SALMON LEGISLATION. 175 



nature of property tenures. Excepting as to the ques- 

 tion of fixed engines, it is not necessary now and here 

 to refer to anything beyond the main provisions of the 

 existing law, which passed in 1862. The annual close- 

 time, which had previously been 124 days, with varying 

 dates, is now 168 days, as in Scotland, with dates vary- 

 ing in different districts at the will of the Commissioners, 

 and angling is permitted for the whole period from 1st 

 February to 1st November. The weekly close-time 

 extends from six on Saturday morning to six on Mon- 

 day morning, being twelve hours more than the Scotch 

 weekly close-time, and six hours more than the English. 

 In minor matters the provisions of the existing Irish 

 law do not differ materially from the English and Scotch 

 laws. Regarding fixed engines, both the history and the 

 present state of the Irish laws are too complicated to 

 admit of more than an imperfect description. In Ireland, 

 as everywhere else, stake and bag nets were innovations 

 upon the old methods, introduced at comparatively re- 

 cent dates ; and, though there were judicial decisions 

 holding them illegal both at statute and common law, 

 the practical questions as to their removal were greatly 

 encumbered by the varieties and dubieties of the tenures 

 on which fisheries were held. In 1842, an Act was got 

 through Parliament, partaking, at least in appearance, of 

 the nature of a compromise, sanctioning a few of the 

 existing fixtures, and these only. It is or was com- 

 plained, however, that, besides in these few cases making 

 legal what had been illegal, this Act, by an indirect 

 process, gave a quasi legality to almost all the fixtures, 

 the imperfections of the law being greatly aggravated by 



