78 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 
cleared of nets and famous for salmon angling, 
should be sufficient to show that such a policy re- 
sults in the creation of a valuable sea fishery. In 
the river in question, moreover, between 5000 and 
6000 fish can be taken by sweep-net at the river 
mouth without interfering with the full supply of 
fish for angling and breeding. 
A question most commonly asked when salmon 
marking is mentioned is, Do salmon return to their 
own rivers? The widespread belief that they do is 
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred based on mere 
hearsay evidence, but it is none the less satisfactory 
to know that the salmon marking experiments verify 
the belief. As may almost already have been 
gathered from the cases cited, the great majority 
of fish do so return. From time to time, however, - 
fish turn up in other rivers as exceptions to the 
general rule. In Scotland a Helmsdale fish was 
caught in the Halladale, 90 miles distant by the 
coast line. Similarly a Spey fish was caught in the 
Dee, 90 miles distant. The first fish went north, 
the other south. Other transferences are less dis- 
tant. Helmsdale to Brora, a distance of only 12 
miles—Deveron to Spey, and Spey to Deveron. In 
Treland a remarkable case is reported by Mr. Holt 
in the first report of the Irish marking. The fish 
was marked D 95, on January 1, 1901, after having 
been caught, conveyed to Kilrea, on the Bann, and 
impounded there for hatchery purposes, stripped, 
and then allowed to rest for three days. The re- 
capture was made 200 miles distant in the tidal 
waters of the Bundrowes, on April 9, 1901. The 
