82 THE LAW OF SCOTLAND 



dealing with pollution, but this is too large a sub- 

 ject to be entered upon here. 



Two points in the Salmon Acts must be kept 

 in view by all trout-fishers who wish to avoid 

 getting into trouble. The first of these is the 

 enactment which declares it to be illegal to use 

 any fish roe as a bait, or even to possess it with- 

 out a satisfactory reason ; and the other is the 

 prohibition of the capture of parr or smolts, or, 

 broadly speaking, the yOung of any migratory fish 

 of the salmon kind. This latter provision is only 

 in force, so far as the Tweed and tributaries are 

 concerned, during the months of April and May, 

 but throughout the rest of the country it is 

 operative all the year round. 



We cannot conclude without calling attention 

 to what is undoubtedly a grievous blot on the 

 law of Scotland as regards trout-fishing, the 

 want, namely, of a close time. In these days, 

 when the gradual depopulation of our streams 

 is universally admitted and deplored, it is not 

 very creditable that this simple reform should 

 have been so long delayed. How urgently it is 

 called for must be known to every one who is in 

 the habit of visiting any of the stretches of open 

 water throughout the country. During the 

 spawning season large numbers of fish, quite 

 unfit either for food or sport, are annually 



