THE FISHING GAZETTE 
316 
May 13, 1893] 
CONTENTS. 
N.B.—All rights reserved in articles published in this 
paper. 
What is Doing ? . 345 
Scotch Notes .346 
The Young May Moon . 347 
Notes and Queries . 347 
Angling Exhibits at Chicago . 347 
Where the Knglisli Trout sent some years ago to 
America were Planted.348 
Keminiscences of an old Angler . 349 
A New Fisherman's Knife . 350 
New Fishing Tackle. Catalogues, &c . 351 
Waltoniana. 35 I 
Correspondence.352 
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SATURDAY, MAY 13th, 1893. 
WHAT IS DOING ? 
ABOUT THE SCOTCH SALMON 
FISHERIES. 
By W. Murdoch. 
It is indisputable that the Scotch salmon 
fisheries, taken as a whole, are going from bad 
to worse. For years they have been, and now 
more than ever they are being, inflicted with 
excessive and systematic netting to the great 
crippling of their reproductive resources. Over 
and over again, and by adducing incontrovertible 
facts, I have pointed this out for the purpose of 
rousing to action some at least, if not the whole, 
of those who have a real practical interest in the 
thorough wellbeing of the salmon rivers upon 
whose banks they look for health and the most 
enjoyable of recreation. 
I wish devoutly to see many reforms carried 
out, and, although personally I but seldom have 
much at stake in salmon angling, I yet am 
imbued with an earnest desire to see the splendid 
salmon fisheries of Scotland, now fast going to 
wreck and ruin, legislated for and managed in a 
way that would soon set them to rights and make 
them productive to the fullest extent possible, 
not to one interest only but to all the interests. 
Alas, however, for the apathy of proprietors and 
lessees of angling waters and of anglers generally 
—it is positively sickening to methat all prospects 
of reform seem more remote than ever. The 
netsmen are the only parties with an interest at 
stake that display activity and have the most 
perfect of organisation. In justice, however, to 
anglers, I must own that they have a policy—the 
more to be regretted that it is merely a passive 
one—which generally would be for the greatest 
good of the fisheries. But, the more discredit to 
them, they simply go fooling around in the inno¬ 
cent and childlike trust that matters will even¬ 
tually right themselves. They live in a fool’s 
paradise since what they hope for is contrary to 
all experience past or present day. They may 
look to the Scotch Fishery Board, but I tell them, 
and flatly too, that the Fishery Board will never 
do anythipg, not indeed, unless compelled by the 
most exacting pressure from the angling interest 
on all hands acting with perfect unanimity. 
Since it must be clear beyond the shadow of a 
doubt—their record in the past for doing nothing 
proving it—that the Scotch Fishery Board will 
not take the initiative for the improvement of 
the fisheries — and its composition does not 
indicate that it has the capacity—I should like 
by some means or other to rouse to a sense of 
their duty, and of their own best interest being 
furthered, all those who know what is required to 
be done, but who hitherto have most unaccount¬ 
ably remained passive. I counsel cohesion and 
the sinking of all minor differences, and I say let 
one and all take a leaf out of the netsmen’s book. 
Who catches most of the fish P It is the netsman. 
Who reaps the golden harvest of the rivers ? It 
is the lower proprietor if he nets himself, or if he 
does not, it is his netting lessee conjointly with 
him, and the one is in league with the other on 
set purpose to hurt the angling interest, and 
doing this they hurt themselves, though of course 
they will not admit the fact. AVho have the 
greatest assessable value of fishings ? The 
angling proprietors, certainly. In whose waters 
are nearly all the fish bred and protected ? In the 
angling proprietors’. Who, then, ought in fair¬ 
ness to have the largest share in the direction of 
matters ? Certainly the angling proprietors, 
whose policy is to enhance the reproductiveness 
of the fisheries by not unduly lessening the head 
of breeders on which, for their future stock, the 
fisheries are entirely dependent. 
When they fail to get sport up to their expec¬ 
tation, greatly too apt are anglers to “ put the 
saddle upon the wrong hor.se.” As a rule they 
blame any or everything but the right thing. 
This spring, for example, it is the drought that 
has been universally carped about. True, the 
drought has been almost unprecedented for the 
time of the year, yet it is certain that not most 
largely from it has the poverty of sport arisen. 
It is the netting, and the netting alone, in sea 
and tideway, that has most largely kept the 
show of fish in the rivers so poor, and I say un¬ 
hesitatingly that, but for the disastrous effects of 
its working as now carried on, the angling on all 
netted rivers would have proved far better. 
Salmon anglers one and all ought to spare no 
pains to get intimately acquainted with the facta 
about the fisheries, and, as far as possible, the 
habits of the fish. It is a fact that in respect of 
such information they are outdistanced a long 
way by the netsmen. Moreover, they are at sixes 
and sevens on many points, while the latter act 
as one man, convinced of their unanimity being 
the strength, by which they have defeated and hope 
still to defeat the angler and the anglingproprietor, 
whom they regard as their common foe. But whilst 
strategical and powerful, the netsmen, neverthe¬ 
less, are the most shortsighted of mortals. By 
their policy of kill all, they are fast bringing the 
fisheries to wreck and ruin, yet they do not see 
it—at least few of them do, whilst those who do, 
will not admit it. Their aim is, by sinking 
minor differences, to preserve unity at all hazards, 
and well do they understand that unity means 
strength. In their ranks there are no bickerings 
over minor matters; no contentions over theories. 
Well drilled and well disciplined, and with the 
wires in all influential quarters pulled by their 
leaders, they maintain a solid front, having one aim 
and one common object in view—aggression, or at 
least the retention of things as they are, and the 
defeat of those they suspect of seeking to encroach 
upon their interests. With anglers it is entirely 
different. They are not in touch with one another; 
they have no organisation; they have neither 
united nor cared to unite for the common good. 
They therefore are powerless ; their ideas of how 
matters are tending are crude and hazy; conse¬ 
quently, from this arises an evil—one which 
would be a source of great weakness to them even 
if they had organisation. Knowing actually very 
little, but taking credit for knowing more than 
they do, there are amongst them those who have 
impracticable ideas to trot out. This accordingly 
does vast harm, and blocks the way to organisa¬ 
tion. The ideas promulgated by those parties are 
caught up by others possessing next to no know¬ 
ledge of the real facts, and thereafter no amount 
of argument plied upon them will have the effect 
of making them understand aright. Heated dis¬ 
cussion, angry controversy, likely enough will 
arise when any of their untenable notions are 
assailed, and most probably the whole matter will 
end in a regular display of fireworks. 
As has been truly remarked to me over and 
over again—anglers are a tonchy lot concerning 
their pet notions. Over these they will fall to 
and fight with one another far more readily than 
they will unite to keep the netsman, with his 
aggressive and ruinous policy, within bounds. 
Catch the netsmen displaying such tomfoolery 
in their camp ; they know better, and so counsel 
the sinking of all minor differences. Their motto 
is—“United we stand; divided we fall.” While 
they are banded together, resolute and active in 
their efforts to retard, anglers, on the other 
hand, have no organisation; are utterly apathetic ; 
do nothing one in every hundred of them to hasten 
the advent of judicious remedial legislation. They 
see sport going from bad to worse year after 
year, and yet they do not budge one inch ; this I 
say is utterly discreditable. For one that seeks 
with all his might and at some expenditure to 
rouse his brethren to take action there are 
hundreds of others who do nothing more than 
give] vent to their feelings in terms more forcible 
than polite, regarding the decline in the yield of 
the fisheries to the rod. This letting off steam— 
venting what in their case is inexcusable indigna¬ 
tion—is not the sort of argument or effort that 
will ever bring about better fishery laws. Then 
again—and as proving that a little learning is a 
dangerous thing—it is greatly to be deplored 
that many who consider themselves no mean autho¬ 
rities on the salmon, and who confess that it is their 
earnest desire to see a longer weekly close time; 
a varied weekly close time; no netting in small 
rivers ; a curtailment of the netting season; a 
removal of the monstrous artificial obstructions, 
and such like much-needed reforms brought 
about, should give exhibitions of miserable 
bickerings over matters the most trivial, and 
joust and tilt with each other for victory like 
knights in the arena. Occupying themselves 
thus, they create discord in their own ranks, and 
prevent for a time, if not for ever, the coming 
together of all for the common good—the greatest 
good alike to the angling hs to the netting inte¬ 
rests—which is the great end to be aimed at. 
The salmon fisheries of Scotland, taking them 
all round—without exception, every one of them 
save those that are nursed and well cared for 
by single or collective proprietorial enterprise— 
are falling off in productiveness more or less 
rapidly. All anglers ought to know the reason— 
most of them ought to know much better about 
it than they do. With their eyes better opened 
to the real facts they might shake off their 
supineness somewhat. The Scotch Fishery 
Board annually publishes a fine statement to 
make it appear that the fisheries are holding 
their ground, but it is simply nothing more than 
an inflated bladder, which only needs to be 
pricked to burst. The netting results and take 
of fish generally are — good seasons bringing 
fitful revivals discounted — steadily becoming 
poorer in every district the rivers of which are 
badly used. This statement admits of no 
contradiction, as I have the facts at my 
finger ends. The grand total take of fish in 
Scotch waters would to-day be a third less than 
it is, were it not that the netsmen of the Dee, of 
Ross-shire, of Caithness, of Sutherland, of the 
west coast, and of the Isles, reap greatly 
enhanced results from the fine nursing, by 
generous usage, and artificial stocking extended 
to their fisheries by the Dee and Ross-shire 
angling proprietors, the Duke of Sutherland, Sir 
Tollemache Sinclair, Lady Mathieson, Lord 
Abinger, and others. The netsmen, however, 
