of tilt Fishery Board for Scotland. 



95 



interests of the fisheries could be referred. In such cases, too often, the 

 upshot comes to be some form of compensation for injury already done. I 

 wish to argue for the settlement of such difficulties before the injury is 

 done. Even if those who are injured receive large money payments or 

 equivalents, the benefit to the fisheries is nil. The human being who for 

 the moment is injured receives some solatium, but a permanent injury to 

 the salmon fisheries has been done. 



With regard to this question of pollution, we have the monumental 

 work of the Sewage Disposal Commission, whose final report was issued in 

 1915, as an exhaustive guide to the whole complicated question, but at the 

 same time a very definite indication of how the purification of our rivers 

 should best be accomplished. With proposals for the betterment of our 

 Scottish Salmon Fisheries, there should therefore be the power for the 

 Central Fishery Authority to act in conjunction with the proposed Central 

 or Supreme Rivers Authority. 



I have ventured to write thus strongly on the need for legislation be- 

 cause it appears to me that, in all probability, we are now at or near a crisis 

 in the history of our Salmon Fisheries, when if things are allowed to con- 

 tinue as formerly a condition will soon be reached from which recovery 

 will be well-nigh impossible. The principal needs of the case, at least, have 

 been embodied in the form of a Bill which has been in existence for years, 

 and which has been revised more than once. 



Tay District. 



I commenced my inspections, in 1916, by a visit to the Tummel Pass 

 on 18th May. The river was fairly high. The gauge at the foot of the 

 Pass showed 24 inches of water, while a measurement at the deepened in- 

 take sill showed 34 inches, indicating that a loss in depth of 10 inches took 

 place in the course of the Pass. The water at the upper end and as far into 

 the tunnel as one could see, flowed in a uniform and " black " state. Below 

 the tunnel, on the other hand, where the Pass is still of the original gradient, 

 the water was unduly rough and broken. I noticed that some boulders, 

 about 18 inches in diameter, had been washed down the Pass, and that 

 there was a considerable accumulation of gravel towards the lower end. It 

 appeared to me also that further silting up at the intake was probable. 



Through the kindness of Mr. H. W. Johnston, I then motored 

 up to Dalcroy Dam and Dunalastair Fall. I found the former con- 

 siderably improved by the repairs affected by the District Fishery 

 Board. At the height of the river on the day of my visit fish could 

 have ascended easily. At Dunalastair Fall, the rocks which had been 

 blasted away to relieve the pressure had not yet been washed away from 

 the foot of the Fall. The water was distinctly rough, and the pressure still 

 heavy. Also a very strong boil-up occurred in the pool below, especially 

 towards the right bank. It appears, however, that fish are now more easily 

 able to ascend in low conditions of river. 



Forth District. 



Next day I visited Dunblane Dyke and Pass, where alterations had been 

 made by the District Fishery Board. I dealt with this Dam and Pass at 

 considerable length in my last Annual Report. 



At the date of my visit, the level of the water was particularly suitable 

 for judging the depressions in the sill, and the way in which the greatest 

 volume of water flows, not where the Pass is situated, but towards the left 

 bank. The Pass is situated about a fourth of the way from the right bank. 



