14 



Appendices to Tirentji-first A^mual Report 



water lochs, but at tba head of voes and bays where streams enter, and in 

 the streams themselves. The chief engine for the capture of sea trout 

 in the voes and hays seems to be the sweep net, but simple trammel nets 

 are also fixed at right angles to the shore in narrow inlets to 

 intercept and mesh the fish. I was able to examine a few of the sweep 

 nets which I found drying near suitable fishing grounds. Accurate 

 measurement of the dimensions of the nets was not possible, but I estimated 

 the length as 40 to 50 yards, and the depth at eight feet. The mesh of 

 these nets was however, readily ascertained, and was noticeably small. A 

 number of measurements showed the mesh to be one inch, occasionally rather 

 less. The material of which the net's were made was stout cord. Short 

 sweep nets of this strong make should prove most deadly engines at the 

 mouths of the small Shetland streams, while in the broader estuaries, by 

 the joining of two or three nets together, their action will be equally 

 effective. For the purpose of fishing the streams — surreptitiously 

 — I was credibly informed that, where conditions allowed, small sweep 

 nets of 15 to 20 feet are sometimes employed, but that more frequently a 

 kind of Shove Net and the Havey or Heavie are used. These are worked 

 late in the year, for the most part, perhaps, out of season, in the small 

 streams up which fish run in order to spawn. Their influence therefore 

 cannot fail to be most injurious. The Shove Net is worked by two men, 

 one on each side of the stream. Each is armed with a pole about 12 feet 

 long, and from pole to pole a net is stretched. The net has not much bag 

 in it and is usually about 15 feet across the top and about 12 feet across the 

 foot at the lower extremities of the poles. In depth the net is about seven 

 feet, so that five feet of bare pole is left for each man to use as a handle. 

 Before using this engine a piece of wire netting or other obstruction is 

 usually stretched across the stream above the selected scene of operations. 

 The men using the net commence, it may be, about half a mile below 

 this obstruction and work upwards, searching the pools as they go. By 

 rolling the net up on the poles it is readily adapted to narrow channels 

 and small pools. The fish are gradually driven upwards, and at 

 intervals, if necessary, a netful is thrown out upon one or other 

 bank. On reaching the wire netting the remainder of the fish are 

 enclosed and lifted from the stream. The Havey is worked as a rule 

 by ojie man, M'ho walks up the channel of the stream. It is also 

 supported on stakes, though necessarily of a smaller and lighter sort. In 

 this case the net has a long bag which streams downwards between the 

 man's legs. At other times it is set in the stream between large stones or 

 other supports, and the fish in the pools are then driven down to it. 



As angling becomes more and more valuable, so methods of fishing as 

 described will have to be more and more rigidly suppressed. It appears, 

 however, that either from indifference, or from disinclination to interfere, 

 much poaching of a most harmful kind has been permitted in the past. 

 Previous to my visit I had received numerous communications from 

 various parts of the islands complaining of the destruction of sea trout by 

 illegal means, and of the absence of any authority to put down the evil. 

 A case was, however, contested while I was in the district, which has 

 done much to clear up the relative positions of those who fish in the 

 islands and the rights which they may possess or the privileges they may 

 enjoy. A complaint was made at the instance of the Marquess of Zetland 

 and Mr. R. C. Haldane of North Roe against Laurence Johnston for 

 fishing with a sweep net and boat at Burra Voe, North Roe. The charge 

 was made as a contravention of the Act 9° George IV., cap. 39, and the 

 Act T"* and 8'* Victoria, cap. 95, and in particular Section J 1 of the latter 

 Act, in which persons not having a legal Right or Permission^ are pro- 

 hibited from fishing for salmon within one mile of the shore. The 



