APPENDIX I. 



THE COAST SALMON FISHERIES OF SCOTLAND. 



By W. L. Calderwood, F.R.S.E., 

 Inspector of Salmon Fisheries for Scotland, 



The unfortunate absence of official statistics dealing with the actual 

 catch of salmon makes a definite statement as to the decline or the 

 maintenance of the stock of fish impossible. 



While this is so, it cannot escape the notice of anyone interested in 

 salmon fisheries that at present there exists a very general complaint 

 throughout Scotland that the supply of salmon is diminishing. So far 

 as my present experience goes, there are only two sources from which 

 no complaint comes, or from which statements have, been received to 

 the effect that there are still plenty of salmon. Several proprietors in 

 the "West Highlands interested exclusively in angling in districts where 

 no coast fishing by fixed engine is carried on, and a section of those 

 interested exclusively in fixed-engine fishing or in the commercial 

 aspects of salmon fishing, on the most closely netted part of the East 

 Coast, make such statements. It need hardly be said the statements 

 originate by reason of widely different interests. 



All must be agreed that a stock of breeding salmon sufficient to 

 withstand the great mortality now caused by the action of man, by the 

 salmon's natural enemies, and by disease, is a matter essential to the 

 continuance of the salmon fisheries of the country. We have, there- 

 fore, to deal with the capture of the fish, and we have also to deal with 

 the upkeep of the species. This latter question seems now to be 

 receiving more attention than formerly, and I should like to be 

 permitted to say that it cannot receive too much attention at the 

 present time. In many districts where the belief is held that a 

 decline, by reason of over-fishing or other cause, has set in, District 

 Fishery Boards or private individuals are establishing hatcheries in 

 order to augment artificially the supply of fish. The establishment of 

 hatcheries is a feature of the last year or two. Viewing the fisheries in 

 general, I think it must be admitted, however, that if the present 

 catching power continues to be developed, a very great increase in the 

 number and in the capacity of hatcheries will be necessary to produce 

 noticeable results. In artificially augmenting the stock of salmon we 

 must necessarily be prepared to compete with a vast mortality. 



The bag-net or fly-net fishing of our coast is the most productive 

 and important factor on the purely commercial side of salmon fishing. 

 To gain more definite information on certain aspects of this industry 

 was the object of my last annual tour of inspection. 



There are 94 salmon fishing districts on the mainland of Scotland 

 with the islands of Skye and Mull, and the difference in the size of the 



