SALMON-FISHING AS AN INDUSTRY 



The close season, whether for nets or rods, varies slightly 

 in different parts of the country; but for nets it may 

 never be less than 154 days; and no fresh salmon taken 

 from any part of the United Kingdom may be sold 

 between September 3 and February 1, and none exported 

 between September 3 and April 30. Heavy penalties are 

 attached to the taking or selling of salmon, either im- 

 mediately before or immediately after spawning. 



For the further protection of the fish, a weekly close 

 time has been settled of from forty-two to forty-eight 

 hours of each week-end in England, thirty-six in Scotland, 

 and forty-eight in Ireland. 



Another legal point worth noting is as to the proprietor- 

 ship of the fish. In England they are common property 

 as long as they remain in the sea, and while in the rivers 

 they belong to the great landlords ; but in Scotland the 

 sea-salmon, found between the shore and a mile beyond 

 low-water mark, belong to the Crown or those who hold 

 from the Crown. 



The North Country fishing is done with a kind of seine 

 called a sweep-net, which the men shoot from small boats 

 (cobles). In towing ashore, the net is brought in half- 

 moonshaped instead of circular, and swiftly instead of 

 gradually. These nets are the only ones allowed in 

 estuaries, but others are used for shore-fishing and for 

 English and Scotch deep-water work. The stake-net, as 

 it is called, is found on various spots on the coast south of 

 the Tweed, and comes perilously near being a salmon-trap. 

 Two parallel rows of stakes covered with netting are placed 

 between the high- and low-water marks in such a manner 



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