THE LAW AS TO SALMON-FISHING 223. 



The treatment of the matter naturally falls under 

 two heads. 



I. The right to fish for salmon : in whom it vests 

 and upon what it rests. 



II. The legislation in favour of the salmon. 



I. The right to fish for salmon is vested through- 

 out the United Kingdom in the Crown or in subjects 

 who have acquired that right from the Crown. In 

 England and Ireland the Crown holds the right, 

 where it has retained it, on behalf of the public. In 

 Scotland the Crown holds it for its own benefit and as 

 a source of revenue. Thus we have in England and 

 Ireland a division of the right to fish for salmon into 

 a public and private right. 



In those countries there is in ancient navigable 

 rivers as far as the tide ebbs and flows, in estuaries 

 and on the sea-coast, a prima facie public right to fish 

 for salmon. This right may, however, be overridden 

 by the existence of some private right which an 

 individual may enjoy by virtue of grant or charter 

 from the Crown or by immemorial usage ; the onus 

 lying on the individual claiming such right to prove 

 its existence. In rivers made navigable by statute, 

 the public have no such right, nor have they in 

 ancient navigable rivers above where the tide ebbs 

 and flows, although this latter point has only been 



