PROTECTIVE LAWS. 33 
England the length of nets has been limited ; their method 
of use is carefully watched and regulated by the local 
authorities ; their mesh has been restricted to a minimum 
size of two inches? from knot to knot, or eight inches round, 
except under the special authority of the local Conser- 
vators, who may allow the use of a mesh as small as six 
inches round ; a weekly close season lasting from 42 to 48 
hours? has been established, during which all fishing, 
except by rod and line,’ is prohibited ; a licence duty is 
imposed on instruments used for capturing salmon in 
England and Wales and Ireland, though not in Scotland, 
the funds derived from this source being placed at the 
disposal of the local Boards of Conservators appointed to 
enforce the laws for the protection of the salmon ; and, last 
but not least, an annual close season, never less than 154 
days,* has been fixed, during which no netting whatever is 
allowed. But most of these regulations are of modern 
origin, and the stringent application of all of them dates 
from quite recent times. Under the old laws a weekly 
close time, in England and Wales at least, was unknown. 
The size of the mesh of nets was, at any rate until the 
time of Queen Elizabeth, an unconsidered trifle, and net- 
makers were under no obligation to carefully adjust 
their “mashes” to suit the requirements of an Act of 
Parliament ; while the annual close season, if observed at 
all, certainly did not fulfil the object for which it was 
ordained, viz., the protection of the breeding fish. Indeed 
1? inch from knot to knot in Scotland and Ireland. 
2 Thirty-six hours in Scotland and forty-eight hours in Ireland. 
$ In England and Wales, putts and putchers, owing to the 
difficulty of putting them out of gear every Saturday, and restoring 
them again every Monday, are exempt from the weekly close season 
on paying the penalty of an increased annual close season. 
* One hundred and sixty-eight days in Scotland and Ireland. 
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