of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



243 



section of the pass having been made immediately below the other. The 

 result will be that in high levels of river the rush of water will form a 

 more or less continuous torrent from the upper section through the lower. 

 In all moderate levels of river, also, there is a strong lead for ascending fish 

 towards the left bank owing to the large amount of water flowing from the 

 mill lade. It is to be expected, therefore, that fish will first swim in this 

 direction. It is unfortunate, also, that the mouth of the new structure has 

 been turned towards the right bank, since, on account of the lead just 

 referred to, fish will have unnecessary difficulty in finding it. Fish are apt 

 to congregate at the mouth of the lade, and when the sluices of the lade are 

 closed the water becomes very shallow, so that the operations of local 

 poachers (who, I believe, are rather numerous) are facilitated, It would 

 be a great advantage if a low railing of iron spars could be erected so as to 

 keep fish from congregating in this dangerous and futile position. The 

 fish which ascend by the right bank of the river will find the entrance of 

 the new pass without difficulty. 



Doon. 



I have had occasion in previous reports to refer to the fact that at the 

 mouth of this river we have a fixed estuary and a moving river mouth. 

 The Commissioners who defined the estuaries of Scottish rivers usually 

 adopted, in cases where the river mouth seemed to alter its position, a form 

 of estuary drawn with a given radius of a circle from the centre of the 

 river, and in the case of the river Doon it seems that this plan was at first 

 adopted and was afterwards changed to the definition as it stands now, 

 viz., a radius of a circle 400 yards long drawn from a fixed point, which at 

 the time of the passing of the bye-law was approximately in the centre of 

 the river mouth. The tendency of the river mouth is, however, to move 

 to the north along the beach, this being apparently caused by the combined 

 action of the sea current, the waves moved by the prevailing wind, and the 

 river. There is no proper certainty, therefore, that the limits of the 

 estuary bear a proper relation to the mouth of the river, and that if a time 

 comes when fixed nets are fished more freely than at present in this 

 district, it will be legal to set them dangerously near to the centre of the 

 river mouth. To obviate this I suggested to the various proprietors 

 interested, that the erection of a low barrier to the south of the river 

 mouth might have the result of preventing the northward movement by 

 checking the gradual silting from the south, and I instanced the old 

 erection at the mouth of the river Don, in Aberdeenshire, where a structure 

 of the kind has been in existence since the )^ear 1727. The proprietors 

 have favourably entertained this proposal, and, while certain objections 

 have been taken by the Town of Ayr, are seeking the sanction of the Board 

 of Trade for the erections suggested. 



Certain alterations have taken place since my last report on the coastal 

 net-fishing. A lease of fishing for six years has been granted to Mr. 

 Wright, fishmonger, Kilmarnock, provided that he does not fish between 

 certain points specified in the neighbourhood of the mouth of the river. 



Girvan. 



In the Eighteenth Report I referred to a passless weir on this little 

 river, which I then had been asked to inspect. It is the lowest weir on 

 the river, being below Kilwinning, at the iron works of Messrs. William 

 Baird & Co., where the river has an artificially-formed channel for a 

 distance of about 200 yards. The matter has again come up, and I have 

 had a considerable amount of correspondence as to the ownership of the 

 structure. I trust, however, that in the near future the Lanarkshire & 

 Q 



