6 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



under human control. Floods and frosts come to destroy spawn. 

 The young salmon's natural enemies in the sea become numerous 

 and aggressive, and the grilse fail. Such difficulties cannot wholly be 

 combated. In old days when the stock of salmon was abundant, 

 these things did not so much matter. Temporary loss was soon 

 repaired. Now, much effort is required to seize every opportunity 

 of improving various conditions which could formerly be disregarded. 

 The value of salmon is great, competition in the salmon's extinc- 

 tion is keen, and indirect agencies of an adverse kind are far more 

 numerous than formerly. In many parts of the Highlands the 

 conditions are still more or less ideal, and much more complete con- 

 centration in the interests of salmon fishing is possible. Yet even in 

 such districts complaints of decline are not infrequent, and recovery 

 is slow in cases where the depleted condition has been allowed to 

 continue for any length of time. The more we learn of the life 

 history of the salmon, the more we need to realise how seldom many 

 fish spawn. In a period of depression which lasts only for a year 

 or two, there are probably sufficient salmon remaining in the sea 

 of the locality, and which would not naturally have spawned during 

 the period, to replenish the stock. If, let us say, close netting 

 continues at the mouths of the rivers till these fish are also caught, 

 the stock can be supported only by the fish which manage to ascend 

 when the nets are off. Under these circumstances the stock has 

 small chance of recovery till the netting conditions are altered. 

 Further than that, it may happen, although more definite evidence 

 is sorely needed on this particular point, that the undue netting of 

 grilse as compared with salmon in a locality at present regarded 

 by many as harmless, produces a marked result on the fisheries. 



The great desire for salmon angling which is at present so 

 evident amongst sportsmen acts as a most important force in the best 

 interests of salmon fishing in all its branches. Associations of 

 anglers are springing up in various parts of the country, and so long 

 as the effort to reduce netting is not carried out in a purely selfish 

 spirit, but in order to secure the increase of the salmon by allowing 

 a proportion of every run of fish into fresh waters where they may 

 naturally propagate their species, the benefit gained is shared by all 

 eventually. It may be noticed, for instance, that in the Aberdeen- 

 shire Dee the action of reducing fresh water netting by the Dee 

 Angling Improvement Association is supported financially by the 

 Aberdeen Harbour Commissioners (who net the coast and estuary), 

 because their fishings benefit from the increased number of salmon 



