180 SALMONID^ OF BRITAIN. 



Sucli fish a 6 ascend rivers, prior to the anadromous shoals migratinj^ for hrcftding 

 purposes, arc generally good as food, at. least up to G lb. or 7 lb., and but little 

 inferior to the salmon, especially when they have piuk flesh. But in some places, 

 as already alluded to, the young fish deteriorate in quality the longer they are 

 absent from the sea. In the Usk, however, the core or bull trout are very bad 

 eating although they ascend early. While in certain rivers poisonous substances 

 having obtained access appear to have adversely influenced the character of 

 the fi.sh. Buckland observed that sea trout are not such a good table fish as 

 the salmon, and the flesh cuts white (but this is not universally the case), while 

 he remarked that the French prefer it to salmon. 



Legislation. — If the sea and bi'ook trout are merely varieties of one species, 

 this might give rise to awkward inquiries of how the former in Scotland have 

 been decided to belong to the salmon proprietor but not so necessarily the 

 fresh-water trout which are placed in a totally different category. " In a Tweed 

 Act (15 Geo. III. c. 4G) occurs the definition ' Salmon, grilse, salmon-trout, or 

 whitling,' consequently it must be upwards of 100 yeai's since sea trout were 

 legally defined as pertaining to the salmon fisheries." 



Diseases. — Those affecting salmon (p. 109 ante et seq.) are similarly observed 

 attackiiig the sea trout. Even so long ago as Pontoppidan (Natural History of 

 Noncaij, 1755, p. 139) are allusions to disease affecting these fish. He asserted 

 the salmon-trout, Trutta taurina, to be a very common fish in the fresh lakes and 

 rivers, but many of them are subject to a sort of disease so that they cannot be 

 eaten. The head grows very largo and the body emaciated, while in their entrails 

 are found pimples resembling millet seed. Some ascribed it as due to the sawdust 

 from the mills falling into the river, while others considered it to be retained roe 

 which had become diseased. This complaint was asserted not to affect the non- 

 migi-atory fresh-water trout, and was possibly seen in kelts. 



Under this head may be included the result of suspending the incidence of the 

 close-season, for I have already remarked (p. 67 ante), how H.M. Inspectors of 

 Fisheries, finding sea trout present in the Coquet, but salmon absent, concluded 

 that the former had destroyed the lattei-, and how if they in turn were eradicated 

 the true salmou would ag'ain flourish. Acting on this theoretical opinion leave 

 was obtained in 1868 to suspend the close time for bull trout, or in other words, 

 to capture the shoals ascending to breed, and the numbers netted were aa 

 follows : — 



Open season. Fish. Close season. Fisli. Total. 



1868 Feb. 1st to Aug. 31st 1757 Sept. 1st to Dec. 1st 26,350 . . 28,107 



1869 „ „ „ 1747 „ „ „ 15,464 . . 17,211 



1870 „ ., „ 770 „ „ „ 10,687 . . 11,457 



1871 „ „ „ 4434 „ „ „ 9,188 . . 13,622 

 The massacre was now very sensibly put an end to, but it is interesting as 



showing how I'apidly the destruction of spawning fish entails diminution of the 

 stock in a river. Then as to size, during 1868, '69 and '70, the take during the 

 open season averaged 5 lb. a fish, in the close season 4 lb. a fish : in 1871 the 

 average weight of the fish taken during the open season had decreased to 4 lb., 

 while those taken during the close season had risen to 5 lb. 



llahitat. — The sea trout is found in northern Europe ascending rivers falling 

 into the Baltic, North Sea, the seas surrounding the British Isles, and the Seine 

 and the Loire in Franco. 



In the Orkneys, Low observed that it is found in great quantities in the Loch 

 nf Stcnniss, through the wlmle summer. They do not grow so lai'ge as the 

 river trout, Salmo fario, neither are they so much esteemed, their flesh being white 

 and onlj' moderately good. During harvest they ascend to the smallest streams to 

 spawn subsequent to which they return to the sea. It is common along tlie east 

 coast of Scotland, and llusscl calculated that in the Tweed it is as numerous as 

 ihe salmon and grilse combined : to the south of the Tweed fifty to every salmon 



are able by means of the fish pass to get up again to the fresh water ■which formerly they could 

 not do except in floods, and that rarely." 



