of the. Fishery Board for Scotland, 
15 
The number of salmon, he writes, taken in my district is decreasing every 
year. I have no doubt that the cause of this is the increased difficulty the 
fish have in getting up the river, owing to the impassable state of the passes 
on Mugiemoss and Pirrie's dykes, the mills taking often all, and, except in a 
spate, most of the water through their mill-lades. Also to the over netting 
and netting too close to the foot of these dykes, where the fish rest in 
hundreds, unable to get up even in the close season. The salmon passes are 
often quite dry. 
Concerning the ciuives, he writes : — 
The cruives of Don are worked, so far as we can know, according to the 
regulations ; but I hold that the pool below, where the net is in constant use, 
is illegal, being partly an artificial pool to make the fish rest. I also think 
that the net is used too close to the cruive boxes. 
The Don, he states, is still very much polluted by the different mills, 
and the water is often like soap-suds, and smells badly. The pollutions, 
lie says, are increasing The salmon disease has shown itself for many 
years on the river, and it attacks everything — kelts and clean fish, and 
even smolts and eels. 
He makes the following remarks about the weekly close time : — 
I may mention that we, upper proprietors on the Don, do not have the full 
advantage of the weekly close time, as the two big mills (Mugiemoss and 
Stoneywood), where there are impassable dykes, unless there is a spate, owing 
to the mills taking all the water through their lades, work up to twelve o'clock 
on Saturday night, and begin at twelve o'clock on Sunday night, so that the 
w^ater is shut off from the mills only twenty-four hours instead of thirty-six 
hours. The millowners have enclosed their mills by a high, close paling, and 
refuse to give our watchers keys, so that our men have to ring the bell before 
they can get to the mill side of the dykes, and, therefore, all j)oachers can have 
time to escape, and many of the mill hands are great poachers. We have 
applied to the Sheriff for power to demand keys, but have been refused. 
With reference to the ' general question ' at the end of the queries, Mr 
Gordon writes : — 
I would again point out that the destruction of young salmon on the Don is 
enormous. In fact, most of the smolts go down the lades — being quiet icater — 
and are killed by the turbine wheels. They can be seen in thousands dead and 
broken in bits at the tail-lades. I would suggest that all millowners be obliged 
to keep smolt hecks on during the season the smolts come down, to be fixed 
by each District Board.* 
I would also mention that large numbers of salmon are killed during the 
extension of the rod fishing by drag-hooks (October) in pools where the fish are 
lying thick. I would make this subject to a heavy penalty, and oblige all 
persons who foul-hook a fish during this season to at once return it to the 
river. 
1 would also suggest that the sale of salmon should be illegal during the 
extension of the rod-fishing. There is also no punishment for having yellow 
trout in possession of poachers, which we badly require, as yellow trout are 
much netted by poachers in the Don ; and when they are caught, nothing can 
be done, unless they are caught in the act of netting. Three were caught on a 
road last season with 90 lbs. of yellow trout, and we could do nothing. 
My impression with regard to the Don decidedly is that, with the 
exception of the proposed improvement on the fish-pass on Mugiemoss 
dam, it is in much the same position as it was when I described it in my 
First Report to the Board, which was published in 1883, and in my Report 
of last year, when I again inspected the dams on the Don. In my First 
Report I wrote as follows : — 
As a fronting stream the Don is as superior to the Dee for the number, size, Quotation 
and quality of its trout as it is inferior to it as a salnion-ju-oducing river ; but from my first 
it is so terribly obstructed by cruives and by impassable dams, andt^o i)olluted Keport regard- 
' ing the Don. 
* I strongly recoiuniended this in my Ist Report to the Fishery Hoard, p. 46. 
