of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
31 
either upper or lower fishings to sway or modify his statements. He 
writes : — 
The take of fish, as near as I can make out, caught by rods on the River Tay 
in 1890, not including any of its tributaries or Loch Tay, was 2600. The take 
of salmon and grilse has decreased within the last two years. The cause of this 
is the extension of the nets to the 26th August instead of the 20th August, as 
formerly. The main take of salmon and grilse by nets is between 1st July and 
10th August. Grilse begin to run about the 14th May. Sea-trout begin to 
run in November, and increase until 1st July, when they begin to fall off. 
The weight of the heaviest salmon caught by the rod in 1890 was 43 lbs. 
The annual and weekly close times for nets are strictly observed. But they do 
not serve the purpose the}^ were intended for. The net fishers fish for the ones 
that get past, a few miles higher up, and by Wednesday every vestige of them 
is raked out. During the summer the men go idle the rest of the week. There 
is not a single tide fish gets past the upper nets. The period for the commence- 
ment and termination of the annual close time is most unsatisfactory in our 
district for nets. I would suggest that it should be from the 11th February to 
15th August, and for rods from the 15th January to 20th October. Many 
clean salmon are netted at Newburgh during the winter close season and sent 
to market. 
There are only two cruives in this district. The one at Dupplin and the 
other at Strathallan, on the river Earn. 
The Dupplin dsm or dike, the Strathallan and Dornoch, are great obstruc- 
tions to the passage of salmon at all times. Many thousands of fish are unable 
to surmount them. Lord Strathallan mentioned to me that he would remove 
his cruive if Lord Kinnoul would remove those at Dupplin. 
There is a salmon pass at Dornoch dike, which, up to the jDresent time, has 
j)roved a failure. The only other salmon-ladder in our district is a Macdonald 
fish-pass, placed on a dam on the Ericht, near Blairgowrie. This was erected 
by the District Fishery Board, and has proved a failure. Not a single salmon 
has been known to go through it. 
On the liver Almond there are three dikes which j)revent the jDassage of 
salmon at certain times. First is Huntingtower dike. A beam has been 
placed on the top within the last few years, which prevents a great many fish 
getting up. Second, Pitcairn dike. Within the last few years this dike has 
been repaired and heightened at the part where the fish used to get over. It 
has also been done with cement instead of blocks. This causes the water to 
run rapid and strong over it, and no fish are able to get over this part. As 
soon as the river begins to fall, the fish fall back and go down Huntingtower 
lade through the mill wheel, and are killed in hundreds, between 40 and 50 
being killed in a single day. The third dike is Woodend. The fish can only 
get over in high water. A little expense to make the gradient 1 in 10 would 
enable the fish to get over ; and a little attention when the}" are repaired would 
rectify this. The River Almond is an important tributary of the Tay. Large 
numbers of fish run up. The only other dike of importance which prevents 
the passage of salmon is that on the Ericht at Blairgowrie, where the Mac- 
donald fish-pass is put on. 
As to natural obstructions, there is the Falls of Tummel, which prevent the 
ascent of salmon. The spawning grounds above them are very extensive ; at 
least 100 miles would be opened up.* I may here state I have been in the habit 
of fishing under the Falls of Tummel, through the kindness of Mr Butter and 
his tenants, as well as Mr Barbour's tenants, for over twenty years, and I think 
I am not over the mark when I state that not more than 100 salmon would 
pass to the ujDper reaches in a whole season if they had a clear run through. 
The reason of this is, as a rule, the fish do not run into the Tummel until 
March, and it is only a few fish that are in the pools above the nets that get 
into the Tummel when they are running. They are netted in the Faskally 
water before they get to the falls. Unless something be done to let more fish 
past the nets and allow the fish to get up, the opening of the Falls of Tummel 
would not benefit the river one bit. Without interfering with the beauty of 
* For a full .account of the Falls of Tinnniel and the rivers and lakes above, see niy 
First Annual Renortto the lioard, pages 11 and 12, and App('ndi.\ III. to that Report, 
where aniaj) of the rivers and lochs that would be opened up by making the falls pnss- 
able is given. 
