Close -Time for Trout. 335 



boards, river proprietors, and others, the question 

 of a close-time for trout; and in his First Eeport to 

 the Fishery Board (1882), he thus states the general 

 nature of the replies which he received: 



" The great majority of the answers were in favour 

 of such a close-time for trout as there is in England and 

 Ireland, though a few were decidedly against it, chiefly 

 on the ground that trout are great destroyers of salmon 

 ova and fry, and that, therefore, they should be dis- 

 couraged instead of protected in a salmon-river. 



" There is considerable difference of opinion amongst 

 those who are in favour of a close-time for trout and 

 char, with reference to the period over which it should 

 extend, some being in favour of a close-time the same 

 as that for salmon ; others preferring from 1st October 

 to 1st March, or from 1st October to 15th February; 

 whilst some would have it during the months when the 

 smolts are descending to the sea, with the view of thus 

 preventing the destruction of smolts by ignorant and 

 unscrupulous anglers. Considering the lateness of many 

 of the Highland lochs and streams particularly on the 

 west coast, in the Hebrides, and in the Orkney and 

 Shetland Islands, I venture to think that, if there is to 

 be a close-time for trout and char, the best period 

 would, on the whole, be from 15th October to 1st 

 March." 



It is of course impossible to secure entire unanimity 

 on any question, but it is hopeful to find that the vast 

 majority of river conservators and proprietors are on 

 the side of trout-preservation. The few who urge or 

 favour its destruction in the declared interests of the 

 salmon, may be selfish, but they are certainly short- 

 sighted. To keep the rivers open during the winter 

 for the avowed purpose of slaying the trout in order to 

 preserve the salmon would most completely defeat the 

 end they desire to secure, as the present state of affairs 



