UNCLEAN AND UNSEASONABLE SALMON. 127 



If the word "unclean" had been inserted in the 

 indictment, I do not see how a conviction could 

 have been avoided ; but, in the absence of that word, 

 if the decision of the Sheriff of the Selkirkshire 

 Court is to be established as a precedent, and 

 the autumn salmon that are almost in the act of 

 spawning, are allowed to be killed by anglers with 

 impunity, with what justice can any person be 

 convicted in future, for killing a spent or gravid 

 salmon during the spring months ? Many a poor 

 man has been fined and sent to prison for killing 

 gravid and spent fish in the spring of the year, 

 whereas any one may gaff and kill gravid fish at 

 the back end of the season, and no notice is taken 

 of it. 



Which of the two proceedings, may I ask, is the 

 most injurious to a future supply ? Anglers kill- 

 ing spent fish which devour thousands of smolts 

 in their passage to sea during the spring months, 

 as well as a few gravid fish whose ova are almost 

 worthless for breeding purposes ; or, the wholesale 



