40 
Appendices to Tenth Annual Report 
! Eden Fishery Board, should be ineligible for a renewal of his license for 
' a period of 12 months, should he be convicted of poaching during the 
' annual or weekly close-times.' 
Irvin'a-^of 11 ^ r -'■ rv ^ n G states tna ^ about 600 fish were captured in the Annan in 
Mount Annan. 1891, the chief capture being after the nets are off, as scarcely any fish 
can get into the river before that. The heaviest salmon caught by the 
rod weighed about 44 lbs. Protection, he writes, is ' very inefficient ; 
1 the upper waters are wholly unprotected. About half-a-dozen members 
' of county constabulary force for sea and river. Illegal fishing is rampant 
■ in the Solway. Prosecutions were instituted for all sorts of offences. 
' Fines imposed absurdly small, and no check on poaching. In the Newbie 
' weir there are half-a-dozen iron stakes in the fish-pass which get 
£ choked with rubbish and block the pass when the water is low. There 
' is no guard to the Mill-lade at either end. Though the local Fishery 
• Board have frequently had their attention drawn to these matters, 
- nothing whatever has been done. The whole Legislation, as regards the 
' Solway and the rivers flowing into it, should be gone into and changed. 
' At present, the laws on the Scottish and English sides are quite different, 
1 and so are the weekly close-times. Most damage is done by whammel- 
1 nets (hang-nets) licensed by the Eden Fishery Board. They are up to 
- 800 yards of net. There are over 40 boats, and they fish everywhere 
' and at any time.' 
Mr John W. Mr John W. Dickson, a member of the Nith District Board, writes as 
District ' ^°^ ows : — ' ^ tnm ^ the over-netting in the Estuary, and the pollutions of 
Board. ' Dumfries, are the principal causes of the deterioration of the fishing in 
' the Nith, and the Weir at Dumfries, where the salmon-ladder, in 
' summer, is generally inoperative, owing to want of water. I am told 
' that large numbers of fish are gathered by people who go out regularly 
'"to look for them after the turn of the tide, which are supposed to be 
' poisoned by the effluents from the mills. They are got in a dead or 
1 dying state, when the river is low, in dry seasons.' 
Nith District. I have received very full answers to the printed queries from 
a gentleman who has been thoroughly acquainted with the fisheries in 
the Nith District for more than 20 years. He states that in 1890 
there were no fewer than 41 whammel-nets, whereas, in 1880, there 
were only 14; also that there are 4 whammel-nets in the tidal portions 
of the Estuary of the Nith, whereas, a few years ago, there was but 1. 
There are no salmon stake-nets in the Nith District, only paiddle-nets 
which numbered 112, and were removed by the Court of Session in 1886 
as nets nominally set up for the capture of white fish, but really calcu- 
lated and used for taking salmon. These nets are now being gradually 
re-erected though not in the same numbers. 
There are several natural obstructions to the passage of salmon on the 
Nith and its tributaries ; at the rocks at Gribton Saw-mills on the Cluden 
or Cairn ; two water-falls on the Scaur ; and at Airds Linn near the 
junction of the Shinnel and Scaur. There are some splendid stretches 
of spawning ground above these which could be opened up by blast- 
ing the rocks. Indeed, there are few rivers that could be compared 
to the Nith for excellent spawning beds, provided a sufficient number of 
salmon could get access to them during the open and close season. But 
unless some restriction is placed on the whammel-nets the fishings will 
soon be completely ruined. Several artificial obstructions in the shape of 
dams, likewise impede the passage of salmon in the Nith District. When 
I inspected it in 1883, there were no fewer than 22 dams, of which 
8 on the tributaries varied from 7 to 18 feet in height, and of course 
formed absolute obstructions to the ascent of salmon. There were no 
