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.

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    up, as it were, old sores that hail never healed well,—we mean the local, though extremely important, question of the gradual growthandvast preponderance of sea-fishingby stake and bag-net over river-fishing, however practised, in respect not merely of superior quality of the fish taken, but likewise the regularity of supply, its far greater abundance, and the far more economical mode in which it is managed. Is the question of legislating for the salmon fisheries a na- tional question or a particular one ? We consider it a par- ticular' question, and would suggest as follows :— 1st, When a river belongs to one proprietor, it is the height of folly to pretend to advise him how to fish his river ; to legislate to him about close or open cruive-dykes, legal or illegal engines, Saturday’s slap, or Sunday’s fishings. Let him do what he pleases with his own, nobody can bet- ter know how to study his own interests. The spendthrift of an entailed estate hurrying on to ruin might be disposed to destroy the fishings of that river of which he is a life- renter,—but those are partial evils. Let the heir-at-law look to it. 9.dly, Let the heritors or proprietors of each Scottish river meet and decide by a commission, jury, or otherwise, what best suits the river which belongs to them ; let them legislate for it, or submit to the Legislature regulations for it; let all modes of capture be legal to which they give their consent. It is amusing to watch the movements of the Committee in their efforts to devise means to protect the spawning fish and fry,in other words, to prevent the total destruction of the fish- eries, which could be effected in a few years by allowing the lower orders of peasantry on the upper streams of rivers to have their way. First, An act is passed declaring it poach- ing to kill salmon during a certain time called close-time, but as this is the only period when the fish appear in the upper streams, the heritors or proprietors of the banks of these upper streams having no interest whatever in the pre- servation of the salmon, very naturally neglect the act, or set themselves in direct opposition to it. 2<%, The Committee next endeavour to coax them into