REASONS FOR THE DECREASE OF SALMON. 245 



is a great run of salmon on, of course the take is propor- 

 tionally larger. 



The old laws of Scotland required that a certain por- 

 tion of the weir in the centre of the river should always 

 be left open to the free passage of the fish. This was 

 called "the king's gap or share." They also enforced 

 what is called "the Saturday slop," when for a certain 

 period, embracing the Sunday, the whole of the traps 

 were thrown open, so that a perfectly free passage should 

 be left. These arrangements, being properly and fairly 

 enforced, always permitted a sufficient number of fish to 

 run up to stock the river. It might, however, be neces- 

 sary in the present day, as our fisheries are so much 

 reduced, and the nets have much increased, and the 

 drainage has so much altered the duration of floods, to 

 enlarge the gap somewhat, and to lengthen the duration 

 of the " Saturday slop" (at any rate for a time 1 ), in order 

 that a larger number of fish might be permitted to run 

 up, that the rivers might be the quicker and better re- 

 stocked, as has been done in the English Salmon Law. 



Lastly, we have those most destructive engines of all, 

 called stake and bag nets. The first of these is a net of a 

 certain depth, extending vertically upon stakes, and ending 

 like the brush-weir, in a maze of chambers. These stakes 

 are carried out as far as the shore and depth of water will 

 permit ; and if the stake-nets be not destructive enough, 

 beyond this, a net is often carried out a great distance fur- 

 ther by means of floating leaders and anchors, and is called 



1 By the new Scotch law, the "Saturday slop" is extended to 

 thirty-six hours. The English, however, is forty-two hours. 



