Ixii 



Second Annual Report of the 



Salmon 

 Fisheries 



Report on Falls 

 of Tummel. 



Parliament 

 suggested. 



Resolution of 

 Board. 



salmon rivers in Scotland, and reported thereon to us, 

 we will submit to you a definite Eeport od the whole subject of 

 the Salmon Fisheries in Scotland, and the legislation which may be 

 required in connection therewith. 



But as regards Mr Young's third Report, which deals with 

 the question of placing a fishway on the Falls of Tummel, we 

 deemed this matter of so much importance that, after Mr Young 

 had reported on it to us, we felt it to be our duty to communicate 

 Special Act of with you, which we did on 27th May last, as to the desirable- 

 ness of a short Act of Parliament being passed, so as to give effect 

 to the recommendations contained in that Report, as well as to 

 deal with other obstructions of a similar nature in the salmon 

 rivers of Scotland, without waiting till the time when we propose 

 to report on the whole question of the Salmon Fisheries of Scot- 

 land. The following is the formal resolution which we adopted 

 on the subject, and which was duly communicated to you: — 



' The Board having considered the Report by Mr Young on the 

 ' opening of rivers and lochs now closed against salmon, by the 

 ' existence of such obstructions as the Falls of Tummel, the Falls 

 ' of Mounessie, and the Falls on the Conon, approve of said 

 ' Report; and having regard to the extensive area of spawning and 

 ' angling water which could be opened in different districts of 

 ' Scotland by the removal of said obstructions and the introduction 

 ' of an efficient fishway, resolve to transmit a copy of said Report 

 ' to the Secretary of State, with a request that a short Act should 

 ' be brought in by the Government, giving District Boards the 

 ' requisite compulsory powers, subject to such control on the part 

 ' of this Board or otherwise, as may be considered just.' 



Mr Young is about to start on an inspection of the salmon rivers in 

 Caithness and Sutherland, and on the west coast of Scotland from 

 the Sutherland march to the Mull of Cantire. This will complete 

 his examination of the rivers on the mainland of Scotland, leaving 

 only those in the islands for future inspection. 



The fishing season in Scotland during the year 1883 was a most 

 successful and productive one. 34,506 boxes of salmon were sent 

 to London alone ; and, if we allow for those sent to other parts 

 of England, and for those consumed at home, the total value of the 

 salmon placed in the market from the whole of Scotland during 

 1883 must have been not less than £350,000. It is, perhaps, worth 

 noticing that the number of boxes of Scotch salmon sent to 

 Billingsgate in 1883 is the largest during the last 50 years, with 

 only two exceptions, namely in 1835, when 42,330 boxes were sent, 

 and in 1842, when 39,417 boxes were sent. And not only was the 

 netting successful, but the rod-fishing in many of the rivers was 

 exceptionally good. 5000 salmon and grilse were killed by the rod 

 in the Aberdeenshire Dee ; and in the Helmsdale, in Sutherlandshire, 

 a much smaller river than the Dee, at least 800 fish were 

 captured. 



Coincident, however, with this successful fishing, there was 

 a great deal of salmon disease in the east coast rivers, which 

 extended from the Tweed, on the south, to the Deveron, on the north 

 — scarcely a river escaping. The Tweed is a border river, and part 

 of its course is in England. It has special Commissioners; is 



Salmon 

 Fishing 

 Season of 

 1883. 



Salmon 

 Disease. 



