of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
33 
cumstancc is moutioncd with regard to the effect of the operations of the 
Glasgow Waterworks Commissioners, which have greatly raised the level 
of the lake, and which, it was generally expected, would have been 
prejudicial to the fisheries. 'I consider,' it is stated, 'that the take of 
' fish in my district has rather increased, and besides that the quality is 
* improved. The raising of Loch Katrine by the operations carried on by 
1 the Glasgow Waterworks Commissioners had a marked effect at the time 
' in improving the quality of the fish in the lake. Then, also, I introduced 
' some Loch Leven trout and some from Loch Arklet, an adjoining lake, 
' which might, in some degree, account for the improved fishing. The 
\ weight of the heaviest trout caught by rod in 1889 was 4 lbs. Scarcely 
' auy salmon and no sea-trout have been caught in Loch Katrine, which 
c is rather difficult to account for, as there is no natural obstruction, 
' unless the embankment erected by the Water Commissioners for raising 
1 the level of the lake prevents them from entering it.' 
Mr M'Nab, the innkeeper at Luss Hotel on Loch Lomond, states, that, Luss Hotel, 
so far as known to him, the heaviest salmon caught was 13 lbs., the Loch Loiu01 
heaviest loch trout 12 J lbs., and the heaviest sea-trout 6 lbs. The 
watching is fairly efficient, though a few poachers use the otter on the 
loch. 
With regard to obstructions he writes as follows : — ' There is one dam 
' on mill at Fruin, which salmon and sea-trout take and another at mill 
' on Luss water which salmon do not take but sea-trout do : in both cases 
' when the water is about half flood. Salmon presently spawn below the 
' dam on Luss water. A ladder at the dam would open up several miles 
' of water to them. A fall on the Douglas water prevents all fish getting 
c up to several miles of good spawning ground. A combination of blast- 
' ing and ladder might enable them to get up.' 
Concerning pollutions he writes : — 1 The above mentioned waters are 
' free from pollutions, but the river Leven, up which all sea fish must come, 
' is abominably polluted by chemicals from print-works on the banks and 
' by sewage. The pollution is yearly increasing, and, so far as I am 
' aware, no steps are taken to neutralise it.' Afterwards, he writes about 
the Leven as follows : — ' The river Leven is the key to the district. At 
* present a high loch is required to enable salmon and sea-trout to come 
' up and smolts to go down. If the pollution was appreciably diminished, 
' fish could run at any time. The pollution is specially deadly on smolts 
1 going to the sea. Doubtless the stock of fish could be largely increased 
* by artificial hatching, but, until the Leven is purified, any attempt in 
' that direction would be almost labour in vain.' He incloses the following 
remarkable cutting from the Evening Citizen of 14th May 1890, 
illustrative of the deleterious and destructive effect of the chemicals dis- 
charged into the Leven by the print-works on the fry of salmon and sea- 
trout : — ' Yesterday forenoon the banks of the Clyde, from Dumbarton 
f Castle to north bank opposite Cardross, were literally covered with millions 
1 of salmon fry and sea-trout that had been poisoned. At repeated intervals 
1 it has been noticed that fish have been destroyed by the discharge of 
' sewage containing poisonous matter into the waters, but never before has 
1 such a large quantity of young fish been destroyed. It is presumed that 
f the discharge of the poisonous liquid has come from one or other of the 
' works situated on the banks of the Leven. Sometimes that river presents 
' a blood-like appearance, as if the whole of the turkey-red in the Vale of 
' Leven had been discharged into it ; at other times the water is of a dark, 
' muddy colour, showing unmistakable signs of refuse having been allowed 
* to run in. All day yesterday bands of young and old were out on the 
* banks of the Clyde collecting sickly salmon.' 
3 
