A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



there are not more than a dozen of them al- 

 together, as the coops require very little atten- 

 tion and there are not more than four or five 

 net licences issued. Thus we may gather 

 that in a good season upwards of 200 fisher- 

 men make the greater part of their livelihood 

 out of the river and estuary. Some of those 

 in the lower waters about Port Carlisle and 

 Bowness supplement this by fishing for white 

 fish during the close time for salmon, but 

 those higher up do not enjoy this opportunity 

 and have to make the best shift they can to 

 obtain employment from farmers and others. 

 Many years ago, when agriculture was pros- 

 perous, there was no difficulty in finding work 

 such as fencing, draining, etc. ; but nowadays, 

 as farmers cannot afford to employ much extra 

 labour and landowners cannot afford to drain 

 more than is absolutely necessary, the poor 

 fishermen often fare badly. 



With regard to the ownership of the fish- 

 eries, it may be explained that though the 

 waters below Burgh Marsh Point are called 

 public waters and can be fished by any one 

 who takes out a licence, those above that 

 point are undoubtedly private property. In a 

 general way the landowners have the right of 

 fishing opposite their land, but in the course 

 of time some of these rights have been bought, 

 sold and severed from the land, so that the 

 rule does not always apply at the present day. 

 The Earl of Lonsdale is by far the largest 

 owner. The Corporation of Carlisle, by vir- 

 tue of an ancient grant, owns what is called 

 the ' free boat,' which has the right to fish 

 in that part of the river which lies between 

 King Garth and Etterby. The said ' free 

 boat' may fish at any of the numerous fishing 

 stations between these two points, and at any 

 one of them may take every third draught, 

 no matter how many other boats may be fish- 

 ing at the same station at the time. At one 

 time the fishing of the Corporation was of 

 considerable value, but owing to a change in 

 the course of the river and other circum- 

 stances, that value has been very much re- 

 duced. A house standing in a small field, 

 called King's Garth or King Garth, is an 

 appurtenant to the fishery, and here until 

 quite recently the complimentary dinner to 

 the Mayor was held. This dinner was a 

 very ancient institution, and in former times 

 it was the custom for the members of the 

 Corporation to proceed down the river and 

 see that the ' free boat ' fished through all the 

 water in which it had a right to fish, by way 

 of maintaining those rights, finishing off at 

 King Garth, where a feast was prepared for 

 them, and spending the rest of the day in 

 conviviality. The other owners of fisheries 



are practically the owners of the adjoining 

 land or those who have bought the rights from 

 some such owner. 



Much has been written in recent years and 

 still continues to be written about the deca- 

 dence of the salmon fisheries in general, and 

 more than one Royal Commission has been 

 appointed to inquire into the matter, but 

 without any practical results as yet. It is 

 doubtful indeed whether the fisheries are 

 likely to be benefited by anything the Com- 

 missioners may recommend, as after all there 

 is a limit to the productive powers of a river 

 just as there is a limit to the capacity of land 

 for carrying a herd of stock or of game. 

 There is no doubt that there have been times 

 when the fisheries in Eden were at a very 

 much lower ebb than they are at present, bad 

 as they are. Such a time occurred fifty years 

 ago when, as is proved by information in the 

 possession of the writer and from conversations 

 with old fishermen, it was a common enough 

 occurrence to fish for several weeks without 

 seeing a single fish. There are, however, 

 reasons which might partially account for this, 

 to which I may refer later. After that time 

 the fisheries began gradually to improve, and 

 the next thirty years were more or less pros- 

 perous until the year 1878, when a disease, 

 which up to that time was unknown, suddenly 

 made its appearance and caused serious devas- 

 tation. This disease, known as ' saprolegina 

 ferox,' attacked fish of all species and at all 

 stages of their growth, and very few that were 

 attacked recovered. The few that did recover 

 were migratory fish of the salmon tribe which 

 by a natural instinct made their way down to 

 the salt water as soon as they were attacked, 

 and there is reason to think that these fish 

 recovered. Those, however, that were in the 

 higher reaches of the river succumbed before 

 they were able to reach those healing waters, 

 and large numbers were taken out both by 

 poachers and by the water bailiffs. The latter 

 in the year 1882 took out and buried no 

 fewer than 2,036 salmon. Since that time 

 the numbers have steadily decreased, till in 

 1900 only twenty salmon were so accounted 

 for. It is hoped that like many other epi- 

 demics it is becoming less virulent and that 

 shortly it will have spent itself and the river 

 will be again free from disease. To this 

 disease a great deal of the late and present 

 scarcity of salmon may be attributed. There 

 are other contributory causes, and one of these 

 is the increased pollution of the river, par- 

 ticularly in the lower reaches, where on 

 account of the sewage from the town of 

 Carlisle, which is discharged into the river, 

 there is a considerable diminution of the 



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