80 FISHING GOSSIP. 



worthless. This is one of the most troublesome ele- 

 ments in the discussions which arise in Parliament 

 or elsewhere, when the close and open season for 

 salmon-fishing is the question to be settled. 



It was long since determined by the Parliaments of 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland, that salmon should 

 not be taken during a certain portion of the year. 

 The first Salmon-Fishery Act on the English statute- 

 book is the 13th Edward I. No. 1, cap. 4V. It 

 prohibits the taking of salmon " from the nativity of 

 our Lady" (8th of September) "until St. Martin's 

 day" (llth of November). Many Acts were subse- 

 quently passed. Power was given to magistrates at 

 quarter-sessions to fix close seasons for different 

 rivers, and the final result was as pretty a kettle of 

 fish as could well be desired. For the Commissioners 

 of 1860 found that there was not one day in the year 

 on which, in some river or other throughout England, 

 fishing was not open ! In Ireland, under former 

 legislation, interested persons induced Parliament to 

 open the river Lee at Cork all the year round, because 

 a good salmon, it was alleged, might be found in it 

 any day in the year. In Scotland the outrages 

 allowed to be perpetrated against the unfortunate 

 Salmonidse were not quite so bad ; however, at one 

 time, and indeed up to a recent period, the fisheries 

 opened on the 14th of December and that was bad 

 enough. 



