1 86 Poachers and Poaching. 



another by the tail, a third by the yolk-sac, and 

 in another instance two bladders had seized the 

 same fish, one holding on at each extremity. In 

 spite of all this tiny ferocity it must be admitted 

 that this little plant poacher is more interesting 

 than dangerous, and so long as it confines its 

 attention to coarse fish neither the salmon-fisher 

 nor trout-angler will concern himself much about 

 its aquatic depredations. 



There is one wholesale method of destruction 

 which particularly affects salmon, which cannot 

 be passed over. This is done by almost in- 

 numerable nets, and is usually practised at the 

 mouths of rivers and generally without the 

 slightest regard to the economy of the fish supply. 

 And it has been found that as salmon and the 

 means of transit increase, so does the number 

 of destructive nets. Theoretically, legislation is 

 levelled against this wanton destruction, but 

 practically the law is a dead letter. At every 

 tide, in certain seasons, hundreds of thousands 

 of salmon-fry and smolts are sacrificed ; and in 

 a certain firth it is recorded how a fisherman 

 in his nets walked, in many places, knee deep 

 in dead smolts, and that the ground for a con- 

 siderable distance was silvered with their scales. 

 Under these circumstances the samlets some- 

 times accumulate to such an extent that they 

 have to be carted on to the nearest land and 

 used as manure. This waste of valuable fish 



