130 ABSTRACT OF EVIDENCE 



to be a distinct species ; differ little from the sal- 

 mon in form ; they spawn and return as kelts ; 

 could not distinguish the fry of the sea-trout from 

 that of the salmon, they all descend together ; kelt 

 means Jish fifter spawning ; the term is applied to 

 all three Jish ; some call them foul fish ; net and 

 coble fishing the great injury to the fisheries ; great 

 numbers of salmon fry are destroyed by mill- 

 wheels ; cannot go down by means of dykes acros 

 the rivers; recommends an escape for the fry; 

 close time must be enlarged and regulated ; salmon 

 do not advance far up the rivers at all seasons, 

 only in the spawning time; they run backwards 

 with the tide in all directions ; great number de- 

 stroyed in the Tay by grampuses, porpoises, and 

 seals ; the two former appear in April, the latter 

 all the year ; often caught in the stake nets ; five 

 grampuses in one tide ; stake nets have diminished 

 their numbers ; thinks these animals destroy twice 



NOTES. 



bitten and a little eaten behind the heads. The time when 

 they commit the greatest mischief is when the fish are en- 

 gaged in the act of spawning. They hunt them to those 

 spots as a dog does a hare. They come on the fish by 

 surprise ; and when they are not prepared for such an at- 

 tack, the otter flies upon his prey with the velocity of an 

 arrow, and never misses either wounding or taking. A 

 man last winter stuck his spear into an otter instead of a 

 fish. Four or five guineas a head would procure the de- 

 struction of the whole in six months. The new act should 

 provide a clause to that effect. 



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