Appendices to Ninth Anmtal Report 
the falls, a short tunnel cut through the rock on the north side, and one of 
Malloch's patent iish-passes let into it, would enable the fish to get up. The whole 
could he covered over on the top, ' and no one would know that a pass was 
' there.' There is another fall higher up the Tummel which could be made 
passable, if a little of the rock could be blasted. There is also one on the Tilt 
at Blair Athol, which prevents many salmon and grilse getting up. Above 
this is about 20 miles of valuable spawning grouud. A mason with a hammer 
and chisel, during the summer, would make it passable in a few hours. The 
fall is almost perpendicular and only requires the top edge cut off it. There 
is also a fall on the River Garry at Struan which ])revents the tish having a free 
run. The spawning ground above this is rather inferior, although some of the 
feeders contain good spawning ground. A few boulders of rock removed is all 
this would require to give fish a free run through. There is a fall on the Isla 
above Alyth which no salmon can surmount. Not having seen this for 20 
years, I cannot remember much about it, though there is very valuable spawn- 
ing ground above it. If the dikes and falls at Blairgowrie on the Ericht were 
opened up, it would open up some of the most valuable spawning ground con- 
nected with the Tay ; at least 50 miles of the Ardle and Blackwater, known 
as the Shee. There is also a fall on the River Lochy, which, if opened up, 
would provide valuable spawning ground for the spring fish that run out of 
Loch Tay. These falls would be the most difficult, being so high, but they 
could be overcome with a pass. The Gallean Falls on the Lyon at Meggernie 
keep back numbers of salmon. There is over 10 miles of good spawning 
ground above them. Very little trouble and expense in removing a little of 
the rock on the north side would allow most of the fish to have a free 
run. 
I would not be in favour of giving District Boards power to erect passes or 
blast natural falls. They are so mixed up, one with another, they would never 
be carried out satisfactorily. I would rather be in favour of giving power to 
the Fishery Board for Scotland to compel the District Boards to erect fish- 
passes and remove obstructions where they thought it necessary. 
With reference to the 'Wild Birds Protection Act, LS80,' Mr Malloch 
writes : — 
The gooseander, red-throated merganser, red-throated diver, and the black- 
headed gull should be taken from the list of birds protected. They destroy 
thousands of spat, smolts, and fry in our district, and pretty well over 
Scotland. 
In answer to the general question, Mr Malloch writes : — 
I would beg specially to draw your attention to the ruinous way the net fish- 
ings are worked on the Tay. There are 27 net stations above tidal water. These 
are worked continually from Monday morning till Wednesday morning, some of 
them longer. The effect of this is, they glean up every fish that runs through 
during the weekly slap. Many of the fish that run through during the weekly 
slap are killed by lower proprietors who own fishings higher up. By the 
improved methods no fish can escape. The consequence of this is, none of 
these summer fish get past. These are the fish that should get to the upper 
reaches, being strong and able to push up. But autumn fish, after the nets 
are taken ott", never go to the higher reaches, hence the reason why large 
tracts of good spawning ground are quite destitute of fish during the 
spawning season. At the present time, there is not 1 for every 20 there 
was twenty years ago in the upper i-eaches. If this is allowed to continue, the 
supply of the Tay will certainly decrease. I would suggest that all nets be 
taken {)ff above tidal water. If this was done, I have not the least hesitation 
in saying the Tay would double its supply in six years. The removal of tlie 
nets would not take a single penny out of the proprietors' pockets ; they 
would rather be gainers. I have gone into this carefully, and could prove it 
to be correct if required. The lower proprietors take no interest in the welfare 
of the river ; their main object is to kill every fish they can, and, if allowed, 
would fish all winter. If this could not be carried out, I would suggest that 
all nets above tidal water should have their weekly close time from Monday 
