78 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 



cleared of nets and famous for salmon angling, 

 should be sufficient to show that such a policy re- 

 sults in the creation of a valuable sea fishery. In 

 the river in question, moreover, between 5000 and 

 6000 fish can be taken by sweep-net at the river 

 mouth without interfering with the full supply of 

 fish for angling and breeding. 



A question most commonly asked when salmon 

 marking is mentioned is. Do salmon return to their 

 own rivers ? The widespread belief that they do is 

 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred based on mere 

 hearsay evidence, but it is none the less satisfactory 

 to know that the salmon marking experiments verify 

 the belief. As may almost already have been 

 gathered from the cases cited, the great majority 

 of fish do so return. From time to time, however, 

 fish turn up in other rivers as exceptions to the 

 general rule. In Scotland a Helmsdale fish was 

 caught in the Halladale, 90 miles distant by the 

 coast line. Similarly a Spey fish was caught in the 

 Dee, 90 miles distant. The first fish went north, 

 the other south. Other transferences are less dis- 

 tant. Helmsdale to Brora, a distance of only 12 

 miles — Deveron to Spey, and Spey to Deveron. In 

 Ireland a remarkable case is reported by Mr. Holt 

 in the first report of the Irish marking. The fish 

 was marked D 95, on January 1, 1901, after having 

 been caught, conveyed to Kilrea, on the Bann, and 

 impounded there for hatchery purposes, stripped, 

 and then allowed to rest for three days. The re- 

 capture was made 200 miles distant in the tidal 

 waters of the Bundrowes, on April 9, 1901. The 



