EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION xvii 



intervals must be quite usual. It is a valuable 

 provision by nature against the failure of any one 

 year's run of fish or harvest of eggs. There will 

 always be some fish in the sea ready for next year 

 or the year after. 



These discoveries obviously help to a clear under- 

 standing of the needs of the salmon and would enable 

 conservators to frame sound provisions for its 

 protection, provided that there were no outside 

 hindrances. The new knowledge emphasises the 

 importance of (a) assisting the breeding fish to 

 reach the spawning beds, and (b) of ensuring the 

 safety of the ova which they deposit there and of 

 the little parr which are hatched out from those 

 ova. If the majority of salmon only spawn once in 

 their lives it is more than ever essential to enable 

 a due proportion of them to do so successfully. 



The position of the kelt, or spent salmon, seems 

 to be raised by the facts just stated. Is the kelt 

 worth preserving ? The answer to this is, yes, 

 because there is always the chance that it may 

 return to sea, recover its condition, and return to the 

 river to spawn again. A considerable number of 

 salmon, especially of the male fish, die after the 

 exertions of spawning, and it improbable that of 

 those which do not die a fair proportion will spawn 

 again. 



The kelt brings us to the old yet ever fresh debate 

 as to whether salmon feed in fresh water. Many 

 anglers hold firmly to a belief that they do, and some 

 are convinced that hungry kelts are as ravenous as 

 pike. I think the latest and most informed opinion 



