Report on Salmon Fisheries. 
xxiii 
' such license, are stake-nets, and being placed on the River Nith, 
' or estuary thereof, are illegal ; and, at all events, that said nets 
' are erected and used by the defenders for the purpose and with 
* the effect of capturing salmon, and fish of the salmon kind, to the 
' prejudice and injury of their (the pursuers') rights of salmon- 
' fishing in the River Nith. The defenders, on the other hand, 
' maintain that the nets in question are in the waters of the Sol- 
' way, and are not illegal ; that they are erected and used for the 
' capture of white fish, and that the capture of salmon, or fish of 
' the salmon kind, is only occasional and accidental ; and that, in 
' any view, no injury is done to the pursuers' fishings, because any 
' salmon captured by said nets are not fish which would go up the 
' Nith. The proof led by the parties is conflicting to some extent, 
* at least on every one of the points on which there is any contro- 
* versy ; but, notwithstanding that conflict, I have come to hold a 
' very distinct opinion as to what is the truth of the matter regard- 
' ing each of these points. 1. As to the character of the nets, — 
' They are certainly not so large as the ordinary salmon stake-nets, 
' but they are constructed on the same principle, and are, when 
' covered by less than 3 or 4 feet of water, just as deadly. The 
' evidence of Mr Young (an authority of great weight on such a 
' matter) is, to my mind, conclusive, even were it not corroborated 
' by other evidence. Mr Young says — " They are practically 
' " miniature stake-nets, not having such great killing power as 
' " ordinary stake-nets, from the stakes being lower, but, so far 
' " as they go, they are nets on precisely the same principle, and 
' " calculated to take salmon, and must inevitably take salmon, 
' " until they have 3 or 4 feet of water over them." This evidence 
proceeds upon an examination of the nets themselves, and not 
' merely upon an examination of the model produced by the pur- 
' suers. It is, therefore, not affected by any observations which 
' may be made on the correctness or incorrectness of the model, 
' although on that point I am of opinion that the correctness, 
' generally speaking, of the model is quite sufficiently established. 
' 2. The position of the nets. — This is shown on plan No. 22 of pro- 
' cess; and on that plan and the evidence adduced in relation thereto 
' I have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the defenders' 
' nets are placed on the River Nith and estuary thereof, and within 
' the limits of the district of the River Nith as fixed and defined by» 
' the Commissioners acting under the Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) 
' Act, 1862. 3. The purpose and effect of the nets. — There 
* can be no doubt whatever as to the effect of the nets, as it is 
' proved by the defenders themselves that they capture salmon 
* and fish of the salmon kind. The extent to which such capture 
* is made is perhaps the part of the case on which any serious 
' difficulty arises, for on this the evidence is most conflicting. 
* The evidence for the pursuers shows that a very large number 
' of salmon and fish of the salmon kind are captured by the 
' nets in question every season, and that the white fish captured 
' by the same nets is very trifling both in extent and value. 
* The defenders, on the other hand, give and lead evidence 
' to the effect that the white fish is plentiful, is cajDtured in 
' comparatively large quantities, and that the salmon and fish 
