THE LAW AS TO SALMON-FISHING 249 



settlement of this vexed question was attempted by 

 the bold experiment of permitting owners of several 

 tisheries in, and lessees of, land adjoining tidal waters 

 or estuaries to erect fixed engines, subject to certain 

 restrictions. They were not to impede navigation, 

 nor were they to be placed in or near the mouths of 

 narrow rivers, nor might they extend beyond high 

 or low water mark, nor be capable of taking under- 

 sized fish. Stake weirs, established for twenty years 

 before the passing of the Act, and head weirs were 

 not affected by these provisions. A rapid increase 

 in the number of bag nets followed upon this, and 

 a consequent decrease in the number of salmon. 

 Therefore, in 1863, the Act was amended, and bag 

 nets rendered illegal in inland and tidal waters and 

 within three miles of a river's mouth ; other fixed 

 engines in use in 1862 — and only those — were for 

 the future to be recognised as legal. Free gaps or 

 Queen's shares, under the Act of 1842, were made 

 compulsory in all cases of obstructions extending 

 more than half-way across a river, while in many 

 cases, upon the application of a fishery proprietor, 

 the Commissioners had power to make the same. 

 Special Commissioners were appointed under the Act 

 to inquire into the legality of all fixed nets, and to 

 order the removal of those found to be illegal or, in 



