THE SALMON AND CHANNEL FISHERIES. 185 



have been given to this horrible, and it may be 

 justly termed, unnatural practice. But, by a ge- 

 neral sweeping clause, to say, that the fishing shall 

 commence at a given time, and that all fish taken 

 between two certain periods shall be deemed "sea- 

 " sonable and fit to kill," when they are not only 

 uneatable and nauseous, but absolutely poisonous, 

 is so repugnant to every notion we have on the 

 subject, that one can neither think of it with 

 patience, or write upon it with temper. All I will 

 say further about this inconsiderate enactment is, 

 that it ought immediately to be repealed : and that 

 if the day specified for beginning to fish is to stand, 

 the fact of unseasonableness, at least, should fall 

 back upon the judgment of the magistrate, accord- 

 ing to the 33 Geo. 2. Let us now only look to 

 the consequences of the abuse of this power. The 

 people who occupy these fisheries are, generally, 

 yearly tenants ; they therefore destroy every thing 

 which comes within their power, for 1 have heard 

 them say, they don't know that they may have the 

 fishery the next season, and, like the Turkish judge, 

 they have purchased their situation, and will make 

 the most of it. I have been credibly informed, 

 and I believe that I could prove it on oath if ne- 

 cessary, that ship-loads of salmon, unsaleable in this 

 country, have been sent away to Guernsey and 

 other places, and sold at reduced prices : by this 

 I mean unseasonable fish, caught after the autho- 

 rised time. If these fish had been sent to Exeter, 

 in their way to London, they would have been 



