522 SALMON LEGISLA TION IN SCOTLAND. 



after 1862 in Ireland are illegal, and those allowed to 

 remain are subjected to stringent regulation. 



But if it should be deemed inadvisable to put down fixed 

 engines altogether, at least they can, and ought, to be placed 

 under the closest restrictions, and adequate measures should 

 be taken to ensure that those restrictions were scrupulously 

 observed. If the erection of any more fixed nets after the 

 present time were prohibited, pending the decision of the 

 legality or illegality of those now existing, at least a step 

 would be gained. With a view to the framing of regula- 

 tions, the suggestions contained in the above-mentioned 

 Report of 1871 seem very suitable, and should be adopted.* 

 The distance from the mouths of rivers might, however, be 

 extended in most cases to from one to three miles, accord- 

 ing to the configuration of the coast. Stake-nets should in 

 no case be permitted to extend further than from high to 

 low-water mark ; bag-nets should be restricted to steep 

 rocky coasts, and not allowed nearer than three miles from 

 the mouth of any river. Bag-nets, also, should not be 

 allowed to be joined to stake-nets. These are the rules in 

 force in Ireland, and they are believed to work satis- 

 factorily. 



Severe penalties should be attached to contravention of 

 the close times, as there is reason to believe that the law is 

 often ignored at present, particularly in remote or thinly 

 populated districts, and if any complaint is made, excuse is 

 offered on account of stress of weather, absence of em- 

 ployers, &c. It has been suggested that in any case where 

 stress of weather prevents the due observance of the 

 weekly close time, the proprietor or tacksman of the nets 

 should be bound under a penalty to report the matter to 

 * See Report, p. xiv. 



