INTRODUCTION xxv 



or semi-land vertebrates make inroad on the fish, against which it 

 is necessary to take repressive measures as, in this connexion, 

 vermin. And, as in sporting, there are qualified and unqualified 

 fishers. The right to fish and fishing was originally vested in the 

 crown, and the privilege to fish up to the time of Henry II was by 

 royal franchise. But, by Magna Charta, the crown was deprived 

 of the right of conferring such franchises in future, although it con- 

 tinued all such as had not been conferred subsequently to the date 

 mentioned. When a person's land adjoins a stream where there 

 is no ebb and flow, that person is assumed to have an exclusive right 

 to fish in the stream as far as his land extends, and up to the middle 

 of the stream. When a person's property adjoins both banks of a 

 stream, that person is of course assumed to have the exclusive 

 right of fishing in the whole breadth of the stream. So also when a 

 person's land encloses a pond, the fish in that pond belong to him. 

 When several properties are contiguous to the same lake, the right 

 of fishing in that lake is vested in the proprietors, and the public 

 have no right to fish in such lake even when it is bordered at some 

 part by a public road. The right to fish, therefore, is vested in the 

 landed proprietors with reference to the waters which are enclosed 

 in, which run through, or are contiguous to their lands. 



The fisheries, as regards the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries 

 Acts administration, are in the hands of local boards of conser- 

 vators appointed for the purpose, with the Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries as the central authority. Districts may be formed, 

 and Boards of Conservators appointed for waters containing sal- 

 mon, or freshwater fish. These Boards have power to make bye- 

 laws, not only for the regulation of the fisheries for salmon and fresh- 

 water fish, but also in certain cases for the regulation of other kinds 

 of fishing which are prejudicial to such fisheries. They are also 

 empowered to issue licences for fishing for salmon, trout, etc., and 

 make regulations in respect of close time for freshwater fish. 



Fisheries, especially inland fisheries in lakes and rivers, are thus 

 protected and encouraged in various ways by laws applicable to 

 the several districts, and infringement of the regulations punishable 

 by fine or imprisonment, unqualified fishers the unlicensed poachers, 

 being amenable to the Fishery Laws. Fishing, therefore, is pro- 

 tected against unright entering on another's fishery without leave 

 and dependent for continuance upon conservation and culture, 

 safeguarding against undue depletion by either its votaries, or that 

 of vermin, whether ground or winged. 



FORESTRY. The total area of woods and plantations in the 

 United Kingdom is 3,069,375 acres, the trees, undergrowth and 

 open spaces of which afford shelter and (to some extent) food for 

 many wild and semi-wild land vertebrates, timber for fencing, 

 structures, implements, and other requirements of civilized life. 



