118 SALMONID^ OF BRITAIN. 



4054 ; Clwyd and Elwy, 2400 ; Conway, by rod, 118 ; Seiont, 1429 ; Cleddy, by 

 rod, 250 ; Usk, by rod, 825 ; Severn, 20,000 ; Avon, Brue, and Parrett, 600 ; 

 Avon and Ernie, excluding nets, 116 ; Teign, 1020 ; Exe, by rod, 265 ; Avon and 

 Stour, 1515 ; Trent, 3150 ; Torksliire, 3237 ; Esk (Yorkshire), 5940 ; Tyne, 21,286. 



about 1838-39, aiul at once the produce of the fishery began to decline, so they were abolished 

 in 1842 by an Act of Parliament within a distance of 4^ miles on each side of the mouth of the 

 river. But the killing "hang-net" now came into use, and stake-nets were fixed beyond the 

 4;|-niile limit. In the river were destructive mill dams and fishing weirs, and the one nearest the 

 mouth of the river at Bywell was most disastrous to the fisheries, but in 1862 a flood carried away 

 a portion of this weir which was not subsequently restored. Fish being able to pass this 

 obstruction had now twelve miles of good water and other valuable breeding grounds. Other 

 weirs were now altered or abolished, and in 1867 it was stated that there had "been a very 

 large increase of salmon caught both by rod and net. It was currently reported and believed that 

 as much as £700 worth had been caught in one flood, which was unprecedented." In 1884 it was 

 suggested as quite possible that the pollutions poured into the mouth of this river being in a more 

 than usually concentrated form owing to the absence of floods, may have had the effect of keepmg 

 the fish further away from the most productive fishing grounds near the mouth of the river. 

 The computed annual takes were thus estimated, 1880, 27,466 salmon, 1881, 80,098 salmon, and 

 it was agreed that it was of no further use going to the expense of collecting statistics. In the 

 Annual Rejwrt of the Inspector of Fisheries we are told that in 1888, 32,566,salmon were taken, 

 and in 1884, 21,286. ., ^ , . •, 



The Chester Dee is a medium river, few clean-run fish being obtamed until March or April, 

 while it has every natural advantage of being an excellent salmon stream were it not for the 

 incessant netting and poaching which is carried on. The laws enacted in 1861 resulted m a 

 slight improvement by protection, but this was soon neutralized by an undue employment 

 of destructive implements of capture in the lower waters. It was only in 1878 that trammel 

 nets were legalized, which was done because as their employment could not be stopped, the 

 conservators deemed it better to obtain a revenue from them to assist in protecting the river. In 

 1866 47 draft-nets paid for licenses, in 1882-83 there were 63, in 1884, 85, and in 1885, 96. 

 But the licensed trammel-nets had only averaged from seven to eight. The following is the 

 report of this river for 1885, that " the draft-nets have doubled in number in four years : that 

 the profits of the fishermen have decreased : that few fish escape them during the fishing season : 

 that the upper proprietors, on whom the preservation of the spawning beds must always in a 

 great measure depend, have become dissatisfied and disheartened : and that, whether the actual 

 decrease of the last years is permanent or not, the stock of fish in the river fails to improve." _ In 

 the evidence before the Commissioners in 1860, it was stated that during the last fortnight 

 of August there are fish which are not fit to expose in the shops. Eespecting the canal, Mr. 

 Horsfall observed, "In my opinion there are fry going down every month " (No. 8265). While 

 in 1884 it was reported that smolts " had been taken as late as September or October." The 

 average annual captures by nets in three years, ending 1883, were recorded as 11,645, the least 

 being 10,935 in 1882, and the most 12,500 in 1881. 



The Severn is an early river, and in 1860 complaints were made that subsequent to the 

 erection of the weirs at Worcester and other places the fish had found their ascent more difficult. 

 Shad and flounders had almost ceased ascending to the upper waters, lampreys had been entirely 

 stopped, and the common eels had considerably diminished in numbers: that grayling, which had 

 been abundant up to 1856, likewise had nearly disappeared. A few fine clean-run salmon ascend 

 in January and February, while after the middle of May " there are plenty of samlets but no 

 salmon-fry." At Gloucester, one witness considered that clean-run fish are shyer in ascending 

 weirs than gravid ones, and consequently do not so persistently push up. Mr. W. Viner Ellis 

 observed that, " in 1792, which was a remarkable year, in one week, from 29th of January to the 

 5th of February, it is on record with us that in four fisheries we caught 292 new fish, weighing 

 4583 lb." The number of salmon reported as taken in the river for the five years ending 1884, 

 gave the annual average of 20,200 fish, the smallest number being 15,500 in 1882, and the largest 

 30,000 in 1883. It would seem from the recorded figures that occasionally a good year for 

 capturing salmon is followed by two or three seasons' decline in the takes, while it is sometimes 

 the case that for one or two years prior to a large harvest being secured there have been augmented 

 captures. 



The Wye is likewise an early river, and, as regards young salmon, we are told in the Report of 

 the Commission in 1860, that people were fishing for skirlings that very day ; while the chairman, 

 on September 20th (Question 2670), asked, "Are you confining the term ' lastpring ' to the fish 

 that are going to the sea in the spring, or do you include in it the ' lastpring ' that are in the river 

 just now ? " Mr. J. Staunton replied to Question No. 2690, on September 20th : " I would almost 

 engage to catch 9 lb. or 10 lb. of lastprings any day at this particular season, when the water is 

 low " in the small tributaries. 



The Usk is rather a late river ; clean fish are found high up about the beginning or middle of 

 April. In 1860 evidence was adduced that the chief spawning period was from the end of 

 November to the middle of January ; that the first great run of breeding fish up the river was in 

 July or August and early in September ; that every October there was a heavy run of fish ; and 

 that an occasional fish breeds as early as October. Mr. Stretton also observed that skirlings or 

 salmon fry were killed "all the way down the river in the spring and later on in the summer" 



