SALMON— MODES OF NETTING. 139 



store, -who then raises his net and places himself at the other extremity of the line, 

 ■where he is presently succeeded by another and another, the whole thus changing 

 places continually. When the halve is struck by a fish, its mouth is instantly 

 elevated above the surface by the fisherman so as to prevent the retreat of the fish 

 until it can be carried into shallow water and secured. During the ebb a similar 

 plan is pursued in a reversed order, the nets' mouths being still turned to the 

 current, but the fishermen constantly change to the end of the line that stands in 

 the deepest water. Plat fish and shrimps are said to be the principal takes, but 

 also salmon occasionally. 



Stop-nets of the Wye, Usk and some other rivers or " compass nets " of the 

 Claddew are somewhat similar in their incidence, for at the ebb and flow of the 

 tide boats are fixed or moored across a spot which is in the run of the fish. The net 

 is a large bag-net upon a frame of from 25 to 35 ft. beam and capable of being 

 easily raised by the fisherman who rests the pole on the gunwale of the boat. The 

 net is sunk so that the bag is carried by the tide or current under the boat, and 

 the open portion meets the stream. At the extremity of the bag is a cord from 

 which floats a cork, or one end of it the fisherman holds in his hand. On a fish 

 striking the net a sensation is communicated by the cord and the net elevated as 

 described. 



The lave-nets of the Severn are very similar to the halve-nets of the Solway, 

 if used in line such is termed " cowring," but usually each fisherman works on 

 his own account and on a falling tide when he intercepts the fish on the shallows. 



But among the fixed instruments jsw^fe and putehers, otherwise termed trumpets, 

 of the Severn must not be omitted. They are wicker- worked baskets erected on 

 stages the framework of which is 13 or 14 ft. high, firmly fixed in a double row 

 to the shore, from high-water mark. These are bound together by cross bars on 

 which rest the putchers placed one above another, with their wide funnel- 

 shaped mouths directed either up or down stream as they are intended for use 

 with the flow or ebb of the tide, Putchers are set upon stake stages having 

 as many as from 300 to 500 several putchers, these take fish on the ebb and 

 flow of the tide as their mouths may be set either way. They consist of rods 

 bound together in the form of a trumpet, the mouth of each being from 3 to 

 5 ft. wide. They capture salmon, also spent fish, but not samlets : any fish which 

 enters is almost sure to be destroyed before it can be removed, as it is wedged in 

 by the force of the tide. In some parts of the Severn there are hedges, termed 

 pens, situated so as to guide the fish to the mouth of the trap. Putts take salmon 

 as well as small fish on an ebbing tide : they are made of hazel rods, bound with 

 twigs, and consist of three portions, namely, the kipe or mouth, secondly what is 

 called the butt, has cross bars at his opening and decreases to about 6 inches in 

 width, and thirdly the fore-wheel, which diminishes to a size sufficient to capture a 

 shrimp. They are invariably set with their mouths up the river, and if the inside 

 wheel, or fore-wheel as it is called, is not taken ofE when the samlets are going 

 down, they are liable to be captured (see Report of Salmon Commissioners, 1860, 

 page xi), but do more injury by diverting them into pools where they are taken 

 by the lave-nets. 



Drift-nets are limited in some districts to 200 yards in length, they are shot 

 across the tide and the fish are meshed in them like herring and mackerel; while 

 set-nets or hang-nets are employed in some places. 



There are numerous other forms of nets which are or might be employed, and 

 the Report of the Commissioners ia 1860 alluded to raise-nets, bag-nets, mud-nets, 

 drop- or baulk-nets, as names given to various contrivances used at that time along 

 the English or Welsh coasts for fixing up nets, or stakes either to capture these 

 fish or to detain them in some limited space until caught. Some of these nets 

 are attached to the stakes but able to act with the tide, falling with the ebb and 

 confining all within. 



Stage-nets are employed in the Firth of Forth and elsewhere. A long line of 

 stakes starts from the shore, having a slight curve up-stream, and these are made 

 firm with wicker work, they extend from high to near low-water mark. A narrow 

 gangway leads to the shore. In the weir are couples from 14 to 16 feet asunder, 



