364 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



if he has made an intelligent study of them. Not only 

 so, but besides giving him, or indeed any keeper, con- 

 fidence in his work, it is safe to say that friction and 

 misunderstanding will be absent from a neighbourhood 

 where rights are clearly understood and equitably 

 insisted on. The aid of his legal adviser must of course 

 be invoked by a proprietor before actions of interdict 

 regarding fishing, pollution, or rights of way are thought 

 of, or even before poaching prosecutions are contem- 

 plated, but the following brief notes may be of guidance 

 in an emergency, or may help to support an argument. 



I. SALMON 



Legal Definition 



By statute the word " salmon " means and includes 

 " salmon, grilse, sea- trout, bull trout, smolts, parr, and 

 other migratory fish of the salmon kind" (1862 Act, 

 Section 2), and in this comprehensive sense the word 

 is here used. 



Public Rights 



There is no public right of salmon-fishing in Scot- 

 land, either in salt water round the shores or in fresh 

 water. Where the right is not in the hands of a private 

 proprietor it is vested in the Crown, and administered, 

 or neglected, by the Department of the Commissioners 

 of Woods and Forests. Hence any person fishing for 

 salmon, whether by net, or by rod and line, without 



