CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



A large number of what we may call 'fancy fish' 

 are now brought to market, that fifty years ago 

 would not have been taken by fishermen such 

 as the red and gray mullet, a delicious fish, more 

 especially the red variety ; the eel, in which there 

 is a very large commerce ; and many others ; in- 

 deed, so great is now the demand for sea-produce of 

 all kinds, that we should not be surprised to find a 

 good market for the dog-fish, which, at certain 

 seasons of the year, notably during the herring- 

 fishing, literally swarm on the Scottish sea-board. 

 With the excellent cat-fish we are becoming 

 familiar ; it is frequently served at fish-dinners as 

 the ' John Dory,' and is set down as the bonne 

 bouche of the banquet ! 



V. THE SALMON-FISHERIES : ANGLERS* FISHES. 



The salmon, a fish of great individual value, has 

 long been esteemed a luxury of the table ; and 

 being, in a sense, the private property of persons 

 fortunate enough to be owners of a salmon river, 

 or part of one, it has been specially legislated 

 for, and is well protected by acts of parliament 

 passed to determine at what seasons it should 

 be fished for, and during what periods it should 

 be left in peace to repeat the story of its birth, 

 a 'close time' being essential for the preserva- 

 tion of the breed. At one period, the salmon 

 was a plentiful fish throughout the United King- 

 dom, and in Ireland as well, and was retailed 

 to all who were pleased to purchase, at the 

 rate of from a penny to threepence per pound- 

 weight. It is, however, about half a century since 

 such prices were current : the opening up of the 

 London markets, and even those of continental 

 cities, consequent upon the introduction of steam- 

 transport, very speedily raised the price of salmon 

 to a rate which prohibited all but very wealthy 

 people from purchasing it. A common enough 

 price for this fish is half a crown per pound- weight 

 for fine cuts ; but early in the season, when the rivers 

 are opening, ten shillings a pound-weight can be 

 obtained in the West-end fish-shops of London. 

 Thus, a salmon of ten or twelve pound-weight, 

 which has cost its proprietor nothing for food, is 

 at some periods of the year of far more value 

 than a sheep reared at considerable expense, 

 from parents which cost a large sum of money. 

 The high price obtained for this fine fish in the 

 English markets induced over-fishing, and, as a 

 consequence, the breeding-stock was broken in 

 upon, and the economy of many of the best 

 rivers deranged. As Lord Polwarth said, eighteen 

 years ago, when addressing a meeting of salmon 

 lairds : ' You are living upon principal and interest, 

 a system which would speedily ruin any property.' 



The salmon is, more than any other fish, a victim 

 to the depredations of pirates of all kinds. The 

 spawn is exposed to the greatest injuries which the 

 floods in the breeding-rivers can inflict, whole 

 beds of it being carried away by the ' spates ' of 

 winter, long before the egg has time to be hatched. 

 And if fortunate enough not to be swept away by 

 the flood, the eggs or ova become the prey of trout, 

 worms, the larvae of insects, and water-fowl, or are 

 parched by the sun, if the water which covers them 

 should happen, as is often enough the case, to be 

 dried up, or run into a new channel. Even when 

 spared from all these perils, the instant it is hatched 

 the fish is exposed to new dangers ; and more 

 712 



especially in the parr state is it destroyed 

 thousands, becoming the easy prey of every ju\ 

 nile angler in the neighbourhood of our salmor 

 rivers. Instances, indeed, are known where these 

 valuable fry have been caught in incredible num- 

 bers, for the purpose of feeding the swine of the 

 neighbouring cottagers. 



There are also many other causes which 

 have influenced the declining supply ; and pror 

 nent among these an enormous destruction 

 grilses, and the annual massacre of spawning fish 

 which used to take place. The capture of grilse at 

 some of the fishing stations used to far outnumber 

 that of salmon, and when it is considered that not 

 one of these fish had been allowed to deposit its 

 spawn before being killed, it will be at once seen 

 how much this in time affected our supplies. Each 

 grilse which the greed of profit induces people to 

 kill before it is allowed to breed, will average from 

 four to five pound-weight, and as the spawn is 

 supposed to average icoo eggs for each pound the 

 salmon weighs, the number of future fish thus 

 destroyed must have been immense. For instance, 

 during a certain period of five years, the take 

 of grilse on the Tweed in round numbers was 

 140,000 ; in previous years it averaged higher 

 than that ; but if we assume the spawn in each 

 of the female fish at 3000, and take two-thirds 

 of the number as females, or take 100,000 as 

 such, the quantity of eggs destroyed would be 

 nearly 300,000,000. If we suppose that even 

 a hundredth part of this number of eggs had 

 been allowed to grow up and reach the fish- 

 monger's shop in the shape of full-grown salmon, 

 we may see how completely the salmon proprietors 

 had been exemplifying the proverb, and killing the 

 goose that laid the golden eggs. Another evil 

 with which salmon have to contend is the system 

 of netting and 'leistering' which prevails, and which 

 is still greatly resorted to in the breeding-time. 

 The rivers are now so well watched as to have 

 rendered the practice more infrequent than it was in 

 the days of Sir Walter Scott and the Ettrick Shep- 

 herd, both of whom have described it with great 

 power. Still, there must be a considerable loss 

 from this source of illegal capture, as it is certain 

 that salmon-poaching and the sale of foul fish are 

 still carried on to a great extent, and the poachers, 

 when they get into trouble, are greatly sympathised 

 with, it being nothing uncommon for any fine 

 which the magistrates may inflict upon them to be 

 paid by a general subscription of the people of the 

 district, where the peasantry still think they have 

 a ' right ' to kill the fish when they can get them. 



There can be no doubt whatever that present 

 legislation has improved the salmon-fisheries. 

 Not only are more fish brought to market, but 

 these are of a greater average weight, and are gene- 

 rally in finer condition than at one time, especially 

 in the earlier part of the season. The economy 

 of a salmon-river is only now beginning to be 

 understood. It has dawned upon the minds of 

 the lessees of the lower fishings, where most of the 

 fish are got, that if a good breeding-stock is not 

 allowed to ascend to the upper waters, it is cer- 

 tain that in a year or two the supply will begin to 

 diminish. 



With this view, on some salmon-rivers, artificial 



spawning has been resorted to, to keep up or in- 



. crease the supplies. In connection with the 



I salmon-fisheries of the Tay, there is a suite of 



