Observations upon a report by the Select Committee on Salmon Fisheries, Scotland, together with the minutes of evidence, appendix, and index, 30th June 1836 / by Robert Knox.

  • Knox, Robert, 1791-1862.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations upon a report by the Select Committee on Salmon Fisheries, Scotland, together with the minutes of evidence, appendix, and index, 30th June 1836 / by Robert Knox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    11/26 (page 11)
    river fishings to one company or to one individual, who, of course, would fish it only at one point, (the Bar,) and thus save an incredible labour and expense. I rather think that the same remarks might be applied to the Tay, &c. Indeed, during the progress of the former enquiry, members of the committee and others who read the evidence, must have been forcibly struck with the present truly absurd mode of fishing the Tweed, Tay, &c., by net and coble, throughout miles of river, and, of course, at an enor- mous expense, whilst it was evident to all who had deeply studied the question, and combined that study with the habits of the fish, in so far as they were known, that fishing for salmon in rivers above the tideway, ought to be put an entire stop to, with the exception, perhaps, of one single active fishing party on the bar of the river, and during the height of the season.* But one thing appears evident, that no effectual or satisfactory legislative measure can be made out, until the whole question be tried on its scientific and practical points. In 1825, bag-nets were little if at all used, now they are most extensively; an act against fixed engines could scarcely be applied to them. We could even imagine it possible to withdraw them, and re-set them so frequently as to give them more the character of a moveable than a fixed engine. It must always be remembered, that Mr Home Drum- mond’s act was after all but a partial one, it did not include the Tweed and Sol way. -J* These rivers had separate acts, and a distinct close-time, and hence arose the singular fact * This seems to have been the opinion of Mr Oliphant, M.P., and a member of the Committee. t Have any steps been taken to ascertain the natural close-time of any Scotch river ? Any journals of observation been kept by persons worthy of credit ? Any scientific data collected ? Every one knows that there are no such data, no such journals in existence. The Com- mittee of the House of Commons took the evidence of a naturalist with respect to the natural history of the salmon ; of a naturalist who had never seen the spawning of the salmon ; had never visited the spawning beds ; had never examined the ova ; had never observed their growth ; had never experimented nor dissected at all; this was the kind of evidence submitted to the Committee of the House and to the public.