THE SPEY 157 



of Aberlour, Mr. \V. G. Steuart-Menzies of Arndilly, and the Duke of 

 Richmond. To his Grace belongs the last nine miles of both banks, 

 from the Chain Bridge at Orton to the sea, and all anglers have 

 heard of the wonderful numbers of fish netted in this reach up to 

 the 26th of August, and of the splendid takes to the rod made on 

 it in the autumn after the nets come off. 



Up to 1851 this netting was let to Messrs. Hogarth, of Aberdeen ; 

 but in that year the Duke wisely took it into his own hands and 

 voluntarily ceased to net on the 26th of August, instead of going 

 on till the 14th of September, which was then the legally fixed time 

 for nets and rods to come off ; it was not until 1862 that the law 

 was altered, and the netting season curtailed to the 26th of August, 

 while the rod season was extended to the 15th of October, at which 

 it has since remained, 



The Duke permits no fixed nets nearer Spey mouth than Bear 

 Head, three and a half miles to the west, and Port Gordon, two and 

 a half miles to the east ; the intervening six miles being fished by 

 net and coble. Fortunately for himself, the Duke owns all this 

 foreshore, and can do as he thinks best, and a comparison of the 

 extensive boundaries fixed by his Grace, with the scanty one of 

 four hundred yards on either side fixed for many other rivers as 

 the limit of bag-nets, should open the eyes of our law makers as 

 to the wisdom of the policy pursued. 



The seacoast line of the Spey district extends for about thirty 

 miles from Lossie to Portsoy ; the bulk of the foreshore belonging 

 to Lady Seafield and the Duke of Richmond, which perhaps accounts 

 for the comparatively few fixed nets on it, only about eighty being 

 worked. As is the case with almost all the other rivers, there are 

 no statistics furnished by the Fishery Board Reports of the numbers 

 of salmon netted on the coast and in the river. 



In the 1882 Report there is a letter from Mr. Hogarth, a son of 

 the one who used to rent the Spey nettings, in which he draws 

 attention to the great decrease in the number of sea trout. In 1835 

 the take amounted to 70,000 lb., and from that date it fell off year 

 by year until, in 1850 — Messrs. Hogarth's last season — it was only 

 8000 lb. 



"Things are just the same on the Findhorn," says Mr. H., for 

 the firm also had the fishings on that river. " It is a curious idea 

 of mine, but I think if we could kiU more trout by using a smaller 

 mesh during the months of June and July, we should increase the 

 number of trout in the river. I think they cat each other up ! " 



With all respect to Mr. Hogarth, I cannot help thinking that 

 it was his nets that ate up the big sea trout, and that having ex- 

 terminated them, he would also have liked to have treated the 

 finnocks in the same way ; anyhow, Mr. Hogarth does not bring 

 one particle of evidence to substantiate his " thought " as to the 

 supposed cannibalism on the part of the sea trout. 



About seven years ago the Duke of Richmond started at Foch- 

 abers one of the largest and best-managed hatcheries. In November 



