of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
43 
There is a Hatchery in occasional use at Glenmoriston ; and there is one 
at Glenquoich, which has been successfully used for the hatching of 
trout for five or six years. Large numbers of Salmo Levenensis 
have been hatched and fed in ponds till two years of age, and then 
turned into Loch Quoich, where they appear to be doing well. 
The 'Wild Birds Protection Act, 1880,' needs revisal. Herons are, I 
think, the most destructive species at present. They abound in the 
upper waters of the I^ess District. They are great poachers. Some 
have been trapped at the trout ponds above mentioned, and they breed in 
the trees in neighbouring islands, &c., in large numbers. 
The most pressing thing is, in my opinion, the revisal of the law as 
regards stake and especially bag nets. 
Great quantities of salmon are everywhere destroj'-ed by seals, which, in 
some places, such as the mouths of the Kess and Beauly, are in 
enormous numbers. 
No effective means of destroying seals, consistent with public law and 
safety, seem yet to have been devised. 
From Ayrshire I have answers to the printed queries from the District Answers from 
Board of the River Girvan, and from the River Doon, where there is no ^-"^J^p^^^^' 
District Board, but an Association of Proprietors, amongst whom the ^^^^ 
Marquis of Ailsa is far the most important. 
The salmon fishings in the Girvan are stated to have diminished, but 
the causes of this diminution are not known. 
With regard to the statistics of fish caught, it is said that none are 
taken by net and coble ; about £700 in value in fixed nets ; and, perhaps, 
200 by rods, but this last number is only an estimate. The first clean 
fish are taken in May; the main take of salmon is in August and 
September; and the grilse and sea-trout run in June and July. The 
heaviest fisli taken in the fixed engines in 1890 was 30 lbs. The bye- 
laws are fairly well observed ; but it is suggested that the fishing season 
on the Girvan should begin later and close later. The watching seems to 
be very imperfect, as it is stated — ' We have liad no watcher for a year. 
' We should have a water-bailiff permanently.' There are no fewer than 
8 dams on the Girvan — a large number for a small river — and it is said 
that many of these prevent the passage of salmon, except in floods. 
The natural obstructions on the Girvan are the falls at Blairquhan and 
at Tairlaw. * Both should and could be easily removed.' Compulsory 
powers should be granted for the opening up of these; and it is not 
thought that the proprietors would insist upon unreasonable conditions.* 
The sewage, (fee, from the town of Maybole is said to kill thousands of 
fish in the Girvaji and tributary. The District Board have threatened to 
prosecute the Maybole authorities under the River Pollution Act. "With 
regard to the ' Wild Birds Protection Act, 1880,' it is stated that 'salmon 
' and trout ova are very much destroyed by sea-birds, especially gulls ; 
* hundreds of them frequent the river in dry summers. 
The take of salmon is said to have increased last year in the Doon. The River 
But no statistics of the catch are given. The protection is said to be Doon. 
generally efficient. There are two water-bailiffs employed by the proprie- 
tors, and there is very little illegal fishing. The fishings on the Doon 
have often suffered severely from poisonous discharges from coal-pits and 
ironworks. Once, when I visited the river many years ago, all the fish — - 
even eels — between the pits and the sea were destroyed by a tlischarge 
from the Carnahan coal-pits ; and it is stated that, last year, the river 
* For desoription^of falls at Blairquhan, see my second annual Report to the 
Fishery Board, page 125 ; and for account of the falls at the Linn of Tairlaw, see 
my sixth annual Report, pages 63 and 64. 
