XX 
Report on Salmon Fisheries. 
* of Salmon Fisheries in England and Wales ' : — f Perhaps the most 
' important part of the Salmon Fishery Act, 1873, is the power 
■ given to Boards of Conservators to make Bye-laws for the better 
' execution of the Salmon Fishery Acts, 1861 to 1873, within their 
' district. Before 1861 various local Acts regulated the fisheries in 
' different rivers, but the Salmon Fishery Act, 1861, repealed all 
' these, so far as they related to salmon, and laid down the principle 
' of one fixed law for every river in England and Wales. Although 
' the principle was sound in theory, yet in practice it has been 
1 found absolutely necessary that it should be relaxed in some 
{ degree. Each river has its own peculiarities of detail, and these 
■ can never be dealt with by general legislation ; what is most vital 
1 for one river may prove ruinous for another ; and hence for a long 
4 time past Boards of Conservators have been asking for power to 
' adapt the law to the circumstances of their district. This power 
4 has at last been granted, and each Board can now, within the 
4 limits prescribed by the Act, modify the general law so as to suit 
4 the peculiarities of its district.' It might possibly be worth con- 
sidering, with reference to any future Act, whether a similar power 
might not be advantageously conferred on District Boards in Scot- 
land, under certain limitations and restrictions.* 
illicit traffic in 13. In our Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Reports we had 
salmon. h onour 0 f bringing under your notice the extensive illicit 
traffic in salmon from various parts of Scotland to English and 
foreign markets ; and in our last Report we write, as follows, 
with regard to the best means of checking it : — ' The Board regret 
' to state that the illicit traffic in salmon from Newburgh and 
1 elsewhere on the Tay, and from other localities in Scotland, to 
' English and foreign markets, still continues, no legislation having 
1 yet taken place to carry out the steps which we had the 
' honour to recommend in our Seventh Report as necessary to 
* prevent it. As the matter is one of much importance, and as it 
4 is understood to be occupying the attention of the Fisheries 
' Department of the Board of Trade and of the Fishmongers 
' Company of London, we beg to recapitulate what was there re- 
1 commended : — " What is chiefly required in Scotland are powers 
' " of search and seizure, conferred on officers of District Boards, 
« " river- watchers, police officers, &c, such as are given with regard 
' " to game by the 2nd section of the Poaching Prevention Act 
' "of 1862 ; the prohibition of the sale, offering for sale, or having 
1 " in possession for the purpose of sale, of salmon caught during 
\ " the extension of time for rod-fishing ; and the throwing on 
4 " persons in whose possession salmon are found, in a district 
1 " where the annual close-time has commenced, the onus of prov- 
\ " ing that they got them in a district where it was still legal to 
* " take them. All these advantages have been possessed for some 
< " years past in England, and why they should be withheld from 
' " Scotland where the salmon fishings are far more valuable, and 
' " the facilities for poaching so much greater, it is difficult to com- 
1 " prehend. Generally speaking, it may be said that the English 
* Such Bye-laws, of course, should not be at variance with the provisions of the 
Salmon Fishery Acts, and should require the sanction of the Secretary for Scotland 
before coming into operation. 
