of the, Fishery Board for Scotland. 



91 



APPENDIX III. 

 SALMON FISHERIES. 



MR. CALDERWOOD'S REPORT. 



The season of 1921 was remarkably successful for the great majority 

 of salmon netsmen, the catch, as revealed by the weight of salmon 

 carried to market, being far in excess of the catch for any year since 1896. 

 The figures for 1921 are given in the Board's Report (p. 52). A state- 

 ment showing the number of packages of salmon delivered at or near 

 Billingsgate Market during 1921 and the average prices per lb. has been 

 kindly furnished by The Fishmongers' Company and is appended hereto. 



The great increase was almost entirely confined to spring fish. The 

 stations which did not participate in the good season were those where 

 grilse and summer fish are chiefly relied upon. Some stations of this 

 class are reported to have done very badly indeed, for grilse were chiefly 

 conspicuous by their absence. 



So far as river reports go, spring fish have been numerous, and 

 angling in summer and autumn met with but little success. The excep- 

 tionally dry summer might sufficiently account for this, weather being a 

 factor which always bulks largely in the sport of salmon angling. In all 

 the smaller rivers also the continued drought reduced the flow to such an 

 extent that the entrance of fish from the sea became difficult or impos- 

 sible. In large rivers like the Tay, Dee and Spey, where the stock of fish 

 is relatively high, the angling season was regarded as an average one all 

 over, but both in Scotland and in England anglers have remarked for 

 some years that spring fish appear to be increasing and autumn fish 

 diminishing in numbers. 



So far as the nets are concerned, the great spring run of 1921 was 

 most marked in the section of the coast between Berwick and Inverness. 

 In the north of Scotland the summer was not by any means a dry one. 

 The rainfall was above the average, and in the north-west especially 

 (where the Board's nets were fishing) the season was not only wet but cold. 

 All along the north coast of the country as well as on the east of Caith- 

 ness the salmon netting was poor, but it has to be recollected in this 

 connection that this section of the coast is one where grilse are expected 

 to be more numerous than salmon. 



As an example of the difference between seasons 1920 and 1921, the 

 combined total catches of two representative river districts, viz. the 

 Tweed and the Findhorn, may be selected. The figures represent the 

 netting results only, bag nets on the coast being shown separately from 

 sweep nets in the mouths of the rivers. 



1920. 1921. 

 Bag nets .... 12,036 23,233 

 Sweep nets . . 18,561 30,187 



30,597 53,420 

 An increase of 22.823 fish in the total for 1921. 



