Salmon Legislation. 289 



make the law for saving the salmon keep pace with 

 the improvement and extension of the means for 

 killing it; and had there not been a revival of 

 interest in the good work, salmon would ere long 

 have only been seen in the cases of museums. 



The Legislature awaked to the necessity for ac- 

 tion in 1857. Since that time various measures, 

 notably those passed between 1861 and 1878, dealt 

 stringently with illegal fishing, close-time, and other 

 important matters ; and for the redress which these 

 Acts have afforded, proprietors and anglers have 

 always been grateful. Satisfied, however, they can- 

 not be : the questions of netting, weirs, and pollu- 

 tions, remain in a most unsatisfactory state, as the 

 yearly Keports of the Fishery Inspectors continue 

 to prove. 



Since the killing of spawning fish was prohib- 

 ited, there has naturally been an increase in the 

 number of salmon that come to the adult stage. 

 But though bigger fish may now be caught in the 

 rivers, clean fish, especially in the upper waters, 

 are few and far between. In spring, when a river 

 opens, many salmon are undoubtedly to be met 

 with ; but these are, for the most part, spawned 

 fish making their way to sea: nearly the whole 

 harvest of clean fish ascending the river is reaped 

 by the tacksmen and the nets, and comparatively 

 few reach the upper proprietors, until the season 



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