i66 



is universal along tJte coast of Argyle, and among the 

 islands ; the central point being the town of Oban, where 

 thousands of sea trout are annually caught by persons who 

 have not a shadow of right to fish for them, and which are 

 openly sold without any interference." * 



Then, turning to the east coast of Scotland, I refer 

 to the testimony of Mr. A. B. Hogarth, Aberdeen, who at 

 a public meeting of fishery proprietors, held last April in 

 Edinburgh, voluntarily came forward to support a reso- 

 lution affirming that salmon in Scotland were decreasing 

 in number, and stated, "that the amount of over-netting 

 which had taken place on the sea-coasts during the last 

 ten years, was something past all comprehension. He 

 added, that he had been a fisherman for thirty-five or 

 thirty-six years ; but it was only within the past ten 

 years, that things had gone on to such an extent." This 

 testimony is all the more reliable, being given by a 

 tenant of extensive coast fisheries, who had been carrying 

 on, without objection or interruption, a practice admitted 

 to be alike injurious and illegal. 



These local testimonies from Scotland are confirmed 

 by the returns from Billingsgate market, where an accu- 

 rate record has long been kept and published of the 

 numbers of salmon received there from England, Ire- 

 land, Scotland, and other countries. Taking the returns 

 of the last ten years, and comparing the average num- 

 ber of salmon brought there, during the last five 

 years, with the average number brought during the first 

 five years, I find there has been during the last five 

 years an increase from England of 20 per cent, and from 

 Ireland an increase of 2j per cent, but from Scotland a 

 decrease of 20 per cent 



* ' British Industries,' p. 287 (Stanford, Charing Cross, 1877). 



