52 



Appendices to Seventeenth Annual Report 



dam dykes to provide for the ascent of fish, the " mid-streams" in cruive 

 dykes are said to have lapsed; a sufficiently illogical position. In this 

 connection it is of interest to notice the law regarding the cruives or 

 fishing weirs of England. The Salmon Fishery Act of 1861 provides 

 (sec. 27. Restrictions as to Fishing Weirs) : — " Where any fishing weir 

 extends more than half-way across any stream at its lowest state of 

 " water, it shall have a free gap or opening in accordance with the regu- 

 " tions following, unless otherwise authorised by the Home Office, under 

 " the powers of this Act ; that is to say — 



" (1) The free gap shall be situate in the deepest part of the stream 

 " between the points where it is intercepted by the weir ; 



" (2) The sides of the gap shall be in a line with and parallel to the 

 " direction of the stream at the weir ; 



" (3) The bottom of the gap shall be level with the natural bed of 

 " the stream above and below the gap; 



" (4) The width of the gap in its narrowest part shall be not less 

 " than one-tenth part of the width of the stream ; provided 

 " always that such gap shall not be required to be wider 

 " than forty feet, and shall not in any case be narrower than 

 " three feet." 



Willis Bund, in his Law of Salmon Fisheries in England and Wales, 

 points out (p. 312) that in cases where the fishing weir does not extend 

 half-way across the river they may be fished without gaps, provided they 

 were in use on 6th August 1861. 



It is further worthy of remark that, with regard to what in Eng- 

 land are termed Fishing Mill Dams, the 1861 Act provides (24 & 25 

 Yict. sec. 12), inter alia, that "no fishing mill-dam, although law- 

 " fully in use as aforesaid, shall be used for the purposes of catching 

 " salmon unless it have attached thereto a fish-pass of such form and 

 " dimensions as shall be approved of by the Home Office, nor unless 

 " such fish-pass has constantly running through it such a flow of water 

 " as will enable salmon to pass up and down such pass, but so neverthe- 

 less that such pass shall not be larger nor deeper than requisite for 

 " the above purposes." 



It will be noticed, therefore, that in process of time, in Scotland, the 

 enforcement of the mid-stream has been allowed to lapse ; cruive dykes 

 have been permitted rightly or wrongly to intercept the entire flow of 

 rivers ; whereas in England the provision for a "mid-stream" in cruives 

 has remained. To those who hold rights of cruive fishing and netting 

 below, the absence of any " mid-stream" is naturally of great pecuniary 

 advantage ; but to others who may hold rights of ordinary salmon fish- 

 ing in rivers where cruives are fished, the matter may naturally be 

 viewed from an opposite standpoint, since the cruive frequently gains 

 the monopoly of the fishing and seriously injures the adequate distribu- 

 tion of fish in the district. 



In preparing the present report as to the cruives of Scotland, I have 

 communicated with upwards of a hundred districts, and have received 

 information as to the presence or absence of cruives, &c, from every 

 salmon-frequented district in the country. 



In rivers held entirely by one proprietor, it appears that for many 

 years no cruive fishing has been carried on. The reason for the dis- 

 continuance of the cruive fishing seems invariably to have been in order 

 to benefit the rod fishings, which are in the majority of cases let on short 

 or long lease. Further, the decision to abandon this form of fishing has 

 in all cases, except one, been followed by the removal or partial decay of 

 the cruive dykes. In the Thurso river, for instance, the cruives were 

 removed many years ago by Sir J. G. T. Sinclair, Bart., of Ulbster, to 



