of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



399 



on to a much greater extent in the northern parts of the islands than here- 

 about. I know for a fact that the fishermen come up to one loch about 18 

 miles from Lerwick, when the fish have spawned, and carry away cartfuls 

 of them. A cart would hold about half-a-ton. In fact, the greatest destruc- 

 tion takes place when the fish should be preserved. Another great means of 

 destruction I have noticed is that, in a dry season like last year, the trout 

 have to wait a long time in the voes before they can run up into the lochs, 

 and lying there in shallow water the people put out drag-nets, and capture as 

 many as from 40 to 80 to each drag, and thus the lochs are spoiled. That 

 is the reason why the close time for nets should be earlier than for the rod. 

 I agree with the close time suggested by Major Cameron. As regards stake- 

 nets, I think it would serve the purpose better if these were made illegal at 

 nearer than three miles from either side of the mouth of any burn running 

 into a voe. There are very few voes into which there is not a burn running, 

 and some voes have several burns running into them. I think there are 

 many lochs which are not accessible to sea-trout at present that could be made 

 so by means of ladders. The Loch of Girlsta, for instance, is a splendid loch, 

 and in the burn that runs out of it there are two small falls which the trout can- 

 not get over. The people say that the fish used to run up. The proprietor 

 would not take the trouble of constructing ladders. There are several lochs 

 in Shetland in the same position; the Loch of Glen, near Brae, for instance, 

 which could easily be made accessible. 



Mr Galloway examined. — I think the size of the mesh of these stake-nets 

 should be made much larger. 1 J inches from knot to knot would be large 

 enough. In a dry season the fish lie for a long time in the voes, and are 

 caught in large numbers. I know of one man who took last year in a small 

 voe 103 fish with a net. About the estuaries, I think they should be so regulated 

 that some restrictions would be placed on the stake-nets. I would not have 

 these nets in a small voe, but they should not be altogether abolished. About 

 twenty or thirty years ago salmon set into Lerwick harbour, and a man who 

 came here from Aberdeen caught a great number of them with the stake -net. 

 He came the following year, and did not catch sufficient to pay expenses. I 

 approve of the close time suggested by Major Cameron. As showing the value 

 of having a close time here, I may state that I fished the Loch of Strand ten 

 years ago, and caught 18 trout in one hour, and five years ago I fished it day 

 after day, and could not get a single trout out of it. Three years ago the 

 Angling Club got it, and it has improved greatly. I fished it one day last 

 year, and filled a 50 lbs. basket. This year I took 12 fish, two of which were 

 4 and 5 lbs. respectively. Nothing like that fishing would have been made 

 five years ago. The removal of these nets which are set across the voes 

 would improve the fishing. 



Mr David Edmondston. — A wholesale destruction of fish goes on in almost 

 eveiy place in the islands. At a burn in Unst a large number of trout had 

 got in and could not get out, and the people carried them away in cwts. 

 The way they captured them was by dragging the burn, or by killing the fish 

 with sticks. 



Mr Grierson. — There is a splendid loch at Dunrossness (Spiggie), where a 

 small proprietor keeps long lines set upon the banks, and the fish caught are 

 just cut up and used for bait by the fishermen. 



Mr Edmondston. — The fishermen in Unst do the same. They catch the 

 trout either with long lines or otters, and cut them up for bait. 



Mr Andrew Sandison. — The bag-nets I have spoken of were generally 

 used by young men in November or December, when, more for amusement 

 than anything else, a number of them would go out to the burns, and by 

 poking the nets under the banks of the burns would catch large numbers of 

 trout. 



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