THE THURSO &t 



average but 263 fish a season. I cannot help thinking that this 

 falhng-off maj' perhaps be partly accounted for by steam-trawler 

 poaching, and partly by the fact that the bag-nets to east and west 

 of Thurso mouth habitually set the law at defiance, and except 

 in places where the nets are easily approached and seen, the bulk 

 of them observe no weekly close time from the day they begin to 

 fish to the day when they are compelled to stop work ! Putting 

 aside the possibility of any other damaging contingencies, this of 

 itself must tend to diminish very seriously the supply of fish to 

 the Thurso. 



I base my statement on facts previously proved, on my own 

 observations and inquiries, and on the testimony of two friends 

 of mine, who are both of them old anglers and know well what a 

 bag-net is. Both were carrying telescopes, and during the course 

 of a Sunday walk in June from Wick round the coast to Dunnet 

 Head, they could easily see that as soon as they were clear of Wick 

 every bag-net was fishing, though the sea was then, as it had been 

 the previous night, as smooth as a mill-pond. 



The Thurso Syndicate are also well aware of this lawlessness, 

 and in 1894 they sent two trustworthy strangers to pay a surprise 

 visit to some of the bag-nets. At Dunnet Station three were found 

 fishing on Sunday ; at Castle Hill Station there were other three. 

 Round Thurso and Scrabster the leads were duly removed, but 

 farther off, at Mr. Smith's Station, two nets were fishing. In all 

 they visited fifteen nets, eight of which were disregarding the weekly 

 close time. Six of these were leased by Messrs. Hogarth, of Aber- 

 deen, who, on being communicated with, said it was strictly against 

 orders, and that men were liable to dismissal and forfeiture of 

 wages ; that it was a hard law to hold a master responsible for his 

 servants' actions when the master's back was turned. This is, of 

 course, rubbish, for the law has ever held to the contrary — a fact 

 which Messrs. Hogarth must have been aware of. Needless also 

 to say, that none of the men were dismissed or lost any of their 

 wages ; and I charge the bulk of the tacksman with conniving at 

 this law-breaking and poaching by paying their men scanty wages 

 and offering them so much extra per head per fish caught, which 

 is tantamount to directly bribing them to break the law. 



I really think this incessant bag-net fishing must have some- 

 thing to do with the fall off of the Thurso take, and believe it 

 would pay the syndicate to make five or six such surprise visits 

 each season, and to call public attention to all cases of detection, 

 and to press such to a conviction. Needless to say, the persons 

 chosen for the business must be strangers, and the same two should 

 not be employed twice ; but on this and the other matters connected 

 therewith the syndicate probably know more than I do. Setting 

 aside the risk of a spring snow block, the Thurso is easily reached 

 nowadays, for one can leave Euston at 8.50 in the evening and 

 dine at Braal or Strathmore the next day. In 1869 the limited 

 mail from Euston did not reach Golspie till 6.30 the next evening, 

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