INDUSTRIES 



THE EDEN AND ESK FISHERIES 



The salmon fisheries in the Eden are and 

 have been from time immemorial of some 

 little importance, whether regarded as a source 

 of food supply or as a means of livelihood to a 

 not inconsiderable number of the inhabitants 

 of the district through which the river flows. 

 An attempt to form even an approximate es- 

 timate of the number of fish caught is a diffi- 

 cult if not an impossible task, owing to the 

 fact that for various reasons the net fishermen 

 are most reticent as to the extent of their 

 takes. It would, however, be quite safe to 

 say that in an average year several thousands 

 of salmon are taken in the river and estuary. 

 In addition to these, there would be grilse 

 which would probably outnumber the salmon, 

 and trout which would outnumber salmon 

 and grilse combined. It is much easier to 

 estimate the number of men who make the 

 principal part of their living by fishing, as we 

 have reliable data to guide us in the number 

 of licences issued. 



In dealing with the salmon fisheries as an in- 

 dustry I propose to divide the river into sections, 

 commencing at its mouth, and for this purpose 

 I cannot do better than adopt the boundaries 

 which are fixed by the Eden Fishery Board for 

 the purpose of levying licence duties. That part 

 of the river, which lies below or westward of 

 Burgh Marsh Point is, for licensing purposes, 

 looked upon as public or common water, 

 though whether it is really public water is 

 open to considerable doubt. This, however, 

 does not come within the scope of this paper. 

 The method of fishing, practised in this part 

 of the river, is now exclusively that of the 

 haafnet. Up to the year 1893 the whemmle 

 or drift-net fishermen, who were chiefly Scots- 

 men, used to fish as far eastward as Burgh 

 Marsh Point, but in that year the Eden 

 Fishery Board, with the approval of the Board 

 of Trade, prohibited whemmle or drift nets 

 eastward of the Solway Viaduct, thus estab- 

 lishing what is called a playground in that 

 portion of the estuary. Quite recently 

 whemmle or drift nets have been declared to 

 be illegal and now no licences are issued ; haaf 

 nets, however, are still allowed. This mode 

 of fishing probably gives employment to a 

 greater number of men than any other. The 

 number of licences issued, which varies accord- 

 ing to the productiveness of the season, has 

 risen as high as 150. The haaf net is of a 

 very simple character and consists of a beam 

 of wood about 16 feet long supported by 

 three legs from 4 to 5 feet in height, to 



which framework is attached a net having a 

 considerable amount of bag. The fisherman 

 wades into the river to the necessary depth, 

 sets up his net and^holds it in position till he 

 feels a fish strike the bag, when he tilts his 

 net imprisoning the fish in the bag and brings 

 it ashore. A licence duty of 30*. for each net 

 has to be paid to the Eden Fishery Board. 

 A great deal depends on getting a good stand, 

 and to avoid disputes it is the custom with 

 most of the fishermen to draw lots for choice 

 of places. Thus the element of luck enters 

 very largely, as indeed it does in all methods 

 of fishing. 



The next section for licensing purposes is 

 that which lies between Burgh Marsh Point 

 and the North British Railway Bridge near 

 Carlisle. The draught net is practically the 

 only one used in it. The number of boats 

 employed varies from twelve to fourteen or 

 fifteen, and as each boat requires four men, it 

 will be seen that about fifty men find em- 

 ployment in this portion of the river. The 

 licence duty to be paid for each draught net is 

 5. There only remains that stretch of the 

 river situated above the North British Bridge 

 which practically means between that place 

 and Armathwaite, as there is very little fishing 

 except angling practised above that point. In 

 this portion the mode of fishing is more 

 varied, consisting of draught net, hang net, 

 coracle net and coops. At Warwick and 

 Corby coops still exist, the only species of 

 fixed engine to be found in the Eden fishery 

 district. The fisheries in this part of the 

 river are generally most productive in the 

 earliest months of the season, the water at 

 that time being well stocked with fish that 

 have run up during the annual close season 

 which ends on February 2, and it frequently 

 happens that considerably more fish are killed 

 in the upper or middle reaches of the river in 

 February and March than are killed in the 

 lower waters. After that time the lower 

 waters begin to have the advantage, as the 

 fish that are then taken are nearly all fish that 

 are ascending from the sea or estuary. The 

 hang net is probably the most successful net 

 in the upper waters, but in the light of a 

 recent decision in the High Courts there 

 appears to be some doubt as to its legality, and 

 it is not unlikely that its use may have to be 

 discontinued. The fishermen in this portion 

 of the river are like those in the stretch below, 

 who fish for hire and are occasionally em- 

 ployed at other kinds of work. Probably 



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