of preserving the fish in ice, and the enlarged facilities of transmission by steam-boats, have no doubt increased the value of salmon in Ireland as elsewhere; and Loch Foyle being a fishery of the "Irish Society," that company is believed to have added to its protective staff, and exercised greater activity and vigilance in watching the spawning grounds, thus ensuring an increased take and a larger income.
The following particulars, which further illustrate the value of the Irish fisheries, may be gleaned from the various reports by select committees of the House of Commons (1824–25–27–36). Mr Little, one of the principal lessees of the north-western stations, stated that the fish from each of the rivers Bann, Foyle, and Moy were worth at least from £5,000 to £6,000 per annum, and in some years from £8,000 to £9,000. The sale of salmon caught in them during 1835, amounted in Liverpool to £9,000, in Manchester to £5,000, in the neighbourhood of the rivers themselves to £1,800, besides considerable consignments to Dublin, London, and Glasgow, the total being nearly £18,000. The annual produce of the Foyle for nine years prior to 1836 was 53,603 salmon, weighing above 140 tons, and worth nearly £17,000. The quantity of salmon shipped by Mr Little and his partner to Liverpool, from their fisheries on the Bann, Bush, Foyle, Ballina, Ballyshannon, and Port Rush, from 1808 to 1823 (including shipments for the last year to London, Bristol, Glasgow, and Whitehaven), was somewhat over 2134 tons 14 cwt., which, at a shilling per pound, made the sum of £239,141, 3s. In some seasons the Port-Rush fishery produced 18 tons of salmon, the Bush 15 tons, the Moy, at Ballina, 100 tons, and the Ballyshannon 90 tons. When such is the value of these comparatively small fisheries, which are nothing like those of the Shannon, Kenmare, and Blackwater, it has been inferred that the value of all the fisheries from which the public are now excluded cannot be under £500,000 a-year. So plentiful were salmon at one time in the Bann, that, according to Mr Finlay, 1400 have been caught at a single haul, and 1000 at the succeeding one.
Mr Christopher Keays, who had been for twenty-two years connected with the fisheries at Killorglen on the Laune (the Killarney river), used to pay from £5,000 to £6,000 annually for the fish he bought, including the price of the Waterville fish. The prices were, for spring fish 1s. per pound, for summer fish 3½d., and for May fish 6d. He had five or six ice-houses, and did not require to import that material. He sent the fish to England packed in ice, and sometimes pickled. Got the greatest number of good spring fish in April, and of grilse in June. In the year 1834, the greatest number he got from the Carra was in December, and they were in the finest condition. "The nearer the fish to the sea the better. The fish begin to lose their curl as soon as they go up the fresh water." We shall here give the monthly produce in weight for four successive seasons.
Amount of salmon purchased at Killorglen by Messrs Keays & Romayne for the years mentioned:
| Year | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | |------|----------|----------|---------|----------|-------|-------|-----|------|------|--------|-----------| | 1841 | 3,719 lb.| 4,233 lb.| 6,454 lb.| 4,584 lb.| 6,355 lb.| 8,772 lb.| 12,310 lb.| 33,317 lb.| 47,946 lb.| 16,882 lb.| 2,404 lb.| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total | 146,976 lb. |
| Year | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | |------|----------|----------|---------|----------|-------|-------|-----|------|------|--------|-----------| | 1842 | 2,412 lb.| 4,622 lb.| 4,120 lb.| 4,531 lb.| 2,420 lb.| 3,787 lb.| 13,972 lb.| 28,615 lb.| 55,188 lb.| 17,766 lb.| 2,404 lb.| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total | 137,333 lb. |
More than £4,000 worth of salmon were taken in the Slaney in 1842; and a Scotchman of the name of Hector, an experienced owner of bag-nets at the mouth of the estuary, stated in evidence that if properly fished and efficiently protected, it might be raised to the value of £7,000 per annum. The river Moy fishery is rated to the poor-law valuation at £17,68, 15s. a-year, although it is believed on good authority to be worth £4,000. The annual expense of protecting the Moy, Bann, and Foyle amounted to £1,500 or £1,600. There were four hundred men employed as keepers, and yet many of the tributary streams were left unwatched. The lessees complained of this expense of protection, which was a tax nearly equal to the rent. However, the amount of sales of salmon from these three rivers amounted during the preceding year to £17,450. When the native supply of ice failed, the cost of importing that indispensable material from Norway amounted to £1,500 a-year. Prior to the year 1824 employment was given by that fishery to 800 people. In consequence of increased preservation the production rose. The annual average produce of the Foyle, for sixteen years before the introduction of stake-nets, had
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1 The season of 1842 was an excellent one for the salmon-fisheries in general. During that year nearly 110,000 grilse were taken in the lower portions of the Tweed. No season was so successful within our recollection since 1816, in which these same fisheries produced above 120,000 grilse. The year first named was excellent also in the Tay, the Kinsauns fisheries having yielded above 21,000 grilse, or nearly double the average of that time. A productive salmon season may arise from one or other of two causes, or both combined. It may depend on a preceding spawning time having been unusually favourable, or upon the weather during the season of capture having been advantageous for the working of net and coble, and the ascent of fish from the sea.
2 Dublin Review, vol. xi., p. 390.
3 A Treatise on the Game and Fishery Laws of Ireland, Note to p. 175. been 17,363 salmon, weighing about 43½ tons. The produce for the last nine years (Commissioners' Report for 1846) had been 53,603 salmon, weighing above 140 tons; so that in addition to an increase of about fifty per cent. in the quantity taken by the draught-nets, nearly as large a take as in former years by these alone was made by the then newly introduced stake-nets. Thus the produce of the Foyle alone was raised from an average, prior to 1823, of 43 tons, to a steady return of nearly 200 tons, and in the great year of 1842 to close upon 300 tons. The numerical produce that year was 82,106 salmon. According to the evidence of the agent of the lessees, the entire produce of the river during the first year of his management was 39 tons. He commenced protecting, and three years afterwards the yearly return rose to 100 tons, and the average produce of seven years is now (evidence given in 1845) 140 and odd tons. It is stated in Lord Strafford's Letters (1658), that the fishery at Derry (that of the Foyle) produced to the crown in that year 240 tons of salmon, which sold at L.15 a ton, "so as I hope, the charge of getting, salting, and packing the fish, deducted, there will be cleared at least L.1400, while it was never let for above L.1000 before, so as his majesty, you see, will come by no loss the whilst." By modern protection it is again approaching the limit of its ancient produce.
Return of the quantities of raw and manufactured salmon exported from Cork by the establishment of Mr John Christopher Keays. The fisheries embrace about a mile on the Clare shore, from near Money Point to Clonderlaw Bay; and on the south, from a mile on the other side of Tarbert to Foynes, including a range of 12 or 14 miles. There are eleven stake-nets.
| Year | Exports, extending over a period of ten months | |------|-----------------------------------------------| | | No. of Fish. Gross Tons | | Raw salmon, iced, 3811 boxes, containing... | 56,937 3811/16 | | Manufactured, 3529 kits, containing........ | 15,744 1023/47 |
Total... 72,681 4834/63
| Year | Exports, extending over a period of six months | |------|-----------------------------------------------| | | No. of Fish. Gross Tons | | Raw salmon, iced, 2766 boxes, containing... | 38,990 2765/51 | | Manufactured, 2873 kits, containing........ | 14,914 865/48 |
Total... 53,894 3631/99
| Year | Exports, extending over a period of six months | |------|-----------------------------------------------| | | No. of Fish. Gross Tons | | Raw salmon, iced, 2330 boxes, containing... | 33,815 2330/61 | | Manufactured, 2449 kits, containing........ | 11,665 699/66 |
Total... 45,480 3030/27
We have an abstract of the monthly supply of salmon received at the establishment of Messrs Keays and Ronayne, Youghal (Blackwater fishery). We shall here give only the totals for two years.
| Year | No. of Salmon | Weight | Amount Paid | |------|--------------|--------|-------------| | 1842 | 14,511 | 33 | L1479 14 7 | | 1843 | 9,823 | 24 | 17 | 1159 0 4 |
In both the above years the season commenced on 14th February. Mr Hodnett received about one-third additional.
The following is the gross produce of the weir and fishery of Lismore each year since 1823—odd pounds excluded.
| Year | Salmon Tons Cwts. | Salmon Tons Cwts. | |------|------------------|------------------| | 1823 | 6,086 | 20 | | 1824 | 6,988 | 19 | | 1825 | 5,813 | 16 | | 1826 | 4,602 | 15 | | 1827 | 6,819 | 17 | | 1828 | 7,592 | 23 | | 1829 | 6,579 | 19 | | 1830 | 6,590 | 20 | | 1831 | 6,978 | 17 | | 1832 | 8,738 | 29 | | 1833 | 9,184 | 25 |
During these twenty-one years they always fished in the same manner. The return includes the entire take. They fished in the tideway, but not below Salter Bridge. The greatest run of early fish the lessee ever had was in the mouth of February 1844. On the opening day of that season (14th of the month), 288 fish were captured, weighing 2311 lb. The weekly close time had been strictly observed in 1843; but those conversant with the locality do not consider that the increase was produced by that observance, but rather by the fact that the Scotch weirs further down were not in fishing order. From 1823 up to the passing of the act of 1842, the close time was not strictly attended to. They used to catch in the month of December the most delicious fish of the year. This seems a parallel case to what has been stated regarding the Ness, and some other northern rivers.
The Moy presents a fair example of the good effects of protection. In 1811 half of the lease was purchased from one of the holders, but the partners were "bad friends," and one of them would not concur in the expense of watching. The quantity of fish taken that year was only 6 tons 4 cwt. This condition of affairs continued until 1815, when the lease falling wholly into the hands of the new proprietors, they immediately appointed water-keepers, and in the following year were rewarded by a take of 42 tons. Since that time, 100 tons have been killed in a single season, and the average has been 60 tons; so that an increase of ten-fold "arose from the protection afforded to the mother fish."—Evidence, of 1824. The Newport river affords similar and more recent testimony. After the passing of the act of 1842, Sir Richard O'Donnell, being sole proprietor of this small river in the county of Mayo, took advantage of the provisions of the act, and paid liberally for the protection of the fish. In the course of three years he raised the produce from a ton to eight tons of salmon, and three tons of white trout, for the season ending the third year.—Evidence in Fourth Report, 1846.
The produce of the salmon-fisheries of Ireland (as elsewhere) for 1850 was about the least upon record. We find its failure foreseen and predicted by Mr Caulfield, superintendent of the Hon. Mr Plunket's fishing in Killavy Bay, situate in a mountain district. The following letter was addressed by him to the commissioners:
"I beg to call your attention to a letter written by me on the 4th of March 1848, in which you will find that I predicted that many persons would be disappointed in the take of salmon in 1850. The spawning season ending January 1847 was very bad from the time the salmon began to deposit their spawn. One flood was higher than another, tearing away bridges, the banks of rivers, the spawning fords, and, in some parts, covering those fords with a depth of gravel scarcely credible. Since I came here, I never saw so many floods in the spawning season. I am fully convinced then that the greater portion of the spawn were swept to the lakes and sea, and became the prey of other fish. You will remember that I stated that this would not tell till 1850, for I was convinced, and am now a greater dogmatist in my own opinion than ever, that we would take very little salmon under two and a half years old. For instance, the fry spawned in November 1847 remained in fresh water till May 1850. They remain at sea three or four months before they return to the mouths of the rivers they had forsaken when fry, and then weigh from six to seven and eight pounds. You will see that this would be exactly allowing the fish spawned in December 1847 to be killed in June, July, and August 1850. I said in my letter of 4th March 1848 that the decline of our salmon-fisheries began with the change of our winter seasons from frost and snow to continual rains, causing high floods, and these floods happening invariably in the months of November and December when the fish are spawning. In December 1847, during the spawning season, stones above twelve tons weight were carried from the top of the spawning fords above fifty yards down the river by the strength of the current. Where then must the small pea of a salmon, dropped in such a current, have gone, even if it had reached the bottom of the pit where the mother fish intended to deposit it? When our salmon-fisheries were productive, the month of December was what we call a hard month, freezing all through. It is a fact well known to all experienced in the nature of salmon, that in the month of December the greater bulk of the fish spawn, and if freezing then, the fish will come into the fords at night and make the runs in water not above six inches deep. Here the mother fish begins to drop the spawn, and gets them all deposited, as there is no current to carry them away. One salmon will get more pea deposited in low water than sixty in high floods. In 1847, during the spawning season, baskets full of the spawn could be gathered along the shores at Bundurra, where the preceding tide had left them in the sea-weed. Now, as I have ventured to predict for 1850, I will again venture to predict for 1851 and 1852. The spawning season of 1848 was passable. There were some high floods, but not many that I could call destructive. In 1851 there will be a reasonable take, leaving proprietors and lessors of fisheries fully satisfied that the fisheries have all much improved. 1852 will convince every one that the salmon was not devoured by the renowned sea-serpent."—Report, 1851, p. 115.
The origin of this deficiency in 1850 has led to some discussion; and those who maintain that it may be traced to the unfavourable conditions of the spawning season of 1847, of course do so in accordance with Mr Shaw's view, which is, that the ova of that year would produce the grilse of 1850. "That the deficiency in the salmon-fisheries of last year," say the commissioners in 1851, "was mainly produced by natural causes in the spawning season of 1847, is admitted by most persons to whose opinion weight can be attached, and is in some degree confirmed by the improvement in the fishery of the present year referred to in the report of the inspecting commissioners." It is wisely added elsewhere, that if the means and times of fishing be strictly limited to those fixed by law—if suitable passes be made for the migration of fish, and the Sunday or weekly close time be enforced on all coast fisheries, as well as in the estuaries and inland waters—and finally, if the capture, possession, or sale of fish, during close-time, be effectually prevented by the authorities, no doubt need be entertained that these fisheries will obtain a great development.
While discussing the Scotch salmon-fisheries we referred to the subject of drainage disparagingly, as if that agricultural process were often of piscatorial disadvantage. It seems to be otherwise in Ireland, where the system of arterial drainage, and the improvement of the navigation, have been of service.
"To some," observes the inspecting commissioner, "it has appeared anomalous that the fisheries should be benefited by works of drainage, but the experience already obtained fully justifies the anticipations which were formed on this subject. In cases where works have been executed at the mouths or tidal parts of rivers, the deepening and confining of the channels through extensive flats to the seas, and the extension of the tidal influences on brackish water inland, have afforded facilities for the salmon and white trout to enter the rivers; whilst the formation of improved migration passes over obstructions, and the regularly deep channels have facilitated the access of the fish to the upper waters and breeding grounds. The floods, too, in rivers that have been thus opened are much more frequent, though small in amount, than in an undrained country; and where, as in Ireland, the river-courses have but very little fall, and there exist numerous lakes and deep reaches of the river at the back of mill and navigation weirs, the migration of the fish is not only facilitated but promoted, whilst the increased discharge of water into the sea conduces to the capture of the fish by leading them to the rivers. These results have been proved practically in the lower Bann at Colcraine, where the fishery has been importantly increased, at the Fane near Dundalk, the Glyde and Dee, county Louth, and the Balleyteige district, county of Wexford, where salmon and trout were almost unknown before the execution of the works, and where, in addition, large quantities of herrings and other fish have for the last two years been taken within the bar or mouth of the estuary. But in the cavernous limestone districts of the counties of Galway and Mayo still more interesting experience has been obtained. In these districts where very large portions of the waters were discharged by cavernous passages, and through interstices in the strata too small to admit the passage of fish, and where in summer no water was discoverable as flowing from very large tracts of country, very important changes have been effected. In the Lough Corrib and Mask district, lakes containing more than 30,000 acres of water, and rivers and their tributaries more than eighty miles in length, have been opened for the first time to the free access of the salmon, by means of long and deep cuts through rocks, which were required for the drainage of the country, and which as they become completed afford constant streams of water even in the summer season. The salmon have already been taken in the upper waters of these districts, and it would be difficult to estimate the benefits which in a few years may naturally be expected to result from this improved means of access and increase of spawning ground to the fisheries of the districts."
The rivers Dee, Glyde, and Fane, in the Drogheda district, are stated by those who fish in them to have been much improved by the drainage operations. The removal of shoals has enabled the fish to ascend, and more fish have been captured both by the net and the rod than for many preceding years, and the salmon have reached a distance in the upper waters before unknown.—Report, 1852, p. 240.
The completion of the works under the drainage acts at the fishing weir or cutts of Colcraine, by which the original construction has been altered and improved, has afforded to persons fishing in Lough Neagh and the upper waters an increased supply of salmon, which, while it is not more than equitable to the upper proprietors, will ultimately much increase the value of the lower fisheries. The eel fisheries of the Bann are held by an Englishman, and produce a rent of £1,1150 per annum. The salmon-fisheries of the Foyle and the Bann were taken in 1851 by a merchant in Londonderry at a rent of £2,400 per annum.
The principal fishery of the Sligo district, in the town of Sligo, was leased in 1851 to some experienced Scotchmen, who worked it with energy, employing during the close season forty water-bailiffs well armed, and who afforded a salutary protection to the breeding fish. The commissioners were informed in the ensuing spring that the capture of large fish returning from the sea (and which otherwise would have been destroyed in the upper waters) had even then repaid the outlay.
The advantage of improving the salmon-fisheries of Ireland is indicated in the following notice regarding the Bangor district. "The supply of fish here has been very good, and the fresh waters, many of which are occupied by anglers who pay for their amusement, have not disappointed the followers of the gentle art, whose visits to the wilds of Erris are of much more importance than may appear to a cursory observer, insomuch as that several who have been first induced to visit this remote part of the country to seek for amusement, have either themselves become owners of land, or induced others to purchase, and the sale of property has been considerably assisted by this attraction."—Report, 1852, p. 241. There is no part of Ireland more interesting, in relation to its fisheries, than the Galway district. We there find two great several or exclusive commercial fisheries—one at Ballinahinch, occupied by Mr Robertson, who has been in use to pack and preserve his fish in tin cases, for exportation, to foreign countries; and another called the Galway Fishery, which was sometime ago purchased for the sum of £5000 by Mr Ashworth, an English gentleman of wealth and enterprise. The rivers Costelloe, Gowlaun, Inver, and Spiddal are occupied by noblemen and gentlemen, who spend the greater portion of the summer in the wilds of Connemara, producing even by that temporary residence great benefit to the people employed. The large lakes of Corrib, Mask, and Ballinahinch, are open to the angling tourist, and their being so induces many to dwell for months by the side of these sweet waters. The navigation and drainage operations, under the board of works, tend to develope the natural resources, and consequently increase the commercial and other value of these fisheries, by connecting the Lakes Mask and Corrib, and so enabling the fish to ascend to the former, from which they can command an enlarged field of spawning ground, previously unprofitable. The clearing of rivers tributary to those lakes, and the formation of upward passes wherever natural obstructions are found to occur, will perfect such important works. Much benefit may be anticipated from the exertions of Mr Ashworth and his local agent.
In our observations on the Scotch salmon-fisheries, we alluded to the alleged advantage of economising the modes by which fish are captured. This is a mixed problem in political economy which we shall not here seek to solve. The natural tendency in all things seems to be towards simplification in connection with discovery or improvement in the mechanical arts. The occupation of the copyist and illuminator of MSS., disappeared or diminished on the spread of printing, but probably far more printers are now employed than were ever penmen of any kind in earlier ages. The following is an Irish writer's view of the bad effects of the mechanical improvement or invention in the art of net-fishing, that is, working by means of fixed machinery.
"It is not only in enhancing the price of fish to an extravagant amount, and rendering the fisheries utterly insignificant compared with what they might be under other circumstances, that the monopolists inflict the greatest injury on the people at large, but in the mode in which they carry on those fisheries. Were the public right of fishing in these waters allowed to be exercised, every one who could command a rod or a net might go out and fish when and where he liked best, and thus thousands might amuse or employ themselves according to their tastes or necessities; but under the present system things are managed otherwise. In the fishing seasons the salmon go up from the sea towards the fresh-water rivers. Instead of employing a number of men to pursue them in boats, with nets or lines, in their progress along the monopolised coasts, bays, or rivers, the patentees or proprietors fix down weirs at the narrowest points nearest the fresh-water streams, extending generally in bays and rivers from shore to shore, and on the coasts of the sea as far as possible into the tide. These weirs secure all the salmon that attempt to pass them, and at the ebb of the tide three or four men take them out of the nets or chambers, and bring them ashore. Thus a weir and three or four men deprive perhaps ten thousand people of legitimate and profitable employment. Of the actual numbers thus debarred from employment, the reports before us give no return or estimate; nor have we been able, though we have spared no efforts, to obtain any from other sources; but, to enable the reader to form some conjecture on the matter, we shall state the facts which have come under our observation with regard to the only two rivers respecting which we have been fortunate enough to ascertain any particulars of this nature. According to the report of 1836, there is no part of Ireland in which the rights of the public to fish in the sea and tidal rivers seems to be so well understood and generally exercised as in Wexford. Yet the commissioners, who in this instance only condescended to hear any evidence but that of the monopolists, adopting the statements of the fishermen, say—The present laws appear to be very strict, and passed as if intended to protect the employment of the fishermen from the encroachment of the gentlemen and weir-owners; but it is quite evident that these laws have remained a dead letter for the last century. The gentlemen and managers who should enforce them became weir-owners, and in the receipt of large revenues therefrom, allowed the fishermen, who were thirty years back a comfortable, well-clad, well-housed, people, to dwindle away into wretchedness and poverty," though the salmon-fishery, if properly and legally managed, would "give ample and well-paid employment to one thousand five hundred people for six months of the year."—Report, p. 66. The report does not say, but we suppose, that the herring, mackerel, and other fisheries, would employ them during the remaining six months. The Shannon is 214 miles long from its source to its mouth, and navigable throughout all that extent except for a few miles between Limerick and Killaloe, and a few miles more near its source. It passes through several large inland lakes (one 14 miles by 10); is affected by the tide for 64 miles; is 9 miles wide at its mouth; for 40 miles has an average breadth of 3 miles; and for the remaining 24 miles gradually narrows to something less than a quarter of a mile at Limerick. About 2 miles above Limerick the corporation erected a weir across the channel from shore to shore. This weir was so constructed that not a salmon could pass through or over it. Between it and the main sea the corporation would not allow any one to fish, and between it and the source of the Shannon they of course did not allow a salmon to appear; and thus all the fishing in the river was confined to that one spot, and was managed by five men, four to take the fish out of the weir, and the fifth to kill and count them. Had that weir been indicted and abated as a nuisance, and all other illegal weirs and fixtures along the course of the river been removed, and all persons been allowed to exercise their rights of fishing, and in a lawful manner only, there would have been "ample and well-paid employment" afforded to at least 40,000 persons."—Dublin Review, xi. p. 364.
A bill was introduced into the Irish parliament in 1784 for the promotion of the Irish fisheries, and one of its clauses provided that in each weir in the Shannon there should be fixed a sluice or flood-gate, of six feet in width; and that it should be left open from Saturday evening to Monday morning to permit the fish to ascend the river to spawn. This bill was lost, but a few years afterwards another was brought in and passed. It provides that in every weir in every river, and in the deepest part of that river, there should be a passage 21 feet wide, called the "king's gap," left always open. It is said that this statute has been in most cases disregarded by the weir-owners, and the Limerick corporation for a long time set it at defiance, till legal proceedings were taken against them.
Observations on the subject of bag-nets have been made by the Inspecting Commissioners of Fisheries in Ireland:
"The use of these engines still continues to be a subject of complaint on the part of those whose interests lie inside their sphere of action, and many allegations are made with respect to the injury which they are said to occasion. It is asserted by some that when they intercept the free run of fish in their courses by the shore, seals and porpoises take advantage of the difficulty of escape thus occasioned, and seize them in large quantities during the confusion caused by these impediments; while others maintain, that when..." placed near the entrance of rivers they turn the fish to sea, and prevent their approach to the inner water; and while we are disposed to concur in the latter proposition, to a certain extent, during calm weather, and in clear water more particularly, we are not prepared to pronounce a decided opinion one way or the other upon the correctness of the former. We regret, however, to be obliged to state that the owners of hag-nets in too many instances provoke the hostility of rival parties by neglecting to comply with the law in respect to weekly close season, and some more unreasonable than others have gone the length of remonstrating against the enforcement of this salutary regulation; but in every instance of this nature which has come to our knowledge we have recommended the penalties of the law to be inflicted, and have refused to sanction any relaxation of its provisions with respect to removing the leaders of the nets, and have on many occasions called the attention of the coast-guards to the authority with which they are invested for the prevention of such offences."—Report, 1852, p. 239.
Having now, with greater amplitude than we intended, discussed the subject of the salmon-fisheries in their natural, legal, and commercial bearings, we shall proceed to the sea-fisheries, properly so called, and may as well commence with a notice of those of Ireland, so as to finish what we have to say of the aquatic resources of that portion of the kingdom.
If the sea-fisheries of Ireland are defective in the way of production, this is certainly in no way owing to any deficiency of natural supply, but rather to the industrial spirit of the people not having been successfully and continuously exercised. Some improvements were at one time manifested; but the "famine years," instead of leading to more active exertion, produced the contrary effect. The employment of the people under the labour rate acts, when the average number relieved by daily labour from Oct. 1846 to June 1847 was 356,000 men (the prodigious host amounting at one period to 700,000 persons) however necessary it may have been deemed at the time, had a deleterious effect. Some scarcity of sea-fish is alleged as regards the eastern waters, but this must be principally in those where the poorer fishermen with insufficient gear are known to congregate; for the English trawlers, who fish the deeper waters, and are better appointed, make no complaints. Mr Bartlett acknowledges a steady profit of 30 per cent. upon his outlay. The Nymph Bank, off Waterford, is famous for both the quantity and quality of its white fish. The same observation applies to the fishery of herrings. These fish are said to be less abundant than formerly off the Irish coasts, but they are nevertheless met with by those boats that stand out into deeper water.
When the establishment which had been formed by government in 1819, for the promotion of the Irish fisheries, was dissolved in 1830, it was found that around the coasts of Ireland there were 64,771 fishermen, and 13,119 fishing-boats. In 1836 there were, according to a carefully revised enumeration made by the officers of the coast-guard, only 54,119 fishermen, and 10,761 boats. "This decrease," observe the commissioners, "of 10,652 in the number of persons occupied in supplying fish for the markets of an increasing population occurring so suddenly, while the consumption of all other domestic supplies has been considerably augmented, and in a period during which the markets of Liverpool and Manchester have largely increased the demand on the industry of Irish fishers, is a lamentable fact, too plainly indicative of much local suffering." It appears, however, that at the appointment of the late fishery board, the total fishing population of Ireland amounted to but 36,000, and that during the short course of its activity the numbers increased to nearly the double. Hence it may be inferred that the subsequent falling off must, in part at least, be a result of some previous excess of stimulation; and that the bounties had indeed drawn more persons to this branch of industry than in the then condition of the country were really enabled to support themselves by its exercise without government aid."
It was found, on inquiry, that the fishermen of Ireland generally occupied small portions of land, and often depended for subsistence on that source more than on the sea, their condition being thus mainly determined by the local circumstances of agriculture. Although great distress was too frequently apparent, it was ascertained that the well-equipped and skilful fisherman was able to support his family, independent of the land, on a scale of comfort superior to that of other labourers. It is now distinctly understood, from the experience of the Scotch fisheries, that where there exists a facility of transport to large markets, the sale of fish in a fresh state is safer, and for the most part more profitable, than after they have been cured. Under the existing conditions of some of the remoter coast districts of Ireland this ready market cannot be yet obtained; and when the almost nominal price which a poor though hard-working fisherman sometimes obtains for the produce of his night's labour is considered, his depression and apparent indolence can scarcely be wondered at. The inspecting commissioners inform us that "fine haddock are now (April 1849) offered at Belmullet for 6d. per dozen."
And Mr Waile, a person of experience, who superintends a fishing establishment in Galway, states (in May 1855) that a crew of four men, after having taken forty large turbot in a single shot of their lines, will sometimes have to row them to market 16 miles through a heavy sea, and sell the whole lot for 2s5. Yet, that the general quantity of fish, whether fresh or cured, obtained from Irish fishermen is insufficient to meet the demands of the country, is obvious from the quantity of salt herrings imported from Scotland. Wick herrings are found on sale in the great majority of Irish towns, and even at places near the coast, "almost beside the living shoals." As to other kinds of salted fish, such as the dried kinds, the evidence from Galway shows that the Irish fish are cured in a coarse and careless way, and so cannot yet compete with the Scotch or English in the foreign markets. The great success which has attended the establishment of certain stations by the British Fishery Society, such as that of Pultney-town at Wick, indicates the nature of some remedial measure. When steam navigation or a railway is at hand, fresh fish at remunerating prices may be sent a long way to market; but even irrespective of these facilities, a great deal may be done as between an active and adventurous population on the one hand, and a few liberal curers on the other. According to Mr Loch, the great danger of the British Fishery Society arose from a tendency to over-building, while almost all that is essentially necessary to place the curer or fish merchant in a position for active operations, is a convenient and commodious station for his work, and a weather-tight shed for his salt and barrels. The establishment of curing stations in favourable positions in the N.W. of Ireland has been therefore recommended as likely to lead to advantageous results, though, considering the constitutional difference in the character of the people, the commissioners are cautious in anticipating any immediate sequence of those effects which have attended the labours of the British Fishery Society in Scotland. They are favourable to the granting of loans to fishermen in aid of building and repairing boats, and furnishing nets and other gear, a species of benevolence which must be exercised with caution. Where the distress to be relieved arises from disasters at sea, unavoidable sickness, or temporary depression in trade, its relief may be safe, but such relief must not be suffered to draw additional hands into an occupation already sufficiently Irish sea-fisheries supplied. In Scotland the grants for the repair of boats and aid to fishermen have been recently withdrawn, and the money added to the sums applied to the erection of piers and the improvement of harbours. In the last-named country the curing of fish is kept as a distinct trade from that of their capture, and the necessary advances of money are made to the boatmen by the curers. The Irish commissioners, probably feeling that more was expected from them than was reasonable, have thought it their duty to declare that the result of their most anxious inquiries has been a full persuasion that no means can be proposed for obtaining, by any summary process, so desirable an event as a sudden amelioration of the Irish fisheries. "The progress of a gradual improvement may indeed be assisted and hastened by certain measures, in which the government might beneficially co-operate; but a real and permanent prosperity can only be effected by the hearty endeavours of individuals and bodies locally interested, who, from good motives or trading enterprise, may seize favourable opportunities and apply means for the purpose."
It is obvious from the form of Ireland, her deeply indented creeks and spacious bays, that that great island presents an extraordinary range of coast compared with her actual area. She is therefore surrounded by a proportionally greater and more easily accessible supply of food. The denseness, notwithstanding the recent exodus, of her population, her improved commercial facilities, increasing command of markets, and stronger infusion of the Saxon blood, would seem to hold out a fair prospect of a remunerating trade. From what is known of her natural resources, it might have been imagined that Ireland would not only furnish an ample supply of fish for home consumption, but such a superabundance as would meet and satisfy a foreign demand. But the actual fact is the reverse of this—the quantity captured around her coasts falling far short of the requirements even of her own ill-fed inhabitants. "And during the height of the late terrible famine, when it might have been thought that a people curtailed in the fruits of the land would have availed themselves of those afforded by the sea, one of those anomalous contrasts so frequently occurring in the history of Ireland was presented,—the implements for capture were powerless in the hands of the poor,—the food itself rotted in masses for want of the means to preserve it; and the country obtained its chief supply of an article, the use of which is enjoined by the prevalent creed, from the industry of another people." Hore's Inquiry, p. 123. It certainly became the duty of our rulers (and one which was manifestly responded to) to enlarge the means of life to a nation undoubtedly afflicted, from whatever cause, by "a desolation wider than any recorded in history, or shadowed forth by tradition." Report of Committee on Poor Laws (Ireland). 1849, p. 301.
It was observed that no branch of the industrial resources of Ireland suffered more severely, in the first instance, from the deep distress of the years 1846-7, than the fisheries,—both those of inland waters and the deep sea. It is recorded by the Irish commissioners of public works, that in the autumn of 1846, when the impending famine was certain in all its horrors, and when deaths from starvation had already occurred, supplies of fish, the most abundant which had been known for years, existed on many parts of the coast, and that on portions of the southern and western shores, large quantities of fish were allowed to rot, or were even scattered as "dung upon the earth." This extraordinary state of things is supposed to have resulted partly from a prejudice against the use of fish as a dietary, without potatoes, partly from the utter prostration and distress which the want of food produced (and which compelled the coast population to dispose of their boats, tackle, and all other gear and implements of future earnings, that they might maintain existence), but mainly from the fact, that the fisheries of Ireland, however valuable and important, are not settled or assured on the solid basis of an established trade, nor followed or maintained as a real commercial undertaking for the profit which they would directly yield. Whilst the sea-fisheries were thus injuriously affected by the withdrawal of boats and tackle, left to rot upon the shore, or in pawn-offices, or by the fishermen themselves resorting to the more sure and immediate means presented by the public works, and to soup-kitchens for the bare support of life,—the inland fisheries were materially injured by the increased infringement of the laws passed for their protection and improvement. The poor and suffering people thus appear to have left undone the fishing work to which they ought to have attended, and to have attended to that with which they had no right to meddle. "The fact of great numbers of persons dying from want of food (or such profitable employment as would enable them to buy it) along the shores of a sea abounding in fish, and which was calculated to afford remunerative employment in its production, has established beyond all controversy the necessity for permanently developing and relying upon the fisheries in this country as a source of industry and trade, and consequently of food." Sixteenth Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Works.
This total derangement in the social condition of the great mass of the coast population, occasioned by the famine of 1846, rendered it impossible, through the existing registry of boats, to arrive at any calculation even approximating to accuracy regarding the number of men or vessels engaged in the fisheries. Boats lay upon the beaches unemployed and abandoned, not immediately ceasing to exist, but by degrees mouldering to decay, while ownership in many cases was denied, lest this test being applied, might debar the parties concerned from receiving gratuitous relief. The following abstract exhibits the number of vessels, men, and boys upon the register in 1845 before the famine, and the number afterwards ascertained approximately for 1849:
| Before the famine | Since the famine | Decrease | |------------------|----------------|---------| | Number of vessels and boats of all classes | 19,883 | 15,247 | 4,636 | | Number of men and boys employed | 93,073 | 68,380 | 24,693 |
In relation to the preceding, the inspecting commissioners state that they have reason to fear the decrease is underrated. It has since been ascertained that it is greatly so, and that the falling off both in boats and men is much larger than above stated.
The establishment of the government curing stations at Inniscoe, Kylebegs, Belmullet, Roundstone, Valentia, Castletown, and Baltimore, has been of as much benefit as could, under the circumstances, have been anticipated, and although the commercial winding-up of such undertakings may not exhibit a profitable pecuniary result, yet in an educational point of view, and as examples of an ameliorated system, and a higher standard, much may have been gained. The actual extent of business transacted is, in such cases, of less consequence than the production and exhibition of an improved article, and an opportunity to those who desire training to acquire a better and more thrifty mode of management. Fish being an article that pays no rent—a
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1 The experiment was tried by making a loan of £5,000 from the Reproductive Loan Society, and considering the nature of the country and its people, that seven stations were formed, buildings, smoking-houses, and others, required for the trade erected, agents, fish-curers, and rents paid, salt, tackle, and other articles imported, and numerous people employed at full wages, and a sum of £900 returned in a season or two to the Lords of the Treasury, surely a beneficial purpose was obtained.
Several adverse circumstances attended these humane endeavours. The people at Inniscoe were so weak and depressed as to be almost Irish sea-fisheries.
Free gift as it were of nature to its captor—it might be thought that the occupation of the fisherman would be equal to itself, and require no artificial fostering from without. Yet many nations have made powerful efforts to create or increase their fisheries, and some of them in vain. Sir Charles Morgan assumes that the solution of this seeming paradox lies in the perishable nature of the commodity, and the consequent disproportion between the cost of taking, and that of preserving and conveying it to the distant market. To transport fish in a fresh condition so rapidly enhances its price, that at a small distance from the sea it becomes an article of luxury, and its market is restricted accordingly. Only inferior kinds can be offered for sale at such prices as permit their being used extensively as articles of ordinary food, and these kinds are so low in their nutritive qualities, and so much less tempting to the palate, than what is commonly called animal food, that people who can afford to purchase butcher meat will not consume much fish. Except during occasional large supplies of fresh mackerel and herrings, the artisans of London but rarely purchase fresh fish, and the cured or salted sorts they seem almost entirely to decline. We believe, however, that the abundant supplies of fresh fish, at a diminished price, which are now, by means of railways, poured daily into the great commercial cities of the south, have increased the inclination towards that pleasant and salutinous food.
"To obtain," says Sir Charles Morgan, "an extensive sale for this article, it is for the most part necessary that it should be subjected to the processes of curing, and rendered capable of conveyance to far-distant markets. But the curing of fish, while it implies a considerable degree of art and some outlay of capital, so far decreases the estimation of the commodity in consumption, that salt fish usually finds a still less ready market than fresh, and in thriving communities it is consumed only by the poorest population, and at times when better articles of diet are scarce and inaccessible. The general use of even the best kinds is very much confined to Catholic countries, and depends rather on a dogma of religion than on a principle of political economy.
"Fish, therefore, must be an object of commerce very readily liable to over-production, and sudden fluctuations in the quantity taken greatly increase the difficulty of maintaining a proper ratio between demand and supply. The fish market is constantly varying between extreme points of glut and scarcity; and the necessary consequence must be a low average profit to those engaged in its capture.
"The fisheries, as an object of national importance, depend altogether on a demand for the salted article, and that too in some more extensive market than the immediate neighbourhood of the fisheries ordinarily affords. Before such a market is found and rendered accessible, it is to no purpose that fish abound. They exist in the sea, as good land lies in the back settlements of America. Both are susceptible of supplying the wants of man; but both are useless through their distance from a centre of distribution. Again, the most productive fishing grounds of the British Islands happen to lie principally off remote and ill-inhabited coasts, and before they can become extensively available to the native population, capital and industry must seek them out, and bring to the spot all the materials for curing and for fishing on a large scale. But in a climate tolerably genial, such a mode of investing capital would hardly be adopted, until the demands of agriculture and manufacture were tolerably satisfied.
"Accordingly, it was the Dutch who, having little land to cultivate, and being dependent almost exclusively on commerce for subsistence, were the first to render the fisheries a staple of national industry; and they are still the only nation who have very largely depended on that species of wealth for the source of their prosperity. For England, from its earliest commercial existence, capital has found ample sources of investment without embarking largely in the fisheries. Although its waters abound in fish, the trade for ages was very nearly confined to the supply of the local markets; and it was not until the time of the Stuarts that the fisheries excited public attention; when, owing to the political jealousies then commencing between England and Holland, the desire was formed of depriving the Dutch of their herring trade, and of thus crippling her warlike resources.
"In this anxiety to injure an enemy, the nation did not advert to the different situations of the two countries; but rushing at once into a cumbrous and expensive scheme for becoming impromptu fishermen, they entered blindfold upon a series of experiments, from which even now they are not totally disengaged. The eagerness of the nation to jump to the desired conclusion would not brook the naturally slow development of the trade, but strove by monopolies and privileges, by bounties, &c., to force it into a precocious maturity. The result was (as might have been foreseen) reiterated failure; and it was not till the war of the French revolution had utterly annihilated the Dutch commerce, that a real opening was made for the profitable investment of British capital in this branch of industry. To these causes of failure, which circumscribed the growth of the British fisheries, others peculiar to Ireland may be added. Besides the necessity imposed on the latter country of following in the career of the former, two circumstances may have been active in drawing the attention of Ireland to the resources of its waters. 1st. The neglected state of the manufactures, and consequent want of employment; and, 2ndly, the periodical recurrence of local famines. The latter, more especially, could not fail to excite the attention of the public by the dreary contrast it presented between starvation on shore, and an abundant supply of food existing in the neighbouring sea; a supply which wanted only to be taken to become available to the wretched peasantry. Accordingly, the money raised by charitable subscriptions has more than once been spent in equipping the coast population to become fishers; and legislative efforts have been made to attain the same end, in a more permanent way."
The following were the instructions issued to the government agent at each of the established curing stations already named:
1. To afford employment and fair remuneration to the fishermen, by purchasing the fish which they may take, thus ensuring to them, as far as possible, a steady daily market. 2. By a regular market to promote an increased capture of fish, and thus provide an additional quantity of cheap food for the country. 3. To render that food valuable and available to the fullest extent, by adopting such modes of cure as may be required.
Incapable of exertion; and as soon as the potato planting commenced, the fishermen all abandoned the fishing at the very season when their operations would have been followed by the greatest success.
An unfortunate circumstance happened at Belmullet after the opening of that station, when the fishermen had been for some time delivering large quantities of fish. A body of them residing at a place called Tip plundered a vessel laden with fish, they were arrested in the act by the coast guards, and thirteen currachs, with their crews of four men each, were brought into Belmullet. The men were confined in prison for several months, and the curracht, of course, detained, which was necessarily a great impediment to the success of the station.
1 That a set of cooper's tools could not be found in Ireland suitable to making the vessels required in fish-curing is an evidence of the backward state in which the fisheries remained, considered commercially. A few skilled coopers, with the necessary implements, have been sent from Scotland. to preserve it; and such also as will suit the demands for its use either near the coasts, or in markets of the interior.
There was reason to expect, according to the commissioners' report for 1845, that the construction of railways in Ireland would impart new life and vigour to the fisheries, especially those on the western coast, where, although the choicest description of fish are found in great abundance, yet the fishermen are indifferent if not opposed, to the adoption of improved modes of capture, chiefly from want of sufficient and remunerative markets for their disposal. "From some parts of the south of Ireland an export to the English markets of superior kinds of 'flat fish,' packed in ice, has already commenced; and from the whole of the north, east, south, and south-west coast, very large quantities of salmon are shipped, having previously afforded extensive employment to great numbers of persons engaged in their capture, preparation, carriage, procuring of ice, and packing, &c. The progress of improvement in the fisheries of Ireland is doubtless materially checked by want of small piers and harbours on the coast; and we are of opinion that every reasonable encouragement and assistance should continue to be afforded, with a view to remedy this palpable evil, in conjunction with an improved organisation of system in the collection of local funds applicable to the same purpose."
Some have advocated the supply of suitable boats, rigging, &c., by means of grants or loans, through the instrumentality of government, seeing that for a great extent round the north-west coast of Ireland, very few first-class fishing-boats, suitable for deep-sea fishing, are to be found. In one district (Report for 1845) containing 52 miles of coast, there was only one such boat registered, while, in another of 174 miles of extent, there was not a single sea-going boat. The most effectual remedies, and those now advocated, and successfully practised in Scotland, are the erection of additional and more commodious piers and harbours, for the encouragement and protection of men and boats, the opening of markets for the disposal of produce, and an increase in the means of communication.
In the commissioners' twentieth annual report (of date August 1852), we are informed that the opening of the railway from Dublin to Galway has given great stimulus to the fresh fish market there, and large supplies of sea-fish and lobsters have been sent to Dublin and the English markets by that route. They look forward to much greater results so soon as certain local prejudices regarding trawling, and the improved modes of capture, gradually yield to the influence of a regular daily market, and remunerating prices. The branch from the Dublin and Cork railway to Kilkenny, and the completion of the line between Waterford and Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny, with the increasing steam navigation from these ports, have operated in giving a new and increased value to the fisheries of the south and west coasts. It is regretted that the county of Sligo, and the greater portion of Mayo and Donegal, have no immediate prospect of such advantages, although they possess some of the finest fishing banks off their coasts, but require railway communication as the primary means of developing their industrial resources, by placing them more upon an equality with the rest of the kingdom. The gradual junction and completion of the northern Irish railways, and the daily steam communication from the ports to England and Scotland, have already afforded to those quarters the advantages referred to.
The deep-sea fishing of Ireland is carried on chiefly by means of long lines called spilliards, better known as spillets on the western coast. The species taken by that mode are cod, haddock, ling, hake, conger, and dog-fish. Very large haddocks, said to weigh from 15 pounds and upwards, are caught off Clew Bay, on the Innishay banks, but they are in bad condition by the time they reach the markets of Newport and Westport. The ling and cod are also very fine. The spilliard line has generally a length of 210 or 220 fathoms, with hooks fastened to it by snowding lines of nearly two fathoms in length, at a fathom's distance between each snowding. There are thus 200 baited hooks on each spilliard, one spilliard is a man's share, and every boat carries five spilliards, or 1000 hooks. These, after being baited, are arranged in a basket in circular rows, and the line is set by the boat being rowed over the fishing ground, the hooks descending over the side, and dropping into the sea without entanglement, as the line veers out. If the fish are biting freely, the first hooks are lifted immediately after the last are laid, but it is the more frequent practice to let them lie from six to twelve hours in the water. The bait is usually small pieces of fish of about an inch square, and half an inch in thickness. The conger eel is the most successful kind in use upon the western coasts. The mussel is the best bait for haddock, lugworms (much in favour with flat-fish), and the inhabitant of the scallop shell, are also had recourse to. In many places there is a scarcity of bait, and consequently a difficulty in obtaining it,—an inconvenience also experienced on the Scottish coasts. These spilliard lines are partially supported by buoys, placed at long intervals, made of dog skins filled with air, and called watchmen by the natives. Mr Brabazon informs us, as an example of what may be achieved in this way, that in the early part of 1847 three boats left Port Rush, and went round to the western coast to try the long line fishing. They returned, after an absence of seven weeks, with a cargo of thirty-six long hundred (of six score) of ling (that is 3600 fish), which they sold for 8d. a piece, independent of a supply of cod, hake, conger, and six barrels of oil to each boat, taken from the cleanings. These people green-salt their own fish. Four men split and gut them, two men wash them in a trough full of pickle, and as soon as they are clean, two men carry them up the beach, and lay them out on rocky or stony places, free from sand. They are afterwards packed up in large square piles upon the beach, being covered with a tarpauling in wet weather, and also at night to keep off the dew as well as rain. The Rush fishermen have eighteen score of hooks to each man's share of line, and they have a buoy at the end of every share. The lines are shot in succession from the boat, according to lots previously drawn from a hat, if they have one. They are shot across the tide, which keeps them clear, for when dropped with the tide the lines are apt to bunch up, and so get foul. They dare not shoot them in stormy weather, as the friction on the buoy line produced by the rolling at the surface would cut them across, and the rubbing against the bottom is also injurious. This fishing is usually practised over rough and rocky ground, or in water too deep for trawling. It occasions great fatigue to the men, who have to go to and from the scene of operations, in small row-boats, every day. To remedy this inconvenience various plans have been suggested, especially the establishment of fishing companies, with large vessels, well supplied, and capable of standing out at sea till a full cargo is obtained.
"A company," says Mr Brabazon, "undertaking the Irish fisheries for profit, at the same time that they gave remunerative wages, and afforded the fishermen of the coast a certain medium price for their fish, whether there was a glut of fish in the market or a scarcity, would be the best way of improving the condition of the people along the west coast, and certainly lessen the effects of famine with which they are so often visited, by the failure of their crops. The company should establish stations along the coast; say they began with three, one at Kylebegs, one at Newport Pratt, and one at the Shannon mouth, it would be found that when vessels could procure a cargo of cured fish without delay at the company's stores, it would create an extensive trade with the west of Ireland in fish, corn, coals, and salt. Each station should have a store, curing house, and ice-house attached to it. From the store at Ballyshannon, I would send the fresh fish packed in ice, and also cured fish by water carriage through the Enniskillen lakes, and by the Ulster Canal on to Belfast, supplying all the intermediate towns and interior of the country, giving a great deal of employment to the owners of carrier boats at so much per ton freight, and have it sold by agents at different localities through the interior, who would be paid by a percentage on the sales. Upon the same principle, the fish from the station at the Shannon mouth could be sent up the Shannon per steamer, and on to Dublin, taking advantage of the cheap water carriage afforded by the canal. The company could either have their own boats for carriage, or give that employment to the carrier boats already established on these lines.
"The chief expense to the company would be a fleet of three or more large wherries or schooners of about 150 tons burthen at each station, and a tender of 50 tons. They could attend all the fisheries, herrings, long-lines, sun-fishing, and trawling, at their different seasons. I would prefer wherries to cutters, as they have not the great weight of masts that cutters have, the weight being divided, which would make them work much easier in the heavy rolling seas of the Atlantic, nor have they the great weight of boom of a cutter, which takes up a good deal of room, and requires many hands to work in stormy weather; they are also much easier made snug in a short time in a heavy burst of bad weather, or white squalls, so common on the west coast of Ireland; also from their having a long line of low canvas, when close reefed they can beat into shore in any gale, when a cutter, from her narrow taut trisail, would make a bad hand of it. One fact in favour of the wherry rig is, that there is a wherry in Howth (the Bull) of 40 tons burthen, which on several occasions carried the mail-bags across to Holyhead in the days of the sailing packets, which were fine cutters of 70 tons, but which could not put to sea in such weather. They have a great advantage as trawlers in the act of jibing, which they often go through while shooting their trawl. The expense of each of these vessels would be about L1000, fully found with trawling gear, long lines and hooks, herring nets, harpoons and lines, and two good whale boats for each vessel, so that they could attend each fishery in its season. These vessels should be manned by a crew consisting of a skipper, mate, or store-keeper, three men and a boy, who should have charge of the vessel and never leave her. I would take crews of the coast fishermen for the whale boats, that is, two crews for each boat out to the fishing ground, and maintain them on board until the vessel had her cargo of fish caught, then return to the station, discharge her cargo into the store, take in fresh provisions and water, and go to sea again. These vessels could run out to the fishing ground with the crews of the whale boats on board, a crew could then man each of the boats, and shoot their lines from them; while the two spare crews on board could also shoot their lines over the vessel's side, when the crews of the whale boats lifted their lines and came on board to take off the fish, and rebait the first lines shot, the spare crews could man the boats and lift the lines that had been shot from the vessel. Thus each boat's crew could make three or four shots of as many sets of spilliard lines as belonged to each crew in the day, as they would not be fatigued with rowing or sailing fifteen or twenty miles to the fishing ground, but leave the vessel's side fresh after their meals. During the time they were fishing, the vessel could beat up to windward and shoot her trawl, which would keep her under such easy way that the boats could make her at any time. If there was a great take of fish, and fine weather, these vessels could tow out four or five of the shore boats with their crews also, sell them what provisions they might require, and buy their fish at so much per cwt., and give it a partial salting on board,—what the North Sea fishermen term green-salting; that is, in case of their being delayed at sea. Then on Saturday evening run into the station, land their cargo, replenish the ship's stores, and run out again to their fishing ground on Monday morning. It is only by fishing with large vessels of this class that the great difficulties presented by the storms of the Atlantic, and the mountain tempests of the Irish coast, can be successfully contended with."
This scheme of a commercial fishing company for the advantageous development, in favour of all concerned, of the marine resources of Ireland, is advocated and explained in a more recent work. Galway is recommended for the headquarters of the company, as combining all the advantages requisite for success. It is situate at the head of a magnificent fishing bay, thirty miles long and seven miles broad, in which almost every sort of fishing may be carried on throughout the year in its respective season. It is likewise in the centre of a district of coast abounding with fish and bait of every kind, with good harbours, and a fishing population of 7297 men, 497 boys, with 1818 boats, while there are extensive salmon and white trout rivers, from which these fish may be obtained on advantageous terms. There is a considerable local demand for both fresh and cured fish, especially for the somewhat coarser kind, which do not so surely pay the expense of distant carriage; there are capacious docks, with storage and curing houses to any extent desired, at a moderate rent, with cheap markets for provisions, and a railway station within six hours of Dublin, eighteen of Birmingham, and twenty of London. The craft recommended are, vessels from seventy-five to eighty tons, some of them to be fitted with wells for keeping fish, lobsters, and bait alive; also a smaller class of vessels of from twenty-five to thirty tons for the drift-net fishing, and a class of row-boats, from thirty to thirty-five feet long for the herring and mackerel fishing, and for working the seine nets. Lastly, a fore-and-aft schooner well-boat, with an auxiliary screw propeller, to be employed in carrying fish from the vessels on the banks, or the stock purchased at the stations along the coast. She would prove a valuable auxiliary in towing the vessels or drift-net boats to the fishing grounds in light weather, and in the capture of sun-fish, which generally show themselves during calms. Commander Symonds concludes his pamphlet by the following résumé, p. 55.
1. That the waters of the west coast of Ireland abound with cod, turbot, soles, lobsters, and other fish of the finest quality. 2. That the want of success which has heretofore attended any development of these fisheries, has arisen from
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1 *The Deep Sea and Coast Fisheries of Ireland, with suggestions for the working of a Fishing Company.* By Wallop Brabazon, Esq., Dublin: 1848.
2 *Observations on the Fisheries of the West Coast of Ireland,* having reference more particularly to the operations of the London and West of Ireland Fishing Company. By Thomas Edward Symonds, Commander, R.N., London: 1856.
3 "In the construction of the above vessels it will be necessary to effect such a combination of form and rig as will render their adaptation to different modes of fishing both facile and expeditious. They should unite considerable speed with average stowage and good accommodation for the men, and have the least possible amount of gear and rigging, so as to keep down wear and tear. These advantages may be readily combined in fore-and-aft schooners, similar to those the Americans use in the South Sea seal-fishery, which are splendid sea boats; this rig is admirably adapted to the west coast of Ireland, which, in common with all mountainous coasts, is subject to sudden and heavy squalls when the wind is off shore, the sails and spars being lighter and more easily handled than those of a cutter of half the tonnage." — Symonds, p. 12. Irish sea-fisheries.
the inadequacy of the capital and means employed. 3. That there is in London alone a demand for fish exceeding in quantity anything which could be imagined by those who have no practical experience in the matter. 4. That the regular supply of fish to the principal markets in better condition than has hitherto been accomplished, and at a lower price, must necessarily create a more extended demand. 5. That the application of steam in the manner suggested, and which forms one of the main features of the London and West of Ireland Fishery Company, is an element of the highest importance in an undertaking of this kind, and, combined with the favourable arrangements which will be made with railway companies, will save the loss of time which has heretofore occurred, and consequently the enormous loss occasioned between the quantity of fish caught, and the quantity capable of being delivered at the markets in good condition. 6. That the application of a process for converting the coarse fish, and the refuse at the different curing stations, into manure or fish guano, will itself form a valuable source of revenue, by turning to profitable account that which is now thrown away. 7. That the application of capital on the west coast of Ireland, in a national point of view, must be attended with most beneficial effect on the national industry of the country, and the conversion of the waste fish into manure must also be hailed as a boon to the agricultural interests.
The fishermen of the western shores of Ireland, however uninstructed in many things, are said to understand their own vocation well, at least so far as hook-fishing is concerned. What they chiefly want are more regular markets to induce and reward continuous labour. Their boats are, however, too often "ill-found," being very deficient in sails, rigging, and fishing gear. Mr Brabazon mentions, that scarcely one crew in every ten in Clew Bay have fishing tackle, but believes if they were supplied with the requisite materials at a moderate price, they would bring ashore great store of fish. The distress among the fishermen of the east coast, he thinks, is chiefly caused by the spawn upon the fishing banks being destroyed by trawlers, while on the west coast their poverty arises from the want of markets or demand for fish. "The fishermen often see the west coast crammed with fine fish, when they could take tons of them at a haul, or shot, with a deep seine or driftnet, but when caught they would be useless, as they could neither salt nor sell them. I have been told by an inspecting officer of the coast guard, that he has several times seen herrings on the coast of Donegal sold for 10d. per 1000, which would make two barrels of herrings, worth in Dublin L2, 10s. Different persons, to whom I have talked about the fisheries on the west coast, expressed a doubt that bait could be found in sufficient quantity to carry on an extensive fishery. I have never felt a doubt upon this point, as any fisherman will tell you, that wherever there is a fish there is a bait, as the fish are the bait in case a less expensive one cannot be obtained; but there is always a mixture of inferior fish fit for bait in the same shoal with prime fish."
The boats which prosecute the herring-fishery off the western coasts of Ireland are very inadequately provided, especially as regards the smallness of their train of nets. Each train is generally composed of from six to ten parts called slings, and a sling is about 25 fathoms in length. The Galway and west coast nets are 6 score of meshes (about 9 feet) deep, while our Scotch nets are at least 15 score, or 22 feet deep. Thus the Irish nets are so narrow, that large shoals of fish can easily pass beneath them, even in a moderate depth of water, where a Scotch net would stop the passage and mesh the fish. The Irish nets are generally attached to what is called the back rope, and the buoys have seldom more line attached to them than suffices to secure them to that rope. Thus the upper edge or line of the net is necessarily always at or close upon the surface, as there are no means of lowering it, however deep below the fish may be. But the St Ives men and our Scotch fishers, besides having deeper nets, can let them sink by lengthening the buoy ropes, which are fastened at intervals to the back rope, or that called the spring-back, which runs along the whole length of the train, and is strong and thick from its fastening at the boat to about the centre of the train, and lighter from that centre to the farther end. The buoy ropes are several fathoms in length, so that the nets can be depressed from, or raised towards the surface, according as the shoal of fish is high or low.
That the herring-fishery might be made of great value to Ireland is evident from the fact, that her people frequently import above 100,000 barrels of that fish from Scotland. It is alleged that a great falling off has taken place in the herring-fishery of Ireland for ten or twelve years (prior to 1850). Formerly abundant supplies were frequently obtained upon the west and south coasts, purchasers from Scotland and elsewhere attended, and a trade existed upon a large scale, of great importance to the country. It is not improbable that the fish are still upon the coast, although they may not now embark in the same places as formerly. Changes of this kind have been noted as occurring off the western isles of Scotland, especially about St Kilda and other stations on the outer shores of the Long Island, in the bays of which herrings, now rare, once abounded. But there is no doubt, that a fair fishing harvest is still reaped from year to year, by others than the natives, off several portions of the Irish coast. A herring-fishery is uniformly prosecuted off the east coast of Ireland, whether a fleet of between 200 and 300 vessels, chiefly Cornish, annually repairs, and for several weeks is continuously and profitably occupied in the capture of these prized fish, for the supply of the Dublin and Liverpool markets. The commissioners (in their Report for 1851) remark, that the only really important herring-fishery which came under their observation in a concentrated form, was most abundant. "Our Cornish neighbours, this year, have visited Howth and Kingstown in increased numbers, and with unusual success. They have had an excellent season, a fair take, and good prices." These results seem all that fishermen can reasonably look for here below.
Many of these fish, after coming into the hands of Scotch or English curers, are shipped to Dublin and other Irish ports, and sold there at from 26s. to 30s. per barrel. It is clear that if cured upon the spot, they might be disposed of at an equal profit to the producer, and at a great reduction to the consumer.
In regard to the natural abundance of Irish fish, we may here quote from a report made in December 1853, by Mr Howard, a gentleman who has been fishing the North Sea and coast of Norway in welled vessels during these last thirty years, for the supply of the London markets with live fish and lobsters.
"Having proceeded all round the southern coast from Cork to Breckhaven, and from my own inspection, and from what I heard from persons of all classes, I have no hesitation in saying, both as regards quantity and quality, the banks off the coast and the Irish shores are richer in fish of all descriptions than those of any country I have ever seen. I spent a day and night at Kinsale—the only place in the south of Ireland where the fishings are carried on to any extent. There are, I think, about forty hookers, the largest only thirty tons. These being only half-decked could not with safety, I conceive, live in a heavy sea; and as not one of them has a well, the fish are killed as soon as captured, and daily brought on shore; and I am further convinced from the inspection of all the fishing gear, that not half the quantity are taken that might be, if the hookers were equipped in an efficient manner. I saw the fish on the morning of the 29th, when landing from the vessels; the cod, haddock, and ling, were very prime,—the haddock, I Irish fisheries.
I am convinced, the finest in the world. I proceeded along the coast to Crookhaven, Bantry, and Breahaven; at every place we found the fact corroborated as to the abundance of fish; but, except a few small boats in Glandore, Baltimore, and Breahaven, there were none to be heard of; as the fishing has nearly ceased from 1847, in consequence of famine, emigration, and no market for the fish, if taken. On returning from Breahaven to Bantry, we came by boat, and literally rowed across that fine bay through a bank of herrings; and I feel confident that with nets, such as those used in Scotland, the Isle of Man, or on the Cornish coast, 40,000 barrels might have been taken that night; in fact, the whole coast was swarming with them, and if properly fished, would rival Scotland in her annual take."
The following relates to the produce of the Galway coast.
"The Claddagh fishermen have been blessed by Providence with an abundant harvest, in their line, this week. On Wednesday night the boats were actually laden to repletion with herrings. They had scarcely reached the roadstead, going out to lay their nets, when the shoal met them, swimming against the sides of the boats, and under the clear and beautiful moonlight, illuminating the bright waters as though it was a sea of silver on which they floated. Next morning the cargoes were sold, but not at a price equivalent to their value: 17s. per 1000 was the highest figure, and from that down to 14s.
"The herrings were remarkably fine, some of them being nearly of the size of bream or mullet. The quantity of hake, cod, and other fish taken, was unusually large; and if proper sources for the sale of it were available, the fishermen would be well rewarded for the risk and labour they undergo. Very fine hake or cod fish hawked about would be bought for a penny or twopence a-piece."—Saunder's News Letter, 6th November 1854.
The western coast of Ireland has, moreover, like Yarmouth, and our own Firth of Forth, the advantage of a regular winter herring fishery, which, if assiduously prosecuted, and with the aid of a screw-steamer, in addition to the railways, might be made very profitable, during a season which admits of a lengthened journey, with little diminution of freshness. The fish are of great size, and when in full season fourteen of them are said to weigh a stone. They make their appearance in December, and generally remain for about ten weeks. They may be often purchased, in any quantity, at from 10s. to 15s. per long thousand, while in a great city market they would probably realize in retail from 6s. to 8s. a hundred.
The cod and ling fishery of Ireland may be prosecuted during ten months of the year, being divisible into the early or in-shore fishing, and the late or distant fishing. From the month of November until the middle of March the cod fish are in prime condition. In May 1853, Captain May of the coast guard at Clifden, county of Mayo, stated that a person of the name of Butler of that place was absent for three days in a small hooker of five tons, with four men, and returned with forty dozen of fine ling. In December 1854, a row-boat, with eight men belonging to Cleggan, in Mayo, took fifty dozen in nine days, besides a quantity of other fish. It has been inferred that if these quantities are not unfrequently taken in a desultory manner by ill-equipped vessels, a much larger capture would reward those who pursued the fishing in a more systematic and efficient manner.
There are great quantities of turbot on the west coast of Ireland. They often cut up these fine fish for bait for their long lines. Boys will wade into the water with small spillet lines, and with these they will take from fifteen to twenty chicken, or young turbot, at a cast. Haddock abound, and if kept alive in walled boats, so as to reach the London market undeteriorated, would fetch a high price. In the west, according to Commander Symonds, they are of great size, and when fresh and in fine order, are even superior to the celebrated Dublin Bay haddock. The sales are said to be equal to those of Torbay, and may be taken in large quantities at Dingle, and many other places, as well as in the deep sea. Hake fishing begins in June and ends in November in Galway Bay, and during that time from 500 to 1000 are usually taken in a haul of five or six hours in the trawl-net. Dory, brill, holibut, are abundant. Large mackerel are driven into Arran (thirty miles off) by the sun-fish in spring, but a smaller kind swarm in Galway Bay in June. Sprat fishing is followed chiefly for the sake of the oil, and the fish themselves are bought at a cheap rate by the poor people after the oil has been expressed. The quantity is almost unlimited. From August to Christmas last (1854), they may be said to have existed in a solid mass both within and outside the Galway docks, and on several nights they rose to the surface in such numbers that the people took them up in hampers, which they filled to the brim at a single dip. A person totally unacquainted with trade was induced to expend L250 in the purchase of sprats, from which four thousand gallons of oil were made, worth about two shillings per gallon, or L400. "After expressing the oil," says Symonds, "nearly 300 tons were sold for food, the proceeds of which covered all expenses." The selling price, in the fresh state, is from six to ten shillings per ton. Lobsters are very plentiful along the west and north-west coasts of Ireland. Large walled boats are sent from London and other English ports, and purchase them for from four to six shillings a dozen. Ten thousand per week may be obtained at that rate from many stations, and the average wholesale price at Billingsgate is one shilling each, or L50 per thousand. The returns of the Midland and Great Western Railway of Ireland show that 101 tons 6 cwt. of lobsters were carried from Galway by that line, in addition to those transported by sea to London.
Another occupation, formerly much practised in Scotland, but now almost peculiar to Ireland, is that of sun-fishing. The sun-fish is the Squalus maximus, or basking shark. If the weather is bright and warm towards the end of April these gigantic creatures are sure to show themselves, and are visible at a great distance to a practised eye, in consequence of the dorsal fin projecting several feet out of the water, while its owner lies upon the surface basking in the sun. At this period of unwary indolence they are easily approached by a boat, in the bow of which a strong-armed man stands steady with harpoon in hand. The barbed weapon is attached to a line of 200 fathoms coiled up in circles on the fore-sheets, and another man is near with a hatchet ready to cut the line should it chance to get entangled with anything in running out. When the fish is first struck he makes a tremendous rush of a hundred fathoms, or it may be more, descending, as the fishermen allege, to the bottom, where he rubs and rolls himself to get quit of the harpoon. He is generally allowed to take his own way for about an hour before his captors begin to haul upon the line. In doing so they carefully coil up the slack in readiness for another run, just as the salmon-fisher keeps his reel in order, with this difference, that the worst mishap will only graze the skin of the angler's finger, whereas in the case of the Squalus a man may be drowned, or lose an arm or leg, by the rapid motion of the rope. Sometimes, when the fish is powerful, as well as sulky, eight or nine hours will elapse before he comes to the surface, having this great advantage over a whale, that he can breathe under water. He is struck again as soon as an opportunity offers, with one or more harpoons, and is finally hauled to the vessel, alongside of which they stretch him fore and aft with a jowl rope around his head, and the bite of a hawser round his tail. His own bite is not to be trusted, and to destroy the enormous power of his caudal extremity, two deep cuts are inflicted with a hatchet on each side the tail. They then cut flesh holes in his body on both sides, through which they receive strong Scotch sea-ropes, and by hauling these taut on the side of the fish next the vessel, and slacking away on the opposite one, they con- trive to cant him over on his back. They then split him down in front, take out his liver, and allow his huge carcass to go adrift. This fish, which is of great thickness, some- times measures thirty-six feet in length. There is no blub- ber between the skin and the flesh as among whales, but the oil from the liver is as fine as spermaceti, and a single fish will yield a couple of tons worth L50. They are fre- quent on what is called Sun-fish Bank, about 100 miles west of Clew Bay. The fishermen there reckon it a day's sail out of sight of land. They are also met with in large numbers off Tory Island, and along the north-west coast of Donegal, where the Skerries men have sometimes found them so abundant that they dared not venture out to lift their cod lines in case of accidents to their boats. Though of a sluggish nature they must be harpooned with caution, as a blow of their tails would stave a boat to pieces, or throw the wounded men into the water. The chief defect in the Irish mode of attacking the sun-fish is, that the fishermen are unacquainted with the use of the lance, a deep thrust from which, instead of a second harpoon, when the creature rises, would accelerate its final capture.
We shall now consider the important subject of the sea- fisheries of Scotland. Of these the most valuable is that of herrings. The Caithness herring-fishery is, for the time it continues, the most abundant in Britain, and Wick may be regarded as its most productive centre. Like the sal- mon-fishing, that for herrings is more or less a lottery. The average of the Wick fishing may be stated at about 100 crans per boat, though some boats may land in all from 300 to 400 crans, while many may have far less than even the first named number. In addition to the improvement in the modes both of capture and cure, three more ex- trinsic things have tended greatly to the advantage of the fisheries in recent times. 1st (and this chiefly as relates to salmon), the invention of the use of ice; 2d, the introduc- tion of steam-navigation; 3d, the formation of railways. In illustration of the vast advantage of the last, it may be mentioned that between four and five thousand tons of fresh herrings are now sometimes sent in a single season of a few weeks from the town of Dunbar alone, into the in- terior of the country. What a vast benefit to the great commercial and other cities of the south to have so cheap a supply of such salutrious food!*
We shall not here enter into the natural history of the herring further than to say, that all that is stated by Pennant and others since his time, regarding the migrations of that fish from the northern regions, and its breaking up in vast bodies on both sides of Great Britain and Ireland, is without the slightest foundation in fact. The herring is a native fish which breeds along our shores, and never altogether leaves them, although it becomes invisible for a time, espe- cially after the spawning period, by sinking, for security, into the deeper sea. The truth is, that at one station or other we may be said to carry on the herring-fishing all the year round. It commences in May off the eastern side of the Lewis or Long Island, and continues into mid-Scotch sea- summer. It then spreads along both the western and eastern shores of Scotland, attaining its maximum off the Caithness coast in August. It continues in Loch Fyne and other western sea-lochs almost into the winter season. It commences in autumn off the Yarmouth district, and continues during a portion of the winter. It recommences in December in the Firth of Forth (unexhausted by the summer slaughter), and is carried on as a winter fishery. Finally, it prevails at Ballintrae, and other places off the Ayrshire coast, in spring, by which time, however, the fish are spawning, and in bad condition. We have then only a few blank weeks from the end of March to the middle of May, when herrings begin to show themselves again, as we have said, off the Lewis, at first in rather poor condition, but improving rapidly there and elsewhere as the season advances. The young are found, and too often captured, in our firths and bays of the size of sprats, a sufficient proof, had we no other, that the notion of the parent fish retiring to breed among the arctic regions is a fable.
There is no article of diet more palatable and salutrious than fresh herrings in first-rate condition. In their natural state these fish may be divided into three classes, viz., maties, full fish, and spent fish. Maties are those in which the roes and milt are distinctly but not largely developed, and this is the state in which they are in the highest order as food. Although they do not then exhibit so bulky an appearance as that of the full fish, they are in reality much fatter, for the bulk of the latter is deceptively produced by the great enlargement of the roe and milt; and this does not take place without a corresponding diminution of the body of the fish. The full fish, however, are those which are most sought after in a mercantile point of view, espe- cially for the Irish market, because of their larger size. They are also much more abundant than the others, or at least are captured in much greater quantities, as they are then congregated in larger shoals, and also, being nearer their spawning time, make closer approaches to the shore. The great north-eastern herring-fishery of Scotland is mostly made up of full fish. It commences about the middle of July, and by the beginning of August is often general from the Tyne to Shetland. The earlier Dutch fishery contains more maties, and is carried on at a greater distance from the coast. It is of importance to encourage an early fishing among ourselves, for the sake of somewhat cooler weather, which admits of more careful and deliberate salting. August, which is, however, the chief herring month, is not seldom sultry. We shall now describe first the mode of capture, and then that of cure.
Our principal herring-fishery has, almost from time im- memorial, been carried on by drift-nets. There is no close time as regards these fish, nor any legal regulations, further than that the act 48th Geo. III., cap. 110, sec. 12, declares that the meshes of these nets must not be less than one inch from knot to knot, while a more recent act (14th and 15th Vict., cap. 26, sect. 6) makes the use of the travel- net in the capture of herrings illegal.
A train of herring drift-nets consists of several lengths
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1 A cran contains 45 gallons of ungutted herrings. It is the measure by which the captors deliver their fish to the curers, or other purchasers. A barrel contains 374 gallons of gutted herrings, and is the measure in which the salted fish are sent to market. It ought to be capable of containing 32 gallons English wine measure.
2 The number of boats fishing from, or visiting Dunbar (though belonging to other stations) in 1853, was about 350. The quantity of herrings landed at Dunbar in 1853 was 43,000 crans. The value of herrings landed at Dunbar that season was L34,500. The value of boats and gear employed was L43,000.
"The above," observes Mr Sutherland, the fishery officer at Eyemouth, from whom we have the information, "are for both harbours (of Dunbar), and but for the existence of Victoria Harbour (that so largely aided by the board of fisheries), probably not more than one-third of the business could be carried on satisfactorily, particularly now that there is such exertion used to get fish put quickly into packages for despatch to market, every available space on the quays and about the harbours being taken up in this way."—MS., 29th Sept. 1854.
It is evident that the combination of a railway station, with increased harbour accommodation, has rendered Dunbar a highly eligible point for the inland transit of fresh herrings. Mr Sutherland adds that the price is generally higher there than at any other station on the east coast, and that this is an additional inducement for fishermen to frequent the port. We may here note that Dunbar is included under the Eyemouth district in the board of fishery returns. Scotch sea of nets united together in a line, and kept suspended in the water by means of buoys floating on the top. The different lengths of the nets so united are, in fishermen's language, measured by barrels, each length being about the quantity of net a barrel would hold. A barrel of nets is generally 90 yards in length. The depth of the net is from 20 to 24 feet; and when new, it costs from L4 to L5. A whole train consists, according to the wealth of the fishermen, of from 7 to 25 barrels of nets. It measures from 600 to 2000 yards in length, and its value is from L25 to above L100. A strong rope runs along the back of the train, which is called the "back rope," and to this the buoys are attached by short ropes for floating the net in the water.
In the narrow waters of Loch Fyne, about Tarbert and its neighbourhood, where the Loch is some four miles wide, the average length of train runs from 8 to 15 barrels, or from 650 to 1350 yards. Further down, between Arran and the Argyllshire coast, in the Sound of Kilbrannan and towards Campbeltown, the longer trains of 1500 or 2000 yards are used, and in the same way on all parts of the coasts, long trains are preferred wherever there is sufficient space for them.
Owing to the great bulk of a train of nets, a boat of large size is required, and accordingly, the regular full-sized drift-net boat is one of a superior description, the best and largest class costing from L60 to L100, with a crew of from four to six men, though an intermediate kind, costing less, with a single lug sail, and from two to three men, is sometimes used. In Loch Fyne and about the Clyde, the greater part of the drift-net boats are sloop-rigged, with three sails, requiring some degree of management. These boats often make voyages of considerable length, such as to the Isle of Man and the Island of Lewis, whereby the crews become acquainted with the use of the compass, are inured to the sea, and gain the rudiments of seamanship—making this class of boat a valuable nursery for seamen.
The nets having been put on board, the boats sail to those parts of the loch, or adjoining sound, or sea, where it is expected fish will be found. As almost all the fishermen take the same signs as a guide for finding fish, the boats thus gather together in fleets in particular spots, and so long as fish are found there, or are hoped for, the boats do not remove, but continue fishing in the same place.
The process of setting a drift-net is as follows: as soon as a boat reaches the fishing ground the first net of the train is put out over the stern, and the boat is gently sailed or rowed, the men in the stern carefully tending the nets as they pass out, till the whole train is in the water. The boat is then made fast to the train by a rope of about 20 fathoms, called the "swing rope," and both boat and train drift together with the wind or tide. The further end of the train, according to the situation and the nature of the ground, is either left floating, or fixed by a rope called the "tailing rope," to an anchor or stone, and sometimes is made fast to the shore. Putting the net out of the boat is technically called "shooting the net;" and drift-net boats, to give room to each other, and prevent fouling and collisions from unequal drifting, usually shoot so as to allow a clear space of about 60 yards between the train of each boat after the whole have shot. The nets are always shot at or soon after sunset, and the fishing goes on through the night.
It requires some time to shoot a train of nets, but it takes still longer, and is a work of more labour, to haul it in. The drift-net boats therefore are particularly loath to shift their ground often, by which so much time and strength are expended. Still, however, to prevent too long lingering on unfavourable ground, an arrangement or privilege is admitted among fishermen of lifting out of the water parts of each other's nets to examine, and see whether fish are in them or not. This is technically called "preeing," and when no fish are found, the news spreads, and frequently becomes the signal for the boats to haul in their nets, and move away. This "preeing" is viewed with some jealousy. The immense length of the trains, and the distance of the owners from almost every part except just the last net to which the boat they are lying in is fixed, make them fear plunder or injury of their nets under a false pretence. For the same reason, the moving about of small boats among trains of nets is much disliked and objected to, and driftnet boats seldom or ever take any small boat with them. A small boat, besides being rarely wanted, and therefore rather an incumbrance, is regarded by fishermen as giving most mischievous opportunities for pilfering from nets, and they set their faces against it. The fish are caught by meshing, that is, by pushing their heads and gills through the interstices of the net, from which they have no power to withdraw them.
In former years, in Loch Fyne and its neighbourhood, at the early part of the season, it was common for drift-net fishermen to take off from their trains, perhaps two or three barrels of nets, and securing one end to the shore, carry the other end out into the loch, and make it also fast there by an anchor or stake, thus forming a set net. This net was technically called a "trammel net," and was often very successful in taking herrings of large size, and fine quality, the widest meshed nets being generally selected for setting as trammels. But the system of drift-net fishing, as above described, is the one almost universally practised on our eastern coast, and is also the usual one elsewhere.
The net distinguished by the herring fishers of Scotland as the travel net, is improperly so called, the real name being "seine net." It consists of a net varying in length from 140 to 170 yards, and from 9 to 14 yards deep. Its value is about L4, 10s. At each end is a short rope called the "bridle," kept stretched by a wooden spar called the "beam," to which is attached a rope varying from 100 to 200 fathoms in length, called the "drag rope." There are no buoys to the net, but it is kept upright in the water by means of pieces of cork, set about two feet apart. The whole apparatus is light and portable, and easily managed compared with the drift-net. The boats used with it are small, depending chiefly on oars, making no very long voyages, and commonly costing from L10 to L20, with crews of four or five men each, more men in proportion to the size of the boat being required for the work of hauling the trawl.
The trawl-net is used in different ways, according as it is to be worked from the shore, or from boats. For using from the shore, it is carried by the trawl boat to a place that appears favourable. The drag rope at one end of the net is handed to a party of men stationed on the shore, who hold it there while the boat rows off, the crew in her laying out the net in a semicircle, and when the net is all out, bringing the drag rope at the other end in with the boat to the land. A full and wide sweep is thus made with the net stretched to the full length of itself and the drag ropes, and a very considerable area of water is embraced by it. It resembles the net-and-coble salmon-fishing, formerly described, only on a much more gigantic scale.
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1 The above statement chiefly refers to, as it was derived from, our western shore. We believe that the designation of "a barrel of nets" originated from the practice which at one period prevailed of carrying the nets in barrels, from many places on the Firth of Clyde into the interior lochs, or other fishing-ground, with a view to the saving of stowage in the boats. But we have just been informed that the general custom, both in the west and east, now is for these portions of net to be made 50 yards long, and 15 score of meshes deep, with a back rope of 34 yards in length, and a gable line of about 11 yards; so that each single net now contains at least 374 square yards, and is about 33 feet in depth; of course the drif varies in length in accordance with the number of pieces which may be combined. On the boat reaching the land, the net is hauled in by the drag ropes; the parties at each rope coming nearer and nearer together to complete the circle. The net thus brings in with it fish of every description, herrings and all others, great or small, whatever may chance to exist within the circle. The object with the trawl-net is not to wait till the fish mesh themselves by entanglement, as with the drift-net, but to shift ground and make as many hauls as possible during the night, sweeping off the whole of the fish in succession at each spot visited.
When fish are not found inshore, the trawls are used in the middle of a loch or estuary, sometimes by means of two boats, sometimes with only one. When two boats are used, one remains fixed; the other rows away from it in a circle, till it comes round again to the first boat. The net is then hauled by the joint crews, the bottom being gathered in with the sides, so as to form a sack in the water. When one boat only is used, the tail end of the net is made fast to a buoy, the boat then rows away, swiftly passing out the net in a circle till it comes round again to the buoy, when the net is immediately hauled in after the same fashion as with the two boats.
This explanation is sufficient to show that trawl or seine net fishing does not require the capital, skill, or seamanship, of drift-net fishing, but that from its nature, and from the capture by single hauls of masses of fish, it gains immense and sudden prizes; while from the rapidity with which this net can be set and hauled again, as well as moved from place to place, a few trawling boats, in narrow waters and convenient situations, may, though only manned with landsmen and not fishermen, carry away many entire shoals of fish, having gone over in rapid succession all the best water. The use of the trawl or circle net, and the dragging a drift-net through the water, in the manner of trawling, for the purpose of taking herrings, are both prohibited by the 6th clause of the act 14th and 15th Victoria, cap. 26.
The drift-net and the trawl-net fishermen are greatly opposed to each other. The drift-net men are by much the most numerous, and wherever the trawl-net is used, whether it be on the west or east coast of Scotland, the same objections are stated against it, though in greater or less degree, according to locality. The drift-net men say (especially as regards Loch Fine, and other narrow waters), that trawling disturbs and disperses the shoal of fish as it enters from the sea, and scares it away. They call this "breaking the eye of fish," and they say that when the eye or centre of the shoal of herrings is broken in its progress up a loch, the body of fish are scattered and lost,—that they do not reunite in a shoal and continue to swim together after the manner of herrings, but are split up into separate fragments, which, thus detached from the main body, seek back to deep water or the open sea for safety. They say that the herring is a timid and easily frightened fish, and therefore, for the good of the fishing, that its capture should be effected without disturbance of the water, and by the quiet process of letting the fish mesh itself. Those thus caught remain in the net to all appearance swimming, and no shock is given to the shoal. Whereas trawl-nets are brought with violence against the main body, forcibly driving it back, with much disturbance in the lower parts of the water.
They further affirm that the operation of the trawl-net in catching large masses of fish of all sorts and sizes, and jumbling them up together, bruises and injures many, which being unsaleable, are left dead or dying in the water, thus destroying the fishing grounds. That the small fry of the fish are caught indiscriminately along with the full-sized parents, to the injury of the brood. That herring spawn is destroyed. That no trammel-nets can be set, because trawlers take possession of the bays, and the trawls would tear down any other nets placed there. That drift-nets in the same way are driven out of the bays and best places into the middle of lochs, and other unfavourable situations, because the trawl-net must inevitably foul the drift-net and destroy it, if it is used near it. That trawling-skiffs often come among the trains of drift-nets, where the crews trawl by making fast their drag ropes to the back ropes of the drift-nets, thus intercepting and carrying off the very fish that are about to be captured by the latter. That in moving about among the trains, these crews are frequently guilty of lifting the drift-nets, and stealing the fish. That from malice they often stab the drift-net buoys, and thus sink both nets and fish, which are thereby totally lost. That trawlers, in general, are not genuine fishermen (though of course there are individual exceptions), but interlopers, consisting of tradesmen, small farmers, farm servants, and other landsmen, who may have sufficient skill to manage a boat in fine weather, but who do not follow sea-fishing as a profession, although they may venture upon a kind of gambling speculation, with the chance of earning a twelve-month's income by a few weeks' work. That they take from drift-net men the large class of herrings which were formerly caught by trammels, and which would be so caught again if trammels could be set. That the extravagant gains of great trawling hauls are thus monopolized by a few, and those not regular fishermen, while the same quantity of fish divided among men with trammels and drift-nets, would support and enrich the families of many real fishermen. That trawling can never be a general mode of fishing for herrings, as it is capable of being carried on only in certain localities, and under certain conditional circumstances, and thus the returns of such a system must always be confined to a few persons who are enabled by it to fill the markets suddenly with fish, from the enormous hauls they meet with. These, however, which are often very much the result of accident, deprive the established fisherman of his fair livelihood, by rendering his fish unsaleable except at prices which entail on him a positive loss. That in Loch Fine there has been a falling off in the quantity of fish since trawls were adopted, now not much more than a dozen years ago.
The trawl-net fishermen, on the other hand, deny all these allegations. They state that they are able to take larger and finer herrings than were ever known till the trawl was introduced. That this large herring is a slow swimming fish, which will mesh but seldom, and can only be caught with certainty by being forcibly pent up in a net. That herrings being a timid fish, will not mesh during the early summer nights, because there is too much light, and they see the drift-nets. To catch them at that time of year, therefore, they say they must be encircled by a trawl-net. That they also catch mackerel, and other sorts of fish, with the trawl-net, when fishing for herrings. That a small capital is made to produce a comfortable livelihood. That the produce of the sea is free to all, and as marine fish call no man master, they may be taken at any season, by whoever is able, and in whatever manner can be devised.
The trawlers also deny that the fishing has suffered from their operations, or that they interfere with drift-nets, or any other kind. On the contrary, they affirm that by working with their trawl-nets along shore, they often drive the herrings into the middle of the lochs, to be captured by the drift-nets laid out there, and from which they would otherwise escape.
While the statements of the two parties are thus opposite and conflicting, there is one point which admits of no doubt, viz., that trawling any kind of herring-net practically supersedes the provision of the act 48th Geo. III., cap. 110, sec. 12th, requiring the mesh to be one inch from knot to knot; for the act of drawing the net through the water in a circular form, immediately narrows the mesh below the inch-square, even though it should be in itself somewhat more than an inch from knot to knot. It is from this effect, and from the packing up of the net with a solid accumula- Scotch sea-fisheries, that under-sized herrings and fry are frequently taken and destroyed by the trawl-net. If trawl-net fishing for herrings could be admitted without detriment to the herring-fisheries, as is stated by its advocates, it seems to be unreasonable to maintain any legislative provision, such as that just cited, or to prohibit drift-net fishers from using any size of mesh they please.
The inch-mesh is universal over the coasts of Great Britain, and, we believe, is observed in Ireland. It forms an article in the fishery convention with France, and fishermen of that country are required to adhere to it as strictly as our own. Whatever may have been its origin, the meaning of the regulation is obvious, viz., that full and sizeable herrings should alone be caught, and the young allowed to grow. The medium mesh of an inch accomplishes both these objects. How far they are important, or could be continued were all restriction upon the size of mesh removed, is matter of opinion and conjecture; but a mass of netting in the sea, with meshes drawn close and thick, certainly seems calculated to debar the natural progress and circulation of the fish among the different boats, must undoubtedly capture the young fry, and would probably, from its increased visibility of cordage, be apt to frighten away the heavy shoals of mature fish. The existing regulation for the size of mesh is popular, and seems to be approved of by fishermen of all classes.
Trawling for herrings is practised on the west coast of Scotland, chiefly in Loch Fyne, the Kyles of Bute, the Firth of Clyde, especially on parts of the Ayrshire coast, and in Loch Ryan. It is also occasionally resorted to in some of the other Lochs. The most active and determined trawlers on the west coast are those of Tarbert, a fishing village halfway up Loch Fyne. On the east coast of Scotland, it is chiefly practised in the Firth of Forth, and occasionally, but slightly, in the Firth of Tay, Beauty Firth, and Firth of Cromarty. The act for its suppression is frequently enforced.
There is, undoubtedly, some disadvantage in establishing a uniform standard of mesh, or one general law for herring-fishing, that admits of no exceptions; for there may be cases, either in respect of the time of year, or of a breed of herrings of smallish size, where a power of relaxation and adaptation might be found beneficial. There is reason to believe, that in certain lochs of the Highlands, and in other parts, herrings occur below the average dimensions, although quite fit for food, and that for these, nets with meshes less than an inch from knot to knot, might be used with advantage.
When a train of drift-nets has remained in the water for a sufficient length of time to allow the herrings to mesh, the nets are raised, and the fish carefully shaken out of each successive portion as it is taken on board. This is a much better plan than one too frequently followed, of allowing them to remain among the meshes till the whole mass is taken to the shore. By the former practice, the fish are much less liable to be bruised or broken, and so do not so soon become soft or tainted. An additional advantage is that the nets are all the sooner ready to be spread out or hung up to dry. If not intended to be consumed in the fresh state, the sooner salt is applied to herrings the better, as it secures the adhesion of the scales, so important to the after appearance of the fish. For this purpose salt should be sprinkled over them, as they are emptied in successive portions from the cran measure into the great receiving or gutting trough. All herrings should if possible, be gutted, cured, and packed on the day they are caught.
All along the inner harbour, and in almost every street and quay, of the town of Wick, as well as within many large inclosed yards and covered buildings, there are numerous square wooden boxes as big as ordinary-sized rooms, the containing sides, however, being only two or three feet high. Into these huge troughs the herrings are carried from the Scotch sea-boats as soon as possible after they arrive. There they are fisheries, all tumbled in helter-skelter, in a long-continued stream of fish, until the boats are emptied or the troughs are filled. Then come troops of sturdy females of various ages and complexions, each armed with knife in hand, who range themselves around the fishy chambers,—the process of gutting immediately commences, and is carried on with such ceaseless and untiring activity, that the unaccustomed eye can scarcely follow the quickness of their manipulations. One woman will eviscerate about two dozen of herrings in a minute; and when nearly 2000 of them are working at that rate, with but brief intermission from early morning till the close of day, the amount of disembowelment may be more easily imagined than described. This important process is effected in the following manner:—
The practitioner takes a herring in her left hand, its back lying in her palm, and inserts the point of her knife into the near side of the neck, bearing well down upon the backbone, and making the weapon protrude a little through the other side. She then gives the knife a turn, and pulling it outwards and upwards, with an opposing pressure of the thumb, she draws forth in the first place the gills, stomach, and intestinal canal, and tosses them into an adjoining barrel. She then inserts the knife a second time, and by a peculiar twitch removes what is called the crown gut, or caecal appendages, and liver. There are thus two actions performed, each of which seems to occupy about a second of time. This is the ordinary Scotch, and we presume English, practice. The Dutch method is somewhat different. They leave in the crown gut, and so with them a single pull suffices to remove whatever is to be taken away. This latter mode is partially followed in this country, as being best adapted for the continental market, where it is believed that the crown gut has a powerful influence in improving the flavour of the fish, and where the appearance of the herring is held to be injured if it is removed.
These fair gutters usually work together in little companies of two or three, so that while one is filling a measure with her gutted fish, another carries them off to be roused, as it is called, that is, cast into other vats or barrels, then sprinkled with salt, then more herrings and more salt, and next a brawny arm plunged among them far above the elbow, thus mingling them together, and so on till the space is filled. They may lie a longer or shorter time in this state, according to the supply of labour at command, and the immediate necessities of gutting and rousing; but the next usual step in the routine is for a third hand to remove those herrings from the second vats or vessels, and re-salt and pack them carefully, every successive row crossing at right angles that which precedes it. Herrings intended for the foreign market are usually arranged with their backs downwards, while those for the Irish market are preferred when packed flat, or more upon their sides. Each row gets a fresh sprinkling of salt until the barrel is filled. The head of the cask is then laid loosely on, the contents being allowed to settle down, or pine, as it is called, for a time; which they soon do so considerably as to admit of each cask receiving another row or two, with additional salt, before being closed by the cooper. The barrels should then be headed up, tightened in the hoops, laid upon their sides, and placed under cover, so as to be shaded from the sun's rays, which are injurious to the fish. They should also be rolled half over every second or third day, until they are bung-packed; which process, if the after intention is to receive the official brand of the board of fisheries, must not be sooner performed than after the lapse of ten free days from the date of capture. "When the pickle has been sufficiently poured off, a handful of salt, if required, should be thrown around the inside of the barrels, and the herrings should be pressed close to the inside of the casks, and additional fish, An injurious practice prevails among our people, of allowing the gutters and packers to stand "idle in the marketplace" until a large quantity of herrings is poured into the curing vats. Every hour lost between the capture of the fish and their being salted down into the barrel produces injury. The gloss of their marine freshness passes away as the dew of the morning, and it is the preservation of this natural splendour, so to say, from the cure commencing on board ship almost the minute they are taken from the water which causes Dutch herrings to be so highly prized. The British curer should bear this in mind, and remember that while he is in possession of great local conveniences from curing on shore, these may be counterbalanced by some disadvantages which it requires care to obviate. The Dutch herrings escape all exposure to the sun. They pass at once from the sea to the salting tub. But the British fish are frequently for hours beneath a burning sun, while the boats are delayed by calms, or are beating up to their desired haven against adverse wind and tide. The curers too often add to this delay, by waiting till such an ample supply has been accumulated as will enable all the gutters and packers to set to work simultaneously. The general adoption of the plan of placing sheds or covers of some kind over the curing tubs, would be very advisable.
In many places the curing under cover is totally disregarded, although it is obvious that the reputation of British herrings can never be perfectly kept up while improvements so easy to accomplish are neglected. Our Banff herrings began to rank high at an early period, in consequence of their careful cure; and even now, when no doubt many other places are equal, it is the custom of several of the Caithness curers to brand the word "Banff" upon their barrels, although they have no connection with that locality. The cause which we have seen assigned for the excellence of the Banff herrings is, that they are usually caught in small or moderate quantities, so that more pains can be bestowed upon their preparation. On the Caithness coast they are often got in overpowering numbers, so that some of them may be too hastily cured. Of course, the presence and inspection of the fishery officer checks any bad effect from this, so far at least as concerns the guarantee afforded by the application of the crown brand.
We understand that the commissioners of the Board of Fisheries, with a view to test the progress that has been made in the cure of British herrings, instituted, some seasons back, in Edinburgh, a trial of different sorts, compared with some of the finest Dutch samples. The conjoined kinds were submitted to the taste of competent judges, and were privately marked by distinguishing cyphers unknown to those who had to give their opinion. There was no other clue to the quality than what the skill of the judges could supply. The result was highly satisfactory: for by a unanimous decision, two classes of British herrings—viz., Maties and Crown Full Brand—were declared to be superior to Dutch of the finest quality, which had been imported expressly for this competition. Of course, we must not build too much on this, as a few selected and super-excellent samples may not necessarily indicate, or at least prove, the superiority of the entire cure considered in relation to some hundred thousand barrels. That superiority, from causes already mentioned, probably still abides with the Dutch. The experiment was renewed during an after year, and was conducted in the same public manner, Scotch sea- and with similar arrangements to prevent the judges from fisheries having any clue to the kind of herring set before them. The result of this other trial was different, although it testifies to the freedom from favouritism of those concerned. The Dutch were decided to be the best, though only in a slight degree; and a more searching trial on the succeeding day proved that the prize, determined with difficulty, had been justly awarded. To an ordinary purchaser, it is probable that no difference would have been perceptible, and the British barrels from which the samples had been taken would no doubt have passed for Dutch, as they often do in the Rhenish provinces. But in every particular these Dutch herrings showed a delicacy of treatment evidently the result of long experience, and the nicest tact. In both trials, however, it was evident how prodigious an advance had been made within a few years in the British mode of cure, when it was able to stand successfully, under the keenest criticism, so close a comparison with that of the Dutch.
The lively interest taken by the Dutch government in the furtherance of their fisheries, is shown by the fact of their placing superintending men-of-war to aid their fleet of fishing vessels while engaged off the coasts of Scotland and the Shetland Islands. They also order a government steamer of great power and large dimensions (the "Cerberus" was heavily armed, with a crew of 100 men), to attend upon the boats, and receive on board the early catch of fish, so that these may be carried off with all expedition, to secure the highest price in the continental markets. The importance of the Dutch fishery was perceived by the nation at an early period, and their inroads upon our own resources were bemoaned by many writers. "It maketh much," says Sir John Burroughs, in his Sovereignty of the British Seas, "to the ignominy and shame of our English nation, that God and nature offering to us so great a treasure, even at our own doors, we do, notwithstanding, neglect the benefit thereof, and by paying money to strangers for fish of our own seas, impoverish ourselves to make them rich." When the population of the States General was estimated in 1669, it was found that, out of a total of 2,400,000 persons, 450,000 were either fishermen or connected with the building and equipment of ships and boats belonging to the fisheries. So the pensionary De Witt scarcely exaggerated when he stated that every fifth man in Holland earned his subsistence by the sea, that the country derived her main support from it, and that the herring-fishery ought to be regarded as the right arm of the republic. In the height of her prosperity and power, it is said that not less than 3000 boats of various kinds were employed off her own coasts, besides 800 vessels, of from 60 to 150 tons burden, occupied on the British seas in the capture chiefly of cod and ling. She had, moreover, between the mouth of the Thames and Buchan-Ness, a fleet of 1600 busses engaged in the herring-fishery, and employing so many minor vessels in the carrying of salt and cured fish, that the total number of shipping amounted to 6400, calculated to give employment to 112,000 mariners and fishermen. The Dutch themselves admitted that the wealth and strength of the United Provinces were derived from their sea-fisheries, the importance of which was emphatically indicated by an expression in common use among them, that "the foundation of Amsterdam was laid on herring bones." Of course there was this essential difference between the Dutch and ourselves, that they grew no grain, were scarce of cattle, and possessed few manufactures, and so depended largely on the produce of the sea, to enable them to effect the required exchanges with other countries.
Directions for taking and curing Herrings, and for the curing of Cod, Ling, Tusk, and Hake. By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart. Edinburgh, 1846. We shall now endeavour to illustrate by tables the extent and value of our herring fishery.
Abstract of the Total Quantity of White Herrings Cured, Branded, and Exported, in so far as the same have been brought under the cognizance of the Officers of the Fishery, from the 1st of June 1809, when the system hitherto in force for the Encouragement and Improvement of the British Herring Fishery took place, to the 31st of December 1854; distinguishing each Year as under, and the Countries to which they have been Exported. The Periods are calculated as ending 5th April each year up to 1845, and from 1845 they are calculated as ending 5th January. After 1850 the Table includes Scotland and the Isle of Man only.
| PERIODS | Total Cured | Total Quantity of Herrings Exported | Grand Total Reported | |---------|-------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------| | | | To Ireland | | | | | To other places in Europe | | | | | To places out of Europe | | | 1810 | 96,185 | 34,701 | 35,948 | | 1811 | 55,662 | 28,212 | 33,133 | | 1812 | 58,410 | 30,417 | 27,672 | | 1813 | 70,027 | 57,990 | 40,699 | | 1814 | 38,184 | 43,961 | 31,539 | | 1815 | 160,129 | 83,376 | 55,778 | | 1816 | 116,436 | 25,156 | 62,668 | | 1817 | 134,018 | 44,432 | 57,855 | | 1818 | 183,659 | 43,895 | 65,057 | | 1819 | 309,700 | 101,169 | 88,194 | | 1820 | 442,195 | 338,873 | 95,245 | | 1821 | 315,524 | 263,205 | 77,455 | | 1822 | 293,631 | 259,674 | 62,956 | | 1823 | 248,869 | 203,110 | 30,022 | | 1824 | 374,657 | 270,844 | 62,823 | | 1825 | 379,293 | 244,422 | 167,170 | | 1826 | 288,495 | 223,606 | 64,889 | | 1827 | 399,778 | 278,917 | 120,861 | | 1828 | 355,979 | 234,827 | 121,152 | | 1829 | 352,670 | 215,416 | 137,254 | | 1830 | 329,650 | 167,829 | 161,821 | | 1831 | 116,964 | 168,329 | 137,137 | | 1832 | 451,531 | 178,060 | 129,552 | | 1833 | 277,317 | 85,079 | 192,238 | | 1834 | 497,614 | 192,317 | 168,263 | | 1835 | 397,890 | 114,192 | 102,968 | | 1836 | 507,774 | 144,552 | 139,953 | | 1837 | 555,560 | 153,659 | 149,925 | | 1838 | 543,946 | 152,231 | 157,359 | | 1839 | 562,743 | 146,560 | 102,690 | | 1840 | 644,388 | 153,944 | 78,456 | | 1841 | 770,606 | 213,688 | 78,889 | | 1842 | 623,419 | 162,713 | 155,327 | | 1843 | 665,259 | 198,828 | 127,770 | | 1844 | 548,639 | 140,630 | 120,393 | | 1845 | 532,646 | 142,473 | 127,678 | | 1846 | 647,451 | 156,278 | 102,855 | | 1847 | 662,743 | 146,560 | 102,690 | | 1848 | 644,388 | 153,944 | 78,456 | | 1849 | 770,606 | 213,688 | 78,889 | | 1850 | 623,419 | 162,713 | 155,327 | | 1851 | 665,259 | 198,828 | 127,770 | | 1852 | 548,639 | 140,630 | 120,393 | | 1853 | 532,646 | 142,473 | 127,678 | | 1854 | 647,451 | 156,278 | 102,855 |
N.B.—In the Six Years ending 5th April 1815, the Bounty on Herrings Cured Gutted was 2s. per Barrel, while there was a Bounty at the same time of 2s. 8d. per Barrel, payable by the Excise on the Exportation of Herrings, whether Cured Gutted or Ungutted, but which ceased on the 1st June 1815; in the Eleven Years ending 5th April 1826, the Bounty on Herrings Cured Gutted was 4s. per Barrel; in the Four succeeding Years, the Bounty was reduced 1s. per Barrel each Year till the 5th of April 1830, when it ceased altogether, and has not since been renewed.
It will be seen from the preceding abstract that the quantities exported, whether to Ireland or elsewhere, vary Scotch greatly. The recent falling off in Ireland followed the fisheries, famine, and the failure in the potato crop. Salt herrings cannot be eaten alone, and the common Irish have little or no bread. The exports to "places out of Europe" were chiefly to the West Indies, but the changed condition of what was formerly the slave population of those islands has caused a great alteration in their diet. They do not now voluntarily purchase to any great extent what they were formerly supplied with in their state of bondage. It will be observed, however, that the general exports to the European markets are on the whole greatly on the increase, and no doubt, under an alteration of import duties, admit of an enormous enlargement.
Our next table exhibits in local detail the fishing of 1854, of which season the totals are given at the close of the preceding abstract.
An Account of the Total Number of Barrels of White Herrings which have been Salted or Cured on Board of Vessels fitted out for the Fishery, or Cured by Fish-Curers on Shore, in Scotland and the Isle of Man, in the year ended 31st December 1854; distinguishing the Districts where Land ed or Cured.
| District | Barrels | |----------------|---------| | Leith | 6,695 | | Eyemouth | 25,353 | | Greenock | 8,456 | | Glasgow | 12,410 | | Rothesay | 2,399 | | Inverary | 20,632 | | Loch Carron and Skye | 2,056 | | Loch Shildag | 658 | | Loch Broom | 1,328 | | Stormoway | 31,515 | | Shetland Isles | 9,009 | | Orkney Isles | 20,394 | | Total | 638,562 |
In addition to the above, there was taken and sold or otherwise consumed in Scotland and the Isle of Man, the following amount of barrels or crans, not cured, but disposed of fresh, viz.,
| Year | Barrels | |------|---------| | 1824 | 15,468 | | 1825 | 18,909 | | 1826 | 19,645 | | 1827 | 15,082 | | 1828 | 14,449 | | 1829 | 13,866 | | 1830 | 13,077 | | 1831 | 31,837 | | 1832 | 31,711 | | 1833 | 19,090 | | 1834 | 25,875 | | 1835 | 28,227 | | 1836 | 36,999 |
Thus making a grand total for 1854 of 740,351.
We owe to Mr Alexander Wellmann, a Prussian merchant, some valuable statistical information regarding the conditions of the herring market at Stettin, to which port a large proportion of our Scotch herrings are exported. The following is a note of the quantities of the Stettin importations for a period of twenty-seven years:
| Years | Barrels | |-------|---------| | 1824 | 15,468 | | 1825 | 18,909 | | 1826 | 19,645 | | 1827 | 15,082 | | 1828 | 14,449 | | 1829 | 13,866 | | 1830 | 13,077 | | 1831 | 31,837 | | 1832 | 31,711 | | 1833 | 19,090 | | 1834 | 25,875 | | 1835 | 28,227 | | 1836 | 36,999 |
Mr Wellmann records his opinion as follows regarding the advantage of the brand:—"I take this opportunity of stating, that the official brand of Scotch crown and full branded herrings obtains the greatest confidence, not only in our market, but also in the interior of Germany, where the meaning of that brand is understood, and my firm belief, and also that of other people engaged in this branch of business, is, that it would be injurious to the trade should the brand cease to exist, for Scotch herrings are only sold in small quantities in this market and the neighbourhood; they are chiefly sent great distances, of from 100 to 800 Scotch sea-miles English, into the interior of Germany and Poland, either by orders or offers, without the assistance of commission merchants, for the great expense of forwarding them does not permit any commission to a third party. The great distance likewise prevents dealers from inspecting the herrings on the spot here, who therefore make their purchases solely on their trust in the official brand, knowing that the fish must be selected well, and properly cured; that the barrels be of the legal size; and that they require to be well and tightly made before the brand can be affixed.
These herrings are generally forwarded by crafts which are often six to eight weeks on their passage, and it frequently happens that a great fall in the market takes place during that time, and, should the official brand be removed, dealers in the interior might easily take advantage of such falls, for it would not be difficult to find complaints, such, for instance, that the fish were not properly selected or well cured, that the fish had too much or too little salt, or that the barrels were of a smaller size (for no one can then say of what size the barrels require to be), and, as most herrings are sold on credit, they would consequently be often stored at the risk and the expense of the shipper, and perhaps in markets where that person who purchased them is the only dealer.
Part of the present business consists of consignments by the curer in Scotland, who receives an advance when the herrings are shipped; and my opinion is, that this advance will cease to be given as soon as the official brand is removed, as our merchants here are then unable to judge what proceeds they will receive out of them when sent to the interior, and consequently the Scotch curer must feel it seriously whenever this brand is taken away, as he would not be able to embark so much capital, and from him it must show its influence upon the fishermen, and those people connected with the fishing."
We may here observe, that although a large quantity of Scotch sea-Norwegian herrings are exported, they are not cured under the superintendence of the government, and as therefore no certain reliance can be placed on their quality, they are scarcely ever sent into the interior of continental countries, but, so far at least as Prussia is concerned, are chiefly consumed at Stettin and the neighbouring provinces, from whence dealers are able to proceed for a detailed inspection; and hence Norwegian fish are in general more difficult to be sold than Scotch. We understand that in some places in Norway local boards have of late been formed, and already herrings shipped from these ports both find quicker sales, and are sent further into the interior. The sale of Norwegian herrings, however, greatly depends upon the prices of Scotch fish, for when the latter are low the former are more difficult to be disposed of, and the Prussians prefer our fish to those of the Norwegian cure, because they are of superior quality, better preserved, and the barrels contain a greater number. Dutch herrings must still be regarded as belonging to "high art" in their style of cure, but the difference in price is great, and so the Scotch kind abroad still find a readier sale. But the improved cure, and increased cheapness, of our fish, continue to operate in our favour, as the following, from the preceding report, will suffice to show:
In 1834, barrels of Dutch herrings received at Stettin, 4,546 ... of Norwegian do. ... 53,981 ... of Scotch do. ... 19,969
In 1850, ... of Dutch do. ... 568 ... of Norwegian do. ... 12,507 ... of Scotch do. ... 118,538
In 1849 our exportation to Stettin amounted to 147,103 barrels. That year had produced the most extraordinary take of herrings ever recorded in Scotland, and so gave the power, while Prussia afforded the opportunity, of an ex-
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1 Letter to George Traill, Esq., M.P., in Report on British Fisheries for 1850. 2 We may here note the duties charged abroad on herrings. In the confederated states of Germany (the Zollverein), the present duty is one dollar per barrel, equal to about 3s. sterling. Austria charges 2 golden 30 kreuzers per cwt., making about 15s. sterling per barrel, a prohibitory duty nearly equal to what is often the prime cost. Russia (we know not her present views regarding the Baltic trade) used to make a difference in her tariff between Scotch and Norwegian herrings, the former paying an import duty of Truble 30 cops silver per barrel, equal to about 4s. 6d. sterling, the Norwegian being charged only 35 cops silver, being about Is. 3½ sterling per barrel. The duty in Poland was formerly lower on Scotch herrings, but has been raised to that of Russia since the 1st of January 1851, and we have lost, in the meantime, a good market as concerns that "nationality." In France the duty is from 37s. to 40s. per barrel, more than double the actual price, and so of course it is entirely prohibitory. In Naples it is still nearly as high as it formerly was in Belgium (from 12s. to 15s. per barrel), but we know not its precise amount at the present time. From Spain and Portugal we understand that our herrings are excluded, we presume by reason of the excessive duty. None are ever sent there. The Spaniards, however, consume the finest of our cured cod and ling, on which the duty is as follows:—Direct from the place of cure,—In Spanish vessels, Ll.6.10s. per ton; in British vessels, Ll.8.13s. per ton. Indirect, or from a port not at the fishing-ground,—In Spanish vessels, Ll.10 per ton; in British vessels, Ll.12 per ton.
The following are the duties on British fish in Belgium, according to the convention, signed at London, March 22, 1852:
| Fishery | Duty | |---------|------| | Herrings—pickled or drysalted, per barrel of 150 kilogramme, gross weight | 13 | | Others, per thousand | 8 | | Lobsters—destined for the national beds, per 100 francs value | 6 | | Others, per 100 francs value | 12 | | Oysters—destined for the national beds, per 100 francs value | 1 | | Others, per 100 francs value | 12 | | Cod—pickled or drysalted, per barrel of 150 to 160 kilogramme, gross weight | 22 | | Stockfish—per 100 Kilogramme | 1 |
The above conditions are to remain in operation until the 10th of April 1854. They are a modification and reduction of the former tariff, but certain of the duties are still so high as to be in fact prohibitory. The weight of 150 kilogrammes is about equal to that of a Scotch barrel of herrings, and the imposed duty is 13 francs, or about 11½ sterling. Under such a law on importation the trade will never open. The smoked or red herrings are more leniently dealt with, a duty of 8 francs, or 6s. 8½d. the thousand, being one farthing on every three herrings. This, it is thought, may admit of an increased consumption, and produce a profit to our people. Flanders is noted for its industrial and concentrated population, and has now the advantage of a net-work of railways. Within a circumference of half a day's journey we have the following large cities:—Brussels, 140,000 inhabitants; Ghent, 100,000; Lille, 80,000; Louvain, 55,000; Antwerp, 90,000; Bruges, 60,000; Mons, 30,000; Namur, 30,000; Malines, 50,000—to say nothing of several others of less note. An established taste for herrings, of whatever kind or colour, among such hordes of hungry people, would assuredly be of great advantage both to them and us.
We may add that the transit duties, that is, the tax imposed on transmission into countries not pertaining to the place of original importation, have an influential bearing on prices and profits. Prussia has recently reduced her transit duties on herrings from Ls. 64. to 4½d. per barrel. Those imported by Russia used to be charged 10 silver groschen, equal to about 1s. sterling per barrel, on the Oder as well as Vistula, while on the river Elbe it is only 2½. Holland charges about 3s. sterling per barrel for the transit of herrings on the Rhine. Denmark levies a duty of 3d. sterling per barrel on all herrings that pass through the Sound. Hanover charges one halfpenny per barrel for such as pass the Elbe at Stade.
VOL IX.
Scottish sea-cessive exportation. The capture during the season of 1849 was as follows:
| Total quantity cured | 776,088 | |---------------------|---------| | Total quantity disposed of fresh | 381,281 |
Grand Total, 1,151,979
Of the former, 149,505 barrels were cured at Wick alone. Of the latter the following large quantities were taken and sold fresh at the stations of the Firth of Forth, viz.:
- Anstruther: 24,243 - Eyemouth: 34,243 - Leith and Burntisland: 20,000
Total: 78,486
Yarmouth produced during that same season 113,374 barrels of fresh herrings, the London station 26,224, and Liverpool and the Isle of Man 27,600. The grand total for 1849 includes the English stations, which yielded 209,362 barrels, leaving for Scotland and the Isle of Man 942,617 barrels. The season of 1853 was also very productive, the returns for that year, exclusive of the English stations, giving a total of 908,800 barrels.
The value and importance of this great fishery as a seafaring occupation and marine nursery are too obvious to require mention. The following abstract is exclusive of the English stations, and also of between four and five thousand men engaged in the export fishing trade.
The following table exhibits the amount of tonnage, the number of men employed, and the value of the materials engaged in the cod and ling fishery, as well as in that of herrings, during the season of 1854.
| Districts | Tonnage and Number of Men employed in carrying Salt for the Fisheries distant from Livelihood or from foreign parts | Tonnage and Number of Men employed in Exporting Herrings, Cod and Long Fish | Tonnage of Boats employed in the Herd and Ling Fisheries | Value of Boats employed in the Fisheries | Value of Nets employed in the Fisheries | Value of Lines employed in the Fisheries | Total Value of Boats, Nets, and Lines employed in the Fisheries | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | Leith | 1,600 | 160 | 1,900 | 190 | 3,540 | L10,620 | L10,889 | L1,062 | L21,771 | | Eyemouth | 2,600 | 162 | 318 | 36 | 2,200 | 7,700 | 7,900 | 2,640 | 18,240 | | Greenock | 935 | 71 | 158 | 13 | 1,667 | 6,655 | 10,348 | 1,849 | 18,753 | | Glasgow | 300 | 20 | 1,866 | 112 | 100 | 300 | 500 | 35 | 835 | | Rothesay | 155 | 13 | 123 | 82 | 2,284 | 7,900 | 8,350 | 1,500 | 17,150 | | Inv. | 698 | 58 | 97 | 22 | 3,038 | 12,666 | 22,735 | 1,451 | 36,752 | | Loch Carron and Skye | 750 | 75 | 38 | 5 | 4,200 | 12,650 | 619 | 17,413 | | Loch Shildag | 240 | 30 | ... | ... | 1,563 | 4,173 | 12,650 | 619 | 17,413 | | Loch Broon | 210 | 21 | ... | ... | 3,433 | 8,330 | 13,898 | 1,142 | 23,370 | | Stormoway | 698 | 64 | 1,441 | 163 | 3,312 | 5,616 | 5,560 | 5,725 | 16,900 | | Shetland Isles | 1,264 | 102 | 1,610 | 133 | 2,192 | 6,285 | 4,710 | 4,310 | 15,305 | | Orkney Isles | 1,106 | 87 | 2,558 | 247 | 6,681 | 9,670 | 12,607 | 1,103 | 23,880 | | Wick | 6,705 | 521 | 14,018 | 1,012 | 7,993 | 22,840 | 31,815 | 2,370 | 56,825 | | Lybster | 1,872 | 124 | 2,181 | 170 | 2,084 | 7,170 | 9,950 | 263 | 17,383 | | Helmsdale | 1,645 | 75 | 2,474 | 190 | 1,578 | 3,320 | 4,400 | 750 | 8,470 | | Cromarty | 1,927 | 53 | 1,187 | 107 | 1,893 | 4,800 | 13,300 | 500 | 18,600 | | Findhorn | 1,048 | 86 | 2,540 | 190 | 2,249 | 4,800 | 9,850 | 1,550 | 16,210 | | Banff | 2,270 | 174 | 3,455 | 279 | 5,890 | 27,417 | 29,584 | 7,804 | 64,805 | | Fraserburgh | 1,471 | 105 | 3,424 | 239 | 2,527 | 6,923 | 14,580 | 3,695 | 25,198 | | Peterhead | 3,020 | 190 | 2,846 | 201 | 7,834 | 18,855 | 16,228 | 5,910 | 40,993 | | Anstruther | 2,567 | 171 | 793 | 52 | 4,750 | 22,500 | 30,567 | 8,924 | 61,991 | | Isle of Man | 468 | 47 | 377 | 56 | 3,810 | 19,890 | 19,274 | 3,512 | 42,676 |
Total: 32,649 | 2,404 | 42,954 | 3,499 | 72,414 | L225,830 | L303,666 | L37,924 | L587,420
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1. The Yarmouth herring-fishery is chiefly an autumnal and early winter one, but it seems that a summer season is also enjoyed there. We are informed by Mr John Miller, the intelligent inspector-general of the fisheries, that "some of the Scotch boats returned, after an absence at the Yarmouth herring-fishery, with L300." These boats have now (21st August 1855) begun business again off Dunbar.
2. The above numbers are exclusive of the southern fishing stations. When these were included the total amount was much larger. Thus, in 1846 the report, as made up for the preceding season, gives the total number of persons employed as 29,065, besides 1530 curers, and nearly 5000 men engaged in the export trade. The great season of 1849 gave occupation to 95,329 persons, besides 1619 curers, and 6101 men engaged in the export trade. It ought also to be borne in mind, while estimating the importance of our fisheries as a field of industrial occupation, that these high figures are altogether irrespective of the numerous individuals employed in our salmon-fisheries, and in those for turbot, flat-fish, mackerel, and many other kinds.
3. The returns of the board of fisheries now give estimates only for Scotland and the Isle of Man. When London, North Sunderland, and Whitby were included, the value of the materials employed was of course much greater. Thus, for the season ending in the winter of 1846, the boats were estimated at L7,02,206; the nets at L481,202; the lines at L92,371; making a total of L1,275,830. We shall now say a few words regarding red herrings. It is believed that the taste for these, when the smoking process is carefully performed, is on the increase, and might be turned to the advantage of Scotland. Our north-eastern stations, say from Peterhead to Caithness inclusive, have great facilities in the way of cure as well as capture, and it ought to be understood that the super-excellence of a red herring depends both on its original state and its subsequent mode of treatment. Smoked herrings are made from salted ones. They are converted pickles, so to say, and have not always been in the best condition when committed to the brine. But if allowed to lie there for any considerable length of time, they must be steeped in fresh water to remove a portion of the salt previous to smoking, and it is by this intervening process that the quality is deteriorated. There is a certain period during which herrings may be removed at once from the pickle to the smoking-house, and there is a longer time after which they must be steeped. Yarmouth bloaters are among the best of things, but our southern neighbours labour under this great disadvantage, that their fishing is chiefly a winter one, when herrings are seldom in prime condition, while along our north-eastern shores they are caught in the months of July and August, when these fish are in perfection. The cure may be good, but the southerns have not the same articles to begin with. To use Mr Thomson's illustration, a Holstein or Yorkshire ham may have every attribute of excellence in the cure, but as the animal has not lived in the woods of Westphalia, so its flesh has not the sweetness and flavour imparted by the acorn.
A larger outlay of capital is called for to carry on a manufactory of smoked herrings than simply to cure with salt and pack into barrels. It takes a house of considerable size to hang what may make up 300 barrels at one time. The herrings must hang on the smoking-spits for three weeks, and as the prime of the fishing lasts only about six weeks, the house can be filled only twice, if a lengthened lie in pickle and the steeping process are to be avoided. To do the thing in perfection, the produce of a considerable number of boats would be required at once, because if a fortnight from the commencement of the fishing were allowed to elapse in the filling of the smoking-house, the curer would have no opportunity of filling it a second time, at least with freshly pickled and unsteeped fish. A change is said to have taken place in the taste for red herrings. They were formerly preferred of a silvery brightness instead of a golden yellow, and to produce the former state only a few hours' smoking was required. Of course these did not keep, and were sorely distressed by sultry weather. But the taste is now tending rather towards a complete cure, that is, a three weeks' careful and continuous smoking, after which a herring of originally sound constitution will keep almost as long as an Egyptian mummy, and be much better eating in the end.
Along our eastern shores the smoking of herrings is carried on extensively in Aberdeen, Montrose, Dundee, Burntisland, and Leith, and in the west chiefly in Glasgow. But these localities are not stations for the herring-fishery itself; and so many of our curers have smoking establishments at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Wick, where they can obtain a full and immediate supply of fresh fish.
The supply of the home market with red herrings and bloaters was formerly engrossed by the Scotch and Yarmouth curers, but it is yearly becoming more extended, and shared by a greater number. Transit by steam is so rapid from the Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney, and other distant places, to railway harbours, and thence by railways into England, that smoking-houses for preparing bloaters are now in use in Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. At distant fishing stations the herrings for bloaters are slightly mixed with salt in dry barrels or boxes, from which the pickle is allowed to escape to prevent over saltness; they are speedily forwarded to the smoking premises, where they are washed (but not soaked), and smoked for 24 to 36 hours, and then despatched as bloaters per rail for London, or the other great English markets, in barrels, half-barrels, or in small boxes each containing 100 herrings. Many of the fishing stations are now regularly frequented by English buyers, who daily purchase and forward herrings to England, fresh or slightly sprinkled with salt, according to the season. When the supply of fresh fish is large, or greater at market than the demand, the surplus is often purchased at a reduced price by resident English dealers, smoked for 24 or 36 hours, and again presented at market in small neat baskets as prime Yarmouth bloaters. This gives the English adventurer an advantage over his distant competitors, which he is not slow to avail himself of, and he frequently sells a part of his own fish at an unremitting figure, and purchases by agents the fish sent to market on consignment at a lower price than he paid for his own at the curing station.
Another class of red herrings are salted for thirty-six or forty-eight hours at the curing station. They are then washed, but not soaked, and smoked for twenty-one or twenty-eight days. These keep well, and have much of the rich flavour of Westphalian ham. Herrings made into reds for exportation, or those smoked in winter for home use, having been salted and cured in pickle, are soaked from thirty to thirty-six hours, according to quality, and then smoked for periods varying from three to four weeks. The soaking of the fish greatly injures their flavour.
Having closed our account of the greatest of our fresh and salt water fisheries, those for salmon and herring, we shall now proceed to notice the capture of other species, of great though unequal value.
One of the most important of our southern fisheries (of which we have as yet said nothing) is that for pilchards (Clupea pilchardus), a species nearly related to the herring. This fishery is pursued chiefly off the coast of Cornwall. The fish show themselves while swimming past the Scilly Islands in the month of July, and are there caught with a drift-net. They then advance inland in August, during which month the principal or "in-shore" fishing begins. They visit various parts of the coast until October or November, and then disappear till the ensuing summer. They are occasionally caught off the south-western part of Devonshire, and also near the most southern portion of Ireland, but northwards of these two points they are seldom seen off any other district of the British shores.
"The first sight," says an eye-witness, "from the cliffs, of a shoal of pilchards advancing towards the land, is not a little interesting. They produce on the sea the appearance of the shadow of a dark cloud. This shadow comes on, and on, till you can see the fish leaping and playing on the surface by hundreds at a time, all huddled close together, and all approaching so near to the shore, that they can be always caught in some fifty or sixty feet of water. Indeed, on certain occasions, when the shoals are of considerable magnitude, the fish behind have been known to force the fish before literally up to the beach, so that they could be taken in buckets, or even in the hand, with the greatest ease. With the discovery of the first shoal, the active duties of the 'look-out' on the cliffs begin. Each fishing-village places one or more of these men on the watch all round the coast. They are called 'huers,' a word said to be derived from the old French verb huier, to call out, to give an alarm. On the vigilance and skill of the 'huer' much depends. He is therefore not only paid his guinea a-week while he is on the watch, but receives besides a perquisite in the shape of a percentage on the produce of all the fish taken under his auspices. He is placed at his post, where he can command an uninterrupted view of the sea, some days before the pilchards are expected to appear; and, at the same time, boats, nets, and men, are all ready for action at a moment's notice.
"The principal boat used is at least fifteen tons in burden, and carries a large net called the 'seine,' which measures 190 fathoms in length, and costs L170, sometimes more. It is simply one long strip, from 11 to 13 fathoms in breadth, composed of very small meshes, and furnished all along its length with lead at one side and corks at the other. The men who cast this net are called the 'shooters,' and receive 11s. 6d. a week; and a perquisite of one basket of fish each out of every haul. As soon as the 'huer' discerns the first appearance of a shoal, he waves his bush. The signal is conveyed to the beach immediately by men and boys watching near him. The 'seine' boat (accompanied by another small boat to assist in casting the net) is rowed out where he can see it. Then there is a pause, a hush of great expectation on all sides. Meanwhile, the devoted pilchards press on—a compact mass of thousands on thousands of fish swimming to meet their doom. All eyes are fixed on the 'huer'; he stands watchful and still until the shoal is thoroughly embayed in water which he knows to be within the depth of the 'seine' net. Then, as the fish begin to pause in their progress, and gradually crowd closer and closer together, he gives the signal; the boats come up, and the 'seine' net is cast, or, in the technical phrase, 'shot' overboard.
"The grand object is now to inclose the entire shoal. The leads sink one end of the net perpendicularly to the ground, the corks buoy up the other to the surface of the water. When it has been taken all round the fish, the two extremities are made fast, and the shoal is then imprisoned within an oblong barrier of network, surrounding it on all sides. The great art is to let as few of the pilchards escape as possible while this process is being completed. Whenever the 'huer' observes from above that they are startled, and are separating at any particular point, to that point he waves his bush; thither the boat is steered, and there the net is 'shot' at once. In whatever direction the fish attempt to get out to sea again, they are thus immediately met and thwarted with extraordinary readiness and skill. This labour completed, the silence of intense expectation that has hitherto prevailed among the spectators on the cliff is broken. There is a great shout of joy on all sides—the shoal is secured!
"The 'seine' is now regarded as a great reservoir of fish. It may remain in the water a week or more. To secure it against being moved from its position in case a gale should come on; it is warped by two or three ropes to points of land in the cliff, and is, at the same time, contracted in circuit, by its opposite ends being brought together and fastened tight over a length of several feet. While these operations are in course of performance, another boat, another set of men, and another net (different in form from the 'seine'), are approaching the scene of action. This new net is called the 'tuck'; it is smaller than the 'seine,' inside which it is now to be let down for the purpose of bringing the fish closely collected to the surface. The men who manage this net are called 'regular seiners.' They receive ten shillings a-week, and the same perquisite as the 'shooters.' Their boat is first of all rowed inside the seine net, and laid close to the seine boat, which remains stationary outside, and to the bows of which one rope at one end of the 'tuck-net' is fastened. The 'tuck' boat then slowly makes the inner circuit of the 'seine,' the smaller net being dropped overboard as she goes, and attached at intervals to the larger. To prevent the fish from getting between the two nets during this operation, they are frightened into the Pilchard-middle of the inclosure by beating the water at proper places with oars, and heavy stones fastened to ropes. When the 'tuck' net has at length travelled round the whole circle of the 'seine,' and is securely fastened to the 'seine' boat at the end, as it was at the beginning, everything is ready for the great event of the day—the hauling of the fish to the surface.
"Now the scene on shore and sea rises to a prodigious pitch of excitement. The merchants, to whom the boats and nets belong, and by whom the men are employed, join the 'huer' on the cliff; all their friends follow them; boys shout, dogs bark madly; every little boat in the place puts off crammed with idle spectators; old men and women hobble down to the beach to wait for the news. The noise, the bustle, the agitation, increases every moment. Soon the shrill cheering of the boys is joined by the deep voices of the 'seiners.' There they stand, six or eight stalwart, sunburnt fellows, ranged in a row in the 'seine' boat, hauling with all their might at the 'tuck' net, and roaring the regular nautical 'Yo-heave-ho!' in chorus! Higher and higher rises the net; louder and louder about the boys and the idlers. The merchant forgets his dignity, and joins them; the 'huer,' so calm and collected hitherto, loses his self-possession and waves his cap triumphantly. . . . The water boils and eddies; the 'tuck' net rises to the surface, and one teeming, convulsed mass of shining, glancing, silver scales, one compact crowd of thousands of fish, each one of which is madly endeavouring to escape, appears in an instant. The noise before was as nothing compared with the noise now. Boats as large as barges are pulled up in hot haste all round the net; baskets are produced by dozens; the fish are dipped up in them, and shot out, like coals out of a sack, into the boats. Ere long the men are up to their ankles in pilchards; they jump upon the rowing benches, and work on, until the boats are filled with fish as full as they can hold, and the gunwales are within two or three inches of the water. Even yet the shoal is not exhausted; the 'tuck' net must be let down again and left ready for a fresh haul, while the boats are slowly propelled to the shore, where we must join them without delay.
"As soon as the fish are brought to land, one set of men, bearing capacious wooden shovels, jump in among them, and another set bring large hand-barrows close to the side of the boat, into which the pilchards are thrown with amazing rapidity. This operation proceeds without ceasing for a moment. As soon as one barrow is ready to be carried to the salting-house, another is waiting to be filled. When this labour is performed by night, which is often the case, the scene becomes doubly picturesque. The men with the shovels, standing up to their knees in pilchards, working energetically; the crowd stretching down from the salting-house across the beach, and hemming in the boat all round; the uninterrupted succession of men hurrying backwards and forwards with their barrows through a narrow way, kept clear for them in the throng; the glare of the lanterns giving light to the workmen, and throwing red flashes on the fish as they fly incessantly from the shovels over the side of the boat, all combine together to produce such a series of striking contrasts, such a moving picture of bustle and animation as no attentive spectator can ever forget."
The fish are then carried to the curing-house, on the floor of which they are laid, with alternate layers of salt. There they remain "in bulk" for five or six weeks, during which time a quantity of oil, salt, and water, drips from them into wells perforated in the centre of the stone floor on which they lie. When taken out of "bulk," they are washed clean in salt water, and packed in hogsheads, which are shipped to Penzance, and other places, for exportation. Mackerel—The trade is chiefly to the shores of the Mediterranean—Italy and Spain being the great foreign markets. The home consumption is next to nothing. Of course the value varies, but the average wholesale price may be stated at about 50s. per hogshead. The general export is about 22,000 hogsheads. The quantity sometimes taken is almost incredible. As many as 2200 hogsheads have been secured in a single seine, and Borlase mentions even 3000 as the result of a single capture. The number of pilchards to a hogshead was formerly 3500; it afterwards fell to 3000, and has since been reduced to about 2500, although they are not individually counted. According to Mr Yarrell, an instance has been known of 10,000 hogsheads being taken ashore at one spot in a single day, thus providing the enormous multitude of twenty millions of living creatures drawn almost at once from the briny deep for the sustenance of man.
We know not the present value or importance of the pilchard-fishery, but so far back as 1827, when the bounty began to be withdrawn, the conditions were as follows—number of seines employed, 186; not employed, 130; total number of seines, 316; number of drift-boats, 368; men employed on board drift-boats, 1600; number of men employed on seines at sea, 2672; number of persons on shore to whom the fishery affords direct employment, 6350; total number of persons employed in the fishery, 10,521; cost of seines, boats, &c., used in the fishery, L209,840; cost of drift-boats and nets, L61,400; cost of cellars for curing, and other establishments on shore for carrying on the fishery, L169,175; total capital invested directly in the pilchard-fishery, L441,215. The outlay of a seine amounts to about L800. A string of drift-nets will cost about L6; the net and the boat from L100 to L150; but these are used throughout the year for the other purposes of fishing.
Although white bait, sprats, shads, and others, belonging to the herring family (Clupeide), should here be mentioned as of some importance in our fisheries, we must pass them over without any detailed notice, in consequence of our want of space.
The mackerel (Scomber scomber), though long regarded as a migratory fish, may be taken, like the herring, on some part of our coast, during every month throughout the year. Those got in the months of May and June are considered to be in higher condition than such as are brought to table either in autumn or early spring. Of all fishes, they deteriorate the most rapidly after death, and so, to be eaten in perfection, they ought to be consumed as soon as caught. Mackerel were first allowed to be cried through the streets of London on a Sunday in the year 1698, and the practice has continued ever since. It seems the habit of this fish to present itself ever and anon in the most extraordinary quantities, and the greater the pity that it should so speedily lose its natural flavour. "Mackerel," says Mr Yarrell, "were so plentiful at Dover in 1808, that they were sold at sixty for a shilling. At Brighton, in June of the same year, the shoal of mackerel was so great, that one of the boats had the meshes of her nets so completely occupied by them, that it was impossible to drag them in; the fish and nets, therefore, in the end sunk together, the fishermen thereby sustaining a loss of nearly L60, exclusive of what the cargo, could it have been got into the boat, would have produced. The success of the fishing in 1821 was beyond all precedent. The value of the catch of sixteen boats from Lowestoft, on the 30th June, amounted to L5252; and it is supposed that there was no less an amount than L14,000 altogether realized by the owners and men concerned in the fishing of the Suffolk coast. In March 1833, on a Sunday, four Hastings boats brought on shore 10,800 mackerel, and the next day two boats brought 7000 fish. Early in the month of February 1834, one boat's crew from Hastings cleared L100 by the fish caught in one night. This was an earlier appearance than usual. During the last-named year a large quantity of fine mackerel were shown in the London markets in the second week of February. They were cried through the streets of the metropolis, three for a shilling, in the middle of March, and had then been plentiful for a month.
The usual mode of fishing for mackerel is by a drift-net 120 feet long and 20 feet deep. It is corked at the top, but has no leads below. It is made of fine twine, the size of the mesh being about two inches and a half, or rather more. From twelve to eighteen of these nets are attached to each other lengthways, by being tied along a thick rope called the drift-rope. When arranged for setting, a large buoy attached to the end of the drift-rope is cast into the sea, the vessel is put before the wind, and, as she makes way, the rope with the nets attached is passed over the stern, till the whole is run out. The drift-rope is then shifted from the stern to the bow of the vessel, after which she rides as if at anchor, while, at the same time, the conjoined nets, sometimes a mile and a half long, are thereby kept strained, or in a straight line. When a large shoal, or schud, as it is called in Cornwall—
"In sculls that oft
Bank the mid sea,"
says Milton—shows itself, the congregation is encompassed by a small meshed seine-net, after the pilchard mode already mentioned, and are lifted on board the boats in flasks. Sometimes the whole mass is hauled bodily ashore upon the beach. As mackerel will bite at almost any bait, quantities are likewise killed by hook and line. A slice cut from the side of one of themselves, near the tail, is a successful lure for its quondam companions, and even a slip of red leather or scarlet cloth, will slay its hundreds. The boat is kept in progress under sail, and a fresh breeze is advantageous.
We shall now devote a few columns to the consideration of the cod-fishery. Although it might be supposed that, amid the exhaustless resources of the almost illimitable sea, the production of the finny tribes would not be greatly influenced by the actions of the human race, there seems to be no doubt that constant fishing tells upon these tribes to a certain extent, just as it is known to do more largely on those of narrower waters. By the statements of fishermen in general, it appears that the boats are almost everywhere obliged to go farther from the land than formerly before they find fish; and it is hence assumed, either that these have changed their ground, or that the places near the shore have been to a certain extent exhausted by over-work. Of this there is no doubt, that much longer voyages are now undertaken in connection with the cod-fisheries than of old. Expeditions of smacks and other vessels to Davis' Straits to fish for cod, have been set agoing of late years, with various success. English smacks have made trips to Iceland, landing their fish, as they brought them home, at Stornoway in Lewis. Some were kept alive in wells of the smacks, but the greater part were salted. From
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1 Pennant, while referring to the great capture of pilchards recorded by Borlase, has committed the extraordinary mistake of reckoning 35,000 fish to a hogshead, instead of 3500. 2 Messrs C. and J. Paget, in their Natural History of Yarmouth and its Neighbourhood, state that, in 1823, 142 lasts of mackerel were taken there. A last is 10,000. This makes 1,422,000 individuals. 3 Sometimes local changes of a contrary kind occur. Thus, Mr Yarrell (writing about 1837) informs us that formerly the Gravesend and Barking fishermen captured no cod nearer than the Orkneys or the Dogger Bank, but that "for the last two or three years the supply for the London market has been obtained by going no farther than the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts, and even between that and London, where previously very few fish could be obtained."—British Fisher, vol. ii., p. 147. two smacks alone 27,000 cod-fish were landed. This cod-fishing off the Icelandic shores has long drawn the attention of the French, and has been actively and successfully prosecuted by them. There seems no reason why the British should not be at least equally adventurous in the same quarter. Vessels sailed from Shetland for the Faroe Isles in 1851, and one of these returned with as much cod and ling as when dried weighed thirty tons. Our cod and ling fisheries may be said to be of a much more stationary character than that for herrings. Though the value may be sometimes suddenly affected by the occasionally great success of the far northern captures just referred to, the annual yield of our own coasts seems very uniform.
It has been bountifully ordained, that while fish of the herring family usually most abound in summer and autumn, those of the Gadidae, including cod, haddock, whiting; and several others, all more or less remarkable for the excellence of their flesh, are in best condition during the colder season of the year. The common cod (*Morrhua vulgaris*) is of the highest intrinsic value, and is providentially spread over a great expanse of the European seas, from Iceland almost to Gibraltar. It does not enter the Mediterranean, but all along the eastern shores of North America and its islands, from the 40th to the 66th degree, the supply is countless and inexhaustible. It is fortunately a fish of great voracity, and so is easily taken with a variety of baits. The usual mode of capture is by long deep-sea lines, with hooks fastened at regular distances along their whole length by shorter cords called snoods. The latter are six feet long, and are placed about twelve feet apart. Of course variations occur in the practice of particular places. Buoys and small anchors are fixed to each end of the line, which is shot across the run of the tide. An improvement was suggested many years ago by Mr Cobb, who was sent to Shetland by the commissioners of the fisheries. He attached a small piece of cork within about a foot of the hook. This suspended the bait, and prevented its lying concealed from the fishes' view by the inequalities of the ground, and also kept it more clear from the attacks of crabs and star-fish. A deal of hand-line fishing is also practised for cod, haddock, and other white fish. Each fisherman has too lines armed with a pair of hooks, kept apart by a piece of wire or whalebone, and loaded so as to keep the bait near the ground. Cod inhabit deep water, and are usually fished for in from 25 to 40 or 50 fathom. Many cargoes are kept alive in welled-smacks, and are carried from great distances to the vicinity of the metropolitan markets. We once took occasion to visit one of those vessels at Stromness in Orkney. She was sloop-rigged—a capital sea-boat—went extremely fast—and measured 62 tons, old register. The skipper said he thought he would have no chance with a good yacht in light winds, but that in heavy weather he would keep a fair place with anything. The well was immediately abaft the mast, boarded off from the rest of the vessel, and communicating with, and receiving its water directly from, the sea beneath, by means of numerous perforations in the bottom of about two inches in diameter. Its length backwards from the mast seemed about ten or twelve feet, and its breadth nearly that of the sloop itself. The well was capable of holding about fifty score of live cod, and there were about ten score in it at the period of our examination. They seemed rather softened and subdued by their captivity, and came ever and anon with a lazy heave to the surface, showing their great flat heads, dim unexpressive eyes, and gaping mouths. Though heavy and stupid in their aspect, they seemed to have their senses about them, and speedily seized upon and swallowed such portions of shell-fish as we dropped into their watery chamber. To produce perpetual change in the waters of the well, these vessels are usually either anchored in a tideway, or one of the sails is kept partially set, so as to produce a constant heaving motion, and a consequent circulation of the briny flood. The fish are often confined in this way for a fortnight or three weeks, and if they show any symptoms of sickness, the usual medical routine is reversed in their case,—they are killed first and cured afterwards. These sloops venture with their cargoes no farther up the Thames than Gravesend, beyond which the influence of the intermingling fresh water would prove destructive. From that point they are conveyed to market in boats with closed wells filled with sea-water. During all this lengthened period of confinement they seldom give them any food, although those we saw seemed well inclined to eat, from the rapid voracity with which they gobbled up our limpets.
Although the deep-sea and hand-line fishing are thus of importance in affording to the fish-eating public a salubrious supply in firm and fresh condition, it is the quantity of cured cod and other allied kinds which constitutes their chief mercantile importance.
**Abstract of the Total Quantity of Cod, Ling, or Hake, Cured and Exported**, in so far as the same have been brought under the cognizance of the Officers of the Fishery, from the 10th October 1820, when the system hitherto in force for the encouragement and improvement of the Cod and Ling Fishery took place, to the 31st December 1854, distinguishing each Year as under. From 1822 to 1844 inclusive, the periods are calculated as from 10th October to 5th April. They then run from 5th April to 5th January, up to 1852 inclusive. From 5th January 1851 and onwards, the quantities noted are for Scotland and the Isle of Man only.
| YEARS | Cod, Ling, or Hake Cured. | Cod, Ling, or Hake Exported. | |-------|--------------------------|----------------------------| | | Cured Dried. | Cured in Pickle. | Cured Dried. | Cured in Pickle. | | 1822 | 19,578 | 1859 | 85,279 | 10,618 | | 1823 | 19,088 | 1841 | 93,500 | 10,632 | | 1824 | 20,068 | 1841 | 91,494 | 9,480 | | 1825 | 14,067 | 1842 | 76,849 | 7,038 | | 1826 | 69,126 | 5,021 | 7,281 | 14,051 | | 1827 | 95,161 | 9,025 | 14,051 | 14,051 | | 1828 | 82,515 | 6,142 | 13,208 | 1845 | | 1829 | 81,221 | 6,819 | 90,567 | 1846 | | 1830 | 101,914 | 8,381 | 100,976 | 1847 | | 1831 | 74,414 | 9,920 | 11,920 | 1848 | | 1832 | 50,233 | 3,779 | 20,168 | 1849 | | 1833 | 58,461 | 6,657 | 14,754 | 1850 | | 1834 | 52,710 | 5,622 | 16,298 | 1851 | | 1835 | 44,152 | 3,767 | 10,632 | 1852 | | 1836 | 38,040 | 6,276 | 10,952 | 1853 | | 1837 | 68,892 | 7,224 | 10,183 | 1854 | | 1838 | 84,986 | 10,303 | 22,165 | 1854 |
*N.B.—The books of the Board of Fisheries do not exhibit the total quantity of cod, ling, or hake cured till the year commencing 5th April 1825. The bounty, from the commencement of this Abstract to the 5th of April 1830, was 4s. per cwt. for fish cured dried, and 2s. 6d. per barrel for fish cured in pickle, to be paid by the crews of vessels or boats netting the tonnage bounty; while the bounty, from the 5th of April 1830, for the cod and ling fishery, or the tonnage bounty, was 50s. per ton, for tonnage and cargo to the 5th of July 1835; 45s. from thence to the 5th of July 1837; 40s. to the 5th of July 1822; and 35s. to the 5th of April 1830, when the bounties ceased altogether, and have not since been renewed.*
Stornoway, and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, are the principal stations for these fish. Thus, of the 109,684 cwt. taken at the twenty-one stations of which our cod districts consist, 73,707 cwt. belonged to the three localities just named. The quantity of individual fish of the cod and ling kind killed in 1854 was 3,523,269, of which 1,385,699 were from the Shetland Islands. The great exports of dried fish... are also from these islands. Thus, there were last year exported to Ireland 7855 cwt., and to continental Europe 5630 cwt., making 13,485 cwt. out of 19,557, the entire quantity exported. Besides these weights of cured fish, there was 58,042 cwt. disposed of fresh, making a grand total of 167,726 cwt., cured or fresh, and 6166 barrels preserved in pickle.
The following is the mode of curing dried cod, &c., practised in our northern isles. The fish are generally gutted before they are brought ashore. As soon as they are landed, the splitter with a large knife cuts them open from head to tail, and extracts the upper half of the back-bone. He then hands them over to the washer, who, with a brush and sea-water, cleanses them of every particle of blood. When all the fish have been in this way split and washed, they are allowed to drain, and then come into the hands of the salter, who places a stratum of salt at the bottom of a large wooden vat, and over it a stratum of fish, and so on alternately till the vat is filled. Above all are laid heavy stones to keep the fish beneath the pickle. After the lapse of some days they are taken out, well washed, and brushed from shoulder to tail, and put up in small heaps, called clamps, to drain. They are then spread upon the shingly beach slantingly, with the back undermost, exposed to the action of the sun and air; and after being thus alternately clamped and exposed singly, they are built into larger stacks, called steeples, which, for the sake of equal pressure, are themselves occasionally taken down and rebuilt, by which means the fish that were uppermost at one time, are undermost at another. As soon as this drying, or pining, as it is technically called, is completed (as indicated by a white efflorescence appearing on the surface, named the bloom), the fish are transported to a dry cellar lined with wood, and piled up closely, if not speedily shipped off to market. We may add, that the Yorkshire curers, who are thought the best in the world, dry their fish on wooden flake, raised on posts three feet high, of such length as may be requisite, and about four feet wide. There is a platform of cross bars at the top, placed six inches asunder, on which the fish are laid. The great advantage of this method is, that it preserves the fish perfectly clean, while, owing to the current of air passing underneath, the process of drying goes on as rapidly below as above. It also prevents the fish being sunburnt, blistered, or scalded, when first laid out, as not unfrequently happens if they are suddenly placed upon a stony beach in a hot day. When nothing but the beach is available, great care should be taken not to lay the fish out, for the first time, when the stones are too warm. Fish prepared for the Spanish market (where they are in great demand) ought to be rather lightly salted, of a pure greenish colour and transparent aspect, and very hard dried.
As the greatest cod-fishery in the world is carried on over the banks of Newfoundland, we shall here give a sketch of the modus operandi, as from a recent eye witness. The fish are all caught with hooks, and, as usual, from the bottom. Each fisherman has a strong line of from 60 to 70 fathoms in length, to which is attached a lead of a cylindrical shape, weighing about five pounds. From this proceeds the "pennant," which is a cord about twice the size of the line, and three feet in length. To the lower end of the pennant, and attached to it by a small copper swivel, is the "craft," which is a stout cord about 2½ feet in length, having three strips of whalebone laid around it at the middle, where it is attached to the swivel of the pennant. The whole is then serried or wound round with tarred twine. On each end of the craft is a smaller swivel, into which the ganging of the hooks is attached. The whalebone serves to keep the hooks about a foot apart, so there is little danger of their becoming entangled with each other.
The men arrange themselves on the windward side of the deck, throw over their leads, and unreel their lines, till the lead rests on the bottom. It is then drawn up, so that the hook will touch the bottom with the down pitch of the vessel. They lean over the bulwarks, patiently awaiting a bite, which is known by a slight jerk on the line. They then give a sudden pull, in order to hook the fish, stand back, and haul in the long line, hand over hand, until the fish comes up to the surface, when he is taken on deck, unhooked, and thrown into a square box, which each man has fastened by his side, called a "kid." The hooks are then baited and hove over again, and the fisherman, while the line is running, picks up the fish caught and cuts out his tongue.
Towards night the fish are counted out from the kids, each one separately, and thrown into a large kid near the main hatch, called the "dressing kid." They are counted aloud as they are thrown along, and each man is required to keep his own account, and report to the skipper at night, who keeps a separate account for each man on the log-book. The dressing-gang, consisting of a "thrower," a "header," a "splitter," and a "salter," now commence dressing down. After passing through the hands of the first three, they assume somewhat the shape seen in market. They are then passed down between decks to the salter, who puts them up in keneches or layers, laying the first tier on the bottom of the hold, and building up with alternate layers of salt and fish till the kench reaches the desired height. The decks are then washed down, sails taken in, and the vessel anchored for the night.
The haddock (Morrhus ogilfinus) now deserves a brief notice. This fish is of great value, from its excellence and frequency combined. It may be traced everywhere along the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, the largest and finest being taken in Dublin Bay, and off the Nymph Bank. The haddock is extremely abundant on our eastern English shores from Yarmouth to the Tyne, and occurs plentifully on the same side of Scotland. This fish does not exist either in the Baltic or Mediterranean. It swims in great shoals, and not unfrequently shifts its stations, probably from the necessity of a change consequent on the consumption of food. The mode of capture is with long lines and hand-lines; and where the trawl-net is in use for other fish, the haddock, which, like the majority of the bearded fishes, feeds near the ground, is frequently taken by the trawl.
In the north-east of Scotland many people prepare these fish, not only for their own use, but also for sales, to a very large amount, at their own firesides, by appropriating a space in their chimneys, where the heat and smoke are applied without in any way interfering with the other domestic arrangements; and in those districts where wood is not to be had, peat or turf is used, and answers every purpose.
The fish, when freed from the head and intestines, is split, washed, and thoroughly cleaned from all impurities. It is then put in salt from one hour to five, and smoked and dried from six hours to twelve, the degrees of salting and smoking being modified according to the size and thickness of the fish, and the length of time it may be required to preserve it for consumption. At Findon in Aberdeenshire, from whence the "Finnans" derive their name, the fishermen use nothing but turf in the smoking process. Three hundred fish can be prepared at an ordinary-sized domestic fireside at one time. The split fish are hung from timber rods, which are passed across their upper or widest
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1 See Hibbert's Shetland Islands, p. 519, and Wilson's Voyage round Scotland, vol. ii., p. 331. 2 See Hunt's Merchants' Magazine for March 1855. part, so as to keep them extended; these rods are then placed across the space from the wall to the chimney-piece at either side of the hearth, and small quantities of damp turf being lighted beneath, the smoke performs its office by ascending the chimney. For a near market, where the fish are likely to be consumed in about four or five days, half an hour in salt or pickle, and four to six hours' smoking will be sufficient. To supply the markets not only of Aberdeen, but even of the great southern cities, great quantities of this description of fish are now prepared and sent off from many other northern villages besides Findon. The degree of cure is regulated by the time which must elapse before the article can be used, an additional half-hour or more in salt, and two or more hours longer smoking, being given if required. Attention is paid to the state of the weather, the distance from markets, and the taste of the consumers.
The commerce in this description of fish has greatly increased in Scotland, many having embarked in it on a large scale by erecting extensive curing-houses, and purchasing haddock from numerous captors, who confine themselves almost solely to this department of fishing. The whole process, when performed upon the smaller scale, and by the country people, takes only a few hours; so that fish caught in the evening may be in a market many miles distant on the morning of the following day. The real Finns are generally small, and of a pleasant pale yellow colour; but larger fish are cured at the great commercial stations, and in a way intended to admit of their being sent a longer distance, and keeping for a longer time.
The whiting (Merlangus vulgaris) is regarded by many competent judges as the most delicate fish of this family. It occurs around our coasts, and advances pretty far northwards from the Orkneys to Cape Clear. Large examples are caught upon the Dogger Bank, as well as on the coast of Cornwall, and the southern and other shores of Ireland. The whiting is fished for with lines; and although taken almost all the year through, it is most abundant in midwinter, by which time it makes its approaches to the spawning places, at no great distance from the shore, and may then be taken in larger quantities than usual, within from half a mile to three miles from shore.
The coal-fish (Merlangus carbonarius) is a larger and coarser species, which is spread far northwards, being well known off Spitzbergen and in Davis' Straits. It enters the Baltic Sea, and is very abundant in Scotland and among our western and northern isles, where the fry, fished for from the rocks, often afford good sustenance to the poorer classes. It rejoices in many names, being in its different stages and districts known as silloch, poddy, cuddie, sethe, coal-fish, and gray-lord. It attains to a weight of from fifteen to thirty pounds, and is often salted, and cured dry—bringing, however, a lower price than its congeners.
The hake (Merluccius vulgaris) is another of the coarser kind, caught like the preceding by hook and line. It is less abundant in Scotland than along some of the southern shores of England. Portsmouth is largely supplied from the Devonshire coast. Mr Couch describes it as roving about the Cornish shores in a somewhat irregular way, and as being extremely voracious in its habits. It is often inclosed in the circle of the seine-net, along with the pilchards, and being sometimes left undisturbed for several days it ghts itself to its heart's content. Seventeen of these fish have been taken from the interior of a hake of ordinary size.
It occurs around Ireland, and is so abundant in the Bay of Other sea-Galway as to have given the name to that district, as marked fisheries, in some ancient maps, of the Bay of Hakes. In the salted state it is exported to Spain, although itself common on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, where it affords considerable traffic, being packed up in aromatic plants, and transmitted to the towns of the interior.
The ling (Lotus molta) is a much finer fish. Large quantities are taken by hook and line from Cornwall and the Scilly Isles to Shetland. It is excellent when cured, is much used for home consumption, and is pretty largely exported to Spain.
The tusk (Bromius vulgaris) is another highly-esteemed species. It is one of the best in the cured state, swelling out well when boiled, and separating into thick firm flakes. It is a northern fish, frequent in the Orkneys, and abundant in Shetland. According to Faber (to whom we owe so much information regarding northern species), it seems to possess less power of resisting the violence of the sea than the majority of fishes, as it is sometimes dashed ashore dead in incredible numbers on the coasts of the Faroe Islands and the south of Iceland. He adds that, "Jan Olsen" says, that the fresh fish is badly tasted, but when dried is the best of food. We have not the pleasure of being acquainted with Jan Olsen, but the former portion of his opinion is most erroneous, and must be corrected. Fresh tusk is one of the very best of all fishes, either in or out of the sea, and it is worth any man's while to make a voyage to the Shetland Isles (in themselves so interesting), for no other purpose than to eat it. Jan is really very wrong.
A few words must suffice for flat-fish. Of these we have in this country at least sixteen different kinds, the majority in good request as food. Plaice, flounders, dabs, &c., may pass without any special notice. The largest of all the flat-fish, or Pleuronectidae, is the holibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris), a species which sometimes weighs from 300 to 500 pounds. It is a northern fish well known in Greenland, not unfrequent in the Scotch markets, but rarer as we proceed southwards.
Of smaller size, but far more delicate flavour, is the true turbot (Rhombus maximus), the finest of the flat fishes. Its localities are much more southern than those of the preceding. It is caught both by the long line system already described, and by trawling. The English markets are largely supplied from the various sand-banks which lie between our eastern coasts and Holland. The Dutch turbot fishery begins about the end of March, a few leagues to the south of Scheveling. The fish proceed northwards as the season advances, and in April and May are found in great shoals upon the banks called the Broad Forties. Early in June they surround the island of Heligoland, where the fishery continues to the middle of August, and then terminates for the year. At the beginning of the season the trawl-net is chiefly used, but on the occurrence of warm weather the fish retire to deeper water, and to banks of rougher ground, where the long line becomes indispensable. Although a considerable quantity of turbot is taken on various parts of our own coasts, a preference is said to be given in the London markets to those caught by the Dutch. According to a calculation made some years ago (in the preceding edition of this Encyclopaedia), that nation was supposed to draw not less than L80,000 a-year for the supply of our metropolitan market alone; while the Danes (to whom the outer shores of Scandinavia formerly pertained)
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1 As bearing upon the general character and condition of this famous bank, we make the following extract from an amusing and instructive article on the "London Commissariat," in the Quarterly Review. "No better proof that its stores are failing could be given than the fact that, although the ground, counting the Long Bank and the north-west flat in its vicinity, covers 11,900 square miles, and that in fine weather it is fished by the London companies with from fifteen to twenty dozen of long lines, extending to ten or twelve miles, and containing from 9000 to 12,000 hooks, it is yet not at all common to receive even as many as four score fish of a night, a poverty which can be better appreciated when we learn that 600 fish for 800 hooks is the catch for deep-sea fishing about Kinsale." No. O.C., p. 280, September 1854. Other sea-fisheries charged us from L12,000 to L14,000 a-year for sauce, made from one million of lobsters exported from the rocky shores of Norway. Mr Yarrell informs us that about one-fourth of the whole supply of London turbot is furnished by the Dutch. There is good trawling, as well as long-line fishing for this highly-prized species, over two extensive sand-banks called the Varne and the Bridge—the one about seven, and the other about twelve miles from Dover, towards the French coast. Trawling for turbot is also extensively practised along the coast of Devonshire, from which supplies are sent to Bath and Exeter, as well as London.
The sole (Solea vulgaris), though a much smaller, is a highly esteemed species. It inhabits sandy shores around the coasts of both Britain and Ireland. Those of our south and west districts are of larger size and finer quality than such as occur off the north and east stations. Soles seldom take a bait, but are caught in enormous quantities by means of the beam-trawl. The principal grounds lie along the south coast from Sussex to Devonshire. Two very productive stations are Brixham and Torbay.
Although skate, eels, and several other fishes of some value, remain unnamed, we must here close a treatise which has extended to a greater length than was foreseen at its commencement. The importance of the general subject, and the multiplicity of its departments, must plead our excuse. We shall conclude with a brief extract, and one more tabular view.
"Next to the herring-fishery," says the writer already referred to, "the sea-harvest of most importance to the poor of London is that of sprats, which come in about Lord Mayor's day, and it is a popular belief that the first dish is always sent to the chief magistrate of the city. The pilchard season succeeds that of sprats, with the interval of mackerel, which continues until the end of May, when Scotland and Ireland pass their salmon into the market. But where do all the lobsters come from? The lovers of this most delicious of the crustacean tribe will probably be astonished to learn, that they are mainly brought from Norway, France, and the Channel Islands. Orkney and Shetland do, it is true, contribute a few to the metropolitan market; but full two-thirds are reluctantly, and with much pinching and twisting, dragged out of the thousand rock-bound inlets which indent the Norwegian coast. The fighting, twisting, blue-black masses are taken as soon as purchased to what are termed 'the boiling-houses,' of which there are four, situated in Duck and Love Lanes, close to the market, and here, for a trifling sum per score, they change their dark for scarlet uniforms. They are all plunged into the boiling cauldron, basket and all, and in twenty minutes they are done. Crabs are cooked in the same establishments, but their nervous systems are so acute, that they dash off their claws in convulsive agony, if placed alive in hot water. To prevent this mutilation, which would spoil their sale, they are first killed by the insertion of a needle through their head. The lobster trade is mostly in the hands of one salesman, Mr Saunders, of Thames Street, who often has upwards of 15,000 consigned to him of a morning, and who causes no less than L15,000 a-year to flow into the fishy palms of Norwegians for this single article of commerce."
The following table of the total supply of fish to the London market, is from Mr Mayhew's work on London Labour and the London Poor.
| Description of Fish | No. of Fish | Weight of Fish | |---------------------|------------|---------------| | Wet Fish | | | | Salmon and salmon-trout (29,000 boxes) | 406,000 | 3,480,000 | | Live cod (averaging 10 lbs each) | 400,000 | 4,000,000 | | Sole (averaging 1 lb each) | 97,520,000 | 23,880,000 | | Whiting (averaging 6 oz each) | 17,920,000 | 6,720,000 | | Haddock (averaging 2 lbs each) | 2,470,000 | 5,040,000 | | Plaice (averaging 1 lb each) | 33,000,000 | 33,600,000 | | Mackerel (averaging 1 lb each) | 23,520,000 | 23,520,000 | | Fresh herrings (250,000 barrels, 700 fish per barrel) | 175,000,000 | 42,000,000 | | Ditto in bulk | 1,050,000,000 | 252,000,000 | | Sprats | 4,000,000 | | Eels from Holland (principally), England and Ireland (6 fish per lb) | 9,797,760 | 1,505,280 | | Flounders (7200 quarters, 36 fish per qtn.) | 269,200 | 43,200 | | Dabs (7500 quarters, 36 fish per qtn.) | 270,000 | 48,750 | | Dry Fish | | | | Barrelled cod (15,000, 40 fish per barrel) | 750,000 | 4,200,000 | | Dried salt cod (5 lbs each) | 1,600,000 | 8,000,000 | | Smoked haddock (65,000 barrels, 300 fish per barrel) | 19,500,000 | 10,920,000 | | Blotters (265,000 baskets, 150 fish per basket) | 147,000,000 | 10,900,000 | | Red herrings (100,000 barrels, 500 fish per barrel) | 50,000,000 | 14,000,000 | | Dried sprats (9600 large bundles, 30 fish per bundle) | 288,000 | 95,000 | | Shell Fish | | | | Oysters | 495,896,000 | | Lobsters (averaging 1 lb each) | 1,200,000 | 1,200,000 | | Crabs (averaging 1 lb each) | 600,000 | 600,000 | | Shrimps (324 to half bushel) | 498,428,618 | | Whelks (227 to half bushel) | 4,943,200 | | Muscles (1000 to half bushel) | 50,400,000 | | Cockles (2000 to half bushel) | 67,392,000 | | Periwinkles (4000 to half bushel) | 304,000,000 |
(J. W.—N.)
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1 Quarterly Review for September 1854, p. 280. 2 We feel somewhat doubtful in regard to this enormous aggregate. It will be seen from our preceding exposition of the herring-fishery, that the entire recorded take for the whole of Britain (including the fish consumed fresh, cured in salt, and smoked as reds), amounted in 1849 to 1,151,979 barrels. This, allowing 800 to a barrel, would give nine hundred millions of individual herrings, with above twenty-one million over. Now the quantities in the above table (including both barrels and bulk) would seem to show that the London market alone, and supplied chiefly from Yarmouth, receives an annual stock of fresh herrings amounting to twelve hundred million of individuals, with twenty-five million over. We have applied to the Board of Fisheries for the English returns for 1849, of herrings disposed of fresh, and find as follows:
| Location | Barrels | |----------------|---------| | Bristol | 3,500 | | Isle of Man | 10,000 | | Liverpool | 17,600 | | St Ives | 4,500 | | Whitehaven | 12,900 | | London | 26,224 | | North Sunderland | 21,400 | | Whitby | 29,123 | | Yarmouth | 113,574 |
Making a total for the south country of 235,011
This, at the rate of 800 to a barrel, gives only one hundred and eighty-nine millions of individuals, with above two hundred thousand over. Such a thousand-oddable number (probably the majority of such as were caught upon the western coasts) would be consumed elsewhere than in London. We know not how much of the Yarmouth herrings "in bulk" may have been transported rapidly, and without record, but upon the whole we apprehend some exaggeration or misstatement in the matter.
We desire in this place to express our obligations to the Hon. B. F. Primrose, secretary to the Board of Fisheries, and his assistants in office, for the readiness with which he and they have at all times aided us in our researches.
2 We may note as follows (from the Return of the quantity of fish sold at Billingsgate in 1850) regarding certain species omitted from the above:—Turbot (from 2 to 16 lb. each) 2500 tons, or 800,000 fish. Brill and Mullet (3 lb. each) 1500 tons, or 1,200,000 fish.