100 FISH FARMING: 



fish running up from the sea, to the fishery. These, then, are 

 the matters with which I propose next to deal, and, in con- 

 junction with a few hints given in the chapter on incubating 

 and hatching fish-eggs, they comprise all I have toi say on the 

 subject ast present. 



The formation of lakes, the manipulation of river-beds, and 

 the opening out of them to the seas in order that salmon and 

 seai-trout may mount to them in season, is: ai work of enormous 

 importance, not only to individuals, but to ths whole nation 

 at large ; so much so, indeed, that the process has baen appre- 

 ciated ais an " opportunity " by the legal fraternity, and, in 

 many cases, it is beset by legal objections, from, which the fish- 

 farmer has 1 , at times, some difficulty in steering clear. Briefly, 

 I may say thait wherever) any doubt occurs and, for that mat- 

 ter, even where it does not occur to the non-legal mind a few 

 pounds spent in consulting a lawyer before any work of im- 

 portance is undertaken is money well invested. You should 

 also become acquainted with the " requirements " of the 

 Board of Trade before erecting any fish-pass or other structure 

 thast is likely to influence any vested interest in a salmon 

 fishery. Having done these things, ycxu may be permitted to 

 go ahead, and, if you are the fortunate owner of a length of 

 river or ai lake that may be made accessible to migratory Sal- 

 monidae, your harvest will be a very rich one indeed. 



I could particularise scores of cases in which very large 

 sheets of water might be 1 transformed into salmon and sea- 

 trout lakes of great value, but I will refer here to two cases 

 only, and these merely to point my argument. Lough Mask, 

 in Co. Galway, Ireland, covers an area of over 25,000 acres, 

 and this enormous lake could be made into ai salmon and sea- 

 trout loch and its tributary streams proportionately benefited 

 if only a channel were cut and a fish-pass erected, so that Mask 

 was in direct communication with the sea by way of Lough 

 Corrib, and the work presents no engineering difficulties to 

 epeak of. In Argyllshire (Scotland) Loch Avich lies amidst 

 charming surroundings, but a fall on the river Avich prevents 

 it becoming a salmon and sea-trout loch. Yet, here again, this 



