21 



lative redress ; and was, though in part attributable to the cir- 

 cumstances and habits of the peasantry, principally encouraged 

 by the absence of an efficient police. 



" That it was also " referable to the peculiar nature of the 

 property, and the conflict of interests ivhich that occasions." 



That the most productive fisheries are situated nearest to the 

 mouths of the rivers, whereas the legal protection of the breed- 

 ing fish was principally requisite in the upper and shallow 

 waters ; and that such a natural conflict of interests was much 

 increased by malpractices pursued along the course of the 

 stream, for unduly intercepting the fish in their passage up- 

 wards. "These were," it is stated, "in some cases so success- 

 ful as to deprive the upper proprietors of all pecuniary interest 

 in the fisheries, and to render them absolutely indifferent to 

 poaching, and unwilling to co-operate, either in purse or in per- 

 son, towards its abatement." 



The next paragraph of the report discloses the superior 

 value of a river fishery where Public rights do not obtain or 

 rather, that where the possession of the property is private, 

 individual interest is found powerful to care for and insure 

 productiveness. The conclusion may be drawn, that the surest 

 system for promoting the improvement of river fisheries gene- 

 rally, will be found in sedulously guarding such Private rights 

 as exist in them, and in providing that they be held as safe 

 from encroachment as those of the public. 



" Wherever the lower fisheries are of sufficient value to pay 

 the expense of protection, and the shallow spawning places 

 are under the effectual control of the beneficiaries, the breed 

 seems to be adequately protected ; and few complaints are 

 then made of a deficiency of fish, arising from the use of 

 especial engines employed in lawful fishing : whence it may be 

 inferred, that disputes on that point relate rather to the distri- 

 bution of the property, than to its absolute quantity. Neither, 

 in such fisheries, is the exact period of close times a matter of 

 major concern : those interested in them naturally abstain from 

 what is injurious to themselves; whereas, the indiscriminate 

 take of salmon at all seasons is desirable only to the poacher, 

 or to the upper proprietor who has no marketable share in the 

 proceeds of the river. It is chiefly, therefore, where a rivalry 

 subsists between different classes of proprietors, that the proper 

 times of fishing, and the use of stake-nets and other well-con- 

 trived engines for capturing the fish, become matters of dispute 

 or litigation. 



" The extent to which this conflict of interest operates, is 

 cognizable in the contradictory nature of the evidence offered 

 in the various reports, as well respecting the natural history of 

 the fish, as the tendency of the several practical points in de- 



