Fishery Board for Scotland. 



Ixxxi 



' generally succeed in capturing the fish and the poaching imple- 



* ments, it is sonxewhat rare, owing to the organisation amongst the 

 ' poachers, to secure them, or even to succeed in identifying or dis- 

 ' tinguishing them to the extent necessary for founding a prosecu- 



* tion. One of these cases occurred the other day on the Don, and 

 ' several times last winter. When the fish are foul, there is of 

 ' course no difficulty in dealing with them ; but in this case there 

 ' were twelve all perfectly clean, which it seemed a pity to destroy 



* or bury. Although we were not actually aware of any powers he 

 ' had in the matter, we applied to Sheriff Dove Wilson by a petition 

 ' setting forth the circumstances, and asking his warrant to transmit 

 ' them to London for sale — the proceeds to be applied to the uses 

 '* of the Fishery Board. The Sheriff, as we had foreseen, declined 



* to grant such a warrant, saying that no authority from him could 

 ' legalise an illegal act, and we are therefore compelled to destroy 



* a number of wholesome and valuable fish. We venture to suggest 



* that — in view of a continually recurring circumstance like this — 

 ' it might be advisable, in the event of any new Salmon Fishery 



* legislation, to make some carefully-guarded provision for such a 



* case (applicable to Fishery Boards alone) as an exception to § 21 



* of the Act of 1868.' 



On receiving this letter Mr Young wrote to the Clerks to the Tay 

 District Board to inquire what was their practice in such cases, and 

 received for answer that ' Our practice is to distribute good fish 



* so seized among the Infirmary and other charitable institu- 



* tions.' 



It is obvious that, as the law at present stands, the clean as well 

 as the foul fish taken from poachers during the annual close time 

 must be destroyed. The prohibition against selling or using is 

 absolute. The 21st section of the Salmon Fishery Act of 1868 im- 

 poses a penalty upon ' Any person who shall buy, sell, or expose 



* for sale, or have in his possession any salmon ' during the annual 

 close time. It might possibly, however, be worth considering, in 

 the event of any future legislation, whether power might be given 

 to District Boards to sell clean salmon taken from poachers, and 

 apply the proceeds for the protection of the river, and for that pur- 

 pose only. It would be a sort of retributive justice on the poacher 

 to employ the proceeds of his illegal fishing in putting a stop to 

 such fishing for the future, though practical difficulties might pos- 

 sibly present themselves in giving effect to the suggestion of the 

 Dee and Don District Boards. 



Since the Bye-laws fixing Fishery Districts, Estuaries, Annual Alterations 

 Close Times, &c., were published along with the Salmon Fishery Acts ^y^-iaws. 

 of 1862 and 1868, considerable changes have taken place, owing to 

 new Fishery Districts having been formed, and the Annual Close 

 Times of a number of rivers having been altered by Orders under 

 the hand of the Secretary of State, in virtue of the powers conferred 

 upon him by the 9th section of ^ The Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) 

 'Act, 1868.' These alterations were all duly published in the 

 Edinhiirgh Gazette. But as that paper is not generally accessible, 

 it has been judged advisable to publish- them in a separate form, 

 and they will accordingly be found collected in Appendix G, No. 

 II., drawn up by Mr Young. 



