396 



Appendices to Fifth Animal Report 



8, In England, there is an annual close time for trout and char, and no 

 trout or char can be sold in England and Wales between the 2nd of 

 October and the 1st of February. In Ireland, there is also a close 

 time for trout. Would you approve of having a close time for trout 

 in Orkney and Shetland? and if so, over what period should it 

 extend ? 



Weekly Close Time. 



4. Are you satisfied with the present period of weekly close time — from 



6 p.m. on Saturday to 0 a.m. on Monday? If not, state what length 

 of time you would prefer, and give your reasons ? 



5. Are the bye-laws regulating the observance of the weekly close time by 



net and coble, and by fixed nets, strictly observed in Orkney and 

 Shetland? If not, can you suggest any means which would conduce 

 to a stricter observance of the weekly close time ? 



Take of Fish. 



6. Are salmon and grilse taken in the seas around those parts of the 



Orkney and Shetland Islands with which you are acquainted, or only 

 sea-trout ? 



7. At what period of the year is the main take of salmon, or grilse, or sea- 



trout ? 



8. At what period of the year do sea-trout run up into the fresh-water 



lochs communicating with the sea ? 



9. Do sea-trout take the fly, worm, or other lure only in the fresh waters to 



which they ascend from the sea, or likewise in the salt water of the 

 bays, firths, and voes ? If they take the fly or bait in the salt water, 

 mention the localities where the best fishing is got. 



10. Can you give any idea of the number of sea-trout or salmon caught in 



those parts of Orkney and Shetland with which you are acquainted 

 by nets and rods ? 



11. Has the take of such fish increased or diminished during the last ten or 



fifteen years ? 



12. State what are, in your opinion, the causes of such increase or diminu- 



tion, as the case may be ? 



Estuaries. 



13. In the end of 1881 Orkney was constituted a Fishery District, and 



brought under the operation of the Salmon Fishery Acts of 1862 and 

 1868, and, in 1883, so was Shetland ; and certain estuary lines were 

 fixed by the Commissioners of Scotch Salmon Fisheries, approved 

 by the Secretary of State, and published in the Edinburgh Gazette. 

 Since the publication of that bye-law, the use of all fixed nets or 

 fixed engines for the capture of fish of the salmon kind within the 

 estuary lines so fixed is illegal and punishable. Can you state 

 whether the bye -law is strictly observed in Orkney and Shetland ; 

 or if not, can you state the places where it is infringed by the use of 

 fixed nets ? 



14. Are fixed nets used during the spawning season, or at any other season 



of the year, for the capture of sea-trout or other fish of the salmon 

 kind, in any of the fresh-water lochs in Orkney or Shetland, or in 

 any of the streams running into or flowing out of the same ? If so, 

 mention the names of such lochs or streams ? 



District Boards. 



15. Is there a District Board in Orkney or Shetland ? If so, is it working 



satisfactorily ? 



