of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



25 



APPENDIX III. 



THE "WHITE-FISH NETS" OF THE SOL WAY. 

 By W. L. Calderwood. 



For very many years salmon fishers in the Solway have complained 

 against a class of nets which closely resemble salmon nets, but which are, 

 by their owners, declared to be white-fish nets. At the beginning of 

 February a case was decided by the Sheriff- Principal at Dumfries in which 

 twelve fishermen were implicated. Interdict against the use of the nets 

 in question was granted, the decision being based upon that of Lord 

 Trayner when an analogous case was heard in the Court of Session 

 in 1886. This has since been appealed to the Second Division. 



Other cases of a similar kind have occurred in the past, and I believe I 

 am correct in stating that the decision has in every case been the same. 

 " Paiclle-nets," or white-fish nets, placed so as to catch salmon, and which 

 do catch salmon, fished without the consent of the owner of the proper 

 rights, have in every case been put down. A full Court of Session inquiry 

 was conducted with regard to this question in 1879, and an elaborate 

 judgment delivered by Lord Curriehill. In spite of this it has happened 

 that after each case paidle-nets have quietly reappeared. 



It is by no means easy to determine, merely by observation, which nets 

 are salmon nets and which " white-fish nets." In other districts in 

 Scotland one has no difficulty. A net stretched on stakes, having an 

 enclosed chamber or " head," and a leader, to guide fish into the head, 

 is at once recognised as a salmon net whether it be erected on a flat tidal 

 shore or floated to moorings where the coast is steep. The type of net has 

 become clearly recognised. On a flat tidal shore the stakes are sunk in the 

 ground, the leader is erected at right angles to the shore, and the head 

 is commonly placed at cr near low- water mark. The net ebbs dry, and the 

 fish which may have entered the head when the tide was up are gathered 

 at low-water. This variety of the type is called a " fly net." On a steep 

 coast where this method of fishing salmon is impracticable, the same arrange- 

 - ment of netting is floated and held in position by mooring ropes and guys, 

 and the variety is called a salmon " bag net." No one attempts to set a 

 fly net or bag net of this type except the purpose be to catch salmon. 



In the Solway it is not so. Fixed nets, stretched on stakes which are 

 sunk in the ground, and with leaders or " cross arms," and heads similar, 

 though it may sometimes be smaller than the heads of ordinary salmon 

 nets, are set in many localities. But they are given the name of white- 

 fish nets, and protection for their use is sought under the plea that they 

 are for the purpose of catching flounders and other white fish. With the 

 miles of sandy or muddy flats left bare by the tide in the wide bays and 

 estuaries on the Scottish side of the Solway, these nets not infrequently 

 are placed in isolated positions where they are entirely free from casual 

 observation, and where anyone going to inspect them is necessarily seen a 

 long time before the nets can be readied. It is curious, however, that they 

 are commonly set close to the natural tidal bed of some river as it winds 

 seawards through the flats. 



To aid one in distinguishing between salmon nets proper and white-fish 

 nets, it is possible to consult the Schedule of the Commissioners appointed 

 in 1879 to inquire into the Solway Salmon Fisheries. These Commissioners 



