FIXED NETS 195 



In no case does it give anyone the right to prevent the 

 natural passage of the salmon up the river, and thus 

 to deprive the riparian owners of their unalienable 

 privilege conferred by the natural run of salmon to 

 their own water.* 



There has been a constant conflict between public 

 and private interest in this matter. So early as the 

 Magna Charta all fishing weirs and fixed nets were 

 abolished, except on the sea-coasts. Later on fixed 

 nets were repeatedly declared illegal, and their creation 

 was prohibited by statute in the Salmon Fishing Act 

 of 1861, which forms the basis of the regulations at 

 present in force. Fixed nets were definitely abolished 

 except where legal rights to maintain them could be 

 conclusively proved. It must, therefore, be evident 

 that fixed nets are incompatible with the maintenance 

 of the various rights of fishing under the common law, 

 and it follows that when any net fishing is carried on 

 ruthlessly in narrow rivers, such as the Tyne, during 

 three-quarters of each week, during which time in 

 ordinary weather no salmon succeeds in passing the 

 netters, a very serious wrong is being done to the upper 

 waters. The portion of the river netted may be only 

 one-tenth of the length of the river up which the salmon 

 would run, the number of persons employed in netting 

 only one-hundredth of those who have a natural 

 claim, or who are otherwise personally interested in the 

 rivers such as the riparian owners, gillies, boatmen, 

 keeper, inn-keepers, etc. and yet, forsooth, the far 



* See Appendix, Salmon v. Trout. 



132 



