274 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



fishing. The total rental was 410, and in this year 15,204 Ib. 

 weight of fish were captured. In 1858, 6,089 Ib. weight of 

 fish was the take, and in 1859, 7,331 Ib. were captured. 



The lease had been for three years, and at the expiry of 1859 

 the lease was not renewed, and the rental dropped to 305. 



From 1860 onwards, another period of angling supervened 

 for twelve years. 



In 1873 a reversal of the netting policy was adopted. It 

 had been seen that under net and coble alone these small rivers 

 soon went back. Now, at the end of twelve years of rod-fishing 

 alone, the streams were again most fully stocked. The course 

 now followed was to keep the sweep nets off and to keep the 

 cruives off these last were indeed allowed to fall into ruin or 

 were removed and to allow bag nets once more on the coast. 

 By this time the Salmon Acts of 1862 and 1868 had come into 

 force, and each river had its prescribed estuary within which 

 fixed nets of any kind could not be employed. The bag- 

 netting rental was fixed at 400, and the rod-fishing yielded 

 360, making a total of 760. 



This policy adopted in 1873 has not since been changed, and 

 to the present day the bag nets continue to fish very much as 

 they did then, although in 1891 a station was taken off. This 

 was Fanagmore Station, which yielded on an average 4| per 

 cent, of the total catch. The totals since 1873 are of interest, 

 and the rental soon rose above 1 , 000 . The yield of the fishings 

 are given in Ib. weight : 



Lb. 



61,010 

 109,795 

 67,900 

 53,584 

 41,013 

 47,540 

 72,564 

 54,097 



Year. 

 1890 

 1891 

 1892 

 1893 

 1894 

 1895 

 1896 

 1897 



Lb. 



68,072 

 68,499 

 42,197 

 55,357 

 66,447 

 82,461 

 69,023 

 31,389 



It is remarkable that during the above period of 25 years, 

 when netting was restricted to the use of fixed engines .on the 

 coast, the nets yielded on an average 60,338 Ib. weight of 

 salmon per annum, or more than six times the amount yielded 

 when only sweep nets in the rivers and at their mouths were 



