of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 81 



i 



The Hang net in the Tay estuary was regarded as a fixed engine by 

 the House of Lords, and on that account became illegal in any estuary. 

 The estuary of the Solway is not all in Scotland, arid even if it were it 

 seems that the legality of the Whammel net, as a fixed net, is arguable, 

 but this cannot be said for the use of a fixed net in an estuary in the 

 West Highlands, where, owing to the absence of any District Fishery 

 Board, and to the fact that the proprietors commit the illegal act, no 

 commitment is possible. It is uncommon to find people persisting in 

 destroying their own property and at the same time breaking the law. 

 It is much more common for one class of proprietors to injure 

 another class, either through lack of proper consideration or absence of 

 preventative action. 



There are 52 districts without Boards at the present time, and as 

 the existing machinery for carrying out the provisions of the Salmon 

 Acts operates through District Fishery Boards, and in certain important 

 particulars only through District Fishery Boards, it is clear that in 

 such districts many provisions of the Acts cannot be applied. In the 

 absence of any local authority it should be possible to substitute some 

 other competent body to do the duty. For instance, in the 52 districts 

 referred to it is impossible to secure any change of close time, or to 

 proceed concerning any of the bylaws attached to the Act of 1868 

 regulating nets, fish passes, hecks, cruives, and so on. Further, in the 

 case of a great number of small districts in the West Highlands un- 

 provided with Boards, there would be great advantage in adopting a 

 system of grouping. They then could be policed and regulated by united 

 action. A desire for some such arrangement has several times been 

 expressed to me. With the whole country thus brought more completely 

 under the operation of the Salmon Acts, and especially with improvements 

 in these Acts, local bylaws could be passed by Boards, covering certain 

 matters about which local control has rightly a predominating say, and 

 powers would be available for bringing into action existing legislative 

 machinery. 



Questions concerning the Border districts, the Tweed and the Solway, 

 have inevitably to be included in any review of prospective needs. These 

 are to some extent outwith the supervision of the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland, and involve adjustment with interests across the Border. The 

 particular points are now well known, however, and it seems to me we 

 have reason, at the present time, for approaching them without undue 

 apprehension as to the result. 



The very serious menace of pollution demands urgent attention, as 

 I have already indicated it in more than one recent report. A great- 

 mass of evidence and a full treatment of the problem in its many varied 

 aspects are ready to hand in the Eeports of the Sewage Disposal Com- 

 mission. The problems to be solved are very largely financial, but the 

 question also involves the- extent to which purification is necessary in 

 given circumstances. Domestic sewage acts for the most part on fish 

 life as a de -oxygenating agent in the water, while trade wastes not only 

 absorb the oxygen but are frequently in themselves highly toxic. 



The leading recommendation put forward by the Sewage Disposal 

 Commission is the setting up of standards of purification, it being evident 

 that a like amount of treatment is unnecessary in all cases. This involves 

 arriving at a standard for every kind of pollution, but after a very com- 

 plete consideration of the whole question it is regarded as the best means 

 of resolving the difficulties which have to be reckoned with. In the Ninth 

 Report, 1915, p. 172 et seq., therefore a classification is made between 

 pollutions for which (A) efficient purification is practicable and (B) those 



