SEVERAL FISHERIES. 2II 



Apart from the case of tidal waters, the general rule is that 

 the fish in inland waters, or more exactly the exclusive right 

 of taking them while they are there, belongs to the owner of 

 the soil under the water, be it river, lake, or pond. In the case 

 of a river being the boundary between two landowners, the 

 bed of the river on either side of the middle line, and conse- 

 quently the right of fishing, goes with the adjacent land, 

 unless the owner of the farther bank is able to show that the 

 whole bed of the river belongs to him : a state of things 

 which, though exceptional, may exist by the special terms of 

 an ancient grant or the like. The exclusive right to take fish 

 within certain limits of space is called a several fishery. It 

 is most commonly associated with the ownership or occupa- 

 tion of the land under the water, but it may exist separately 

 from it : thus the landowner may sell or let the right to 

 take fish in his waters, and enable the buyer or lessee to 

 exclude all other persons, himself among them. 



If the land surrounding or adjacent to ponds or rivers is 

 let to a tenant by deed, the tenant acquires the right of 

 fishing along with the right of occupation unless the 

 landlord expressly reserves it. 



In Scotland salmon fishing is a special privilege of the 

 Crown ; the right may be, and constantly has been, granted 

 by the Crown to subjects, but no subject can exercise it 

 without distinctly making out his title. The right to fish 

 for trout (and apparently other freshwater fish) is also 

 said to belong to the Crown in the first instance ; but a 

 grant of it as " part and pertinent " of the subjacent or 

 adjacent land seems to be assumed without difficulty in 

 the absence of evidence to the contrary, so that practically, 

 as to fish other than salmon, the rule is the same as in 

 England. 



It must not be supposed that (even apart from modern 



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