of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
41 
hecks on the lades in connection with 17 of these dams, and no fish- 
passes.* 
At Dumfries, the drainage of the town is allowed to flow into the Nith 
as well as the poisonous chemicals and dye stuffs from 4 large tweed 
mills and 1 dye work. The pollution is increasing and no steps are 
taken to counteract it. The effect of the pollution, especially during 
summer when the river is low, is to turn the fish back with the ebb tide 
to the channels of the Solway where they fall a prey to the whammel 
and haaf nets. A special Act should be passed for the Solway Firth so 
as to regulate the weekly and annual close season which ought to be the 
same on the English and Scotch sides of the Firth. At present, the 
English weekly close time is from 6 a.m. Saturday till 12 o'clock mid- 
night on Sunday — 42 hours ; the Scotch weekly close time being from 
6 p.m. on Saturday till 6 a.m. on Monday — 36 hours. Then the annual 
close time on the English side under the Eden Board of Conservators, is 
from the 10th September till 10th February; whereas, on the Scotch 
side, it is from 10th September till 25th February. There is much 
poaching done by the formidable whammel-nets in consequence of this 
difference in the close seasons. 
A clause like the 2nd clause of the Poaching Prevention Act of 7th 
August 1862, should be made to apply to salmon ; and dealers or others 
having salmon, or fish of the salmon kind in their possession, should be 
obliged to give an account to watchers and others in authority of how the 
fish came into their possession, and should be obliged to keep a book, 
like game dealers, in which their purchases of salmon should be regularly 
entered. No salmon should be allowed to be sold during the extension 
of time for rod fishing. 
This river is leased and protected by the Esk and Liddel Angling The Border 
Association, who issue angling tickets for the year, month, or shorter Es ^' 
period. The Secretary states that, in 1891, sea-trout and herling were 
about an average, and salmon much above the average. This increase is 
accounted for by the river happening to be in flood when the salmon 
were leaving the sea. The heaviest salmon caught was 37 lbs. ; the 
heaviest sea- trout 5 lbs. ; and the heaviest herling 1J lbs. Four water- 
bailiffs are employed. There are no obstructive dams on the river ; fish 
can easily ascend. The salmon disease showed itself in the middle of 
October, and attacked kelts, clean fish, and burn trout. It is increasing. 
It is suggested that it would be desirable to continue the fishing season 
until the middle of November. 
Mr Alfred Brown, author of the l Mollusca of the Clyde,'' who for years has Answers to 
been intimately acquainted with Loch Lomond, writes me fully about it Printed 
during the season of 1891. ' The season of 1891 '—he says— ' was one of JjjJJJJ* ^ 
' the worst ever known. No rain fell from March till middle of July, during Lomond and 
' which time Loch Lomond and the Leven were at lowest known levels, tributary ■ 
' About middle of July a spate took place, causing a good run of fish, and streams by 
1 the tacksman on the Leven and Clyde had a fortnight's good fishing with Bl ! 0W11 re 
' net and coble ; the water then fell back to its old level, and when it 
1 again began to fill, about the middle of August, no run of fish took place, 
' and, though the level continued to rise all through autumn, very few 
1 fresh fish were seen. From 10th or 15th August till 20th September 
' the rise in Loch Lomond was nearly 5 feet (perpendicular), yet it did 
' not bring the fish.' 
When I inspected Loch Lomond and its tributary streams in 1890, I 
strongly recommended that an almost impassable dam on the River Luss, 
about five minutes walk from Luss Hotel, should be made accessible for 
* For a full account of the waterfalls and dams on the Nith and its tributaries, 
see my Second Report to the Board, pages 100-101. 
