THE SALMON AND CHANNEL FISHERIES. 169 



" and people, doth grant that the statutes thereof made'* 

 [that is, the statutes before mentioned] " be holden and 

 " kept and put in due execution ; joining to the same that 

 " commissions be awarded to certain justices and others in 

 " every county of the realm where need shall be, to enquire of 

 " all that which is contained in the said statutes, and to 

 " punish the offenders of the said statutes by fine, accord- 

 " ing to their discretions." The king reserves the fines, 

 which are to be estreated into the exchequer ; the sheriff 

 is to pay the justices four shillings a day for their travel- 

 ling expenses ; and he himself is to be paid out of the 

 exchequer. 



As Mr. Serjeant Hawkins takes no notice of this 

 act of Hen. IV., perhaps he thougKt it related more 

 to other matters than to fish ; but the preservation 

 of the fry of fish and their improper application are 

 particularly mentioned ; and the act does not ap- 

 pear to be repealed ; the justices are therefore 

 entitled to their remuneration of four shillings a- 

 day if they think proper to put the act in force. 

 Next comes an act to prevent a very great and con- 

 stant abuse which is not before touched upon. 



2 HEN. VI. c. 15. 



No man shall fasten nets to any thing across rivers. 

 " Item, it is ordained that the standing of nets and engines 

 " called trinks, and all other nets, shall be and were wont 

 " to be fastened and hanged continually day and night by 

 " a certain time of the year to great posts, boats, and 

 " anchors, over-thwart the river Thames and other rivers 

 " of the realm, which standing is a cause of as great and 

 " more destruction of the brood and fry of fish, and dis- 

 " turbance of the common passage of vessels as be the 



