70 SALMON HATCHERIES ARE THEY USEFUL? 



twelve miles south-west of Helrnsdale, there is no 

 hatchery; yet both rivers have suffered equally this 

 year from an unusual scarcity of spring fish. So has 

 the Spey, where the Duke of Richmond's hatchery has 

 been in operation for very many years. All this is 

 disappointing to those who have spared no trouble or 

 expense in artificial propagation, and tends to confirm 

 the opinion of those who believe that the labour and 

 money expended on salmon hatcheries would ensure 

 better results if applied to the protection of parent fish 

 on the spawning grounds. The case of trout and other 

 non-migratory fish is different; they remain, so to 

 speak, under one's eye from first to last ; but with a far 

 ranging fish like the salmon, whereof the life history is 

 being so slowly elucidated, it must be sadly admitted 

 that there is a total absence of proof that any advantage 

 accrues from artificial propagation to counterbalance 

 the mischief of disturbing spawning fish in the critical 

 act of reproduction. 



The statement that a salmon weighing 103 Ib. was 

 taken last winter in a net on the Firth of Forth will be 

 received by many with incredulity; but the circum- 

 stance is supported by evidence which it is difficult to 

 disregard. Unluckily, as the fish was taken during the 

 close season, it has not been secured for preservation. 

 The only instance of a salmon of similar lordly pro- 

 portions was reported some years ago from the Vefsen 

 Fjord, Norway. In that case the fish, it is said, carried 

 barnacles on its scales, showing that it was long since 

 it had visited the fresh water. 



