SALMON— RAPIDITY OF THEIR GROWTH. 



95 



siderable extent with those given hj Ruasel for the fisheries of the Tay (see p. 71), 

 and tend to show that in the Shin the grilse which first ascend in May are the 

 smallest, but that they gradually increase in weight until September, when the 

 fishing ceases.* 



I have endeavoured to trace in the preceding pages how the grilse are sprung 

 from salmon, that from their eggs salmon par are produced indistinguishable from 

 those raised when both parents had been large salmon. These grilse return to the 

 sea as grilse-kelts and re-appear in our rivers as salmon. f 



As to the rapidity of growth ia salmon, various experiments have been insti- 

 tuted iu different localities which would tend to the conclusion that generally it is 

 rapid. But for the purposes of observation on this point there have been two 

 classes of fish marked, kelts which were out of condition and grilse or salmon in 

 good condition. It must be evident that in the first set of experiments consider- 

 able allowance has to be made for the fishes getting again into condition. 



It seems from investigations made in various places (see p. 79) that 

 undoubtedly some salmon do not breed every year, in fact if this were the invariable 

 rule it would be impossible that any clean ones, unless possibly as small grilse, 

 could be captured during the months of July and August. J 



* From the above notes in the Hotel record to whicli I was allowed access, I found that during 

 the season of 1883, the salmon taken had an average of 12 lb. per fish: in 1884, nearly 

 13 lb. : in 1885, about 13i lb. : and in 1886, about 124 lb. While the grilse in 1883 averaged 

 nearly 6 J lb. : in 1884, 6 lb. : in 1885, 5J lb. : and in 1886, 5 lb. 



t Mr. Mackenzie, Second Parliamentary Report, p. 21, stated that in March, 1823, he marked 

 a grilse kelt of 3 J lb. weight with a brass wire, and caught it again in March, 1824, then a salmon 

 of 7 lb. weight. A fish which weighed 3^ lb. as a kelt ought to weigh 5 lb. or 6 lb. when in good 

 condition again, so this instance is hardly one which leads to the inference of rapidly increasing 

 in weight. 



Mr. Eraser, On the Salmon, &a., 1833, pp. 14-15, observed: "In February, 1829, I marked 

 several grilse after spawning, by cutting off the fin above the tail. On the 1st of September 

 following I caught one of them, which then weighed 13 lb. On the 10th of the same month I 

 caught another weighing 14 lb. : both were very fine salmon and charged with spawn. None of 

 these could weigh above 5 lb. or 6 lb. at the time I marked them ; they were taken very near the 

 ground where they were marked. In February, 1830, I tied a wire round the tail of some grilse 

 returning to the sea, and only one of them came to my hands in the following August. Macleod 

 of Macleod, Mr. Eraser of Culduthell, and other gentlemen saw this salmon, and the mark 

 produced on it by the wire. Mr. Mackenzie of Ardross tied wire round the tails of some breeders 

 returning to the sea in March, 1824, and about the same time next year, in March, 1825, he 

 caught one of the fish thus marked, doubled in size, and the wire nearly out of sight." 

 Mr. Young stated that a grilse-kelt of 2 lb. weight was marked on March 31st, 1858, and recaptured 

 on August 2nd of the same year as an 8 lb. salmon. Bamsbottom remarked in 1854 that " the Duke 

 of Athol, when Lord Glenlyon, captured on the 31st of March, 1845, a kipper fish of 10 lb. 

 weight, to which he attached a zinc ticket for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of its 

 increase during its stay in the sea. In less than six weeks it was again caught and found to weigh 

 21^ lb." (In this case we are not informed how the zinc label continued legible after being kept 

 in. salt water.) 



Mr. Scrope, in his work entitled Days of Salmon Pishing, 1854, gave the following experiments 

 as having been made in the river Shin in Sutherlandshire : — 



Weight of grilse Date retaken 



kelts when marked. 

 Feb. 18th.— 41b. 



July 



In 1859 the Duke of Athol had three salmon captured, while migrating seawards, weighing 

 10, 111, and 12i lb. respectively. These were marked by a copper wire being placed round their 

 tails, and six months subsequently they were recaptured as they were returning to fresh water, and 

 their weight was ascertained to have augmented to 17, 18, and 19 lb. respectively. 



J Eraser, On the Salmon, &o., 1833, p. 17, observed, respecting the salmon of the Ness, that 

 " breeders of this season, after remaining all summer in the sea, partly return as breeders in the 

 months of August and September to spawn in the following winter. The greater part, however, 

 return to the Ness in November and December, barren and averaging 16 lb. each in weight." 



