of the Fishery Hoard for Scotland. 



31 



From Ardlamont Point to Mull of Galloway. 

 Bag nets (per pair) . . <£33 



Working expenses . . .£44 



Boat to each 7 nets . . ,£17 6». 6d. 



(4 men to each boat.) 



This arrangement has necessary disadvantages, since in all probability 

 a hard and fast line cannot be drawn at the points named, but more 

 especially in dealing with boats in the estimate of cost. The figure 

 first used (£18 15s.) is calculated to cover the boats both of less and of 

 greater cost which are referred to in Mr. Archer's report. A greater 

 amount of ambiguity arises, however, in cases where a comparatively 

 small number of nets are used by several lessees in one district. In 

 such cases the number of boats calculated for is probably too small, 

 since each lessee is bound to have at least one boat. In a case such as 

 Loch Fyne, where a number of proprietors fish their own nets, it may 

 happen that several boats are used which are not of the recognised type, 

 and which, it may be, are of a different value. I have, however, 

 thought it advisable, except in the case of Loch Fyne, where an exact 

 enumeration of boats is impossible, to calculate all in the uniform way, 

 giving a boat to every 7 nets on the East or North Coasts, a boat 

 to every 5 nets on the West Coast from Cape Wrath to Ardlamont 

 Point, including Loch Fyne district, and a boat to every 7 nets south 

 of this point to the Mull of Galloway. 



Since the stake nets of the Solway do not conform either to the usual 

 bag-net or fly-net type, and are " privileged engines " of a varied type, 

 I have not attempted to estimate their value. 



The totals show that 1945 fixed nets are used annually at present on 

 the coast of Scotland ; that the value of the nets and boats may be 

 estimated at i. 1 143,900 17s.; and that 1352 men are probably employed 

 in this branch of the fishing industry. 



With regard now to the particular localities where observations 

 regarding coast fishing and its results might be expected do yield 

 evidence of interest, it appears to me natural to suppose that on such a 

 highly indented coast as that of Argyllshire, West Inverness-shire, 

 W est Ross-shire, and West Sutherland, remunerative localities for the 

 establishment of coast salmon fishing stations have in a great many 

 cases, perhaps in every case, been established as the result of experience 

 after many failures. But once good stations have been found it seems 

 natural to suppose further that, owing to the absence of large rivers 

 where fish can leave the salt water even in dry weather, the toll taken 

 of fish hanging about the mouths of the various lochs, and at certain 

 headlands, must, in proportion, be greater than would be the case on an 

 open coast ; and that individual districts will more quickly feel the effects 

 of fishing. If, then, an undue amount of bag-net fishing is having an 

 injurious effect upon the stock of salmon, we might expect to find the 

 most marked signs of it in certain districts of the West Coast where 

 successful fishing has long been carried on. On the East Coast it 

 appears to me the issue of any observations on the subject is 

 much more uncertain owing to the open coast along which fish 

 can travel, it may be to a neighbouring river, it may be to a 

 larger river further on. The concentration, or at least the apparent 

 concentration, is absent. Fish on the coast of the Ugie district, 

 for instance, at Peterhead, are taken in the bag nets all through 

 the season, although no salmon enter the Ugie river till quite 

 the end of the season, and then they enter only in small numbers. It 

 seems necessary, in this case, to believe that a large proportion of 



