of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



25 



1897. 



Ntinic of Strciiiu, 



Spawning Co 



nnnenccd. 



No. of Beds 

 for Season . 



Fiddich 



7th October 



657 



Avon 



6th 



55 



1 200 



Livet 



- 14th 



55 



1534 



( ,t\Y\ O'l M CISI 



- 18th 



55 



312 



Lochy 



- 18th 



5? 



104 



Dulnain 



- 14th 



55 



464 



Nethy 



19th 



55 



185 



Druie 



- 12th 



55 



200 



Feshie 



13th 



55 



528 



Tromie 



- 21st 



55 



154 



Truim 



- 20th 



55 



119 



Spey (above Lag^ 



jaii,Badenoch) 4th 



55 



204 



Total, - 5661 Spawning Beds. 



Table 



of Eleven 



Years' Spawning Beds. 





number of Beds for vear 1887 



3,849 



Do. 



do. 



1888 



5,637 



Do. 



do. 



1889 



2,932 



Do. 



do. 



1890 



2,768 



Do. 



do. 



1891 



4,591 



Do. 



do. 



1892 



5,287 



Do. 



do. 



1893 



4,635 



Do. 



do. 



1894 



7,214 



Do. 



do. 



1895 



6,203 



Do. 



do. 



1896 



4,778 



Do. 



do. 



1897 



5,661 



The spawning season of last year shows an increase of 883 spawning beds 

 when compared with the previous season of 1896-97. At the end of Septem- 

 ber, and during the whole of October last year (1897), an unusually heavy 

 run of fish ascended the river Spey, and many of these, especially grilse and 

 sea-trout, found their way into the Avon and Avon tributaries. At end of 

 October in the upper district of Livet and its tributaries grilse and sea-trout 

 were literally swarming, and the stream channels all but wholly trenched 

 over with their spawning beds. I witnessed this myself on 31st October on 

 the higher reaches of Livet and on the Bly, at which time these streams, in 

 consequence of a spell of dry weather, w r ere in their normal size, thus making 

 it arduous work for the district bailiffs to protect and preserve such a large 

 number of fish, which had in many cases on several spawning fords scarcely 

 enough water to cover them. At this time a somewhat similar state of things 

 prevailed in the upper Avon and its tributaries, which 1 visited on 1st Novem- 

 ber investigating a poaching case. Last season's results on Fiddich are 

 somewhat astonishing, considering that during the late summer and early 

 autumn months the channel of this stream in the Dufftown and downward 

 district was more like an open sewer or cesspool than that of a pellucid stream 

 such as Fiddich used to be. The number of spawning beds for the season 

 upon this stream was 657, compared with 292 beds for the previous season. 

 To account for this it must be understood that some 400 of last year's 

 spawning beds were those of sea trout, and all spawned in the Auchindoun and 

 Glenriddich upper reaches. The other 257 beds were principally made up of 

 grilse which also spawned in the Auchindoun district. The spawning in the 

 Fiddich district was practically over last year by the end of December, at 

 which date in former years, or until within the last three or four years — in 

 plain speaking, during the ante-distillery pollution days — was the middle of 

 or principal season of the Fiddich salmon spawning season over that stretch 

 lying between Tullochallum and Fiddich mouth, and which in those days 

 continued on to end of January, when there would have been at least 500 or 

 600 salmon spawning beds counted yearly between Dufftown and the mouth 

 of Fiddich. The greater number of the few salmon which spawned in Fiddich 

 below Dufftown last season died of disease and were buried by the bailiffs, and 



