424 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



by a natural instinct return to the place where they were bred, 

 provided there be no insurmountable impediment, and Salmon 

 going to the sea from the Tyne would certainly return ; but 

 may it not be that the fish are often unable to find the mouth 

 of the river, and consequently collect behind the North Pier. 

 This may, or may not, be the case, but during the season I 

 have more than once remarked late at night and in the early 

 hours of the morning an unusual number of fishing-boat lights 

 in this particular direction, leading me to suppose that the 

 Salmon congregated there in more than ordinary numbers. The 

 floods in the river bring the fish, but- the fishermen say that they 

 get more Salmon when the floods are the result of rain, with a 

 strong wind and a high sea from the north-east. This confirms 

 the opinion as to an unusual volume of sea water diluting the 

 poisonous elements, and allowing the fish to gain the upper 

 reaches of the river. 



"While such matters are being agitated and discussed, it is 

 pleasing to notice what can be done in the way of Fish culture 

 by individual effort. Messrs. Hardy Bros., of Alnwick, have 

 undertaken an experiment, the results of which will be keenly 

 watched by many naturalists and pisiculturists in the North of 

 England. Although the Coquet is one of the most favoured 

 of British streams for angling, there has during recent years 

 been a falling off in the size of the Trout; and, although there 

 is an excellent stock of Burn Trout in the river, it had been 

 thought that the introduction of some new blood of a larger 

 kind would have a beneficial effect, and Messrs. Hardy intro- 

 duced in April last 2,000 yearling Trout of the species Salmo 

 Zevenensis, Loch Leven Trout, which will go to swell the 

 weight of the anglers' creels during this and following seasons. 

 It is somewhat remarkable but there was not a single dead fish 

 amongst the 2,000, although they had been carried such a dis- 

 tance. A few of these fish were caught in September, being 

 returned to the river of course, and were found to have grown 

 considerably; indeed, it is a characteristic of this species that 

 they grow rapidly. 



Dr. Day, in "The Salmonidse of Britain," published in 1887, 



