of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



103 



them I saw two salmon, and from their position, construction, and 

 arrangement, I have no doubt whatever that they must take and 

 do take salmon, whenever there are salmon in the estuary of the 

 Nith. 



The Nith is a very late river — one of the latest in Scotland — 

 very few clean fish being seen in it until May or June. This was 

 recognised two centuries ago, as the following Act, passed during 

 the reign of Charles the Second (1681, c. 101) shows : — ' Act anent 

 ' the Salmond fishing in the Water of Nith. Our Soveraigne Lord, 

 ' considering that the slaying of Salmond in forbidden time is 

 ' charged by several Acts of Parliament, and that the Salmond 

 ' fishing within the Water of Nith doeth differ much from any 

 ' other Salmond fishing within this Kingdom, in regard the 

 ' Salmond within that Eiver does never begin to Spawne till after 

 ' the twenteith day of October, and that the only proper time for 

 ' Salmond fishing within the said Water of Nith is from the first 

 ' of March to the first day of November, Doe therefore, with advice 

 4 and consent of the Estates of Parliament, hereby Statute and 

 ' Ordain, that in all time coming the Salmond fishing within the 

 - said Water of Nith shall begin upon the first day of March, and 

 ' continue to the first day of November yearly ; and prohibits and 

 ' discharges all slaying of Salmond within the said Water of Nith 

 ' from the first day of November to the first of March, under the 

 ' pains contained in the former Acts of Parliament made anent 

 ' slaying of Salmond in forbidden times.' A proprietor in the 

 Nith District, who is well acquainted with the Biver, writes 

 me as follows on the subject of its lateness : — ' Under the Act 

 ' for the Nith, 1792, the open time was from 1st March to 5th 

 ' October. Under the Solway Act of 1804, the open time for the 

 ' Nith was from 10th March to 25th September. Under these 

 ' Acts it was always considered the river opened nearly 2 months 

 1 too soon, and that it should have been left open till 5th October. 

 ' Prom 1st May to 1st October is, beyond question, the proper 

 ' fishing season for the Nith.'* At present, the close time for the 

 Nith is from 10th September to 24th February, with extension of 

 time for rod fishing to 31st October. The rivers that run into the 

 Scotch shore of the Solway Firth are nearly all late rivers. In 

 some of them, such as the Nith, Fleet, and Luce, the first clean fish 

 do not appear until May or June, and I venture to think, as regards 

 these rivers, and many others that may be mentioned on the 

 west coast of Scotland, that it would be advisable, in any future 

 legislation, to alter that part of the 9th section of ' The Salmon 

 ' Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1868/ which gives the Secretary of State 

 power to vary the annual close time on the petition of a District 

 Board, but subject to the proviso ' that such annual close time shall 

 * always be 168 days.' The words 'always be' should be altered 

 into the words ' be not less than,' as suggested in my first Report to 



* The most recent proof of the lateness of the Nith is afforded by the fact that on 

 8th December last, a considerable portion of the lower waters was netted in order to 

 obtain a supply of salmon ova for Mr Armistead, who has a salmon hatchery in the 

 Nith District. But only one female fish ready for spawning was got ; and as none 

 of the males were in the same condition, she was returned to the river. All the 

 other fish got were clean and fresh run. 



