22 



Appendices to Tiventy-first Annual Repwt 



Artificial Propagation of Salmon- 

 No. 



Proportion of ]\Iale to Female Salmon— 

 Don't know. 



General Question — 



Thomas L. Galbraith, late Clerk to Fishery Board, resigned 15th April 

 1902 ; Patrick Welsh, County Buildings, Stirling, appointed his 

 successor, 16th May 1902. Angus Paterson, late Superintendent of 

 Salmon Fishings, left service of Board, and James M'Eae, Stirling, 

 appointed his successor on 4th March 1902. 



THE DISTRICT OF THE RIVER TAT. 



Take of Fish— 



1. (a), (6), (c), and (d) About average for salmon. Grilse more abundant 



than usual. 



2. (a), (6), and (c) No. 



3. (a) At start of rod-fishing on 15th January ; (6) July and August ; (c) a 



few in May, but not in any large numbers till near end of June. 

 Chief run in July and August. 



4. No means of getting correct information. The season changes a little, 



owing, it is supposed, to water and weather conditions. 



5. (a) 601 lbs., caught below Newburgh, 9th July ; (6) 47 lbs., so far as is 



known ; (c) 46 lbs., caught near Almondmouth in October. 



6. No, there was not quite so many as usual. 



Protection — 



1. £22,663 12s. 



2. 7 per cent. * 



3. Twenty-six during the spawning season. 



4. Since last report 45 cases have been prosecuted (44 in Perth and 1 in 



Forfar Sheriff Courts). These implicated 75 persons. The offences 

 ■ were : — Found in possession of foul fish, 25. Cleeking, &c., 11. 

 Killing smolts, 4. Salmon roe, 2. Taking salmon with a sparling 

 net and yawl, 1. Fishing for salmon with rod and line without leave 

 of proprietor, 1. Taking foul salmon by rod and line, 1. Convictions 

 were obtained in 44 cases, involving 59 persons. The charges against 

 8 persons were withdrawn. In 4 cases the accused were admonished, 

 in 1 not proven, in 1 the diet was deserted, and in 1 accused absconded. 

 Fines and expenses ranging from 6s. to £5, and |amounting in cumulo 

 to £92 3s. 9d., being an average of £1 lis. 3d. for each person con- 

 victed, were imposed. Thirty-five paid fines, 16 were imprisoned, 6 

 are not yet settled, and 2 have died since trial. An important decision 

 on the question whether a " Rawner " is a foul fish was obtained in 

 a prosecution in Perth Sheriff Court on 24th June 1902. David 

 Armstrong, a labourer in Perth, was charged with having been on 27th 

 February 1902 in possession of an unclean or unseasonable salmon, 

 contrary to the 20th section of the 1868 Act. He pled not guilty. 

 Superintendent Lumsden and Watcher Dempster gave evidence as to 

 the seizure of the fish from the accused, and as to its "baggit" condi- 

 tion, the ova being quite loose and running from end to end of the 

 fish. Dr. Noel Paton, Lecturer on Physiology, Edinburgh, who had 

 examined the fish after seizure, and Mr. Charles Wright Morris, Chief 

 Inspector of the Fishmongers' Company, London, who had also seen 

 the fish, had no hesitation in saying that it was unclean. In convicting 

 the accused of the ofience charged. Sheriff Sym, before whom the case 

 was tried, said — " I do not think that what has been a long practice in 

 " a particular river has really much to do Avith the question in this 

 " case. I do not say it has nothing to do with it, because I can under- 



