OF ENGLAND. 9 



From the foregoing table the extent of injury to 

 the seventeen rivers named in the Statute of 1714 

 may be easily calculated. It will be seen that of 

 the 18,247 square miles formerly available for 

 Salmon, being the area of Catchment Basin, there 

 are now only 6,607 square miles left accessible 

 for the fish, a large portion of which being nearer the 

 mouths of the rivers than at their upper waters, is 

 not fitted for breeding purposes ; there is therefore 

 only about one-third of the area left that existed 

 about one hundred years ago, whereas 11,640 square 

 miles have been destroyed or rendered nearly un- 

 productive by weirs and pollutions. 



The consequence of this great loss of spawning 

 ground to the fish has become very apparent, and, 

 whereas the Salmon Fisheries of Ireland were re- 

 ported by the Commissioners many years ago to 

 produce " 300,000 a-year and more," and they are 

 now estimated at a value of 330,00). It is very 

 improbable that the Salmon Fisheries of England and 

 Wales are worth 30,000 a-year, although the quantity 

 of water naturally available for Salmon in England is 

 far greater than in Ireland. There are seventy-three 

 mill weirs on the Severn, the rental of the water power 

 of which, as compared with steam power, we may 

 estimate at from 40 to 50 each, or say 3,650 a 

 year and to produce this amount of power the sal- 

 mon have been excluded from 324 miles of streams. 

 The money value of Salmon produced from the re- 

 maining streams (of 344 miles) we may estimate, by 

 Mr. Miller's Report, at from 6,000 to 7,000 a year ; 

 but if all the former breeding grounds had remained 

 accessible to Salmon over an area of 4,400 square 

 miles, it is possible that the gross produce of 

 the Severn might have been similar to the rivers 

 at Waterford, the income of which, as stated by 

 Mr. Ffennell, is 40,000 a-year, from an area 

 of 3,400 square miles, or to the gross produce 



