RIVERS IN SUTHERLAND AND ROSS 



267 



The lease had been for three years, and at the expiry of 1859 the 

 lease was not renewed, and the rental dropped to 305. 



From 1860 onwards, another period of angling supervened for 

 twelve years. 



In 1873 a reversal of the netting policy was adopted. It 

 had been seen that under net and coble alone these small rivers 

 soon went back. Now, at the end of twelve years of rod-fishing 

 alone, the streams were again most fully stocked. The course 

 now followed was to keep the sweep nets off and to keep the cruives 

 off these last were indeed allowed to fall into ruin or were 

 removed and to allow bag nets once more on the coast. By this 

 time the Salmon Acts of 1862 and 1868 had come into force, and 

 each river had its prescribed estuary within which fixed nets of any 

 kind could not be employed. The bag-netting rental was fixed at 

 400, and the rod-fishing yielded 360, making a total of 760. 



This policy adopted in 1873 has not since been changed, and to 

 the present day the bag nets continue to fish very much as they did 

 then, although in 1891 a station was taken off. This was Fanag- 

 more Station, which yielded on an average 4J per cent, of the total 

 catch. The totals since 1873 are of interest, and the rental soon 

 rose above 1000. The yield of the fishings are given in Ib. weight: 



It is remarkable that during the above period of 25 years, when 

 netting was restricted to the use of fixed engines on the coast, the 

 nets yielded on an average 60,338 Ib. weight of salmon per annum, 

 or more than six times the amount yielded when only sweep nets in 

 the rivers and at their mouths were employed, that the rentals 

 increased materially in value, and the take of fish in the sea was 

 well maintained. 



Like the netting stations in the Pentland Firth, the fixed nets on 

 this coast always take more grilse than adult fish. A large number 

 of sea-trout also occur on the coast, but these are not taken in any 

 numbers in bag nets, since they are able to extricate themselves 

 from an extended net of legal mesh, unless they are large trout. 



