6 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



compared with salmon produces a marked result on the fisheries. 

 If a farmer kills all his lambs, he cannot expect to have sheep. 



The great desire for salmon angling which is at present so 

 evident amongst sportsmen acts as a most important force in 

 the best interests of salmon fishing in all its branches. Associa- 

 tions of anglers are springing up in various parts of the country, 

 and so long as the effort to reduce netting is not carried out 

 in a purely selfish spirit, but in order to secure the increase of 

 the salmon by allowing a proportion of every run of fish into 

 fresh waters where they may naturally propagate their species, 

 the benefit gained is shared by all eventually. It may be 

 noticed, for instance, that in the Aberdeenshire Dee the action 

 of reducing fresh water netting by the Dee Angling Improve- 

 ment Association is supported financially by the Aberdeen 

 Harbour Commissioners (who net the coast and estuary), 

 because their fishings benefit from the increased number of 

 salmon in the district. I am fully aware that not a few anglers 

 exist who wish only to get the best sport which their money 

 can procure, and who regard the netsmen as their antagonists 

 and natural enemies. Long-line fishermen would rejoice to see 

 all the trawlers sunk for the same selfish reason. But salmon 

 must be supplied to the market, and the best marketable fish 

 come from the sea. Until trawling was introduced the sole 

 was scarcely seen on the British breakfast table. 



I have no hesitation in saying that salmon netting and 

 salmon angling can exist satisfactorily side by side ; the 

 question is one of regulation. There are immense difficulties 

 to be overcome in some districts before proper regulations can 

 be brought about. If from the pages that follow some appre- 

 ciation of what these particular difficulties are can be secured 

 we are a step nearer proper regulation. 



The order in which the various river-districts are arranged 

 is geographical, from the Tweed northwards round the coast, 

 along the Pentland Firth, and south on the west side of the 

 country to the Solway. 



