matured observations of commissioners of fisheries, accompanied 

 by such remarks as may show where the policy or principles 

 laid down would seem to have been erroneous, or incorrectly 

 applied. 



An essay of this description will perhaps be serviceable in 

 spreading knowledge on a subject of much importance to this 

 country one on which there appears to be a want of general 

 information, and a long and lamentable neglect of invigorating 

 measures towards its development, as a great natural resource. 



VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SALMON FISHERIES OF IRELAND. 



The value and importance of the Salmon Fisheries of this 

 country, as a source of national wealth, has always been con- 

 siderable, and their regulation and improvement has accordingly 

 occupied the attention of its rulers for many ages. The extent 

 to which their produce is susceptible of being increased depends 

 upon various causes : among these the most prominent are the 

 advantages conferred by nature. A slight survey of the geogra- 

 phical character of Ireland, of her numerous rivers and broad 

 lakes, more in number and more suited by natural character 

 and qualities as nurseries for the salmon tribe than are found in 

 any similar area of country attributable partly to the humidity 

 of the climate, will show the extent to which they may be cul- 

 tivated, considering the vast field thus afforded for spawning- 

 ground, and shelter for the parent fish and brood. 



The absence of populous commercial cities, which destroy 

 the fishery of the rivers on which they are seated, and the 

 characteristics of our tributary streams their clear and rapid 

 flow over beds of gravel, such as are required by the peculiar 

 constitution of the salmon kind for breeding purposes point 

 out the Inland fisheries of this country as possessing capabilities 

 superior to those of Great Britain.* Those of England have 



* A paper on the salmon fisheries was given to the Select Committee of 1824 

 by the eminent naturalist and philosopher, Sir Humphrey Davy, in which the 

 habits of the salmon are briefly traced, and thence the theory laid down for its 

 preservation. It appears that the ova of the salmo genus require running water to 

 insure vitality water saturated with air ; they must be constantly washed 

 by fresh portions of water, in a rapid stream, or under a current. This fact 

 shows the necessity for that wonderful instinct of the fish, which, preparatory 

 to the breeding season, leads them to quit the sea, and force their way through 

 rapids, over falls, and through great lakes, to the remote sources of rivers, 

 where their eggs may be deposited in pure aerated water. When the warmth 

 of the atmosphere vivifies the eggs, the fry are described as rising from their 

 gravelly bed like a thick braird of grain, or sprouting like barley in process of 

 malting. The tail comes up first, and they float to the surface with the shell of 

 the pea attached to their heads. The number of eggs in a single roe is said to 

 average 17,000 ; but of this great increase from a pair of salmon, only an average 

 of 800 are believed to come to perfection, the spawn being either destroyed, or 

 the fry and young fish devoured by natural enemies, such as trout, the larger 

 tribe of fishes of the sea, and herons, otters, and eagles on land. Sir Humphry 

 Davy was a brother of the angle, and accordingly his views as to protection 



