UC-NRLF 
 
 33 3fl3 
 

THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
AN INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 LEGISLATION, CONTEOL, AND IMPBOVEMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SALMON AND SEA FISHERIES 
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 HERBERT FRANCIS HORK 
 
 ' The laws live only where the law doth breed 
 Obedience to the works it binds us to." 
 
 DUBLIN : 
 HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON- STREET, 
 
 SooitsrtUrs to tfie Qnftosfff . 
 1850. 
 
 
DUBLIN : PRINTED BY ALEXANDER THOM, 87, ABBEY-STREET. 
 
// 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THIS brochure might perhaps better have been termed an 
 ' Essay' than an ' Inquiry/ because the subjects, both of the 
 Salmon and Sea Fisheries, are incompletely treated; and it 
 may be hoped they will receive further investigation under 
 abler hands. 
 
 An acknowledgment must be made of much assistance in 
 the compilation, obtained from reviews, pamphlets, and other 
 sources. This has enabled me to correct my own earlier views 
 on several questions relating to River Fisheries, and to learn 
 how carefully opinions should be formed on any matter of diffi- 
 culty, requiring knowledge and judgment. Some apology is 
 due for not having, in the following pages, always treated a 
 serious subject in a serious manner. 
 
 Two plain questions arise, in considering the present state 
 of the Irish Fisheries. 
 
 Why should the Law give a new or additional property in 
 Salmon-fishing to any man ? -rvy &**j 
 
 Why should not Government aid, which is received by the 
 Sea Fisheries of Scotland, be also extended to those of Ireland ? 
 
 With reference to the latter question, it is of course to be 
 wished that Irish fishermen were independent of assistance ; 
 but whatever is likely to prove of service to them, we may 
 hope will be accorded. 
 
 With respect to the first, I may state, that since leaving 
 England I have had much insight into the practical operation 
 of the Law, during a residence of nine years on the river 
 Slaney, as well as in the course of experience formed on the 
 bench, and also as secretary to a Fishery Protection Society, 
 after the passing of the Act of 1842, arid as a conservator for 
 the Wexford districts under the recent Act. 
 
 Not being an angler, or connected with fisheries, I may 
 claim to be exempt from advocating any particular interest. 
 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 The Act of 1842 appears to have dealt with the Salmon 
 Fishery question not only with impolicy but injustice. Al- 
 though the last advice given to the ' brotherhood' by their 
 patriarch is the memorable counsel ' study to be quiet,' some 
 anger would have been felt even by the gentle linen-draper of 
 Fleet-street, could he visit Ireland to pursue his sport in our 
 times. I have witnessed the seriously unjust effects of the 
 Act, in depriving of their livelihood numerous fishermen, who 
 formerly took Salmon by means of boats and nets. 
 
 The difficulties and costliness of law present impediments 
 to the attainment of justice in many cases connected with River 
 Fisheries. 
 
 The Slaney, where 1 live, is broad and tidal : any exclusive 
 privileges of fishing have ceased by disuse. A little stream 
 winds through a valley into that river, in former days when 
 its banks were marshy, and the country unprovided with roads 
 and bridges this rivulet presented an impediment, in travelling 
 down to the county town, to persons who lived higher up in 
 the country; floods either from rain or high tides frequently 
 inundated the valley, and it then became impassable. To keep 
 a passage over this water as often as the Courts of Session 
 were held at the Assize town was the service* by which that 
 valley was held when feudal tenures were customary in Ireland. 
 It is gratifying to think that a somewhat analogous service 
 will be performed, if these pages shall forward the cause of 
 justice in any degree, either by promoting access of the Salmon 
 tribe to those further up in the land, or by at all facilitating to 
 the public an access to the Courts of Law in respect of our 
 River Fisheries. 
 
 H. F.'H. 
 
 POLE-HORE, WEXFOKD, 29*7* May, 1850. 
 
 * MS. vol. ' Wardships,' 1598 Ulster's Office, 'vol. ii., p. 68; and Inquis. Cane. 
 Hib. Repert. Lageniae, Wexford, No. 33, Car. I. 1629 j folio, Dublin, 1826, 
 
SALMON AND SEA FISHERIES OF IRELAND, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PEEFATOEY EEMAEKS. 
 
 DURING this dark period of the fortunes of our country, while 
 a mysterious visitation and a succession of social adversities 
 weigh with overwhelming force upon the land, whoever would 
 seek for light through the gloom, must turn anxiously to the 
 consideration of those means for the restoration of national 
 prosperity which Providence places within our reach. 
 
 One of the elements of that prosperity will be found in the 
 munificent stores of Fish, as resources of employment and 
 wealth not only surrounding our island, but even, by the laws 
 of nature, penetrating its inland recesses. 
 
 As a department of industrial occupation, in which native 
 industry and enterprise may be rendered available for the in- 
 crease of the comforts of the people, and to the advantage of 
 the empire, the Fisheries of Ireland are deserving of a large 
 share of attention. 
 
 At such a time, an inquiry into the causes of their present 
 depressed state may serve a useful purpose. 
 
 The fisheries of the United Empire have frequently obtained 
 the earnest solicitude of the Legislature. Within the last three 
 centuries, no less than thirty statutes have been enacted for 
 the regulation of those of Ireland alone. 
 
 An inquiry into the circumstances of the Irish fisheries gene- 
 rally was made some years since by a Special Commission ; sub- 
 sequent to which a consolidating Act of Parliament was passed 
 for their complete regulation, and their care intrusted to a 
 Board of Commissioners. Recently, the state of the inland 
 branch has been investigated by a Select Committee of the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 In essaying to lay suggestions before the public for the im- 
 provement of the salmon and sea fisheries of Ireland, it is neces- 
 sary to enter into a review of the measures proposed for some 
 years past towards that object, and to trace out faithfully the 
 policy that guided their adoption, and the consequent exercise 
 of the necessary powers. In such an endeavour no better means 
 can be found than are elicited by the recorded opinions either 
 of parliamentary committees, of special commissions, or the 
 
matured observations of commissioners of fisheries, accompanied 
 by such remarks as may show where the policy or principles 
 laid down would seem to have been erroneous, or incorrectly 
 applied. 
 
 An essay of this description will perhaps be serviceable in 
 spreading knowledge on a subject of much importance to this 
 country one on which there appears to be a want of general 
 information, and a long and lamentable neglect of invigorating 
 measures towards its development, as a great natural resource. 
 
 VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SALMON FISHERIES OF IRELAND. 
 
 The value and importance of the Salmon Fisheries of this 
 country, as a source of national wealth, has always been con- 
 siderable, and their regulation and improvement has accordingly 
 occupied the attention of its rulers for many ages. The extent 
 to which their produce is susceptible of being increased depends 
 upon various causes : among these the most prominent are the 
 advantages conferred by nature. A slight survey of the geogra- 
 phical character of Ireland, of her numerous rivers and broad 
 lakes, more in number and more suited by natural character 
 and qualities as nurseries for the salmon tribe than are found in 
 any similar area of country attributable partly to the humidity 
 of the climate, will show the extent to which they may be cul- 
 tivated, considering the vast field thus afforded for spawning- 
 ground, and shelter for the parent fish and brood. 
 
 The absence of populous commercial cities, which destroy 
 the fishery of the rivers on which they are seated, and the 
 characteristics of our tributary streams their clear and rapid 
 flow over beds of gravel, such as are required by the peculiar 
 constitution of the salmon kind for breeding purposes point 
 out the Inland fisheries of this country as possessing capabilities 
 superior to those of Great Britain.* Those of England have 
 
 * A paper on the salmon fisheries was given to the Select Committee of 1824 
 by the eminent naturalist and philosopher, Sir Humphrey Davy, in which the 
 habits of the salmon are briefly traced, and thence the theory laid down for its 
 preservation. It appears that the ova of the salmo genus require running water to 
 insure vitality water saturated with air ; they must be constantly washed 
 by fresh portions of water, in a rapid stream, or under a current. This fact 
 shows the necessity for that wonderful instinct of the fish, which, preparatory 
 to the breeding season, leads them to quit the sea, and force their way through 
 rapids, over falls, and through great lakes, to the remote sources of rivers, 
 where their eggs may be deposited in pure aerated water. When the warmth 
 of the atmosphere vivifies the eggs, the fry are described as rising from their 
 gravelly bed like a thick braird of grain, or sprouting like barley in process of 
 malting. The tail comes up first, and they float to the surface with the shell of 
 the pea attached to their heads. The number of eggs in a single roe is said to 
 average 17,000 ; but of this great increase from a pair of salmon, only an average 
 of 800 are believed to come to perfection, the spawn being either destroyed, or 
 the fry and young fish devoured by natural enemies, such as trout, the larger 
 tribe of fishes of the sea, and herons, otters, and eagles on land. Sir Humphry 
 Davy was a brother of the angle, and accordingly his views as to protection 
 
been either destroyed by the advances of civilization, or her 
 rivers are in general sluggish and muddy, or their course im- 
 peded by numberless artificial obstructions. Those of Scotland, 
 with, on the other hand, less extent of natural advantages, than 
 those of this island, having fallen mostly into the possession of 
 private individuals, and, being uninjured by many causes that 
 militate against the latter, have been well legislated for and 
 protected, and they are consequently of great value. 
 
 It must be impracticable to estimate with accuracy the amount 
 of increase of which our salmon fisheries are capable, supposing 
 that the best means were employed to raise them to their 
 maximum ; but from the evidence adduced of success hitherto 
 obtained it is not presuming too far to assert, that their pre- 
 sent returns might be increased from four to tenfold.* 
 
 There can be no doubt but that in remote times the rivers 
 of these islands supplied a principal article of food to their rude 
 inhabitants before the use of civilized machinery for capture, 
 and whilst the population was thin and scattered.! The traces 
 
 are extreme. In his Salmonia, or, Days of Fly-fishing,' he has dispelled the error 
 as to the barbarity of this sport, by proving the slight pain that cold-blooded 
 animals suffer, and that their horny mouths are insusceptible of it. Capricious 
 objectors to its ' cruelty' often resemble the Indian Brahmins, who, while they 
 hire beggars for vermin to feed upon, neglect the vast aggregate of human 
 misery around them. His work may be bound up with The Complete Angler,' 
 and is an eloquent tribute to the simplest and most attainable of rural sports. 
 
 * ' We believe it will be admitted, that the salmon fisheries, as an important 
 portion of the industrial resources of this country, were, previous to the passing 
 of the present fishery laws in 1842, in a comparatively very neglected state, and 
 that they never did, up to that time, nor do they even now, as a whole, yield 
 more than a small proportionate part of that value of which they are capable, 
 under a proper system.' Messrs. Mulvany and Barry s Report, 1846. ' These 
 fisheries are of very considerable and increasing public importance, but admit 
 of improvement to an extent far surpassing their present amount of production.' 
 Third Report of the Commissioners, 1845. 
 
 t In all the traditions of the ancient Irish, a plenitude of fish in the invers, or 
 estuaries, of the land was believed to be the result of the righteousness of the 
 reigning monarch, and the cursing of a river by one of their primitive saints was 
 considered a great calamity. The warrior, Finn Mac Cool, was killed by a fisher- 
 man of the Boyne with his gaff, and his father-in-law, the monarch Cormac 
 Mac Art was choked by the bone of a salmon ! The early ' Lives' of St. Patrick 
 show, that he found the Pagan Irish fishing the rivers in every part of the island. 
 A host of genuine authorities could be gathered to prove that the ancient Irish 
 regarded the fertility of a river as a great blessing. A sufficient investigation 
 of Irish manuscripts, such as the Brehon laws, relating to Mur Bhreatha, or sea 
 decisions, would probably show the general right of each Gaelic tribe to fish in 
 the rivers of their clan Communication from John O' Donovan, Esq. 
 
 It is stated in a tract on the O'Sullivan family, preserved in the library of 
 the Royal Irish Academy, that MacFineen Duff, of Ardee, received 300 per 
 annum from the Spaniards for liberty to fish in the river of Kenmare, and that 
 the head of this sept had several deeds signed and sealed by his ancestors in 
 connexion with the said fishery. The value of the northern fisheries to our 
 export trade alone in former times may be imagined from the soubriquet of 
 O'Donnell, chief of Tyrcounel (now Donegal), 1 who was called in Spain 'The 
 King of Fish,' from the quantity imported from his territory by the Spaniards 
 in exchange for wine. 
 
 The Irish returned the compliment by styling Spanish wine ' the king of 
 
 B 2 
 
of the dwellings of the ancient Britons in the barren hills of 
 Northumberland and other mountainous districts, show that such 
 produce must have formed the chief subsistence where the soil 
 was sterile, as it proved to the American Indians, of whom it is 
 declared by the explorers of the Columbia, the rivers in Oregon, 
 and the sources of the Missouri, that many thousands of those 
 savages lived upon nothing else, even using dried salmon as 
 firing.* 
 
 It should never be forgotten, that highly protected and produc- 
 tive fisheries, sea and inland, would afford to our people a large 
 amount of employment a means of livelihood and wealth. A 
 single salmon grown to its full size is nearly as valuable as a sheep, 
 while no expense is incurred in its care or food.f The philoso- 
 pher Franklin remarks, that " he that puts seed into the ground 
 reaps forty fold, but he that puts a line into the water and 
 draws up a fish pulls out a piece of silver." Another well-known 
 writer observes, that " no species of natural industry is more 
 lucrative than fishing, because it converts the ocean into a 
 mine, and furnishes immense profits without any other expense 
 than what consists in labour." Arthur Young, whose " Tour in 
 Ireland" contains sagacious advice as to the means of improving 
 her condition, considered the improvement of the fisheries of 
 both description next in national importance to that better 
 cultivation of the land which he advocated so fruitlessly. Food 
 and employment are the especial wants of the Irish people, and 
 these resources may, in a large measure, supply both, without 
 much aid of another want capital, for in no other manner can 
 subsistence be obtained by equally economic and rapid means. 
 
 The salmon tribe will reward protection by that natural 
 instinct of returning to the stream in which they are bred. 
 The almost incredible multitude of this fish observed by 
 voyagers in the rivers of the Old and New World, proves the 
 abundance in which the bounty of unabused nature will provide 
 this manna of the waters. 
 
 Spain's daughter ;' and a drunken debauch was jestingly called a marriage to 
 that princess. Fynea Moryson* 
 
 Sherris-sack was imported largely into Ireland, as appears by Strafford r s 
 letters ; and the Act of Henry VIII. for levelling dam-weirs provides a punish- 
 ment for boatmen who used to tap casks of wine in their transit up rivers. 
 
 * In the Columbian river Sir George Simpson found salmon so abundant, 
 that as many as a thousand, some weighing upwards of 40lbs., have been caught 
 in one day with a single basket. ' In a little stream (in New Archangel, 
 Russian America), within a mile of the fort, salmon are so plentiful, that, when, 
 ascending the river, they have been known literally to embarrass the move- 
 ments of a canoe. About 100,000 are salted annually for the use of the fort.' 
 Sir Georye Simpsons Journey round the World, 1847. London. Vol. i., p. 227. 
 See also 'La Perouse's Voyage round the W rld ' 'Lewis and Clarke's Travels 
 up the Missouri/ and Erman's Travels in Siberia.' 
 
 f A salmon ' kelt' of five pounds' weight was marked, among others, by the 
 Duke of Athol's men, on the 25tn February, 1848, and was taken again in April 
 following, and weighed fully twelve pounds Perth Courier, \bth April, 184,9. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. 
 
 The following table of the areas of catchment basins from which, 
 through their tributaries, the principal rivers of Ireland derive their 
 supply of water, is taken from Sir Robert Kane's " Industrial Resources 
 of Ireland," having been mostly supplied to him by W. Mulvany, Esq., 
 Commissioner of Drainage : 
 
 Shannon, 
 
 Barrow, Suir, and Nore (Waterford), 
 
 Erne (Ballyshannon), . 
 
 Foyle (Derry), . 
 
 Galway Waters, 
 
 Bann, Upper and Lower (Coleraine), and the 
 
 Black water, co. Waterford, 
 
 Boyne and Blackwater, in Meath, 
 
 Moy, .... 
 
 Slaney, .... 
 
 Lee, .... 
 
 Lifiey, Dodder, and Tolka, 
 
 Blackwater (Armagh), 
 
 Main and Inny (Killarney), 
 
 Feale and Gale (Listowel), 
 
 Eoughty (Kenmare), 
 
 Bandon, . . . 
 
 Lagan (Belfast), 
 
 Main, 
 
 Total Basin, 
 Square Miles. 
 
 4,544 
 3,400 
 1,585 
 1,476 
 1,374 
 1,266 
 1,219 
 1,086 
 1,033 
 815 
 735 
 568 
 526 
 511 
 479 
 475 
 228 
 227 
 
 1 O'DoNELL is the second best lord in Ulster, and hathe lords under him 
 as O'Neile hathe ; he is the best lord of lishe in Ireland, and he exchang- 
 eth fishe allwayes with foreign merchants for wyne, by which his call 
 in other countryes the king of fishe/ Carew MS., Lambeth Palace, 
 614, p. 181. 
 
 ' There are many ancient Acts of Parliament in the statute books for 
 the preservation of the salmon, and still more in the Scotch* statutes ; 
 the reason of this particular attention arose from salted fish, and espe- 
 cially salmon, forming great part of the winter's provision, which 
 appears by the accounts of stores for the religious houses, in Dugdale's 
 Monasticon. 
 
 ' Not only private houses relied upon a supply of salted fish, for the 
 winter's consumption, but armies, at this time, could not be marched or 
 subsisted without them ; there is, in Rymer, an order of Edward the 
 Second, to provide 3,000 dried salmon for this very purpose. Thus, 
 likewise, Monstrelet, mentioning the defeat of the English, and their 
 convoy being taken, says, "Que grande partie du charoy des dits 
 Anglois etoient charges de harenc, et a ceste cause la battaille fut ap- 
 pelle la battaille des harens." 
 
 VALUE. A<j*eturn, showing the number of fisheries in the Unions 
 in Ireland, and their present rating in poor law valuations, was laid 
 before the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1849.J 
 
 * ' By one of the black acts, it is made penal in Scotland to take any salmon for 
 the space of three years, which must have been very difficult to enforce, as it 
 made one of the great staple commodities of the country for exportation.'. 
 Harrington on the Statutes, p. 110. 
 
 f Report of Select Committee on Inland Fisheries, 1849, p. 223. 
 
The total rated valuation was 12,366. It must be remembered that 
 the public fisheries, which comprise the chief portion of tidal rivers, 
 are not rateable ; only fixed engines are rated, many private c several* 
 interests escaped notice, and are not included ; on the other hand, there 
 are a few oyster and eel fisheries mixed up with it. 
 
 WATERFORD. That it bears a very small proportion to the real 
 annual amount of these fisheries, may be learnt from the fact that the 
 export from Waterford alone, exclusive of home consumption, has 
 amounted latterly from 15,000 to 17,000 a year.* The private rights 
 in the Waterford estuary are rated at 882. 
 
 SLANEY. The private rights on the Slaney are rated at but 35 a 
 year, while the annual average value of the fishery of that river was 
 estimated, a few years back, at 1,500 a year. More than four thou- 
 sand pounds worth of salmon were taken in 1842 ; and Hector, a native 
 of Scotland, the experienced owner of bag nets at the mouth of the 
 estuary, stated in evidence, that, if properly fished and protected, it 
 might be made worth 7,000 per annum. Fourth Annual Report of 
 Commissioners of Fisheries, p. 88. 
 
 MOY, BANN, AND FOYLE. The river Moy fishery is rated to the poor 
 law valuation at 1,768 15s. per annum; but is believed by good 
 authority to be worth 4,000 a year. Evidence, 1849, p. 279. 
 
 In 1 835, the Irish Society received as rent for their great fishery of 
 the Moy, the Bann, and Foyle, 1,250. The annual expense of pro- 
 tecting them amounted to 1,500 or 1,600. Four hundred men were 
 employed as water keepers, and yet many of the tributary streams were 
 unattended to. The lessees complained of the expenses of protection 
 in Ireland, amounting to a tax nearly equal to the rent while in 
 Scotland, the charge of protecting the Tay was not more than two and 
 a half per cent, on the rent. The amount of sales of salmon taken in 
 these three rivers amounted, the year previous, to the sum of 17,450. 
 The cost of ice imported by the lessees from Norway, when the country 
 supply failed, was calculated at 1,500 a year. The employment given 
 by them, before the year 1824, amounted to nearly 800 persons. 
 Second Report of Commissioners of Enquiry, 1836, p. 20. 
 
 Owing to this careful preservation, the value of the fishery had greatly 
 increased. The annual average produce of the Foyle, for the sixteen 
 years previous to the introduction of stake-nets, had been 17,363 
 salmon, weighing 43 tons, 8cwt., 141bs. The produce for the last nine 
 years had been 53,603 salmon, weighing 140 tons, 14 cvvt., 14Jlbs. 
 Thus, in addition to an increase of about fifty per cent, in the quantity 
 of fish taken by draught nets, nearly as large a take as in former years 
 by these alone, was made by the newly introduced stake-nets. By a 
 steady perseverance in this system, coupled with efficient engines for 
 capture, and stimulated by that care which a rented private property 
 receives, the produce of this river alone has been raised from an average 
 of forty-three tons, previous to 1823, to a steady return of nearly two 
 hundred tons, and very nearly, as is believed, to three hundred tons in 
 the year 1842. This would show a power of increase of from five to 
 seven fold. Fourth Report of Commissioners of Fisheries, p. 10, 1846. 
 
 The produce in 1842, was 83,106 salmon. The evidence of the 
 
 * Report of Select Committee on Inland Fisheries, (Ireland,) 1849, p. 451. 
 
agent to the lessees is, that the first year he got the management of the 
 fishery of the Foyle, the entire yearly produce was only thirty-nine 
 tons. He commenced protecting, and three years after, the yearly 
 return was raised to one hundred tons, and the average produce of 
 seven years is now one hundred and forty and odd tons. Evidence, 
 Fourth Report, 1845, p. 109. 
 
 Lord Strafford writes in 1638, that the fishery at Derry produced to 
 the crown that year two hundred and forty tons of salmon, which sold 
 at 15 a ton, 'so as I hope, the charge of getting, salting, and packing 
 the fish deducted, there will be cleared at least 1,400, while it was 
 never let for above 1,000 before, so as his Majesty you see will come 
 by no loss the whilst.' In a subsequent paper he proposes to retain the 
 fisheries of Down and Antrim, as .worth 1,000 a year. Strafford's 
 Letters, ii., pp. 91, 225. 
 
 It is singular that this Derry fishing that of the river Foyle should, 
 by modern protection, have reverted to nearly the same limit of produce 
 which obtained two centuries ago. 
 
 At Coleraine, on the ' fishy, fruitful Ban,' as that river is styled by 
 Spenser, in the year 1760, as many as three hundred and twenty tons 
 
 of salmon were taken Bingleys (quoting Pennant) Animal Biography. 
 
 London. 1813. Vol. iii., p. 54. In this book a curious account is given 
 of the success of a man named Graham, in 'salmon hunting,' at White- 
 haven, on horseback, armed with a spear, as spiritedly described by Sir 
 Walter Scott in Redgauntlet. 
 
 THE MOY. A remarkable instance of the results of sufficient protec- 
 tion to the breeding fish occurred in this river. Half of the lease was 
 purchased in 1811 from one of the holders; the partners were 'bad 
 friends,' and would not concur in protection the remaining holder 
 continuing averse to the expense of water-keepers. The quantity of 
 fish taken that year was only 6 tons, 4 cwt. This state of things con- 
 tinued until 1815, when the lease falling wholly into the hands of the 
 new proprietors, they immediately appointed water-keepers, and in the 
 following year were rewarded by a take of forty-two tons. Since that 
 time, one hundred tons have been killed in one season, and the average 
 has been sixty tons; so that an increase of ten-fold 'arose from the 
 protection afforded to the mother fish.' Evidence, 1824, p. 106. 
 
 NEWPORT RIVER. Sir Richard O'Donnell, after the passing of the 
 act of 1842, being sole proprietor of the small river of Newport, county 
 Mayo, took advantage of its provisions, and employed and paid persona 
 liberally to protect it. In the course of three years, he reaped the 
 reward in having raised the produce from half a ton, or a ton, in a sea- 
 son, to eight tons of salmon and three tons of white trout for the season 
 ending the third year. Evidence, Fourth Report, 1846, p. 151. 
 
 LIMERICK GREAT LAX- WEIR. The lessee of this great fish-capturing 
 power is believed to have realized, in some years, 2,500 a year. The 
 rent paid for its use to the corporation of Limerick, at the beginning of 
 this century, before the introduction of the stake-weirs into the estuary 
 below it, was 1,150 a year. The lease in 1813 was for 800 per 
 annum. It has since fallen considerably in value, for the present lease, 
 dated 1834, is for 300 yearly, with a clause of surrender. 
 
 Sir Richard De Burgho stated his opinion in evidence before the Select 
 
8 
 
 Committee, that he thought the probable amount to which the inland 
 fisheries of Ireland would be advantaged by a better legislation for their 
 protection, from the mouth to the source, might, steering clear of any 
 excess, be estimated at two millions sterling a year. After considerable 
 pains bestowed on the subject, Sir Richard calculated that the value of 
 the quantity of fish caught by every engine employed, about two years 
 since, amounted to close upon 300,000. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANCIENT HISTOET .AND LEGISLATION. 
 
 VERY soon after the invasion of Ireland the fisheries of her 
 principal rivers attracted the notice of the crown, and the cupi- 
 dity of the great Norman barons. They were conveyed in early 
 charters as the appurtenances of the newly created baronial 
 tenures, in which rights in aquis, in ripariis, et in piscariis are 
 coupled with the prerogatives of " sac et soc, toll et them, in- 
 fangthef et out-fangthef," and the judgments of water, of iron, 
 and the duel, of the pit and the gallows. 
 
 In the year 1216 King John was obliged to purchase from the 
 bishop of Limerick, by a charge of ten pounds of silver yearly 
 upon the assize of that city, the episcopal claim to the mill seats 
 and fishery there, which he had granted in 1202, to William 
 de Braose, lord of Bramber, in Sussex, together with the whole 
 of the shire ; * the bishop being said to ' falsely challenge' the 
 royal right. 
 
 * ROYAL GRANTS The rich salmon fishery of Galway originally passed to 
 the earls of Ulster, under the grant of Henry III. , and thence descended to the 
 Mortimers. In 1386, it was demised to Richard Parys, a burgess of Bristol, 
 during the minority of its owner. 
 
 Richard II., at the grievous complaint of Walter, baron of Athenry, that 
 certain Irish of Lower Connaught fished in his waters, commanded the sheriff 
 of Connaught and the corporation of Galway to prohibit that any one should 
 purchase salmon taken in those waters. 
 
 An old map of the city of Galway shows the site of the original stake-dams, 
 called the Inchora-more, or island of the great weir. They were of Vandyke 
 form, with three bags. 
 
 In the engraving of Cahir castle, given in the ' Paeata Hibernia,' from a plan 
 of that fortress as old as the sixteenth century, a weir is represented crossing one 
 arm of the river. In the plan of the city of Cork, of the same date, two men 
 are represented drawing a common draft-net, or seine, and the third rowing in 
 the cot. 
 
 Henry IV., by patent, in the third year of his reign, granted to John Fitz- 
 maurice, baron of Kerry (ancestor of the Marquis of Lansdowne), the custody 
 of the fishery and profits of the water of Cassan. In 1616, his descendant de- 
 mised to Anne Lowe, one of the daughters of William Lowe, of Bristol, fish- 
 monger, ' all the fishings and fishing places of the rivers of Cassan and Feale, 
 in Clanmaurice, from the sea to Listowel, all in the river Geale, to the weir of 
 Dromurrin, and all in the Brough, and also all weirs, royalties, liberties, and 
 profits to the said fishings and fishing places belonging, with liberty to build 
 weirs on any part of the premises.' 
 
9 
 
 But the invaders in endeavouring, during their subjugation of 
 this country, to plant the exclusive privileges of their order in 
 its complete feudal polity, found powerful obstacles in the 
 half- conquered Celtic race, (whose genius was opposed to such 
 institutions, and who remained hostile to the strangers until 
 moulded to Irish manners and usages,) from the dominancy of 
 the hierarchy, drawn mostly from the native ranks, and in the 
 noble stand made by their own class to curb the encroachments 
 of the crown or of individuals. 
 
 The English lords by the great charter confirmed on an island 
 in the principal river of their kingdom interposed to prevent 
 undue powers of monopoly. The prerogative of the Crown was 
 taken away, to appropriate for the future the uses of rivers ; it 
 was also ordained, " henceforth let all weirs be entirely re- 
 moved from the Thames and Medway, and through all England, 
 except along the coasts of the sea ;" while the Forest charter 
 prohibited the emparking of districts for hunting, and restricted 
 the arbitrary and exclusive right to the pursuit of game arro- 
 gated by the Norman race.* 
 
 The extension of these liberties was shortly after conceded 
 to English subjects in Ireland, and confirmed in many subse- 
 quent Acts of her Parliament. 
 
 The sovereigns of Scotland monarchs of a poorer soil, but 
 of more united people than those of Ireland successfully 
 claimed the great river fisheries of that country as inter regalia, 
 and the grant of a barony ' cum piscationibus,' conferred those 
 many private titles which are there maintained to the present 
 day. The power of government in Ireland, always feeble, 
 waned until the reign of Henry VIII., and the rich property of 
 its fisheries was not generally asserted as appertaining to royalty, 
 until the king of Scotland, after ascending the English throne, 
 extended his national viewt of this regal franchise.^ 
 
 * The early charters of Seigniories granted in Ireland appear to convey a 
 right of property in every particular in which it could well be exercised, and 
 especially in the article of game, and of iheferce naturae, a jealous claim to which 
 was a characteristic of the 'haughty Norman.' So exclusively were powers, 
 partly public, exercised by the feudal barons in Ireland, that we find De 
 Courcy, earl of Ulster, granting to the prior of Down, liberty of passage over 
 the water of Strangford, and other principal rivers, and the tithe of all the earl's 
 huntings through his whole territory, in all places where his hunters meet. 
 
 The genius of the Celtic tribes has always been to make certain descriptions 
 of property, as pasturage, and many animals, commonable, and even arable 
 land to be held in ' rundale.' 
 
 t Sir John Davies, the unscrupulous attorney-general for Ireland of James I. 
 (a monarch who was much the cause of bringing civil war on his country, and 
 his son to the block, by his doctrines of absolutism), in a course of special plead- 
 ing to prove that the fishery of the Bann was an ancient inheritance of the 
 crown, argues, that as tidal waters are 'les haults streams le roy,' the right of 
 piscary in them is a royal prerogative. The evident meaning of the phrase is, 
 that they are simply the ' king's highway.' 
 
 $ The exclusive right of fishing in a public river is a royal franchise, and is 
 
10 
 
 Still, either the force of the Crown, or concession to its repre- 
 senting the majesty of the nation, sometimes endowed it with 
 the greater rivers as sturgeons and whales are entitled " royal 
 fish," and were anciently claimed as prerogatives le roy.* 
 
 Circumscribed to often less than one-half of the island, (the 
 remote territories remaining either under the rule of the Irish 
 chiefs, or of Anglo-Norman lords, who as little acknowledged 
 the laws, and failed to temper their sway with the native 
 patriarchal code,) the authority of the State was yet frequently 
 and beneficially directed to the circumstances of our rivers. 
 The valuable fishery of Limerick was constantly under notice. 
 The weirs erected there, probably by the Ostmen or Danish 
 settlers, (whose ' cantred' or district king John reserved in his 
 charter to De Braose,) are styled in records ' the king's lexf 
 weyres ;' and the passage or ' king's share' in them is still 
 known as the ' Mona-rea,' or gap of the king. The profits of 
 their use were paid into the exchequer, or often temporarily 
 applied to local uses. The piscary freedom of the Liffey, the me- 
 tropolitan river passing under Dublin castle, as near the centre of 
 government frequently received its intervention to remedy intru- 
 sion. In 1 2 1 8 the lord lieutenant was directed to cause an inspec- 
 tion of the water-course, for the removal of all impediments to the 
 entrance of merchandize, and passage to and fro of fish ; a com- 
 mand repeated in 1 220, in reference to a water-head constructed 
 by the prior of Kilmainham for the use of his mills. Edward I. 
 appointed Richard de Beresford and others to survey the weirs 
 in the Liffey, between Dublin and the town ( de Saltu Salmonis,' 
 (Leixlip), and to inquire by a jury by whom the weirs there were 
 used, and whether otherwise than was warranted by ancient 
 usage, and to abate all nuisances. Pourprestures, or encroach- 
 ments on the water of the Boyne, came frequently under the 
 
 considered as such in all countries where the feudal polity has prevailed ; though 
 the making grants, and by that means appropriating what seems unnatural to 
 restrain, the use of running water, was prohibited for the future by King 
 John's charter Blackstone, on " The Rights of Things," book ii., chap. 3. 
 
 Its provisions did not extend to Scotland, and hence the unlimited power in 
 that kingdom in this respect. But fixed engines for fishing were forbidden by 
 an act of Robert the Bruce. 
 
 * Charters conferring exclusive privileges of fishery became frequent in Ire- 
 land in the reigns of Elizabeth and James. The patents of monopolies made by 
 those monarchs created general discontent, and, under Charles 1., tended partially 
 to the overthrow of the monarchy. They were much increased in Ireland by 
 Strafford during his government, and were included in the grievances laid before 
 Charles by the Irish Parliament in 1640, not being disputed or annulled with 
 the same vigour as in England. During the same period, iniquitous violations 
 of prescriptive titles of centuries old to land frequently occurred. 
 
 t Lex or lax is Danish for salmon. Hence Leix-lip, or the Salmon-leap ; in 
 Latin, saltus salmonis, from whence the barony of Salt, county Kildare, derives 
 its name. The Danes possessed the maritime parts of Ireland before their 
 expulsion or amalgamation with a cognate race, the Northmen, and carried on that 
 commercial enterprise for which the Celtic tribes have never been remarkable. 
 
11 
 
 cognizance of the Crown ; and not to multiply instances in this 
 cursory sketch of history, it is sufficient to say, that the authority 
 of government was occasionally exerted, not only to preserve 
 those private rights which royal grants had created, but to 
 redress injury to public freedom of navigation or piscary. 
 
 Yet although the first act of the early parliaments in Dublin 
 went ' to confirm the liberties of the church and of the great 
 charter,' the vindication of these latter was but insufficiently 
 regarded. Prescriptive rights to numerous ' several' fisheries 
 grew up, and were established by subsequent patents, although 
 contrary to the provisions of the law. The surveillance of 
 government was not so rigid as to repress silent and remote 
 encroachments, nor the power of the community exerted to 
 defend their claims against a system of feudalism and chief- 
 tainry combined. Incessant war between the two races, ag- 
 gravated by the unhappy policy of refusing the laws and 
 privileges of the English pale to the nation at large, further 
 prevented the complete observance of the laws and free con- 
 stitution of England : ' silent leges inter arma.' 
 
 A remarkable feature in the history of the river fisheries 
 of Ireland is the amount of property obtained in them by the 
 clergy and by monastic foundations. Their claim, whether 
 founded on that of the church of St. Peter, or for the sake of 
 enhancing their power in capturing an article of food, the use 
 of which is enjoined by their creed, seems to have been univer- 
 sally recognised, whether on the part of the Crown,* the nobles, 
 or the people; and to have occasioned the frequent establish- 
 ment of those means forbidden by the laws, solid weirs or 
 dams constructed across the entire beds of rivers, on the 
 
 * In the year 1537, when the advent of the Reformation brought inquiry into 
 the possessions of the monastic establishments of Ireland, the encroachment of 
 priors and abbots on the ' king's rivers' was one of the accusations brought 
 against them. Four high commissioners were sent over to reform abuses, and 
 inquire into grievances. A jury of the city of Kilkenny presented that 
 
 ' Item The prior of Inystyoke, the abbot of Jerypont, and divers others 
 dwelling nere unto the ryver, doo make and set such weares from banke to 
 banke in the same ryver, from Inystyoke unto the mountayne of Bleme, that 
 no ferye ne bote may have their course.' Additional Manuscripts, British 
 Museum. 
 
 Accordingly, the Act of 28 Henry VIII. was passed, reciting that where at 
 all times necessarie boates, scowtes, wherries, cottes, and other vessels, laden 
 with goods and merchandizes, have been used to passe and repasse in the king's 
 
 rivers of the Barrow, the Noyre, the Suyr, and the Hie and yet, 
 
 now of late, divers wilful persons, having no respect to the premisses, but more 
 rather to their own wilfulnesse, singular commodotie, and benefite, have, in 
 divers places made such weres, purpressures, ingines, streites, and other like 
 obstacles, that by no meanes any boates, &c., can conveniently passe; and 
 through which the salmon frie be cleerly destroyed, contrary to the effect and 
 purport of the statutes therein provided;' and it was enacted that any person in 
 company with the sheriff, or seneschal of the neighbouring shires, might pros- 
 trate, and break down such obstructions. A convenient gap for passage was 
 also to be made in every mill-dam. 
 
12 
 
 banks of which the seats of the church were more numerous 
 than in any other country in Christendom. 
 
 While many rights assumed by the Crown and by the Anglo- 
 Irish lords became inoperative during the protracted struggle 
 against the invaders, the encroachments of the monasteries 
 continued, unredressed even by subsequent acts of the Legis- 
 lature specially directed against them.* Transferred by patents, 
 together with the temporalities of the dissolved abbacies, to a 
 new influx of feudatories, the weirs of Lismore, of the " Gill- 
 abbey" of Cork, of Limerick, and Mellifont, and numerous 
 smaller ones, owe their origin to the ancient power of the church. 
 
 THE OLD CODE OF LAWS. 
 
 From the reign of Henry VIII., active legislation for the 
 requirements of Ireland may be dated, and from that time to 
 the commencement of the present reign no less than twenty-five 
 different enactments were passed for the improvement and 
 regulation of the Irish inland fisheries.t 
 
 The first is local providing summary means for the removal 
 of obstructions to the free navigation and piscary of the four 
 
 * The rights of the Church to property in the fisheries of Ireland are too 
 numerous to be more than slightly noticed. They evince the pious disposition 
 of the founders to provide a subsistence necessary for its members. In 1 178, St. 
 Lawrence O'Toole, archbishop of Dublin, granted to the church of the Holy 
 Trinity the fishery of the Litfey at its site with the tithes of salmon and all 
 other fish taken in the watercourse. 
 
 Prince John granted to St. Mary's abbey, Dublin, liberty to have a boat in 
 the water of the Avon-Liflfey, to fish with equal privileges as his own boat. The 
 prior of Christ's Church, and the primate, were seised of a similar privilege the 
 former obtaining, in addition, the tithe fish of the river. Daltoiis Dublin, 
 p. 668. 
 
 Richard II. committed to the prior of St. Thomas, of A thy, the custody of 
 two 'haches' (cruives) belonging to that convent in the river Barrow. The 
 friary of Enniscorthy had the exclusive right of fishing with cots on a large 
 portion of the Slaney, and the priory of St. Sepulchre, Wexford, had half the 
 tithes of fish in all cots which landed within the parish of Selsker within that 
 town. Inquisitiones Lagenice. 
 
 It is stated that the Duke of Devonshire had to pay the bishop of Waterford 
 the fourth fish taken in the weir of Lismore, and to the cathedral the tithe or 
 tenth fish, which latter was compounded for under the act at 100 a year 
 Evidence, Report, 1836. 
 
 The Irish clergy appear to have claimed tithe of fish in the time of Strafford. 
 
 The principal weir used by the monks of Dunbrody abbey was called ' God's 
 weare,' an inversion of the immunity significantly known as the 'queen's share,' 
 in solid weirs. 
 
 t Whether the fisheries of Ireland received a great discouragement by the 
 following royal 'dispensation' from King Edward VI., cannot now be known 
 * And where, by the lower and common orders of our realm, certain dayes and 
 tymes be appointed onely to eat ffyshe, our pleasure is, that you our deputie 
 may graunte to such and as many as you thinke goode, full libertie to eate fleshe 
 at all tymes forbidden, any statute, law, or custom to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 'To Sir Anthony St. Leger, Knt., L.D., of our realme of Ireland, and to the 
 rest of our counsaill there.' [Hardiman's West Connaught.] 
 
13 
 
 rivers flowing into the Waterford estuary. That of Charles I. 
 was framed in a more than usual spirit of intention to prohibit 
 any monopolizing method of capture of the salmon, and to 
 insure its preservation. This fish appears at that time to have 
 been considered as legitimately appertaining to the inland dis- 
 tricts : the setting of stationary nets in rivers, and the taking 
 of salmon by any such devices is made illegal. The Acts of 
 George the Third's reign further provide for the enforcement 
 of this principle, and contain other rules ' for the protection and 
 improvement of the inland fisheries of this kingdom/ 
 
 This old code of laws, repealed by the act of 1842, has often 
 the character of class and local legislation, instanced by the 
 qualification necessary to kill salmon, the mistaken and over 
 stringent provisions to repress the destruction of the fish and 
 fry, and the various acts passed to suit the wishes of proprietors 
 of separate rivers. For example, the Act of Elizabeth forfeits 
 " any swine, hogge, or pygge," feeding on the strands of tide- 
 ways, where these animals were supposed to devour " great 
 quantitie of salmon and eel frye, and frye of spaune of divers 
 other good fishes." Those of George I. imposed for making, 
 having, or keeping any lyster or spear, whether used or not, a 
 penalty, or hard labour for one month, and public whipping. 
 But the strangest clause was that enacting that no person, ex- 
 cept possessors of 40 per annum freehold, or 1,000 of per- 
 sonal estate, or entitled to any fishery, or those employed by 
 them, " shall make, have, or keep any gaff, spear, loop, net, or 
 any other engine or instrument commonly made use of to take 
 or kill salmon" (no proof of using them being required), on pain 
 of forfeiture, a fine of 40s., or imprisonment not exceeding 
 thirty- one days. The effect of this qualification clause might 
 have been to deprive poorer persons of the power of taking 
 salmon in all fisheries, and to abrogate the common rights of 
 piscary. 
 
 The Act of 5 George II. amended that of Henry VIII. for 
 removing weirs by providing a penalty on persons repairing or 
 re-erecting them after they were broken down, of 50 for the 
 first, and 100 for the second offence. Fishermen and their 
 apprentices were not to be prevented from using lawful nets 
 and engines in navigable waters. 
 
 Many excellent provisions may be found in these laws for the 
 repression of illicit practices, of poaching, of the destruction in 
 mill works, and for the advantage of the peculiar circumstances 
 of the Irish fisheries, and were partly adopted in the statute of 
 1842 ; but much was so insufficient and ambiguous as to create 
 a general call for their being remodelled by the imperial 
 legislature. 
 
14 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 BOTNE. 33 Edward III. April 3. Writ of monstrans de droit 
 from the king to his escheator, reciting that on a writ of certiorari as 
 to the cause of escheating three weirs " gurgites" at Rossery, Cnowyth, 
 and Stackallan, on the water of the Boyne, belonging to the abbots of 
 Mellifont, the said escheator returned that the said abbots, without 
 license from the crown, had made a pourpresture or encroachment on the 
 said water, which was the king's stream, by constructing weirs so high 
 that neither vessels, timber, nor fish, could pass as they were before 
 accustomed; and on the part of the said abbot it being alleged that 
 the aforesaid water was his, and not belonging to the crown, and pray- 
 ing that this be inquired into, the escheator is directly to inquire 
 diligently thereinto, "et tune manum amoveat" if the water prove to 
 belong to the abbot. 
 
 Similar writs were issued respecting the claims of the abbot of 
 Duleek, and of Sir John Netterville, to have other weirs. 
 
 The result of the inquiry was contrary to the right of the crown, for 
 on the 25th May, a writ of " ouster le maine" to restore possession of 
 the three weirs at Mellifont, and in July for those "the Nynche," and 
 of Duleek, " because it was accounted that the water where the said 
 weir was constructed was not the king's.' 1 ' 1 Cal. Mot. Pat pp. 79, 80. 
 
 RIVER WEIRS. 'These weirs both obstructing the navigation of 
 rivers, and being the means of destroying the fish, are frequently pro- 
 hibited both by the ancient English and Scottish statutes. The naviga- 
 tion of rivers hath been more early attended to in all countries, than 
 the other method of conveying commodities by land-carriage; and as 
 most of the countries of Europe were at that time of the Roman 
 Catholic persuasion, the preservation of fish was necessarily a greater 
 object than it is at present. It appears by the old chronicles, that 
 there were weirs anciently below London-bridge, as well as above it; 
 these were not destroyed till 7 Henry IV., when all the weirs, from 
 Staines to the Medway were removed. The archbishop of Canterbury 
 gave great opposition to this, who probably owned some of these 
 weirs, and, from his influence, had prevented this chapter of Magna 
 Charta from being put in execution till that time.' Barrington on the 
 Statutes, 1765, p. 14. 
 
 LAW OF FISHERY IN IRELAND RIVERS. Magna Charta, cap. xvi. 
 Nullse riparise defendantur de caetero, nisi ilhe quae fuerunt in defenso 
 tempore Henrici Regis avi nostri, et per eadem loca, et eosdem terminos, 
 sicut esse consueverunf tempore suo. That is, that no owner of the 
 banks of rivers shall so appropriate, or keep the rivers ' several' to 
 him to defend or bar others, either to have passage or fish there 
 otherwise than they were used in the reign of King Henry II. ' This 
 statute, saith the Mirror, (cap. 5. s. 2.) is out of use Car plusors rivers 
 sont ore appropries et engarnies, et mise en defence, que soilunt estre 
 commons a pisher et user en temps le roy Henry II.' Coke's Instit, 
 part ii., folio, London, 1681, p. 30. 
 
 To put a river ' in defence' was to ' defender' or forbid its use by 
 another. Hence the ' de-fence months' of the forest laws. 
 
 Lord Chief Justice Hale ; in a treatise on the king's interest in the 
 
15 
 
 sea and its arms, and of the right of fishing there/ [Hargrave's Tracts, 
 4to, London, 1787,] states that the public may not be restrained from 
 their right of common of piscary, ' unless in such places, creeks, or 
 navigable rivers where either the king or some particular subject hath 
 gained a propriety exclusive of that common liberty.' He affirms the 
 power of the crown to grant fishing within a creek of the sea. The 
 question appears to lie, as to the royal power to grant a ' several' 
 fishery of a river, to place a river in defense, notwithstanding the pro- 
 visions of Magna Charta. On this head it stated that 'all pretence of 
 prerogative against Magna Charta is taken away by the statute of 
 Marlebridge' ; and, that all the statutes made contrary to that charter, 
 which is Lex terrce, from the making thereof until 42 Edward III. 
 are declared and enacted to be void : therefore any act concerning the 
 extra-judicial commandment of the king contrary to that charter is 
 void. [Institutes, pp. 36, 187.] Dormiunt aliquando leges nunquam 
 moriuntur. 
 
 On the subject of " Title by Prescription," the following passage is 
 taken from Domat and Strahan, on the Civil Law of England, London, 
 folio, 1737: 
 
 " We cannot acquire by prescription the things which nature, or the 
 law of nations destined to a common and public use, such as the banks 
 of a river necessary for navigation, the walls and ditches of towns, and 
 other like places." Vol. i., p. 470. 
 
 The Master of the Rolls, in his judgment on the trial of the title to 
 the Lax weir at Limerick, 1841, states as follows : "There might be 
 a prescriptive right in the crown to a several fishery in a navigable 
 river, which might be passed by a recent grant; but I would require 
 further evidence than exists in the documents before me to satisfy me 
 that such is the law, or that any such presumptive right has ever 
 existed in the crown, to a several fishery in a public navigable river, 
 to the exclusion of the public at large." Report of 1849, Evidence, p. 74. 
 
 Flumina et portus publici sunt, ideoque jus piscandi omnibus com- 
 mune est in portu fluminibusque. " Though this rule, which is a 
 rule of the civil law, be thus, and so found in Bracton, yet by the 
 common law of England, a man may have a proper and several interest 
 as well in the water or river as the piscary, and therefore the water 
 maybe granted." 11 R. 2. Plow. Com. 154 a. "If one grant another 
 aquam suam the piscary in it passeth, because it is included in the 
 word aqua." The Grounds and Rudiments of Law and Equity, folio, 
 London, p. 122. Lord Hale writes, that "a subject may by prescrip- 
 tion have the interest of fishing in an arm of the sea, . . . not only 
 free fishing, but severall fishing, .... such as gurgites, weares, fishing 
 places, &c. And such as these a subject may have in grosse, as many 
 religious houses had; or as both corporations and others have had: 
 and this not only in navigable rivers and arms of the sea, but in creeks, 
 and ports, and havens." Omnes consensus tollit errorem. 
 
 WEIRS. Magna Charta, cap. xxiii. Omnes kidelli deponantur de 
 csetero penitus per Thamesiam et Medeweium per totam Angliani 
 nisi per costeram maris. 
 
 " Kidels is a proper word for open weirs whereby fish are caught. 
 
 " It was specially given in charge by the Justices in Eir, that all 
 juries should inquire, de hiis qui piscantur cum kidellis et sharkellis. 
 
16 
 
 " And it appeareth by GUanvill, that this pourpresture was forbidden 
 by the common law, for he saith, Dicitur autem purprestura, vel pour- 
 prestura proprie, quando aliquid super Dominum Regem injuste occu- 
 patur, ut in dominicis Regis, vel in viis publicis obstructis, vel in aquis 
 publicis transversis a recto cursu, vel quando aliquis in civitate super 
 Regiam plateam aliquid sedificando occupaverit, et generaliter, quoties 
 aliquid sit ad nocumeritum Regii tenemanti, vel Regiaeviae, vel civitatis, 
 and every publick river or stream is alta Regia via, the king's high- 
 way. 
 
 " Pourpresture cometh of the French word pourprise, which signifieth 
 a close, or inclosure, that is, where one encroacheth, or makes that 
 several to himself, which ought to be common to many." Coke's 
 Institutes, 1681, p. 38. 
 
 INVENTION OF SCOTCH TIDE NETS. " Monopolies are contrary to the 
 liberty and freedom granted by Magna Charta, and divers other acts 
 of Parliament." 2 Just. 69. The right of monopoly, strictly so, is 
 only conceded by the law of England in the case of useful inventions, 
 when patents for fourteen years are accorded. There appears to be no 
 necessity for the principle to be called in to insure to the public such 
 care of a great river as to result in a plentiful supply of fish : on the 
 contrary, the creation of a monopoly at the mouth of a river tends to 
 diminish protection in the distant parts. 
 
 " Politiaj legibtis non leges politiis adaptandce. It is not in any man's 
 power to create new natures in law according to new inventions, except 
 they may stand with jus commune, which is natura universa." The 
 Grounds and Rudiments of Law and Equity. London, folio, p. 270. 
 
 NOTES ON THE LAW OF FISHERY IN IRELAND. King John's charter was 
 extended to this country by his successor, and the prohibition of grants 
 of " several fishery" in public rivers was extended to those also that 
 were fenced under Richard I., so that a franchise of " free fishery" 
 ought now to be at least as old as Henry II. Such is the law laid 
 down by lord Hale, and quoted in the " Summary of Laws" in the 
 second Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Fisheries of 
 Ireland in 1836. 
 
 Magna Charta is but a confirmation of those laws and liberties which 
 had been enjoyed in England before the reign of Henry II. To 
 such his subjects in Ireland were also entitled by inheritance from 
 their ancestors who originally settled there. Therefore soon after the 
 original grant had been made to the English people, King Henry III. 
 acquainted his Irish subjects that he had conferred on them those 
 liberties. 
 
 It appears that in preparing the " Magna Charta Hibernise," 
 variances then existing in the customary laws or situation of the two 
 countries were recognised and followed. The "ancient customary 
 usages and laws" of Ireland, were also recognised in subsequent statutes, 
 and formed the foundation of the common law of the land. Lynch's 
 Feudal Dignities and Legal Institutions of Ireland. London, 1830. 
 
 Accordingly it will be found that the provision of dowry, and even 
 the descent of baronial titles, followed the customs of the country, as 
 affected by those of the native race. 
 
 The statute 13 Edw. II., c. 1., in the Red Book of the Exchequer, 
 confirms the liberties of the great charter, " which last shall be published 
 
17 
 
 and observed in all points." The same statute directs that the English 
 ones of Westminster, Merton, Marlbridge, and Gloucester shall be ob- 
 served in Ireland, saving always the good customs and usages of the 
 land. 
 
 The statute 23 Edw. III., c. 1 & 2, confirms the liberties of the Irish 
 church, and of the great charter. Eighteenth Report Irish Record Com- 
 mission. 
 
 An unprinted Act of 25 Henry VIII. repeals all grants made of the 
 fishery of the river Bann, since the first year of his reign. Another of 
 28 Henry VIII., c. 37, exists 'for making sufficient gaps for boats in 
 all weirs on the Boyne and other waters in Meath and Uriel ; and giving 
 all persons liberty in company with a sheriff, and obliging sheriffs, 
 mayors and portrieves, with the posse comitatus, to make such gaps.' 
 Statute Rolls in Chancery, quoted in above. 
 
 The Act of 23 & 24 Geo. III., c. 40, contains this section < And 
 whereas it is necessary that a king's share or space of twenty-one feet 
 should be left open in every river for the free passage of fish, in order 
 to increase the species ; and whereas, there are instances of persons who 
 form a complete chain of obstructions across great rivers, thereby 
 stopping the progress of salmon and all other fish to the fisheries 
 which lie above them: be it enacted, that no person shall form any 
 such (except in chartered or patented rivers), but shall leave a free 
 passage, or king's share, of at least twenty-one feet clear in the deepest 
 part.' Any person injured by the erection or continuance of weirs 
 which have been, or may be, erected contrary to law for the purpose 
 of catching fish, was to serve notice for abatement. No suit for reco- 
 very of the penalty provided, by civil bill, was to be entertained where- 
 on a title for the erection appeared. Penalty, 20 on conviction, and 
 20s. per diem for its continuance after notice. 
 
 By the 14th section, 'nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
 repeal any law now in force against the erection of any such weir, or 
 for prostrating the same.' 
 
 26 Geo. III., c. 50, s. 8, repeals the penalty of 20s. per diem for con- 
 tinuing a weir after notice ; and enacts that any person unlawfully 
 erecting or keeping up any weir upon any river, after notice given, 
 shall forfeit 50 with costs of suit. By s. 8, if continued for seven 
 days after judgment, any person may prostrate it. 
 
 S. 10 provides that this shall not extend to the prostrating of any 
 weir of which the proprietor has had uninterrupted possession for 
 the space of thirty-one years, or who holds the same by a patent or 
 charter grant, saving to all persons all rights and remedies for asserting 
 thereof, and not giving any right to erect or maintain any weir, but 
 such as the laws now in being give. 
 
 PRIVATE Rights appear by early records to have obtained to but 
 small extent in the tidal parts of rivers in comparison with the number 
 of rivers and the multiplicity of proprietors. Archdeacon, or Mac Odo, 
 of Bawnemore, in the county of Kilkenny, lord of the manor of that name, 
 owned three weirs below the borough of Thomastown, and the right of 
 half the fish caught opposite his land. Baron Shortall had another weir 
 on the Nore. Denn, of Grenane, owned 'five fishing weares,' near 
 Thomastown. The Baron of Brownsford, (the beautiful seat now called 
 Woodstock,) had two ' salmon weares' near his castle. The priory of 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 Innistiogue possessed the several fishery of the Nore, co-terminous with 
 its lands, but the commonalty of the town were accustomed to fish 
 in it. Inguisitiones Lagenice. 
 
 The Nore appears to have been more appropriated by private persons 
 than any other large stream in Ireland. 
 
 RIVER SLANEY. The old titles of the landowners along the tidal 
 portion of this river to the fishery are worth notice, as a matter of 
 curiosity : these rights have ceased by disuse. Traces of stake-weirs 
 are to be seen in a few places at low-water. Roche, of Artramont, 
 owned one of these weirs. A prize fish was payable every Wednesday 
 to the lord of the manor of Carrigmenan, At some drafts it was 
 customary to take up to the landlord the best fish taken each tide, or a 
 salmon could be claimed and taken out of each boat as ' duty fish.' 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY POLICY OF LEGISLATION AND 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 THE Fisheries of Ireland, both Sea and Inland, having been 
 brought prominently before the notice of Parliament in the year 
 1835, as requiring remedy for various evils and for their unsatis- 
 factory condition, and as offering by their improvement favour- 
 able means for relieving the wants of the country, in the recess 
 of that year a Commission was directed to the officers of the 
 Board of Public Works,* for the institution of an inquiry into 
 their state, the laws affecting, and the means and expediency of 
 extending and improving them. 
 
 The " Suggestions" or instructions as to the course of the 
 investigation, and which it is expressly stated were to serve as 
 a guide for the inquiry, and as a basis for the report, were for- 
 warded to the Commissioners by Lord Morpeth. These sugges- 
 tions are drawn up in a comprehensive and statesmanlike man- 
 ner. The investigators were to examine into the actual state of 
 the subject, to collect all the information that experience and 
 the history of past times could afford, and to report the result. 
 The following passages and extracts will show the general prin- 
 ciples held out to the Committee of Inquiry as those that were 
 to direct the policy of future legislation for, and the adminis- 
 tration of, our Sea and River fisheries. 
 
 With respect to the first named " the object being to catch 
 as great a quantity of fish as can be taken, without the risk of 
 producing scarcity in succeeding years," searching investigation 
 was to be made as to experience of the regulations adopted at 
 
 
 
 * The following gentlemen were associated with the board for the purpose* 
 of the inquiry : Charles A. Walker, Esq., M.P. for Wexford, who acted as chair- 
 man; Sir Charles Morgan, M.D. ; J. R. Barry, John Jagoe, Henry Townsend. 
 William Stanley, and Henry K. Paine, esquires. 
 
19 
 
 the different fishery stations ; as to what measures had been 
 found beneficial, or proved otherwise ; how far the Restrictions, 
 laid upon the different modes of fishing, the limits to the 
 seasons, to localities, and to the kind of nets employed, were 
 founded on good principles ; and whether some of these regula- 
 tions had not originated in old and erroneous conceptions, or 
 "in the false principle of encouraging the more imperfect 
 methods adopted by the poorer class who have not capital or 
 means for the adoption of improved systems." 
 
 It is then remarked " the poor fishermen on the coast 
 naturally support the latter principle, on the plea of the cruelty 
 of not enforcing restrictions on operations, depriving them, as 
 they believe, of their only means of subsistence, and thus re* 
 ducing themselves and families to a state of beggary ; but what- 
 ever other expedients may be adopted for their benefit, the 
 principle of individual relief, at the expense of general improve- 
 ment, cannot be admitted." 
 
 A distinct view was to be taken of the operations and regu- 
 lations for the deep sea, the inland, and the shore Fisheries, as 
 also those at the mouths of rivers " all of great importance, 
 hitherto much neglected, and requiring different treatment." 
 
 The document proceeds " The propriety of the use of the 
 Scotch stake-net, against which there is a strong prejudice in 
 Ireland, is deserving of consideration. They are undoubtedly 
 most productive, but it is asserted that they exhaust the supply 
 of fish to an extent that may threaten a material diminution in 
 the stock for many years. 
 
 " In the rivers, the construction of eel and salmon Weirs will 
 form an interesting subject of inquiry ; and whether they also, 
 in their present form, and being practically of unlimited opera- 
 tion in season and situation, may not be found too destructive." 
 
 Clear statements on these researches were to form a guide 
 for future exertions, and on them were to be founded the pro- 
 visions of an entirely new Act, of which the regulations should 
 be under the cognizance of the civil magistrates and authorities 
 of the country, with as little direct interference as possible from 
 Government, " an interference which has hitherto been too much 
 mixed up with every undertaking in Ireland." 
 
 These were the views held out to the Commissioners, the 
 policy and effects of which it is now proposed to consider, 
 adducing such arguments and evidence as may lead to an 
 estimation of their tendency, both as intended and understood, 
 and to a deprecation of their continuance on those points where 
 they appear to be impolitic or misapplied. 
 
 The nobleman who transmitted these suggestions to the 
 commission would be foremost in the cause of relieving the 
 Irish community from any future ill results that it can be clearly 
 preyed will proceed from them. 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 On reference to the document it will be seen that it was 
 determined to discourage ideas of reviving aid to the Sea 
 fisheries from the public purse, through former objectionable 
 means or by extensive government establishments. 
 
 It was evidently and wisely contemplated to give, under 
 certain reservations, facilities for the introduction of improved 
 methods of fishing in the sea ; but, with regard to their applica- 
 tion to rivers, to question the propriety of stake-nets and weirs, 
 on account of their injurious tendency. 
 
 With respect to the administration of the laws, the advan- 
 tageous consolidation of them into one statute, rendered per- 
 spicuous and accessible, and the giving their execution into the 
 hands of the local authorities and tribunals of the country, were 
 among the most serviceable designs. 
 
 However, the absence of question as to the justice of the 
 introduction of stake-nets, especially where a ' common of 
 piscary' prevails, or, of allusion to the need of a governing 
 control, leads to a conjecture, that the peculiar difference 
 between the river fisheries of Ireland and those of Scotland, 
 the existence of public rights to a far greater extent in the 
 former, had not been borne in mind. Perhaps it was believed 
 that the Scottish system of management by the river proprie- 
 tors was applicable to this country. From that supposition it 
 may have proceeded that the principle of ' self-government* 
 had so much stress laid upon it.* This doctrine, advantage- 
 ous as it is for the well-being and progress of society, may be 
 carried to an extreme, particularly where mixed rights, both 
 commonable and private, exist in an indefinite and vulnerable 
 description of property, and therefore where the mediation 
 and impartial arbitration of intelligent government officers, or 
 the strong arm of power may be frequently required. 
 
 The Commissioners concluded their inquiries f at the end of 
 a year, having principally directed them to the Sea fisheries. 
 They reported : that the Salmon fisheries were by no means 
 in a satisfactory condition, as well from insufficiency of existing 
 laws as from the systematic breach of their provisions : 
 " that the diminution of fish throughout the south of Ireland" 
 (where public rights exist to the fullest degree) " was refer- 
 able to causes within the reach of legislative control" : that a 
 frequent non-observance of the close season, and a universal 
 prevalence of poaching (in some cases amounting to a total 
 annihilation of the fisheries), especially required immediate legis- 
 
 * The acknowledgment of its partial failure is to be found in the " Sugges- 
 tions" themselves, where allusion is made to the association of the Claddagh 
 (Galway) fishermen, having a self-appointed chief, and yet whose violence 
 sometimes required to be checked by government armed vessels. 
 
 f The Report on the Salmon Fisheries is dated 4th November, 1836, and 
 signed by Charles Arthur Walker, esq., M.P., chairman ; by Sir John Burgoyne 
 and Sir Charles Morgan ; and by B. T. Ottley, J. Radcliff, J. R. Barry, Henry 
 Townsend, H. R. Paine, and William Stanley, esquires. 
 
21 
 
 lative redress ; and was, though in part attributable to the cir- 
 cumstances and habits of the peasantry, principally encouraged 
 by the absence of an efficient police. 
 
 " That it was also " referable to the peculiar nature of the 
 property, and the conflict of interests ivhich that occasions." 
 
 That the most productive fisheries are situated nearest to the 
 mouths of the rivers, whereas the legal protection of the breed- 
 ing fish was principally requisite in the upper and shallow 
 waters ; and that such a natural conflict of interests was much 
 increased by malpractices pursued along the course of the 
 stream, for unduly intercepting the fish in their passage up- 
 wards. "These were," it is stated, "in some cases so success- 
 ful as to deprive the upper proprietors of all pecuniary interest 
 in the fisheries, and to render them absolutely indifferent to 
 poaching, and unwilling to co-operate, either in purse or in per- 
 son, towards its abatement." 
 
 The next paragraph of the report discloses the superior 
 value of a river fishery where Public rights do not obtain or 
 rather, that where the possession of the property is private, 
 individual interest is found powerful to care for and insure 
 productiveness. The conclusion may be drawn, that the surest 
 system for promoting the improvement of river fisheries gene- 
 rally, will be found in sedulously guarding such Private rights 
 as exist in them, and in providing that they be held as safe 
 from encroachment as those of the public. 
 
 " Wherever the lower fisheries are of sufficient value to pay 
 the expense of protection, and the shallow spawning places 
 are under the effectual control of the beneficiaries, the breed 
 seems to be adequately protected ; and few complaints are 
 then made of a deficiency of fish, arising from the use of 
 especial engines employed in lawful fishing : whence it may be 
 inferred, that disputes on that point relate rather to the distri- 
 bution of the property, than to its absolute quantity. Neither, 
 in such fisheries, is the exact period of close times a matter of 
 major concern : those interested in them naturally abstain from 
 what is injurious to themselves; whereas, the indiscriminate 
 take of salmon at all seasons is desirable only to the poacher, 
 or to the upper proprietor who has no marketable share in the 
 proceeds of the river. It is chiefly, therefore, where a rivalry 
 subsists between different classes of proprietors, that the proper 
 times of fishing, and the use of stake-nets and other well-con- 
 trived engines for capturing the fish, become matters of dispute 
 or litigation. 
 
 " The extent to which this conflict of interest operates, is 
 cognizable in the contradictory nature of the evidence offered 
 in the various reports, as well respecting the natural history of 
 the fish, as the tendency of the several practical points in de- 
 
22 
 
 bate. On scarcely any one particular is the testimony concur- 
 rent and unanimous ; insomuch, that fixed bases for legislation 
 can only, if at all, be attained, by a lengthy and philosophical 
 course of independent investigations." 
 
 After this exposition of the varied interests of proprietors 
 involved in the property of a river fishery, but which fails to 
 notice that in many rivers public rights also clash with them, 
 and this expression of opinion as to the only mode of arriving 
 at fair conclusions, the Commissioners state that they had not 
 found leisure for such an examination, the subject of which, 
 both in its relations to private property, and to the interest of 
 the public in a maximum supply of fish, they considered too 
 important to be hastily and carelessly provided for. Yet, after 
 this acknowledgment of difficulties perhaps insuperable of 
 such consequence as to affect rights of property, and to hinder 
 that improvement, the elucidation of the best means for which 
 was the principal design of their appointment, they wind up 
 their report by observing, that they would feel themselves com- 
 pelled to ask a long extension of time for making it, " if it were 
 necessary to go into a separate investigation on behalf of Ire- 
 land;" but they "are satisfied that no such necessity exists, and 
 that whatever laws are requisite for the British salmon fisheries, 
 will be found generally sufficient for those of Ireland." They 
 then, after proceeding to say they cannot hope to arrive at con- 
 clusions more satisfactory to all the parties interested than those 
 obtained by former parliamentary committees, close their labours, 
 " with a view to economy, and the early relief of the Irish pro- 
 prietors," by referring to the evidence recently collected, and 
 to the several reports on the British salmon fisheries : and 
 they suggest that those of Ireland, " be embraced in any act 
 which will arise out of these researches of the parliamentary 
 committees,* with such additions as may be found necessary in 
 placing the fisheries of the two countries on the same legal 
 footing."! 
 
 * Reports of Committees, 1824. The report of the select committee appointed 
 to take into consideration the state of the salmon fisheries of Scotland, and of 
 the United Kingdom, and the laws affecting the same, was laid before the House 
 on the 17th June, 1824. The object of the members of this committee appears 
 to have been to elicit information and opinions on this subject, then compara- 
 tively uninquired into, and on which statements were very conflicting. They 
 acknowledge the caution and consideration due to it, and deferred the pronun-i 
 eiation of opinion until the information they had published "might have served 
 to attract attention, and lead individuals of intelligence to examine, and, sub-< 
 sequently, subject it to the test of dispassionate consideration, and further 
 inquiry ;" and recommended that further inquiry and evidence should be made 
 and taken the ensuing session. This was done the following year. The report 
 is dated March, 1825. 
 
 t This Inquiry and Keport into the Irish river fisheries (dated 4th November, 
 1836), was probably left incomplete from the circumstance, that 23rd March,, 
 1836, a select committee had been appointed ' to consider the state of the sal- 
 
23 
 
 The assumption that similar laws and consequent arrange- 
 ments would be suitable to both kingdoms, must have been 
 founded on the belief that the circumstances were similar. 
 From the allusion to ' Irish proprietors' it may be inferred that 
 the existence of common of piscary, a distinctive element in 
 the constitution of the Irish river fisheries, had been somewhat 
 overlooked. 
 
 mon fisheries in Scotland, in as far as relates to the altering the close times in 
 different districts in that part of the United Kingdom ; the laws for the observ- 
 ance of the Saturday's slap; or opening in all cruives, engines, machines, 
 or devices ; the regulation of cruives, of mill-leads or courses, and the removal 
 of dams and obstructions in all rivers, streams, or waters.' Their report is 
 dated 30th June, 1836. As their recommendations were expected to guide the 
 adoption of measures for the benefit of the Irish salmon fisheries, they may be 
 compared with those actually enacted for or practically carried out in Ireland. 
 
 THE SCOTTISH COMMITTEE REPORTED. 
 
 ' The only object of the close season being to 
 afford protection to the fish when they are 
 breeding, and during their state of exhaustion 
 consequent upon it, the legal close time ought 
 to coincide as nearly as possible with the period 
 so defined by nature.' Rivers vary considerably. 
 It would be advantageous to the general inte- 
 rests of the Scottish fisheries to have the fence 
 months regulated according to the various cir- 
 cumstances, instead of having one uniform sea- 
 son : and especially in Ireland, different rivers 
 have different seasons. 
 
 1 That the Saturday's slap, or weekly close 
 time, ought to be strictly observed in the man- 
 agement of every engine in rivers or on the 
 sea-coast.' Its evasion, by 'certain novel modes 
 of fishing' on the sea-coast is reprehended. 
 
 That 'increased facilities' for enforcing the 
 law as to encroachments by fixed engines near 
 mouths of rivers promptly, and at small ex- 
 pense, should be given. 
 
 That general regulations, founded upon the 
 principle of the illegality of cruives (or traps for 
 taking fish in dam-weirs) should be made appli- 
 cable to all rivers on which more than one pro- 
 prietor has a right of salmon fishing. 
 
 That ' much may be done by the owners of 
 mill-dams in favour of the fishing interests,' 
 without injury to the water-power; that the 
 course should be kept shut, when the mill is not 
 at work. The iron grating recommended in 1825 
 should be used, and the application of the 
 *' salmon-stair" to new dams be enjoined. 
 
 That ' after the termination of the ordinary 
 fishing season, a further term of fourteen days 
 should be allowed to fish for salmon, under 
 certain restrictions, with the rod. Your com- 
 mittee are disposed to think that such a privi- 
 lege will have a material effect in interesting in 
 the improvement of the fishery the heritors 
 (landowners) upon the upper parts of rivers, 
 who chiefly possess the opportunity and power 
 to protect the fish during the breeding season.' 
 
 MEASURES IN IRELAND. 
 
 The close season has re- 
 mained uniform in Ireland, 
 although old acts of parlia- 
 ment recognise the variation 
 of rivers, and the Commis- 
 sioners have been frequently 
 urged to sanction departure 
 from rules not in unison with 
 the natural season. 
 
 Provided for by the law 
 which it is practically easy 
 to evade, and difficult to see 
 enforced by parties above. 
 
 The law for Ireland gave 
 facilities for increased en- 
 croachments. 
 
 But few instances have oc- 
 curred in which the law of 
 1842 has been put in force to 
 regulate these traps. 
 
 The act of 1842 embraced 
 these points ; but they have 
 been hardly at all fulfilled. 
 
 This privilege was not in- 
 cluded in the act of 1842, nor 
 conceded until 1846. 
 
24 
 
 The subsequent legislation upon Salmon Fisheries, and the 
 system pursued in their control, appear to have received a bias 
 from the line of policy sketched out in the " Suggestions." If it 
 can be clearly shown that such bias has proved detrimental and 
 paralyzing to the main intention of the Inquiry that of further- 
 ing improvement this labour will not be in vain, and a hope 
 may be entertained that a course of legislation and administra- 
 tion adapted to the peculiar nature of the circumstances may 
 be somewhat promoted by it. 
 
 The object of ' catching as great a quantity of fish as can be 
 taken, without the risk of producing scarcity in succeeding 
 years,' so judiciously set forth in the " Suggestions" as the 
 main one in application to the Sea, and ' the interest of the 
 public in a maximum supply of fish,' alluded to in the Report, 
 are considerations which appear to have too far influenced the 
 adjustment of the question of permitting the use of improved 
 methods of taking fish in Rivers at a subsequent time, when 
 those clauses were introduced into the general measure by 
 which the use of the Scotch stake-net, and other powerful 
 engines, recently so multiplied in our estuaries and on the sea 
 coasts, was legalized or facilitated.* It may be remarked, that 
 a fair mode of using trawl and trammel nets in the open sea, 
 the improved methods applicable to the trade of sea fishing, 
 might well be permitted to any of the public prosecuting it ; 
 while the only impediment to fishermen availing themselves of 
 the removal of restrictions would be the want of means to pur- 
 chase such nets : but the privilege of using or erecting the 
 improved modes by fixed nets in rivers, estuaries, or on the sea 
 coasts, was necessarily confined by the act to a small class, the 
 owners and occupiers of the adjoining land, whose employment 
 of those modes must immediately diminish the public fishery, 
 and all other rights higher up the stream, to the impoverish- 
 ment of the original followers of the calling, who have no 
 power to avail themselves of such modes. A hostile feeling is 
 consequently created between opposed classes. 
 
 * This would appear on reference to the First Report of the Board of Works, 
 as Commissioners of Fisheries, following the enactment of the new measure for 
 the regulation of the fisheries. They state: "The endeavour in framing the 
 act has evidently been, to open the modes of fishing in such a manner as to admit 
 of the greatest supply of fish being obtained by the public ; while each should 
 be under such partial restrictions as might tend to the preservation and in- 
 crease of the breed, and enable all those who could reasonably claim the right, 
 to participate in the fishery in a greater degree than they had ever done pre- 
 viously." This is referred to in the report of 1849, as "the sound commercial 
 principle on which the Act 5 & 6 Viet. cap. 106, was founded." And, again, 
 " this act, whilst it provided, as a matter of police, regulations for the guidance 
 of different modes of fishing, aimed mainly at the increase of the quantity of 
 fish by stringent provisions for close time and protection in breeding ; and con- 
 templated, irrespective of parties and classes, the capture of the ' largest quan- 
 tities of fish in the best condition during the open season, consistently with the 
 increase of the species.'" 
 
25 
 
 The principle of non-interference by Government set forth 
 in the " Suggestions," will be shown to pervade the subsequent 
 reports of the Board of Public Works, and to have guided 
 their proceedings after the management of the fisheries was 
 committed to them by the Act of 1842. The original intent 
 seems chiefly to have been to discourage ideas of pecuniary 
 aid to the Sea fisheries, such as a renewal of the old system of 
 bounties, loans, or donations (the soundness of the principle of 
 which was doubtful, and the application had been vicious in 
 practice), or the formation of a costly system of superinten- 
 dence by Government functionaries ; and also to prevent depen- 
 dence on "Interference," in matters where the parties interested 
 could resort to the law, or be reasonably expected to manage 
 their own affairs. But it will be shown and submitted that the 
 line of policy sketched out has been too rigidly interpreted, (and 
 perhaps unintentionally misapplied,) and that in the endeavour 
 to maintain the wholesome doctrine that the Irish community 
 should learn not to lean unduly upon the aid of government help 
 or authority in matters of enterprise, or in the application of the 
 laws, the other extreme has been fallen into, by carrying it out 
 with reference to the regulation of the Fisheries of Ireland, 
 which claim more, perhaps, of the fostering care and direct 
 interposition and control of the State than those of other 
 countries, where the prospects, habits, and minds of the people 
 engaged in them may require it less. 
 
 So well acknowledged is this need in the case of Ireland, 
 that a direct interference between Landlord and Tenant is con- 
 stantly proposed, and a measure has been recently introduced 
 for the appointment of inspectors by Government, to value and 
 make an award on improvements effected on the land by 
 tenants. Such an extraordinary interference with private pro- 
 perty, arrangements as to which are effected in England with- 
 out any such means, can only be justifiable on the grounds of 
 its extreme necessity, and for the advancement of the country. 
 An analogous instance of governing control exists in the power- 
 ful position of the Poor Law Commissioners over boards of 
 guardians, a semi-elective body, but requiring the direction of a 
 central head. The success of the principle of ' self-manage- 
 ment' must mainly depend on the private nature of the property 
 concerned. It cannot be disputed that laws, or a governing 
 system suitable to such property, are inapplicable to that of 
 which the elements are essentially different. That the British 
 fishery laws could be expected to act beneficially, and for prac- 
 tical good in Ireland, must imply a close analogy in all points. 
 On this head, the evidence of the Lord Advocate of Scotland 
 before the select committee of last year, shows that the Scottish 
 fisheries are chiefly vested in private persons ; while the evi- 
 
26 
 
 dence given as to the salmon fisheries of Ireland shows that, 
 with some great exceptions, their enjoyment is, in great 
 part, exercised by the public, or scattered into innumerable 
 private and conflicting interests.* The circumstances attending 
 this fact alter the entire bearings of the question ; and it is sub- 
 mitted, that the non-recognition of this distinctive difference, 
 and the consequent omission of such recommendations and 
 provisions as would lead from it, constitutes the fundamental 
 error in the subsequent measures and administration for the 
 improvement and regulation of the Irish salmon fisheries. 
 
 In reporting on the Sea fisheries, the commissioners found it 
 would be necessary to deviate with respect to their control 
 from the self-managing principle, and to intrust a " responsi- 
 ble administrative board" with powers to frame rules adapted 
 to different localities. The right of interference where public 
 interests in the common use of the sea may be injured by 
 individuals is also duly recognised as necessary to be provided 
 for by the legislature, and the occasional need of the armed 
 powers of the executive to preserve the peace and maintain the 
 law is shown, and reference made to the employment of vessels 
 of war for that purpose on the coasts of Scotland. 
 
 The Summary of Remedial Measures recommended by the 
 
 * See page 6, and Report of 1849, pp. 227, 232 ; Boyne, 262 ; Cork, 305, 306; 
 Blackwater, 393 ; Shannon, 72, 78, 86 ; Slaney, 250 ; and Waterford, 235, 
 243. 
 
 The salmon fisheries of North Britain are of great value, they have, from 
 their exclusive character, been sedulously cared for, and well legislated for, 
 from the national unanimity of the Scottish representatives : they are almost 
 entirely private property, held generally by individuals under ancient charters 
 and grants; the common-law right of the public is greatly circumscribed, or 
 little exercised. The legislature has provided laws suitable for their manage- 
 ment, circumstanced as they are, which enable those who possess them, 
 through their own agency, and unaided by the interference of a state depart- 
 ment, to preserve them. The causes owing to which sufficient protection is 
 received by the inland rivers of Scotland, appear to consist in these points: 
 First The highly valuable interest that many of the nobility, chiefs of clans, 
 and numerous proprietors enjoy in them. Second The penal law of the 
 country, and the general disposition to observe the laws. Third The "interest 
 of the sportsman," with its accruing value of renting the leave to fish, for the 
 mere sake of sport. 
 
 The salmon fisheries of Ireland are very differently circumstanced with 
 regard to ownership. Those of the northern rivers are owned by the London 
 Companies ; other rights of the most valuable kind are owned by persons who 
 are frequently absentees. The "loyalty of clan-ship" does not prevail; but, 
 generally, the rights of the public are prevalent. The right of fishery on 
 the coasts of Ireland, and in the greater portion of the tideways of rivers, 
 is exercised by the public; this is a material point as regards the mode in 
 which they should be governed. Many thousands of the lower classes avail 
 themselves of the common-law right, and circumstances arising out of locality, 
 create many conflicting interests among this class, which again clash with 
 the varied interests of parties possessing exclusive rights in portions of the 
 coasts and tideways, and of the upper or fresh waters. Hence arises the 
 necessity for the interposition of an authoritative power, and upon a system 
 different from that which works well in Scotland, but is unsuited to Ireland, 
 from the diversity and complexity of interests. 
 
27 
 
 Committee of Inquiry is directed solely to the subject of the 
 Sea Fisheries, to which their zealous labours had been chiefly 
 and most usefully devoted. As the present endeavour is to 
 draw attention to the injurious results to River Fisheries, by 
 extending to their management a policy more suitable to those 
 of the Sea, the following extracts will show that a system of 
 Government control was deemed essential for the direction and 
 superintendence of the latter on the grounds of their public 
 nature ; from which will follow, that the same would be requi- 
 site for rivers, in cases where not only the property of the fish 
 in them is for the most part as commonable as in the sea, but 
 on account of the mixed state of the rights creating a frequent 
 antagonism of private and public privileges, absolutely requir- 
 ing greater attention and powers of control. 
 
 To vest some public department with * the chief superin- 
 tendence and control of all matters connected with the fisheries' 
 was accordingly advised as a primary step. A vessel of the 
 royal navy was to be furnished at the requisition of such body 
 for protection and assistance, accompanied by a competent 
 authority for the preservation of the peace ; ' local regulations' 
 were to be instituted by them, either for the due conduct of 
 the fishermen, for the preservation of the peace, or for pro^ 
 tection ; and power given ' to frame and enforce rules and re- 
 gulations' with respect to piers, harbours, and other public 
 accommodations, such as were public property, or for which 
 pecuniary aid in construction and maintenance would be given. 
 It is plain that numerous and intricate duties would hereby be 
 confided to the superintending body, irrespective of those 
 attendant upon the second section, the present subject. These 
 were intrusted, by the Enactment which (after a lapse of 
 several years*) followed, as the result of this report, to the 
 Commissioners of Public Works, a board at that time well 
 suited, with the help of experienced assistance, to govern the 
 maritime section of the fisheries, and especially to superintend 
 requirements in which engineering skill was indispensable. 
 
 Still, many matters involved in the proper government of 
 the entire Irish fisheries are foreign in their nature to those 
 devolving upon a Board composed of engineers, whose atten- 
 tion is occupied in discharging a multiplicity of other important 
 employments, (for which they are professionally qualified), and 
 who have not had opportunities of acquiring sufficient know- 
 ledge on a peculiar subject, appearing to require, not only 
 undivided attention, but a long and practical acquaintance 
 with all its bearings. 
 
 How far these matters have been thereby disadvantaged, 
 
 * A Bill was introduced in 1838, but did not pass into a law, and nothing was 
 effected until August, 1842. 
 
28 
 
 whether the management and improvement of the fisheries of 
 Ireland has received that attention it deserves, and how far 
 even the original intent of the instructions and consequent 
 enactment has been injuriously narrowed in carrying out, and 
 the extent to which this valuable arm of our national wealth 
 has suffered, or may for the future remain unstrengthened, 
 is now a question of some moment. 
 
 Again, the gigantic operations set on foot throughout Ire- 
 land to relieve the unparalleled wants of her population, 
 imposed, and continue to impose on that Board an extent of 
 arduous services, for the performance of which alone it has 
 been doubted whether their powers were adequate. In the 
 hurried struggle to provide immediate sustenance for a famine- 
 stricken people, the intention of improving the future supply of 
 food through means of the fisheries was in part unattended to. 
 The sea fisheries, indeed, almost prostrated by the destitution, 
 received a healthy stimulus, but those of the interior remained 
 disregarded. 
 
 The Salmon fisheries, so far from advancing in value since 
 the passing of the Act of 1842, have retrograded considerably. 
 The legalization and increased use of the Scotch stake-net, 
 (which, as observed in the " Suggestions," exhausts the supply 
 of fish ' to an extent that threatens a material diminution in 
 the stock for many years,') have accelerated the ' diminution of 
 fish throughout the South of Ireland' reported in 1836. 
 
 The lessees and proprietors of the fisheries in the North also 
 complain of the provisions of the Act, and in their memorial to 
 the Lord Lieutenant in 1 848 assert, that ' the fisheries, under 
 the regime of the Fishery Board, have diminished nearly one 
 half/ That they are ' sensibly deteriorating' throughout Ire- 
 land is reported by the Board in the same year. 
 
 It would be difficult to weigh the different causes to which 
 this result is attributable ; whether it proceeds from a general 
 disinclination to enforce the protective provisions of the law 
 during the unhappy state of the country ; or, on the other 
 hand, is owing to the inequity and insufficiency of the Act itself. 
 It may also partly be a consequence of the system of non-inter- 
 ference, the statute having remained a dead letter in many 
 matters in which the executive alone had the power to put it 
 into operation. 
 
 Thus, the " maximum supply of fish" the fundamental pur- 
 port of the movement and the " interest of the public" 
 therein has not been attained. 
 
29 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PROGRESS OF LEGISLATION. 
 
 IN accordance with the recommendation of the Commission, a 
 ' Bill for the Improvement of the Sea Coast Fisheries of Ireland' 
 was prepared and brought in, in April, 1 838, and, after committal, 
 and deferral several times, was finally abandoned for that 
 session. It contained provisions for the Board of Public 
 Works to make grants in aid of the construction and erection 
 of small harbours, piers, and quays, on the sea coast, to an 
 amount not exceeding 2,000 for each, and for the useful 
 purposes of providing boat-slips, moorings, capstans, and small 
 harbour lights, upon one moiety being paid down, or raised by 
 public assessment ;* and also to empower the board to grant 
 loans to societies established for the purpose of making loans 
 to fishermen, to enable them to procure, repair, or fit out boats.f 
 This latter clause was omitted in the subsequent bill. 
 
 Early in 1841, a draft of a bill for consolidating and amend- 
 ing the laws was prepared and printed ; the preamble sets forth, 
 * that further provisions and regulations should be made for the 
 encouragement and protection of the Irish fisheries ;' this bill 
 was reiterated in the following year, with some alterations, and 
 the omission of the introductory allusion to " encouragement/' 
 and, after some discussion, but a remarkable unanimity of 
 parties in approbation of its general principles, it passed both 
 nouses on the 10th of August, 1842, as the statute 5th and 6th 
 Victoria, cap. 106, entitled, " An Act to Regulate the Irish 
 Fisheries." 
 
 THE BILL OP 1842. 
 
 During the consideration of the measures proposed by the 
 bill of 1842, strong objection having been taken to the prin- 
 ciple of recognising the use of Fixed Nets in the sea and 
 tideways, a pamphlet was published, (Irish Fisheries' Bill 
 Memoranda, London, 4th| July, 1842,) in which the subject 
 was succinctly and ably discussed. The following extracts con- 
 tain the bulk of the arguments advanced, with such comments 
 as they call forth. The subject was divided into these two 
 points of view : 
 
 1st. The state of the law prior to 1842, as relates to the 
 use of these Engines. 
 
 * Agreeably to the 8th section in the Eemedial measures recommended to be 
 adopted. 
 
 tAgreeably to the 12th section. 
 
 t The bill to ' regulate the Irish Fisheries' (as amended by the Committee) is 
 dated 5th July, 1842. 
 
30 
 
 2nd. The equity or justice of the principle proposed to be 
 adopted. 
 
 As to the original state of the law the Act 10 Charles I. 
 prohibited the " setting of stop-nets, still-nets, or standing-nets, 
 fixed upon posts or otherwise in the rivers where the salmon 
 should pass up from the sea." Their use along the coast of the 
 sea, (tacitly sanctioned by Magna Charta) was, perhaps, not 
 rendered illegal by this act. It was contended that its intent 
 was merely to prevent the destruction of fry. There is a 
 difference of opinion how far Stake-nets cause such destruction;* 
 but a reference to the Act itself will lead to the belief that no 
 such intent alone was designed, but that it was framed in the 
 just spirit of many ancient statutes. f 
 
 It had been generally conceded at the time that the use of 
 
 * "The stake-nets being placed in general within the tide mark, weeds get in 
 and choke up the lower meshes of the net ; the spawn, when they descend the 
 river in spring, delight to sport in the shallow sand-banks where these nets are 
 placed : these recesses are a security to them in such situations, while the tide 
 is up, and there they will resort by thousands. As the tide recedes and becomes 
 quite low, these fry, being then below the weeds that close the lower meshes, 
 are unable to escape, and thus perish. If a method were devised for the 
 complete extinction of the breed, I know of none more effectual than these 
 round stake-nets." Colonel Light, Employment of the Poor in Ireland, London, 
 1830, p. 165. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, the principal renter of the Tweed fishery, produced a letter 
 before the Select Committee in 1824, stating that the stake-nets were ' very 
 destructive' to the fry and smelts, ' as they are seldom kept sufficiently clean 
 to allow the fry to pass through them at this season, when they are going to 
 the sea; and they (the nets) are kept up two months after close time, making the 
 greater part of their fishing of spawning fish entering these rivers ; no wonder 
 we get few fish, when the breeders are destroyed coming to the river, and the 
 smelt destroyed going to the sea, by these destructive engines and stake-nets, and 
 yet we are told they kill neither the one nor the other. I have seen three large 
 baskets taken out of the one at Campbeltown, full of dead smelts, on a Monday 
 morning, and the only excuse was, that they could not cleanse their net of sea 
 weed on a Sunday.' 
 
 f The words used are : " For as much as great hurt and daily inconveniences 
 have and doe ensue unto all the king's subjects of this realme by the greedy 
 appetites and insatiable desire, which sundry of them occupying fishing have 
 used, by taking and killing the young spawne, frye, or breed of eeles and 
 salmon, as well in salt rivers as in fresh rivers, loghes, plashes, fennes, and 
 marshes, in many parts of this realme, as also setting of stop-nets, still-nets, or 
 standing-nets, fixed upon posts, or otherwise, in the rivers where the salmon 
 should passe up from the sea, to the great hindrance and prejudice of the 
 commonwealth of this realme : Be it therefore enacted by this present parlia- 
 ment, and by the authority of the same, that no manner of person or persons 
 of what estate, degree, or condition soever they be, with any manner of net, 
 weele, or with any other device or engine whatsoever, shall willingly presume 
 to take any frye, spawne, or breed of eeles in any river or water, salt or fresh, 
 within this realme of Ireland ; and over this, that no manner of person or per- 
 sons from henceforth shall presume willingly to take or destroy in or by means 
 of any weele, net, net of haire, or by any other engine, (angling onely excepted) 
 fludgate, salmon pipe, or at the tayle of any mill or ware, or in any straits, 
 rivers, or brooks, salt or fresh, within this realme of Ireland, the young fry, 
 spawne, or breede of any kind of salmon called lake-spinkes, smowtes, or 
 salmon peales ; and also, that no manner of person or persons shall use or 
 set or take any salmon with any such stop-nets, still- nets or standing-nets." 
 
31 
 
 the improved kinds of Fixed Apparatus within the limits of a 
 " several fishery" should be sanctioned by Parliament. The Act 
 of 26 George III., though saving to proprietors a title to weirs 
 of which uninterrupted possession for thirty-one years had been 
 enjoyed, or to those who held them by patent or charter-grant, 
 whether corporate bodies or private persons, had expressly for- 
 bad that any thing contained therein should be construed to give 
 any right whatsoever to any person to erect or maintain any 
 weir, but such as the laws then in being gave. 
 
 The new concession was intended for the benefit of the owners 
 or lessors of entire river piscaries; and not, by implication 
 to extend to the erection of stake-nets in real or doubtful 
 f several' fisheries on one bank of a public estuary. There were 
 few piscaries of the former description in Ireland which the 
 concession would have benefited ; and the bill went farther, not 
 only to abrogate the old law, but to create a new right of * seve- 
 ral' fishery, quasi the use of stationary nets, on the coasts and 
 in estuaries, by the occupiers of land, subject to the landowner's 
 consent. To permit their erection was a manifest encroachment 
 on the common law right of every person to fish in the tideway, 
 not merely as far as that part of the river occupied by them, but 
 as creating a novel and powerful means of capture, by individuals, 
 of much of the fish that would otherwise have passed up to the 
 employers of the common modes.* 
 
 The principle of ' conducing to the public advantage' by 
 insuring a large supply of good fish, was the ostensible object 
 of the measure ; but this has not accrued the fisheries have 
 fallen off, and their decline must be attributed much to the 
 operations of the act, and the insufficiency of subsequent 
 arrangements to carry out its entire provisions. 
 
 2nd. With respect to the ' equity or justice of the principle 
 proposed to be adopted/ 
 
 The contention between upper and lower proprietors re- 
 quired, (it is stated,) the interposition of the law. Great 
 jealousies and differences had arisen : those along the estuaries 
 and coasts had gradually extended the use of the obnoxious 
 engines,f and they w^ere accused of so effectually closing the 
 
 * The Committee of Inquiry had recommended that the acts relating to the 
 sea fisheries should be wholly repealed ; the framers of the new measure ex. 
 tended this advice to the repeal of those relating to inland or river fisheries. 
 
 f Stake-nets were introduced into the lower Shannon by a native of Scotland, 
 named Halliday, and that mode of fishing continued for many years with very 
 great success. A trial came on, and they were pronounced illegal by the Court 
 of Common Pleas, under the statute of Charles I., Lord Norbury being the 
 presiding judge. In consequence of that decision, Mr. Halliday abandoned the 
 fishery ; but the peasantry of the country, having seen how the fish could be 
 taken, set up weirs of their own : the individual proprietors would not do so, 
 because they might have been liable to be proceeded against; but persons hold- 
 ing leases under them, generally poor people, put up the stake-nets along the 
 
32 
 
 rivers thereby as not to allow any fish to go up during the open 
 season.* In retaliation, the ' upper heritors' became not merely 
 careless of the protection of the breeding fish, but openly and 
 avowedly in many places countenanced their destruction. 
 
 According to the law, the proprietor of a ' several fishery' has 
 a right of property in the fish whilst within its limits, but 
 no longer, or otherwise. The upper proprietors, therefore, 
 have their rights vested in them subject to the rights of the 
 lower proprietors wherever they may own ' several fisheries/ 
 and the rights of both are again subject to the common-law 
 right of fishing in the sea and tideway. The new Act not only 
 gave to the owners of ' several ' fisheries in estuaries power to 
 use Fixed Engines, not only confirmed those in use for ten and 
 twenty years, but gave a power to landlords and tenants to 
 erect new ones under certain circumstances ; all which powers, 
 manifestly tended to the great diminution of those of parties 
 above, already naturally curtailed. 
 
 The object proposed by the promoters of the measure, was 
 ' a just, equitable, and impartial settlement, between the various 
 conflicting interests involved, giving to each as much benefit as 
 was consistent with a due and proper preservation of existing 
 and established private rights, and with advantage to the pub- 
 lic.' Irish Fisheries Bill PampJdet, London, 4th July, 1842. 
 
 This settlement was proposed to be effected; First By the 
 removal of doubts (as alluded to in the clause of the Act) as to 
 the legality of the use of fixed modes of fishing in the sea and 
 tideways; then subjecting them to restrictions, and requiring the 
 observance of the close times by them.f Secondly By requir- 
 ing every trap for the taking of salmon to be opened for thirty- 
 six consecutive hours in each week ;{ by empowering the open- 
 shores; the parties interested above did not find it worth while to proceed 
 against them. In 1824 the police were sent down the river, and cut down 
 these weirs indiscriminately. A collision ensued between them and the country 
 people Evidence of T. Spring Rice, Esq., M.P., (LORD MONTEAGLE,) one of 
 the Select Committee, 1825, p. 157. 
 
 * " There are certain rich landholders (in Ireland), who possess the right of 
 fixing locks and weirs across the mouths of rivers, to prevent salmon from pass- 
 ing; and below these weirs the fish are detained till they are caught; and 
 although an Act of Parliament was long since passed, that these weirs should be 
 open from Saturday night till Monday morning, for the fish to pass freely up, 
 this is wholly forgotten, or neglected to be enforced, by those whose interest it 
 is to require it ; and the consequence is, that the fish are never permitted to 
 proceed up a river so obstructed, till they are no longer fit for food, and in some 
 instances the locks are not at any time opened, even to admit them to proceed to 
 spawn." Colonel Light, Employment of the Poor in Ireland, London, 8vo. 1830. 
 
 f The owners of these engines who did not observe the fence-months or 
 close season, would come in the catalogue of ' the divers wilful persons' alluded 
 to in the Act of Henry VIII. , as only ' having respect to their own wilfulnesse, 
 singular commoditie, and benefite.' 
 
 J Those who failed to observe the Sunday, or weekly close time, are in the 
 category of persons with ' greedy appetites and insatiable desires,' reprehended 
 by the statute of Charles. For such evils the Scottish committee advised more 
 
33 
 
 ing of * a queen's share'* in solid weirs, and by empowering 
 passages for fish to be made in all natural obstructions, and 
 over all artificial dams, so as to allow a portion of the fish free 
 passage to the upper parts of rivers during the open season. 
 
 Such being the ' objects' of the Act, as set forth in the above- 
 mentioned publication their fulfilment, so far as the increase 
 of produce and the compensation thereby to existing interests, 
 (infringed upon for the public good,) would depend on the 
 extent to which those compensatory means were acted upon : 
 and it is contended, if the new law was not sufficiently strin- 
 gent to put down illegal weirs summarily, to enforce the observ- 
 ance of the close times by Fixed Engines, to open queen's 
 shares remove obstructions, and make migratory passes, that, 
 while benefits were actually conferred on newly created in- 
 terests, the law, proving ineffective to secure what should 
 have accompanied them, (and on which the success of the 
 full measure depended,) became inequitable and unjust in 
 operation. 
 
 The brochure proceeds ' In the preservation and protection 
 of the breeding fish, not only the interests of the three classes 
 of proprietors in each river are common, but those of the public 
 are essentially concerned. The upper proprietors hold the 
 spawning beds, the nurseries in which the fish are reared, and 
 they have in their power, to a great extent, under any state of 
 the law, the preservation or destruction of the species. If they 
 get no share of the good fish during the open season, it is not to 
 be expected that they will protect the breeding fish in the close 
 season. In the present state of the law, and the practices of 
 the owners of weirs on the lower part of rivers, the proprietors 
 
 stringent penalties. It is difficult for upper proprietors, whose interest might 
 lie from twenty to a hundred miles off, to watch the observance of this latter 
 cessation from taking salmon; and, on the part of the public fishermen, perhaps, 
 a hesitation to challenge the acts of protected stake or bag net owners, by bring- 
 ing them before the local magistrates. The practical difficulty of ascertaining 
 whether the leaders of bag-nets are tied up, in the open sea, is well known. 
 Somewhat similar difficulties would be presented to those owners as to procuring 
 protection in remote interiors, and convictions for killing fish in the close season. 
 
 * QUEEN'S SHARES IN SOLID OR 'CRUIVE DAM WEIRS.' The antiquity of 
 these exemptions to prevent entire monopoly is equal to that of statutes to 
 restrain it. 
 
 The Mona-rea or gap of the king, in the great Limerick weir, is probably as 
 ancient as the 12th century. By an ordinance of Alexander III. of Scotland, 
 the space left should in all parts be " swa free, that ane swine of the age of 
 three zears well fed, may turne himself within the stream round about, swa 
 that his snowt nor taill sail not touch the bank." Various fraudulent contriv- 
 ances have been employed to defeat their intention, for preventing the fish 
 from passing through them. In the course of last year the gap in the weir near 
 Coleraine, was found to have been obstructed for several years by means of a 
 plank, to which were fastened a series of iron bars pointing down stream. 
 The lessee of the corporation of Limerick formerly employed an ingenious 
 device for this purpose, called a "crocodile," a piece of timber 'something 
 in the shape of an alligator, painted with very glaring colours, so as to frighten 
 the salmon.' Evidence, 1825, p. 60. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 in the upper part of most rivers can seldom, and in some places 
 never, get a fish during the open season. The natural result in 
 such cases will invariably be found to be, (as can be shown in 
 many instances,) as follows : The lower proprietor catches 
 every fish he can, uses every exertion to prevent a fish passing 
 above him ; the upper proprietor allows the destruction of the 
 breeding fish, and in a few years, if the practice be continued, 
 the fish become less in size and quantity, almost to annihilation 
 of the fishery. 
 
 * It is peculiarly the interest of the lower proprietor and the 
 coast fishers to join in the protection of the breeding fish, and 
 to concede to the upper proprietor some interest in the fishery, 
 to obtain his protection for them ; and, as a part of the means 
 of accomplishing so necessary an object* it would appear to be 
 desirable that a power to form associations, and to assess all 
 persons benefited for the necessary expenses of the protection 
 of the breeding fish, should be given, and perhaps that pro- 
 visions to this effect should be added to the Bill.' 
 
 The Bill had, therefore, to be framed so as to permit such 
 a quantity of fish to ascend as would promote the double ob- 
 ject, of making the upper proprietors sharers to such an extent 
 in the fishery during the open season as should prove a stimulus 
 to them to protect, and of leaving enough early spawning fish 
 for breeding purposes ; and this, coupled with the protection 
 of the fry, it was expected would greatly increase the produce 
 of each river. 
 
 But while thus augmenting the powers of capture, the provi- 
 sions for protection and improvement remained in practice in- 
 operative. Every instrument for destruction and capture, from 
 the seven-pronged spear to the weir of half a mile in length (the 
 first the most fatal of the two), has been brought into almost 
 unremitted action, and the hapless salmon that, in its upward 
 course, had escaped the cross-fire of twenty weirs,* and run 
 
 * NUMBER OF WEIRS. There are one hundred and twenty rivers in Ireland 
 frequented by salmon, of which there are fishing weirs thrown entirely across 
 thirty-seven, and there are stake- weirs in eleven. Report of Select Com. 1849. 
 
 There are no less than thirty-six weirs on the Barrow and Nore ; and twenty- 
 five from Waterford to the sea, Evidence, pp. 510, 446. Twenty-two illegal 
 weirs were reported on the Suir in March, 1849 Appendix, p. 92. 
 
 One of those on the Barrow, is of as old a date as 1246, when the Earl of 
 Norfolk was seised of the ' (/urges de Corkery, ' (query, Con-cora, the ancient 
 head-weir' noticed in the act of 1842 ?) near Ross Inquis. Turr. London. 
 
 In 1307 the Earl was found seised of a ' gurges' at Kilscallan, ad anguill' 
 capiendum,' (an eel weir.) 
 
 There were twenty-three stake-net weirs in fishing order on the Blackwater 
 last year. The estuary of the Shannon is so thickly studded with their stakes, 
 that it is said to represent the appearance of a hop-garden in Kent. The mul- 
 titude of stake-weirs erected since the enactment of 5 & 6 Victoria has, 
 in many instances, occasioned great discontent among the old class of fisher- 
 men, who declare, that by that Act ' the property in fisheries was taken from 
 them, and handed over to the landlords.' Evidence, 1849, pp. 401, 509. 
 
35 
 
 the gauntlet of a hundred drift nets, was finally transfixed by 
 the night poacher in the very act of multiplying its species ! 
 
 The advantages proposed to be conferred on the proprietors 
 in the interior* by the Bill, were to be weighed against those of 
 the new apparatus, and made dependent on them, in effect, 
 were expected to accrue out of them, by voluntary contribu- 
 tions, or by assessment, the burden of which would fall on the 
 owners of the commercially valuable fisheries. The result has 
 proved that voluntary associations have failed. Such contribu- 
 tions have not been made ; and it is to be apprehended that 
 the recent measure of assessment will only provide funds suffi- 
 cient for the purposes of protection, and inadequate for those 
 auxiliary means of increase, the provision of passes through 
 natural and artificial obstructions, on the general employment 
 of which the full development of our river fisheries now mainly 
 depends. 
 
 Those means which are required to be attended to by the 
 Authorities (without the preliminary step of application, or the ne- 
 cessity of funds being provided by the parties interested), are: 
 
 1st. The opening or enlarging queen's gaps in weirs subject 
 by law to have them. 
 
 2nd. The regulation of the length of spur- walls in all dams. 
 
 3rd. The proper construction of boxes, cribs, or cruives, in 
 fishing weirs. 
 
 4th. The causing passes to be provided in all newly erected 
 mill- weirs. 
 
 It does not appear by the published proceedings of the Board 
 of Public Works that any of these requirements have been 
 acted upon by them, nor is it believed that they have been, to any 
 extent, although the Act has been a law more than seven years. 
 
 The second class of productive measures is that where pre- 
 vious application, and the provision of funds by the parties 
 interested, are necessary : 
 
 1st. Opening queen's gaps where the law could not have 
 
 * The antagonistic claims to the ' property' of salmon in a large river may 
 be divided into three classes : 
 
 I. Those at the mouth and along the coasts, generally employing stationary 
 contrivances. 
 
 II. Those in the tideway, for the most part cot-men, using the public right 
 with drift or draft nets. 
 
 III. Those in the fresh water portions, confined mostly to the use of the rod 
 and line. 
 
 In point of fact every fishing station along the coast, or in a river, is an evil 
 to those more inland, and those above are in the position of considering all 
 means used below as more or less an interference with their powers. The ano- 
 maly must always exist that those who are most powerful for protective pur- 
 poses have the least means of reaping the eventual benefit. Let the law be 
 ever so favourable, any large proportion of the fish could never reach them, 
 because, as is well known, salmon hang in the tideways and channel during the 
 dry summer months, and do not ascend in any considerable numbers until the 
 floods of autumn, when ready to spawn, and the close season has begun. 
 
 D2 
 
36 
 
 enforced them, and compensation was to be assessed. Here the 
 law is defective, because the parties to consent are not those 
 most materially interested, and the details are too cumbrous 
 to be practically carried out. 
 
 2nd. Putting passes over mill-dams erected prior to the Act, 
 and removing natural obstructions. In these cases the funds 
 were to be provided by the parties applying and not assessed, 
 and the remark as to insufficient interest equally applies. 
 
 The first item has remained a dead letter. For the latter, 
 although the means of greatest consequence for insuring the 
 full increase of brood, it does not appear by the reports fur- 
 nished that any results have been obtained through the instru- 
 mentality of the Board ; but one or two cases, only, may have 
 occurred where its powers were exercised. 
 
 It may be said with truth, that these provisions have been 
 generally inoperative.* The interests situated above the new 
 machinery have, therefore, reasonable grounds of complaint : 
 
 1st. Of the infraction of the principles of early statutes di- 
 rected against monopoly. 
 
 2ndly. Of the diminution of their original powers of capture. 
 
 3rdly. Of the non-realization of those measures intended as 
 compensatory for the encroachment, and employed as argu- 
 ments for the bill. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 THE POLICY OF PERMITTING THE USE OF FIXED ENGINES was argued 
 on the following reasons : 
 
 " 1st. That salmon is in best condition as an article of food in the 
 eea and tideways, and deteriorates in value in proportion to the length 
 of time it remains in the fresh water. 
 
 " 2nd. That the extension of fixed modes of catching salmon n the 
 sea and tideways at proper seasons and under proper restrictions, 
 coupled with a reasonable protection of the spawning fish, tends greatly 
 to the increase of the gross quantity of fish caught.f 
 
 "3rd. That great quantities of salmon are caught in these weirs 
 which would otherwise be destroyed by porpoises, seals, &c., as the 
 salmon remain for a considerable time in the estuaries, passing up and 
 down with the tide, (during which time they are exposed to the 
 attacks of these animals,) before they seek their way up the river to 
 the spawning-grounds; and that, when they feel the full impulse of 
 nature to proceed to the spawning-ground, they keep the deep water 
 in the channel, and therefore cannot be taken in stake-weirs, which, 
 by the bill, are only to extend to low-water mark. 
 
 * See the Reports of the Inspecting Commissioners, in Appendix. 
 
 f " See Evidence as to Lough Foyte, Second Report Irish Fisheries, page 19, 
 where it is proved after nine years' trial of stake- weirs, that the gross quantity 
 of fish caught was increased more than three times; and the same result is at 
 present taking place in the Shannon." 
 
 [N.B. But the case of Lough Foyle is that of a fishery, the profits of which 
 are principally private, and is therefore not generally applicable.] 
 
37 
 
 "4th. That stake-weirs, under the restrictions of the bill, will leave 
 an ample breadth of channel beyond them at all times (not less than 
 three-quarters of a mile) open for the free passage of the fish to the 
 rivers; and that, during close season, and for thirty-six hours in each 
 week during the open season, the passage for the fish through the weirs 
 is to be unimpeded. 
 
 "5th. That this mode of fishing has in many places been long 
 established and considered as fixed property, and gives profitable em- 
 ployment to many persons. 
 
 " 6th. That this mode of fishing under the restriction of the bill, is 
 a means of carrying out a sound principle, namely that the greatest 
 quantity of good fish should be caught for public consumption, by per- 
 mitting the greatest number of persons to use the cheapest and most 
 improved methods, whilst, at the same time, all practices are prevented 
 tending to lessen the supply or destroy the species." 
 
 Other arguments are advanced in this paper in favour of their use, 
 such as the impossibility of the use of draft nets over rocky bottoms, 
 or where strong tides run, and the in-economic prejudice against the 
 employment of efficient machines, on the ground of their causing a 
 diminution of employment. The existing state of things, and the 
 probable increased ill consequences of the unsatisfactory state of the 
 law regarding these engines, is also brought forward as a reason for 
 definite legislation. Their use was rapidly increasing, subject to no 
 restrictions as to extent, situation, close times, or form of construction, 
 and without the requirement of any weekly opening for the passage of 
 fish. " In many places of Ireland, they have been used vexatiously 
 and injuriously to the public interest in localities where their use is 
 proposed to be prohibited by the bill; whilst in many parts of Scotland, 
 it is stated that they have been increased in number in the narrow parts 
 of many rivers, and extended almost to meeting across their mouths, 
 so as to deprive the upper fisheries of a great portion of their value." 
 
 Many persons, arguing from this abuse, had contended that the 
 principle of legalizing these engines should be rejected, while on the 
 other hand, it was advanced that their establishment in many cases, 
 and usage, had created a just title, and that the privilege having been 
 generally conceded to the proprietors of lands adjoining the sea and 
 tideway, of being the ' usufructuaries' of the shore, between low and 
 high water mark, it would appear impracticable to suppress or restrict 
 the exercise of those rights, provided they be not extended so as to 
 become detrimental to navigation, or otherwise to create a public 
 nuisance. The various restrictions on their use were to confer ad- 
 vantages not then in force equally on the proprietors of the lower and 
 upper parts of rivers, as a portion of the equitable settlement proposed 
 to be effected as regarded the salmon fisheries, and to these the coast 
 proprietors were called on to accede, in consideration of the removal 
 of the legal doubts, and on account of the advantages they would, in 
 common, derive from the preservation of the breeding fish. 
 
 The pamphlet sums up with these conclusions : 
 
 ' 1st. It is admitted by all, that a Fishery Act is essentially necessary, 
 and has long been required, both for the sea and inland fisheries of Ireland. 
 
 * 2nd. It is admitted that such an Act must provide a settlement of 
 the many conflicting interests in salmon fisheries. 
 
38 
 
 ' 3rd. It is clear that the settlement, to be lasting and valuable to 
 the public, must be equitable. 
 
 ' 4th. It is manifest and admitted, that the proprietors in the in- 
 terior will derive great advantages from the operation of the Act, from 
 which they are now, and without the Act must continue to be debarred. 
 
 1 5th. And it may be perceived from this paper, that to add to these 
 advantages of the upper proprietors, by depriving the proprietors on 
 the coast, of the right to use these engines, could form no part of an 
 equitable settlement, and would really be injurious, instead of con- 
 ducive, to the public weal.' Pamphlet on Irish Fisheries Bill, London, 
 4th July, 1842. 
 
 Let us hear old Isaac Walton's views on the subject of protection: 
 
 " VENATOR Why, Sir, what be those that you call the Fence-months 1 
 
 li PISCATOR Sir, they be principally three, namely, March, April, 
 and May*, for these be the usual months that salmon come out of the 
 sea to spawn in most fresh rivers, and their fry would about a certain 
 time return back to the salt water, if they were not hindered by weirs 
 and unlawful gins, which the greedy fishermen set, and so destroy 
 them by thousands, as they would, being so taught by nature, change 
 the fresh for salt water. He that shall view the wise statutes made in 
 the 13th of Edward I., and the like in Richard II., may see several 
 provisions made against the destruction of fish \ and though I profess 
 no knowledge of the law, yet I am sure the regulation of these defects 
 might be easily mended. But I remember that a wise friend of mine 
 did usually say, 'That which is everybody's business, is nobody's 
 business.' If it were otherwise, there could not be so many nets and 
 fish that are under the statute size, sold daily amongst us, and of which 
 the conservators of the waters should be ashamed. 
 
 " But above all, the taking fish in spawning time, may be said to be 
 against nature; it is like the taking the dam on the nest when she 
 hatches her young : a sin so against nature, that Almighty God hath 
 in the Levitical law made a law against it." 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 POLICY OF LEGISLATION. THE ACT OF 1842. ITS MEANS FOR CONTROL 
 
 AND IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 THIS enactment forming the foundation on which future im- 
 provement of the Fisheries was to rise, it becomes a matter of 
 importance to test, by means of public documents, how far the 
 Legislature deemed it wise to sanction or to depart from the 
 intention of the original salutary movement. Moreover to 
 trace out from similar sources, such as the papers laid before 
 Parliament, and published by authority, how far that intention 
 has been fulfilled, or the contrary ; and also, how ftr the express 
 provisions of the statute itself have been acted upon, or de- 
 parted from. 
 
 Such an endeavour, and such an analysis of the Act as will 
 
 * The statute 13 Edward I. prohibited taking salmunculi by nets, or in other 
 ways, from the middle of April till the end of June. 
 
39 
 
 explain the tenor of its various bearings, of its policy and provi- 
 sions, and point out latent defects, will be found throughout 
 this ' Inquiry/ 
 
 The fundamental principle of the Act appears to have been 
 the essentially just one of not infringing on existing rights, 
 where expedient for the general good, without affording due 
 powers of compensation, either by providing for the general 
 increase of fish, or by separate awards where distinct private 
 privileges were invaded : with the healthy intent of leaving 
 the vindication of all rights to the parties concerned : and 
 giving facilities for repression of encroachments, and ample 
 powers for control and improvement. 
 
 A great number of former enactments were repealed. The 
 unjust requirement of a qualification to kill salmon, contrary to 
 the principle of enjoyment of ' common of piscary,' and to our 
 general freedom, was very properly exploded. Definite provi- 
 sions were made for matters before doubtful. Owners of ' seve- 
 ral ' fisheries on the sea coasts and estuaries were empowered 
 to erect fixed contrivances. No restrictions not previously ex- 
 isting were put on the right to angle. ' Several' rights were 
 conferred on tenants of lands adjoining the sea shores and estu- 
 aries, and the rights of the poorer class of fishermen who de- 
 pend on salmon fishing in the tideways, and in common public 
 fisheries, were strictly preserved at law. 
 
 It was believed that, it being the interest of all classes to 
 observe the law, a general spirit of protection would arise. 
 
 The Act also contains provisions for further regulation and 
 improvement. It constitutes the Board of Public Works Com- 
 missioners for its execution, and invests them with many powers 
 more enabling than ministerial. So far as this portion of their 
 duties is concerned, the public could not expect that any gene- 
 ral interference through their officers in putting the law in 
 force would be adopted; neither is it the opinion of those 
 anxious for the improvement of the Irish Fisheries that any 
 such system should have been adopted. 
 
 In framing the Act, however, another most important princi- 
 ple is specially recognised, namely, that of superintendence, 
 investigation, and inquiry. The general disorder and long 
 continued abuses, and the neglect of the law, had so deranged 
 the Irish Fisheries, had so involved them in confusion, that no 
 measure, in its first application, could be expected to meet 
 all requirements and exigencies; therefore the Legislature 
 deemed it necessary to do something more than merely legis- 
 late for the infliction of penalties. Accordingly comprehensive 
 and efficacious powers were vested in the commissioners to or- 
 dain such by-laws, orders, and regulations as in their discretion 
 should seem expedient for more ' effectual government, manage- 
 
40 
 
 ment, protection, and improvement' provided they were not 
 repugnant to any existing statute, and were approved of by the 
 Chief Governor of Ireland. They were also empowered to hold 
 general meetings, summon witnesses, and examine upon oath 
 for inquiry into the state of the Fisheries in each district, and 
 the best means to be adopted for the above purposes. To make 
 annual reports to Parliament, as to expenditure and accounts 
 of penalties received, and containing, as far as might be prac- 
 ticable, such statistical accounts, under different heads, of value, 
 returns, &c., as might be useful. 
 
 THE SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 The fish of the sea incapable of increase from human cul- 
 tivation, and supplied by an element boundless as to extent 
 are hardly exhaustible by the means that man can apply to con- 
 vert them to his use, his ' dominion over the fishes of the sea 
 and the fowls of the air ' being but limited in power. That 
 which is obviously designed for the use of all, has by the 
 laws of nature and of man been left as free as the need of 
 interposition, to prevent it from becoming a cause of strife, or 
 to restrain injurious methods of appropriation, would permit.* 
 
 * CONTROL OF THE SEA FISHERIES "There is no part of the present inves- 
 tigation more beset with difficulties than to ascertain the point to which the 
 Legislature is bound to restrain the fisherman in the exercise of his art, with 
 reference to engines and to practices deemed dangerous to the preservation of 
 the breed of fish. It is here that evidence fails altogether to satisfy the mind ; 
 scarcely a single fact being advanced which is not positively contradicted, by 
 equally respectable testimony. The validity of any doctrine on these subjects 
 reposes on facts in the natural history of the animal to which it refers ; and the 
 habits of fish are very little known, even to the best writers on ichthyology. 
 In almost all such questions conflicting interests are engaged ; and complaints 
 are most commonly directed against the practices of rivals. It occurs, like- 
 wise, that when any particular fishery has ceased to be productive, the minds 
 of the sufferers, go, as it were, on a criminating inquiry, in search of a plausi- 
 ble cause for explaining the phenomenon ; and then the imagination eagerly 
 seizes upon some circumstance by which a rival exclusively profits. The rival, 
 too, necessarily strives to justify his own practices ; and thus, what one party 
 asserts the other as strenuously denies. That there should be a right to-interfere 
 where public interests are injured by individuals, requires no proof; and the 
 sea, though a common open for all to resort to, is not so much the property of 
 any individual, that he may lawfully work it to the detriment of his neighbours, 
 or of the nation at large." Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, p. 21. 
 
 At the same time interference was deprecated except on special justifica- 
 tion and demonstrated necessity. The Commissioners recommended that the 
 difficult questions when and where the use of trammel and trawl nets, which 
 are sometimes injurious, might be permitted or prohibited, should be intrusted 
 to a responsible administrative board, exercising a general superintendence 
 over the Irish Fisheries. With respect to sea fishery protection, they reported 
 that great injury to property arose from unrestrained violence at sea, and from 
 combinations on land. "Such violences, independently of the consequent 
 breaches of the peace, check the development of the fisheries, and enhance 
 the price of fish to the consumer ; and wherever the fishermen assemble in 
 large bodies, serious evils from these causes, are matters of every day com- 
 plaint." A force to preserve the peace, equal to encounter the difficulty, and 
 to overawe the offenders, was essential to the prosperity of the trade. For 
 this purpose the services of the coast guard, of revenue cruisers, and occa- 
 sionally of armed vessels, could be engaged. 
 
41 
 
 An exclusive right to the surrounding sea has been conceded to 
 each nation, on its own coasts, within cannon shot of the shore.* 
 But in such a field, where the rivals of three countries may 
 meet, or the natives themselves quarrel as to debatable grounds 
 or disputed methods, the intervention of authority is often 
 requisite. To interfere, control, and restrict with judgment, 
 seems to require the practical experience of a follower of the 
 craft, combined with the knowledge of the naturalist and the 
 hydrographer. 
 
 The Deep sea and In-shore fisheries of Ireland appear to need 
 and deserve an active care and liberal policy to be extended to 
 them, to lay the foundation for permanent and important improve- 
 ment. With regard to the extent to which Government inter- 
 ference and assistance may be legitimately and usefully applied, 
 within the bounds of strict and impartial justice to this country, 
 the amount to which they have received the aid of public 
 money, or now receive it, may be placed in contrast to that 
 expended for those of Scotland. According to a returnf printed 
 by order of the House of Commons, the following sums were 
 granted for the encouragement of the British Fisheries : 
 
 From 1809 to 1819, . . 327,282 9 6 
 1819 to 1829, . . 762,461 8^ 
 1829 to 1841, . . 192,977 13 10 
 
 1,282,721 4 OJ 
 
 In 1819 Ireland commenced to receive similar pecuniary aid, 
 and from 1819 to 1830, received 259,358 6s. 6d. : showing 
 a receipt by British fisheries in excess of the sum accorded to 
 Irish of more than one million sterling. 
 
 In 1830, bounties were extinguished in both countries, the 
 whole staff and establishment abolished in Ireland, and the same 
 Act which repealed the Irish fishery encouragement, continued 
 all encouragement for Scotland, except the bounties. 
 
 A return moved for by Sir Henry Winston Barron, (29th 
 May, 1845,) shows that in ten years from 1835 to 1844, 
 Scotland has received as 'grants for promoting the Scotch 
 fisheries:' for the general purposes of the service (average 
 11,000 a year), 114,700; for building piers and quays, 
 24,091 ; for repairing the boats of poor fishermen, 5,000; total, 
 143,791. Ireland in the same time received 18,842 2s. 4d. 
 
 From 1844 up to the present time, Scotland continues to 
 receive at the rate of 14,000 a year, and Ireland annually at 
 the rate of about l,200. 
 
 There has certainly been a sum of 90,000 allotted during 
 
 * M'Mahon on the Fisheries. Dublin Review, 1842. 
 
 t Returns moved for by E. B. Roche, esq., M.P., 1st July, 1842. 
 
42 
 
 the famine to Ireland, for grants and loans to construct piers, 
 quays, and harbours ; a valuable boon, as is proved by the 
 numerous applications to participate in it by parties who join 
 in the cost.* 
 
 These figures speak for themselves. The call for ' justice to 
 Ireland' is often said to be a ' parrot-cry,' and requests for aid 
 are sometimes met by ungenerous taunts. It is, however, the 
 part of those who should deal with an even hand to see 
 whether these appeals are fairly founded. A larger number of 
 boats and men are employed in fishing in Ireland than in Scot- 
 land. Yet although the trade does not exist to the same ex- 
 tent in Ireland as in the sister country, and therefore the same 
 superintendence is not required, it does not appear that a 
 just proportion of Government assistance is maintained in 
 the case of the former ; and, with respect to the expenditure 
 appropriated to encouragement, may it not be asked whether 
 such measures are not as much needed to build up as to sus- 
 tain a trade ? 
 
 The Scottish Fisheries are fostered by the aid of the Trea- 
 sury. The governments of France, Belgium, and Holland, ex- 
 tend much care and superintendence to those of their countries.f 
 
 * " The applications to the Board of Works for erecting piers, &c., were 
 much more numerous than could be supplied by a grant of twice the amount 
 given by the (first) statute, evidencing in no small degree that there is a desire 
 to encourage and protect the interests of the fisheries, at all events in this par- 
 ticular." Paper of the Royal Dublin Society on the Irish Fisheries, by J. C. 
 Deane, Esq., 1847. 
 
 f The British seas are an unbounded common, remarkable for its great 
 fertility. As far as the state can interpose, it should be its policy to attract the 
 population towards the sea-coasts. The security of the empire lies in its mari- 
 time power, and our fisheries are the nurseries for seamen. 
 
 The Danes, a sea-faring people, who possessed themselves of all the important 
 ports of this island in the 9th and 10th centuries, carried on a lucrative trade 
 by means of these resources. The celebrated De Witt, in his political maxims, 
 computed the number of people in the united provinces at 2,400,000, and of 
 these he reckoned 450,000 obtained their living by the fisheries at sea, and 
 attributed the great superiority of Holland to its being so situated that its 
 inhabitants could draw a great part of their subsistence from the ocean. 
 
 Philip II. of Spain, whose connexion with the Netherlands had doubtless 
 made him acquainted with the full value of this element of national wealth, 
 paid an annual sum of 1,000 for license to fish on the northern coasts of Ire- 
 land for twenty-one years. The Dutch purchased a similar privilege in the 
 reign of Charles I., for which this thrifty and shrewd people thought 30,000 
 not too high a price See Fraser on the Fisheries. Edinburgh, 4to. 1818. 
 
 That in earlier times they furnished a staple commodity for export is to be 
 learned from many sources of history ; among others from a curious poem, 
 (introduced by the poet Campbell in his Naval History of Great Britain,) to be 
 found in Hakluyt's Voyages, entitled ' The Policie of keeping the Sea,' believed 
 to have been composed in the beginning of Edward the Fourth's reign. Towards 
 the conclusion there is a project of the then Earl of Ormond, (who may be said 
 to have represented Ireland at court,) suggesting that if one year's expense in 
 the maintenance of the French wars were employed in the reduction of that 
 island, it would answer the purpose eflPectuallj*, and produce a very considerable 
 profit annually to the English nation. Yet this, as the writer complains, was 
 Blighted, from views of private profit, to the great detriment of the public. One 
 
43 
 
 Those of Ireland received the zealous attention of our earlier 
 statesmen, and are still worthy of it. " 
 
 The assistance formerly given to the Sea arm of the fisheries 
 of this country having been withdrawn, these resources became 
 less worked, principally from the want of means, and the igno- 
 rance of the coast fishermen as to adoption of the best modes 
 of capture ; the absence of exertion on the part of those who 
 might feel locally interested in their development ; and, along 
 the eastern coast, where the best markets are found from the 
 deficiency of good harbours and of piers. The Enactment is 
 chiefly directed to the intricate matters of our Inland waters ; 
 but, of the portions relating to those of the sea, several sections 
 leave disputed or difficult regulations to be determined by by- 
 laws to be framed by the Commissioners. Some encouragement 
 was afforded by the provision for empowering them to hold 
 Meetings with proprietors of fisheries, for inquiry into their 
 state, and the best means to be adopted for their regulation, 
 improvement, or protection. It was expected that this depart- 
 ment of industry would have animation thrown into it, the 
 ignorance of its followers partly dispelled, altercations allayed, 
 and perhaps capital attracted to those branches in which it is 
 required, (namely the deep-sea fishing, and the establishment 
 
 chapter treats ' Of the commodities of Ireland, and policie and keeping thereof, 
 
 and conquering of wild Irish.' 
 
 ' I cast to speake of Ireland but a litle : 
 Commodities of it I will entitle, 
 Hides and fish, salmon, hake, herring, 
 Irish wooll, and linen cloth, faldinge, 
 And marterns goode ben her marchandize ; 
 Harte's hides, and other of venerie, 
 Skinnes of otter, squirrell, and Irish hare, 
 Of sheepe, lambe, and foxe, is her chaffare* 
 
 Of silver and golde there is the oore 
 Among the wilde Irish, though they be poore : 
 For they are rude, and can thereon no skill : 
 So that if we had their peace and good will 
 To myne and fyne, and metal for to pure, 
 In wilde Irish might we find the cure.' 
 
 In the Dittamondi of Fazzio delli Uberti, a Florentine poet, (1357,) we hare 
 the following testimony as to the antiquity of our export trade of woollens : 
 ' Similamente passamo en Irlanda, 
 La qual fra noi e degna di fama, 
 Per le nobile sale che ci manda.' 
 
 So we pass into Ireland, worthy of our commendation for the fine friezes she 
 sends to us. 
 
 * Sir James "Ware, in the time of James I., reckons " among the advantages 
 of Ireland, her great and plentiful fisheries of salmon, herring, and pilchards, 
 which, salted and barrelled, are every year exported to foreign parts, and yield 
 a considerable return to the merchants." Sir William Temple, the philosophic 
 secretary for Ireland, whose acquaintance with Holland had proved to him the 
 value of the wealth she drew from our seas, writes to the lord lieutenant in 
 1673, "the fisheries of Ireland might prove a mine under water as rich as any 
 under ground ;" and he might have added not so capable of exhaustion. 
 
44 
 
 of curing-houses,) by such consultations, and by the advice of 
 impartial and generally experienced men, having the prestige 
 of authoritative officers. 
 
 For purposes of stimulating and for superintending the trade, 
 the Scottish fishery board employs two general and forty local 
 inspectors, and has the services of one of her Majesty's cutters, 
 and occasionally of two steam-vessels of the Navy. 
 
 Powers are given by the Act to extend similar advantages to 
 the Irish board, but they have not been exerted ; and, with the 
 exception of some meetings held at the time of the inquiry into 
 the close season of the river fisheries in 1844, few of such meet- 
 ings have taken place. 
 
 THE SALMON FISHERIES. 
 
 The salmon fisheries of Ireland may be said to need a watch- 
 ful solicitude as to every circumstance connected with them. 
 A correct basis in legislating for them can only be formed, and 
 carried out in management, upon scientific acquaintance with the 
 many circumstances bearing upon them, such as the changes of 
 the tide, the effects of currents of rivers, the varied construc- 
 tion, operation, and efficiency of weirs, nets, and other devices 
 for capture. An intimate knowledge is requisite of the natural 
 history and habits of Salmon, and a practical experience of 
 matters affecting their migration, such as the stay they make in 
 estuaries, waiting for floods, the seasons at which they are most 
 abundant ; the facilities for their capture in different parts of 
 rivers ; and the effects of, or means of remedying, artificial or 
 natural obstacles to their ascent to the spawning grounds, 
 those multitudinous fields in which the seed of the future har- 
 vest must be sown. 
 
 The fluctuating, unrestrained nature of this tenant of the 
 waters, free as those of the air yet hidden from the eye of 
 man in its uncertain transit invests this mysterious gift with 
 phases more peculiar than belong to others of iheferce naturce ; 
 the doubtful rights to which appear to be a means designed 
 to try the justice and charity of mankind.* 
 
 Not the property of any until captured it is more than any 
 
 * The circumstances of game differ from those of fish in a ' several' fishery in 
 these respects : game is nowhere public property ; a qualification is required to 
 kill it legally ; when taken by the poacher it is on the exclusive property of an 
 individual, who has perhaps incurred large cost in its food and preservation, 
 and may be in receipt of a lower rent for his land on account of the game fed on 
 it. But any man, who, by greatly increasing his preserve, and failing to pro- 
 vide sufficient protection, places temptation in the way of his poorer neighbours, 
 may be said to incur a moral responsibility. 
 
 4 ' In the state of the law which has existed in Scotland from time immemorial, 
 people have come to know that salmon fishing is a property of peculiar value, 
 and to look upon it as a matter in which the proprietor is entitled to much 
 more stringent regulations for his protection than in the case of ordinary 
 game." Evidence of the Lord Advocate of Scotland, 1849, p. 523. 
 
45 
 
 other exposed to the unscrupulous ; the ' silent highway/ 
 open to all, the obscurity of night the excitement of pursuit 
 the impossibility of its identification are all circumstances in 
 favour of the violator of the law. The varied interests along 
 the course of a great river all antagonistic ; as in the fable 
 of ' the wolf and the lamb' the devourers below inveighing 
 against those above, and they again perhaps as unjustly jealous 
 of interception ; the obstacles that human nature presents 
 to the repression of encroachments and trespasses whether 
 on the part of men of power or again of the public on private 
 privileges hard to define, and easy to infringe, must tend to 
 weave a complication of difficulties requiring more than ordinary 
 consideration in legislating on them, and more than ordinary 
 powers to be given for their control. 
 
 With evident appreciation of these manifold difficulties the 
 new Statute was framed to meet them in a great degree. It 
 contains many materials for bringing the Irish fisheries to 
 their highest value, having been so judiciously arranged that 
 ultimate modifications, and accessional legislation, might be 
 adopted or recommended by the constituted authorities after 
 inquiry and experience. Excepting in the introduction of the 
 clauses establishing the legality of fixed apparatus, (the policy of 
 which was inequitable in rivers where public rights exist in the 
 tideways,) many unobjectionable portions of the old code of 
 laws, and some of the recommendations of the Commission of 
 Inquiry were re-enacted or adopted ; and, if vigorously admi- 
 nistered, the full code of provisions would have been found as 
 completely applicable as could at first have been devised for a 
 perplexed and abstruse subject. 
 
 The omission for a long lapse of time of legislative measures 
 and proper control was thus removed by this enactment, 
 followed rapidly by others of an accessory nature ; that of 1 844 
 brought in the powerful aid of the Constabulary, (in addition to 
 the powers previously conferred on the proprietors of fisheries 
 to appoint water-bailiffs, and on the officers and men of her 
 Majesty's cruisers, and of the coast guard service,) to enforce 
 the provisions of the law ; the full force of the State was, with 
 the exception of the military, now enlisted for the protection 
 of our national fisheries. When the nature of the property, 
 that of the interests concerned, and the fact that they are 
 most exposed to injury in the remoter and less civilized dis- 
 tricts of the land, and around the sea-coasts, is considered, it 
 cannot be said that such ample means for enforcing authority 
 were not required. 
 
46 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MANAGEMENT UNDER THE BOARD OF WORKS. 
 
 THE system of the management of the Irish Fisheries, after its 
 committal to the Board of Public Works, as " Commissioners 
 for the execution of the Act," is to be learned from their public 
 reports. 
 
 In an inquiry of this nature the object of which is to further 
 improvement it will occur that those points which are open 
 to objection are those to be brought into view ; nor can the 
 absence of noticing other circumstances be held an omission : 
 whatever credit is justly due to the Commissioners if not 
 offered, is not wrongly withheld, and the ensuing remarks are 
 made less in a spirit of animadversion than of inquiry. 
 
 In the first report, presented to the Lord Lieutenant in April, 
 1843, it is stated that progress was not so rapid as could have 
 been desired, * partly because the principles of the measure 
 being very essentially new in Ireland, they required much 
 information to be procured, and much consideration before the 
 mode of applying them could be decided upon ; partly, because 
 mistaken or very imperfect views of the bearing of the Act were 
 taken by many;' and because of the number of matters 
 requiring to be regulated at the commencement of such a 
 measure. 
 
 The principle of the Act being of * non-interference by 
 Government/ is then adverted to as that adopted the provi- 
 sions being made as ' definite as possible, to the effect that the 
 public in general might have the power of causing it to be 
 enforced, the intervention of the Commissioners being only 
 admitted as an authority for deciding matters that are of a 
 nature varying according to localities or circumstances, and that 
 consequently could not be defined in the Act.' The great pres- 
 sure of references to them, (such numerous appeals proving the 
 number of cases conceived by the community to require atten- 
 tion,) on those points calling for the Board's decision, is then 
 considered as attributable to the early stage of their control ; 
 but it was expected, if the Commissioners can ' come to right 
 conclusions,'* to make such permanent arrangements, as, after 
 the first two or three years, would reduce the business to a few 
 matters, calling for occasional consideration only. 
 
 " This," (it is observed,) "it may be presumed, was the ground 
 for confiding the charge to an existing department having other 
 duties, instead of organizing a new Board for the purpose, as 
 
 * An acknowledgment of the difficulties of the subject encountered, requiring 
 practical knowledge to adjust. 
 
47 
 
 would have been required had a principle of more active and 
 minute interference been adopted." 
 
 The performance of many duties was imposed in the ' exe- 
 cution of the act.' It is to be apprehended that the policy of 
 the " Suggestions" of 1835 was more regarded than the duties 
 prescribed by Parliament.* The business of the Fisheries of 
 Ireland, the requirements of their new laws, and their claims 
 for improvement, would assuredly demand more than " occa- 
 sional consideration." 
 
 The report proceeds : " With respect to the inland or sal- 
 mon fishery there are still many subjects of contention and dif- 
 ferences. The first of these arises from the conflicting interests 
 of the proprietors of the upper rivers and fishermen in general, 
 with those in possession of established salmon weirs in the 
 rivers, or of stake-nets on the coast. Another regards the 
 opposition given to poaching, and other practices proscribed by 
 
 * The following are amongst the duties provided for in the Act : 
 Section 13. Inquiry into making of bait beds, and granting license therefor. 
 Section 15. Forming districts for registry of vessels. Section 21. Power to 
 inquire into and abate weirs injurious to navigation. Section 22. Defining 
 mouths of rivers. Sections 32 and 35. Power to inquire into and alter close 
 seasons, every three years, if requisite. Section 39. Licensing stake-weirs to 
 take white fish. Section 42. To require gaps to be made in certain fishing 
 weirs, where there may be claim for compensation. Section 43. Commissioners 
 to assess value. Section 54. Determining length of spur walls to tails of fishing 
 weirs. Section 58. Regulating size, &c., of cruives and boxes in fishing weirs. 
 Section 62. Removal of natural obstructions upon application. Section 63. 
 Approval of plans for emigration of fish in all present and future dams and 
 weirs. Section 67. Alteration of size of meshes on inland rivers upon inquiry. 
 Section 89. The Commissioners or their officers given the executive powers of 
 officers of the navy, coast guard, and water bailiffs, for the enforcement of the 
 law. Section 91. To make and ordain additional regulations and by r laws for 
 the management and improvement of the fisheries generally ; for the registry 
 of boats ; to alter or vary such by-laws ; to make restrictions and regulations 
 for good order as to the times and seasons for taking of all kinds of fish ; as to 
 the time and places and manner of using trawls, trammels, other nets, and en- 
 gines in the sea, their form and description and size of meshes the prohibition 
 thereof, or of any practice whatsoever, tending, in the opinion of the Commis- 
 sioners, to impede the taking of fish, or to be in any manner detrimental to the 
 said fisheries, or as to any other matter or thing which shall in any manner 
 whatever relate to the government and protection of the said fisheries. Section 
 111. To hold general meetings of proprietors of fisheries for inquiry into their 
 state and means of improvement. Section 1 12. To report annually, furnishing 
 such statistic information as may be practicable, or as directed by the Lord 
 Lieutenant. By the Act of 1844, section 5, Power to suspend oyster fisheries 
 for a fixed period. By the Act of 1 845, section 3, Power to suspend the use of 
 and remove illegal nets and weirs in places prohibited. Section 14. To prohibit 
 the use of any engine for capture deemed upon inquiry to be injurious. Section 
 17. Power to grant license to make private oyster layings. Section 19. Power 
 to grant license to dredge for oysters during close season to supply artificial 
 beds. Section 20. Power to make by-laws for the improvement of the oyster 
 fisheries. By the Act of 1848, section 3, Dividing Ireland into fishery districts, 
 and altering from time to time. Section 13. Sanction as to alteration of license 
 duties. Section 38. To attend and advise at meetings of conservators. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the power of performing most of these import- 
 ant functions is in the Commissioners of Fisheries only, and no other party ia 
 authorized by law to perform them. 
 
48 
 
 the law as it now stands, particularly as regards the observance 
 of the close season. The endeavour in framing the Act has 
 evidently been to open the mode of fishing in such manner as 
 to admit of the greatest supply of fish being obtained by the 
 public, while each should be under such partial restrictions as 
 might tend to the preservation and increase of the breed, and 
 enable all those who could reasonably claim the right, to parti- 
 cipate in the fishery in a greater degree than they had ever 
 done previously. There was for some a very prevailing impres- 
 sion that it would become the duty* of this Board to appoint 
 inspectors, and to regulate all the inland fisheries, and very 
 numerous applications for such appointments were received 
 from various quarters, and many requisitions were made on the 
 Commissioners to interfere in the maintenance of the law ; 
 explanations were necessary to those requisitions, that the 
 maintenance of the law was now with the public, or with parties 
 interested, and that the only duty of the Board was, in a few 
 specified cases, for reconciling different interests." 
 
 It is contended that the Board in this instance took a con- 
 tracted view of the intent of the measure, clearly providing for 
 a staff of inspectors f to act as in Scotland, and who would, by 
 their actual and unremitted attention to circumstances of a 
 local nature, furnish the executive with such information as 
 would check abuses and promote improvement : in effect, aid 
 in those matters on behalf of the Crown and the public in which 
 the community might suffer by neglect. For example, so 
 cogent was the power invested by the statute for the repression 
 of one serious encroachment on common freedom, as to autho- 
 rize the Commissioners to declare any stake, weir, or fixed net 
 a nuisance, which should, upon due inquiry, appear in their 
 judgment to be placed in a manner injurious or detrimental to 
 Navigation, and then authorize any person to remove them, 
 without appeal. 
 
 * On the passing of the Act an Inspector of Fisheries was appointed, who was 
 also a Commissioner of Drainage ; and soon after, an additional inspector, whose 
 time was to be devoted to the Sea Fisheries. 
 
 t The second section of the Act provides, " that it shall and may be lawful 
 for the said Commissioners with the consent and approbation of the Commis- 
 sioners of the Treasury, from time to time to appoint, during pleasure, such 
 and so many persons to be Inspectors of Fisheries, and also such additional clerk 
 or clerks or other officers as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act." 
 
 Such local inspectors would perform the duties of seeing that the law was 
 carried out in river fisheries, as to ' queen's shares' in fishing weirs, and the 
 observance of the close time in all descriptions of fishing : giving early intima- 
 tion of encroachments on public rights, or of apprehended breaches of the peace ; 
 report the erection of new mill-dams, in order that the legal passes should be 
 made ; attend to the registration of fishing vessels ; fulfil the useful purpose of 
 calling the attention of the coast guard and police to the performance of their 
 duties in remote places, and the valuable one of imparting instruction to the 
 coast population ignorant as to the best modes of fishing ; and all other import- 
 ant services connected with the Fisheries. 
 
49 
 
 This extraordinary devolvement of authority for the sum- 
 mary abatement of an injury to the community is an evidence 
 of the intent of the Legislature to afford stringent means for 
 protecting all existing interests, and formed the precedent for 
 the summary powers, given by the Act of 1845, to repress cer- 
 tain illegal encroachments on the common right of fishing, not 
 less to be guarded than that of navigation. 
 
 The following extract* from the Report of the Inspecting 
 Commissioners of Fisheries, dated 18th April, 1849, presented 
 to the Select Committee, proves their sense of the difficulties 
 as to the strong judicial powers invested in the Board of Works, 
 as Commissioners of Fisheries. 
 
 The Act of 1845, 8 & 9 Viet., cap. 108, reciting that, not- 
 withstanding the provisions of the previous statute with regard 
 to the erection and use of stake-weirs, and other fixed nets, 
 the same were in many instances erected and used in prohibited 
 places, by parties who had no title to do so, empowered the 
 Commissioners, for the protection of public rights, and to pre- 
 vent disputes, to suspend their use, and remove them, in cases 
 where it shall appear to them that the same are illegally 
 placed ; subject to appeal to the judge of assize. f 
 
 In the non-exercise of such unusual powers in both these 
 
 * " Section 21 provides that no stake-net shall be placed so as to be injurious 
 to navigation, and empowers the Commissioners to remove them. The Com- 
 missioners have not exercised this power, and it may be very questionable 
 whether it is expedient that they should be invested with it, because, with 
 respect to navigation, the Admiralty have ample powers under the common 
 law with reference to it. We believe it quite undisputed, it imposes a very 
 embarrassing duty upon the Commissioners, quite foreign to the question of 
 fisheries, and places them, we think, in a false position, the Legislature having 
 imposed this duty upon them. Strictly speaking they should perform it, and 
 failing to do so, a public department may rest under the imputation of something 
 more than mere neglect ; and their having declined to do so in this instance 
 has created difficulty in some prosecutions at common law before judges of as- 
 size ; for it has been pleaded to juries, by lawyers, that the Commissioners of 
 Fisheries have not considered stake-weirs injurious to navigation, otherwise 
 they would, no doubt, have administered the law, and performed the duties 
 imposed upon them by the Act ; and this plausible assumption has had its effect; 
 while we believe the real cause of the Commissioners of Fisheries declining to 
 act has been, that it would involve the prostration of almost all weirs, and 
 render entirely nugatory the whole provisions of the 5 & 6 Viet., purporting 
 to legalize them, in any position almost, within the mouths of harbours, no 
 matter what the breadth of the channel might be." Appendix to Report, 1849. 
 
 f INITIATIVE POWERS To invest the Commissioners of Fisheries with 
 extra-judicial powers in matters in which questions of title and law may be in 
 the slightest degree involved, while it is unconstitutional in principle, is also 
 highly objectionable. But where no difficulty is found in discriminating be- 
 tween matters of fact and those of a legal nature, and a decision can be accu- 
 rately arrived at as to illegality, it appears very expedient that executive 
 functions should be given, and actively exercised, for enforcing definite regu- 
 lations. In this there can be nothing exceptionable, because, in questions 
 purely matters of police, if the line of duty is overstepped, there will be power 
 of appeal to the ordinary tribunals, or to the superior government. The ex- 
 pediency may also be considered of constituting the Fishery Board the medium 
 through which the initiative process of legal proceedings may be conducted, ia 
 
50 
 
 cases, where the least doubt exists as" to the necessity of so 
 doing, the Board must be perfectly justified. 
 
 The importance of regulating the condition of mill-dams and 
 fishery weirs is thus strongly laid down in the report. " Upon the 
 due enforcement of the provisions of the act in this respect de- 
 pends much of its success in promoting and improving the salmon 
 fisheries, by allowing a certain passage for the free migration 
 of the fish, and by allowing the persons living near the upper 
 parts of rivers some degree of interest in the fisheries, to pro- 
 mote a community of interests between them and those in- 
 terested in the salmon fisheries on the lower parts of rivers, and 
 along the sea coast, by ivhich means alone it appears to us the 
 requisite protection of the breeding fish, during close season, 
 can be secured, and consequently a system for the progressive 
 improvement of this fishery established on a firm basis." 
 
 The Commissioners then observe : " the principle we have 
 adopted, generally, in these cases is that of interfering only 
 upon application made, which is the course specially directed 
 by the Act as regards mill-weirs, and cases where the parties 
 applying are required to deposit the sum requisite for defraying 
 the expenses of any examination; and in most other cases 
 where the powers of enforcing the provisions of the Act may be 
 exercised by persons interested in the fishery of the locality, 
 it has. appeared to us the most suitable course to adopt, as, 
 until complaint or application is made to us, we cannot be 
 aware of the existence of any irregularity." 
 
 The extent to which the Irish Fisheries may, with reason, be 
 expected to be capable of improvement, does not appear to 
 have received that practical investigation which its real import- 
 ance deserves ; and, in the absence of such information, vague 
 and exaggerated statements are often put forward, which can 
 but throw discredit and disbelief on the subject in the minds 
 of sober-thinking persons. Faithful Statistic Returns, obtained 
 from proper quarters, such as of the amount of salmon or other 
 fish caught each year, of rents paid by lessees, and others, 
 the capital invested in the trade, or the number of persons, 
 boats, and nets, employed in it, the number and details of 
 prosecutions and of convictions, the amount of fines paid ; state- 
 ments of what has been done, and what may be accomplished, 
 founded on surveys of the extent of fishing banks, of the quantity 
 of spawning grounds, and detailed accounts of the results of 
 
 bringing before the proper tribunals for adjudication all matters in which the 
 interests of the public may be involved, when it is remembered that many en- 
 croachments on public rights may remain long unquestioned, either from 
 ignorance of the law, from apathy, or if left dependent for redress on individuals 
 who may feel the restraint of personal consideration, or of local influences, 
 the- injurious consequences of which to the community at large it is sound and 
 constitutional policy to guard against. 
 
51 
 
 protection, are some of the different bases on which to test the 
 true powers of maximum productiveness. 
 
 To complete the analysis of the First Report of the Commis- 
 sioners : At its close they allude to the 1 12th clause of the Act, 
 by which they are required to introduce, with the annual reports 
 to the Lord Lieutenant, for the purpose of being laid before 
 each house of Parliament within three weeks after the com- 
 mencement of each session, such Statistical Account of the 
 fisheries as may be practicable) or may be directed by the Lord 
 Lieutenant ; this they " understood to be to the extent of col- 
 lecting such information as they can conveniently, and not to 
 employ distinct means for the purpose, unless otherwise directed 
 by your Excellency." 
 
 General or sufficient Statistics do not appear to have been fur- 
 nished, at least to any desirable extent. A more active inter- 
 pretation of this clause would have led to results already 
 serviceable. The importance of our Fisheries in the scale of 
 the resources of the country would be better understood, and 
 more justly appreciated by statesmen, who are now compara- 
 tively uninformed of the attention to which they are really 
 entitled, while ideas of their capabilities, often exorbitant, 
 might have been reduced within rational limits. 
 
 The Second Annual Report, dated 2nd June, 1844, again 
 premises by alluding " to the principle of the Act being that of 
 the least possible Government interference." The Commis- 
 sioners (it states) " most readily adopted that principle, being 
 fully impressed with the conviction that it was the only one by 
 which there could be a chance of the Fisheries being established 
 on a basis of permanent progressive improvement. We cannot 
 conceal, however, that disappointment has been created in the 
 minds of many who were anxious for, or felt an interest in 
 the promotion of the Irish fisheries, that a much more general 
 direction and management, accompanied by more detailed regu- 
 lations, was not undertaken by the Fishery Board." This 
 exhibits the wish of persons solicitous on the subject, for a 
 more active administration ; and they were probably in daily 
 experience of the need of, and impressed with the advantages 
 that would result from it. 
 
 " If we felt the propriety of avoiding, as far as possible, 
 minute regulation, we were still much more deeply impressed 
 with the impolicy of a contrary course, when the demand for 
 rules and by-laws involved restrictions on the free modes of 
 taking fish by any engines or devices in the open sea. 
 
 "We have been frequently urged to restrain particular modes 
 of fishing, on the plea of their being injurious, whereas, in 
 general, it was their effective results and novelty that occa- 
 sioned the complaints against them ; the objections chiefly aria- 
 
 E2 
 
52 
 
 ing from the competing interests of persons or communities, 
 who had habitually pursued different and probably inferior 
 systems ; and occasionally originating in some old established 
 prejudices or assumed peculiar rights. 
 
 " These positions will be further explained, and, we trust, 
 the propriety of the yiew we took justified, in reporting on 
 some particulars of our proceedings. 
 
 " We wish the reasons for the extent to which we have 
 declined interference to be understood, because it is one which 
 has drawn upon US some remonstrances, and in which our pro- 
 ceedings seem not to be approved of by many bodies of persons 
 engaged in the Fisheries, and by many most respectable as well 
 as influential personages. 
 
 " As an instance of what has been required of us, may be 
 given, an application from a body of gentlemen on a part of 
 the coast, who formed a Society for the meritorious object of 
 preserving order, and assisting the fisheries of the neighbour- 
 hood by local encouragement and regulations. 
 
 " The desire of the Society was, that we should send down, 
 some person connected with our office to co-operate, advise, and 
 assist in their general arrangements, 
 
 " We declined to comply with this request, because we con- 
 sidered that gentlemen resident on the spot would be far better 
 judges of what would be necessary, than any officer of ours 
 could be : there could be no difficulty in understanding the 
 law, which is precise, or if otherwise, it is seldom that we or 
 our officers can venture to interpret it ; and such a proceeding 
 would lead to a degree of Government interference and respon- 
 sibility, that we neither considered politic nor in compliance 
 with the purport of the Act. 
 
 " Such a precedent, also, being established, would of course 
 have led to similar applications from other quarters, and the Go- 
 vernment would have found itself involved in the responsibility, 
 and the employment, perhaps, of all the local arrangements 
 and details of the Fisheries." 
 
 This inference, and the deduction, are not very clear. 
 
 It is to he hoped that this, was the only case of refusal to 
 comply with a very natural request for counsel and instruction ; 
 the non-compliance with which must have been disheartening, 
 and is unquestionably not in accordance with the spirit of the 
 enactment, which (in the lllth section) empowers the holding 
 of general Meetings of proprietors of fisheries in any district, 
 for inquiry into the state of the fisheries, " and the best 
 means to be adopted for the regulation, improvement, or protec- 
 tion thereof," thus providing advice and guidance, at the least, 
 to encourage local exertion in a praiseworthy object. As 
 it is not stated that the applicants were not " proprietors of 
 
53 
 
 fisheries," the conclusion is that such could have not been the 
 ground of objection.* 
 
 The Report proceeds to state the greater difficulties expe- 
 rienced in framing and carrying out rules and regulations for 
 the protection of the Salmon fisheries than with those of the 
 Coast, " inasmuch as private rights are mixed up with those of 
 the public, and in securing the perfect exercise of the latter, 
 much care is required to prevent any injury, unnecessarily, to 
 individual interests." 
 
 The knowledge and use of " efficient means" of fishing is 
 stated to be increasing generally in the bays and estuaries ; and 
 that, where the opening of fishing weirs and passages at mill- 
 dams required by the Act are enforced, together with the 
 Sunday cessation from fishing, it was hoped that the interests of 
 the proprietors, in the interior, will be greatly benefited by 
 allowing them an opportunity of taking the seasonable fish, 
 " thereby affording an incentive to all parties to protect the 
 breeding fish and fry in the close season, and on their migra- 
 tion to the sea." 
 
 On the question of the Legality of Stake and Fixed "Weirs, 
 which had already caused disputes, litigation, and breaches of 
 the peace in some localities, the following remarks are made : 
 "The Act permits the use of these efficient engines, under 
 certain restrictions, along the coast and in wide bays and 
 estuaries, but prohibits their use in any place less than three 
 quarters of a mile in width at low water; saving from such 
 prohibition, by the 23rd section, any stake-nets which have 
 been established in such place for twenty years and upwards ; 
 and also by the 24th section, those which have been established 
 within the limits of "several" fisheries for ten years and upwards. 
 
 " Under the assumed protection of these sections of the Act, 
 weirs have in some instances been continued in situations where 
 there are reasons to doubt their being legally entitled to the 
 exemption ; and in other cases weirs or fixed nets have been 
 erected either in ignorance or evasion of the law, from both of 
 which, serious disputes have arisen. 
 
 " In some of these cases where application has been made to 
 us, the parties have, after an examination of the locality, and 
 impartial explanation of the bearing of the Act, by an officer of 
 this Board, voluntarily removed the illegal erections, and other- 
 wise complied with the law, whereby the disputes were termi- 
 nated; and other modes of fishing being adopted, we are 
 
 * On this head see the evidence of W. J. Ffennell, esq., Inspecting Commis- 
 sioner, before the select committee, March, 1849, who states he thinks that the 
 state of the Irish fisheries required all that advice which the parties there 
 sought for from the officers of the Board, and that a great deal of good might 
 have been done if such assistance had been afforded to persons seeking to be set 
 right in the way to manage and govern the fisheries. 
 
54 
 
 informed that little if any loss has "been sustained by the weir 
 owners, whilst the persons in the interior have derived some 
 advantages which encourage them in the protection of the 
 breeding fish. In other instances, however, the parties erect- 
 ing the weirs have been less ready to give up the advantages 
 they derived from their use ; and after an examination into the 
 circumstances, we deemed it our duty, in one case, where there 
 were extensive public Fisheries affected, and formidable breaches 
 of the peace apprehended, to bring the matter under the con- 
 sideration of the Government, by whom prosecutions were 
 instituted before the proper local authorities. In the county 
 at one side of the river, (Wexford,) convictions were obtained 
 at the petty sessions court, and confirmed on appeal, at the 
 quarter sessions. In the county on the other side of the river, 
 ( Waterford,) the complaint of the Crown was dismissed at petty 
 sessions court, and the dismissal affirmed at the quarter sessions, 
 (contrary, however, to the opinion of the Assistant-Barrister,) 
 although the nature of the offence was the same, and the case 
 was argued and defended, by the same counsel in both counties. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the convictions obtained, the illegal weirs 
 were again erected this year, and the result has been that great 
 discontent and dissatisfaction have been created : and we under- 
 stand that the fishermen have recently taken the law into their 
 own hands, and openly prostrated the weirs in the narrow parts 
 of the estuary and tidal parts of the rivers. 
 
 " We are not aware that there is any ambiguity as to the real 
 meaning of this part of the Act, and the intention of the Legis- 
 lature with respect to stake-nets erected in places less than 
 three-fourths of a mile broad ; but as it involves questions of 
 legal construction, and frequently property of large amount and 
 value, either to individuals, or large portions of the public 
 exercising the common right of fishing in the tideway, it is of 
 great importance that the case should be settled by competent 
 authority. 
 
 " The local societies, formed with laudable zeal to protect 
 the fish in their almost defenceless breeding places, and other- 
 wise to enforce the provisions of the act, complain that however 
 palpable the necessity for protection, and however strongly 
 urged by the most intelligent and zealous of their acting 
 members, they cannot procure by voluntary subscriptions, suffi- 
 cient means effectually to carry out this most useful object." 
 
 Suggestions of an assessment Bill, and for powers to be 
 given to the constabulary, are then made, and it is noticed that 
 compensation could not be obtained under the Grand Jury Act 
 for malicious injury done to fishing weirs now legally used, " it 
 having been ruled by the Court, that these kind of weirs were 
 not recognised as legal at the time of passing that Act." 
 
55 
 
 In the session of 1844, the Constabulary were empowered to 
 enforce certain provisions for protection. The services of this 
 force, the right arm of the Law in Ireland, (a body of men of 
 whom we may well be proud, proving what our countrymen be- 
 come when educated and disciplined,) are of the first consequence 
 for insuring its enforcement with regard to the Inland fisheries. 
 
 In August, 1845, power was given to appoint an additional 
 Commissioner of fisheries, to which office one of the two inspec- 
 tors was promoted, whose vacancy was soon after filled up. 
 
 The Third Annual Report is dated 13th May, 1845. In con- 
 sequence of repeated and urgent applications, a series of meet- 
 ings were held throughout the country, with the useful objects 
 of inquiry as regarded the Close Season, explaining the practical 
 provisions and policy of the statute, with a view to elicit co-ope- 
 ration in carrying them out, and acquiring statistical and other 
 information. The extracts from this Report may be condensed 
 consistently with exhibiting the matured opinions of the Com- 
 missioners as to the best means of improvement. It premises 
 that the salmon fisheries admitted of improvement to an extent 
 far surpassing their present amount of production. With respect 
 to protection, the recent aid of the police and coast guard was 
 expected partly to remedy the want of co-operation among the 
 parties interested, but the necessity for assessment to pro- 
 vide sufficient funds for this purpose is forcibly set forth in the 
 ensuing passages. 
 
 " In the great majority of cases, however, the evidence goes 
 to establish the existence of a most unwise and short-sighted 
 course of proceeding on the part of those most interested in 
 the Salmon Fisheries. We allude to the numerous and increas- 
 ing class of persons who fish with stake-weirs, bag-nets, and 
 draught-nets, 011 the sea coast, and in the estuaries, (and in 
 some remarkable instances, to the proprietors of great fisheries 
 near the mouths of rivers,) who, from being the parties that 
 derive by far the largest and first part of the benefit arising 
 from protection, and in fact, holding the commercially valuable 
 portion of the fisheries, ought naturally to be expected to take 
 the most active part in securing protection for the spawning- 
 ground, making passes for the free migration of fish, and 
 enforcing the observance of the weekly close time and the 
 other provisions of the Act, with a view to the improvement of 
 their own property and interests; yet it appears that, almost 
 without exception, they have not contributed in any way to the 
 furtherance of these essential objects. 
 
 " The benefit anticipated from the observance of a weekly 
 close-time has stimulated the proprietors on the upper parts of 
 a few rivers in Ireland to form associations for the protection 
 of the fisheries ; but having as yet no money value in them, and 
 
56 
 
 being unassisted by the lower proprietors, they have not suc- 
 ceeded in effecting much good. In fact, the very want of co- 
 operation on the part of those most interested, tends to produce, 
 in some cases, rather a hostile feeling, and has led, probably, to 
 the proposal of some of those alterations in the Act to which we 
 have adverted as being at variance with its policy ; while it is 
 also this same neglect and want of co-operation, on the part of 
 those fishing on the sea coast and in estuaries, which have 
 caused the urgent demand for some system of assessment." 
 
 With regard to the important observance of the Weekly close 
 time,* it is remarked that " those parties fishing in the sea, 
 estuaries, and lower waters, are wholly inexcusable, who not 
 only neglect to contribute to the protection of the breeding 
 fish, but by open breach or evasion of this part of the law, with 
 palpable injury to their own future interests, withhold from the 
 upper people (in whose power it is to protect or prevent the 
 increase of fish) any participation in the benefits of the fishery, 
 which the strict observance of the weekly close-time would 
 necessarily give them." 
 
 Very few applications had been received for the formation of 
 suitable passages for the Migration of Fish over mill or other 
 artificial weirs, or through natural obstacles, owing chiefly to 
 the difficulty of collecting funds for such purposes from those 
 along the upper parts of rivers, and the total neglect of those 
 on the lower portions, and along the estuaries. 
 
 " The formation of such passes are of a nearly equal import- 
 ance to the observance of the weekly close time ; and are 
 essential to the more equal distribution of the fish, which, at 
 present, are taken in unfairly large quantities by persons 
 having a right to fish below natural or artificial obstructions. 
 Passes for free migration are among the first measures that 
 ought to be effected in every river where such weirs and ob- 
 
 * THE WEEKLY, OR SUNDAY CLOSE TIME. The object of this regulation, 
 prohibiting fishing by fixed engines or acts on the Sabbath, is chiefly to insure 
 the observance of that day. The select committee of 1836, on the Scottish 
 inland fisheries, strongly recommended it should be strictly enjoined and en- 
 forced in the use of all implements for fishing, especially upon the sea coasts of 
 Scotland, where it is appropriately called ' ' the Saturday's slap-by." It has a 
 most beneficial effect in promoting the interests of fisheries, as the free weekly 
 passage of salmon to the upper parts of rivers (where it supplies a week's fish- 
 ing), by inducing subsequent care, brings back one hundred fold to the lower 
 proprietors. Wherever the Lord's day has not been righteously observed, the 
 fishery of the river will be found to be comparatively unproductive : it is cer- 
 tainly accompanied by violations of the close season, for, where Divine com- 
 mands are disobeyed, human laws will be little regarded. As enjoined in Holy 
 Writ, the Sabbath is not merely a cessation from labour, but a means of recruit- 
 ing exhausted nature. Thus the ' Sabbath of years' was to be a year of rest 
 from the land. As a rule emanating from the source of Creation, might not 
 its beneficent spirit, though not its letter, be well applied to the land of Iceland, 
 where the principles of husbandry, in the Saxon significancy of the word, have 
 not been sufficiently acted upon ? 
 
57 
 
 stacles exist, as the means of bringing about a nearly uniform 
 system, by allowing of the various migrations of the fish at the 
 times when they are impelled by nature to these movements ; 
 and it is, therefore, the more to be deplored that the parties 
 interested have not afforded to us the means of executing such 
 valuable improvements." 
 
 The trials as to the legality of stake-weirs in the estuary of 
 Waterford had ultimated in decisions adverse to their use ; yet 
 some, the title to which, it was stated, depended on similar 
 grounds to those of the condemned weirs, were again erected : 
 " Upon the representation of an officer of this Board some of 
 these latter were taken down, but others yet remain ; and as 
 the cot-fishermen have been with difficulty restrained from 
 taking the law into their own hands, it perhaps will be found 
 necessary to subject these weirs also to indictment, so that the 
 title to maintain them or otherwise may be finally settled. We 
 trust that the result of these trials will lead to the abandonment 
 in other similar localities of weirs not bond fide protected by 
 the provisions of the 23rd and 24th sections of the Act 5 & 6 
 Viet., c. 106. 
 
 " When once the number of legal or protected weirs is de- 
 cided upon in each locality, the law will be finally adjusted as 
 regards that district, and thenceforward easily enforced against 
 parties attempting to erect new ones." 
 
 The Act of 1845 subjected the use of illegal weirs and nets 
 to the same penalties as their erection : summary powers were 
 given to the Commissioners to suspend their use, and remove 
 them in prohibited places : a penalty enacted for their use by 
 persons other than those entitled by law, and another for re- 
 erecting them, or for their use, each day, where decided to be 
 illegal ; and compensation provided for malicious injury to those 
 lawful. Power was given to prohibit the use of engines inju- 
 rious to fisheries ; to make oyster beds, and by-laws for the 
 regulation of the oyster fisheries, and the duty on warrants for 
 water bailiffs was lowered, to induce their general appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 The Fourth Annual Report is dated 13th May, 1846. A 
 general inquiry into the state of the salmon fisheries throughout 
 Ireland, and especially as to the fitness of the Close Season fixed 
 by law, had been completed. The difficulties embarrassing a 
 satisfactory conclusion on the subject of the close season are 
 hard to adjust. Among other considerations, it requires a prac- 
 tical knowledge of details of ichthyology as to the natural 
 habits of the salmon tribe in their breeding and migration. 
 The Commissioners had been repeatedly urged to depart from 
 the principle of a uniform close season ; after a deliberate and 
 careful investigation, they determined in favour of it. 
 
58 
 
 With regard to the progress of improvement, the Report 
 closes by these observations : " If in conjunction with a due 
 observance of the limitation (as to angling) above proposed, 
 suitable migration passes be left, even in what are considered 
 the latest rivers in Ireland, and if due protection be afforded 
 during the close season, we confidently predict that in the 
 course of a very few years, the parties really most interested 
 will find, in the improvement of the fisheries, that their advan- 
 tage has been best consulted in the refusal to accede to the 
 full extent of their demands. 
 
 " We further wish to repeat and to impress upon the atten- 
 tion of all parties, that the rivers are the natural nurseries, not 
 merely for the fisheries within their banks and at their mouths, 
 but also for the public fisheries on the coast; and that the 
 times to be allowed for fishing therein, must be regulated by a 
 consideration of what is best, on the whole, for the public 
 interests." 
 
 A measure of Assessment for the purpose of raising local 
 funds for protection, and for carrying out the provisions for the 
 formation of migration passes, &c., " seeing the total neglect of 
 the parties deriving the largest benefit," is then submitted for 
 the consideration of the Legislature. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 THE CLOSE SEASON. The law as it stands at present in this respect 
 is often so different to the natural season of some rivers, that it is not 
 observed by the fishermen, and hardly attempted to be enforced by the 
 magistracy.* 
 
 The natural history of the migration of all Fish is involved in obscu- 
 rity; but there is believed to be an analogy between the known habits 
 of the salmon and of the herring as to leaving the deep waters and ap- 
 proaching the shores for the purpose of depositing their spawn. These 
 latter appear in some bays of the Irish seas at a later season than in 
 others. It will always be difficult to explain partial and irregular 
 phenomena, but it may be fairly argued that in bays where Fish of 
 the sea tribe appear at a late season, those frequenting rivers may be late 
 
 * A public right of fishery in a great river partakes of the evils which are 
 incident to that of the sea. It appears to be the worst species of 'common,' 
 for while there is an immediate temptation to all to take what they can, the 
 advantages of cessation are too distant to induce unison among the fishermen. 
 They can accomplish little in protection. The owners of property along the 
 banks, where they possess none in the waters, have little interest in interfering, 
 and will hardly take much upon themselves in enforcing the law. A river 
 fishery, thus abused and uncontrolled, is a sort of demoralizing lottery. The 
 uncertainty, the temporary gains, but general distress, and other concomitants, 
 are similar to those of a sea fisherman's calling. Public rights are sacred and 
 inviolable. The laws will become better observed, and the habits of fishermen 
 improve with those of the people. 
 
59 
 
 from similar causes. The salmon is not known in the warmer seas ; it has 
 not been found in the Mediterranean, but is most plentiful in the colder 
 waters of the northern continents. Unlike other sea fish it proceeds 
 up rivers to their shallow sources, to secure the vivification of its young 
 in some favourable place, and it is remarked, that when once it has 
 made a choice, it returns to the same spot again, like the swallow to 
 the building where she before had constructed her nest, and, like that 
 bird of passage, may be said to trust to the protection of man. These 
 fish generally enter inland waters at the time that other animals come 
 together. 
 
 In some the ' spring runs' commence in the early months ; in others, 
 the ' skulls' of salmon do not come up till May and June. The 'harvest' 
 fish take their name from being most abundant at that period, and their 
 earlier or late ascent may be affected by causes similar to those which 
 accelerate or retard the gathering the fruits of the land. The prevalence 
 of floods, and turbid state of the fresh water, also influence their move- 
 ments. The ova and melt, as the time of spawning draws nigh, increases 
 in size, and the fish becomes unfit for human consumption. After the 
 operation they are emaciated, and actually unwholesome as food, until 
 recruited in the salt water. To kill them in either of these states is 
 repugnant to the natural law, and during their descent is doubly in- 
 jurious: they will speedily return in good and valuable condition. 
 
 The disadvantages arising from departure from a uniform Close 
 Season in all rivers appear to be out-weighed by the advantages to be 
 gained, (especially in Ireland,) by assimilating the fishing time in 
 contermity, so far as can be ascertained, with the period at which the 
 greatest quantity of saleable fish can be taken; and, the season at 
 which they are unfit for food being that at which they should not be 
 killed, their capture may be permitted up to a late time with less 
 injury than at an early one, regard being had to leaving a sufficiency 
 to sustain the stock. 
 
 The law of cessation from fishing has, unfortunately, been little 
 regarded in public inland fisheries in Ireland, and it may certainly be 
 said that it has been less insisted on, because it was considered con^ 
 trary to that of nature. 
 
 The open time is not uniform in the rivers of Scotland, but has been 
 regulated by Acts of Parliament,* according to the best known periods 
 for fishing. The Acts passed in Ireland, repealed by the new law, 
 
 * With regard to this ' vexed question' the proceedings as to the Scottish 
 salmon fisheries were as follows : 
 
 1825. Mr. Kennedy's Select Committee, in their first and second report, ad- 
 vocated a uniform season. 
 
 1828. The enactment called Mr. Home Drummond's Act, fixed a uniform 
 season, save in the Tweed and Solway. 
 
 1836. Mr. Patrick Stewart's committee complained of a uniform time, and 
 advocated variation according to the varied circumstances of rivers. 
 
 1842. Lord Kosebery's committee sat on the bill for changing the uniform 
 principle to varied periods. 
 
 The arguments used in favour of uniformity were, that the contrary gave an 
 increased facility to poaching, and would create some confusion where rivers 
 were contiguous, but it was allowed that some variation might be judicious in 
 particular cases. Some witnesses, on the other hand, advocated a change. The 
 committee reported that the bill should not be proceeded with. 
 
60 
 
 similarly adapted the periods for different rivers to tliose found by 
 experience to be suitable. In one public river, (the Slaney,) the 
 enactment of 1842 required fishing to cease at the very time when it 
 was most productive, (cutting off three months' customary fishing,) and 
 permitted it to commence at a season when the greater proportion of 
 the article taken was unfit for use. 
 
 There is much difficulty in enforcing the law of 'fence-months' 
 rigidly in a common piscary, especially in a Country where more than 
 usual obstacles exist to enforce any; but this is increased by the absence 
 of that quality which the law boasts of being 'the perfection of 
 reason.' It is also desirable that the open time, as one of employment, 
 should be definite and remunerative, and embrace the most profitable 
 period. The existing regulations to cessation from, or permission for, 
 fishing, is regarded by the fishermen of some rivers, (in which the 
 temperature of the water, its clearness, or some hidden cause, renders 
 the ingress of salmon later than in others,) much in the light that an 
 act would be which prescribed that corn should be cut in the three 
 kingdoms on the same day, without reference to powers of heat to ripen 
 it, and which forbade it to be reaped when ripe, but allowed it to be cut 
 when green. In this case the motto in the title-page of this essay 
 is particularly appropriate. 
 
 It is probable that the profitable season may become earlier by being 
 closed at an earlier time, and of course premature closing will leave 
 more fish to breed, and both effects are much to be wished. 
 
 Although the principle of Uniformity is very desirable to be upheld 
 on several grounds, the unanimous voice of the country against it, and 
 the dissatisfaction prevailing throughout Ireland upon the subject, 
 likely to lead to disastrous consequences to the river fisheries, makes it 
 untenable. The principle of unqualified uniformity was negatived by 
 the very first statute, power being given to the commissioners to alter 
 the close season, when expedient, and additional facilities for variation 
 have been afforded by those following it. 
 
 The law may place all rivers in a Procrustean bed, but where it is 
 opposed to the sense of all classes, the effects are that it is either dis- 
 regarded, or quoted as an instance of ignorant legislation or control* 
 Where an alteration is called for by the community interested in the 
 fishery of a river it should be conceded : they must be practically good 
 judges of the fittest season, and if an error is committed, they are the 
 sufferers, and there is power to rectify it. Would it not be better to 
 make some sacrifice (if it is one) to prejudice, and to alter the free 
 time for a short period, for the sake of securing that good sense and 
 co-operation which will always prove the surest means for the improve- 
 ment of salmon fisheries'? 
 
 It is to be hoped that a series of experiments will be carefully made 
 in debatable rivers as to the condition of the breeding fish, by 
 examining the state and size of the roe and melt at various times, and 
 recording other circumstances. A collation of facts will enable the 
 Commissioners to judge how far applications for alteration are well 
 grounded and reasonable. When such statements are laid before them 
 by local boards of conservators, it may be trusted that the accompanying 
 representations will be duly considered. 
 
61 
 
 VIOLENCE OF THE FISHERMEN. After the passing of the Act of 1842, 
 the erection of numerous weirs, illegal under its provisions, took place. 
 The Crown did not institute proceedings against them until the violence 
 of the public fishermen, whose livelihood was ruined, aroused attention 
 to the need for interference. 
 
 Among the meshes of an Act of Parliament many a knot will be but 
 loosely tied, or they may be broken through by powerful means, by 
 great voracious fishes, as large flies burst the web in which lesser ones 
 are caught. The wording of a clause may be so vague that the Act it 
 proposed to defeat cannot be prevented, or the use of a word of doubtful 
 interpretation may occasion a protracted suit. Impatient of the ' law's 
 delay,' the fishermen in some instances made an appeal to the higher 
 court in which Judge Lynch presides, and redressed their grievances by 
 ' the strong arm' in the manner so graphically described by the pen of 
 Sir Walter Scott* 
 
 Though far from intending to justify such proceedings, which must 
 always be deprecated not only on account of their intrinsic evils, but 
 on the wider grounds of the injury reflected by acts of violence on the 
 country at large; it would seem on inquiry into one case in which 
 the cot-men took the law into their own hands that there were many 
 circumstances to extenuate the act. 
 
 A great stake-weir had been erected at Passage, the gorge of the 
 Waterford estuary, by a tenant of the Marquis of Waterford. The 
 information laid against it by order of Government was dismissed by 
 the Waterford magistrates. The appeal to quarter sessions was also 
 dismissed by them, although the assistant barrister gave his opinion 
 decidedly against its legality. The cot-men expressed their gratitude 
 for this interference of the Crown, (in a difficult point of law between 
 rich and poor,) in trying a question of public right. But finding the 
 
 * An attack of the Solway fishermen on the weirs of ' Quaker Geddes, ' one 
 of the partners of a 'tide-net fishing company' is introduced in the Scotch 
 novel of ' Red gauntlet.' In the scene between the placid partner and the fierce 
 laird of the Solway,' the latter thus addresses the innovator: " I tell you in 
 fair terms, Joshua Geddes, that you and your partners are using unlawful craft 
 to destroy the fish in the Solway, by stake-nets and weirs; and that we, who 
 fish fairly, and like men, as our fathers did, have daily and yearly less sport 
 and less profit You will destroy the salmon which make the liveli- 
 hood of fifty poor families, and then wipe your mouth, and go to make a speech 
 at a meeting." At a dinner-party in Edinburgh, this conversation ensues: 
 "You must nave heard that the fishermen at Brokenburn, and higher up the 
 Solway, have made a raid upon Quaker Geddes's stake-nets, and levelled all to 
 the sands?" "In troth I heard it, Provost, and I was glad to hear that the 
 scoundrels had so much pluck left, as to right themselves against a fashion 
 which would make the upper heritors a sort of clocking hens, to hatch the fish 
 that the folks below them were to catch and eat." 
 
 The introduction of these inventions into the romance was a pardonable 
 anachronism ; its author was too much a noticer of 'manners as they rise,' and 
 a true Scottishman, not to seize such a theme for his pen, and not to bristle up 
 against invasion in any shape, and fight manfully under the national motto of 
 nemo me impune lacessit. His letters under the 'nom de guerre' of Malachi 
 Malagrowther, successful in repelling an injury to the currency of Scotland, 
 are celebrated. ' Eedgauntlet' was written in 1824, when his residence as an 
 * upper heritor' on the Tweed may have made him sensitive as to performing 
 the function of an incubator. The same year a select committee was appointed 
 to inquire into the state of the salmon fisheries of Scotland. 
 
62 
 
 weir still maintained, they proceeded in a body down the river in 
 March, 1844, and destroyed not only the obnoxious weir, but several 
 others.* The great weir was re-erected in 1847, and quietly cut down 
 by large numbers of the fishermen, f The cot-men of Limerick also- 
 prostrated several weirs in the estuary of the Shannon. The statute 
 
 * Extract of a letter from the secretary of the Board of Works to the under 
 secretary for Ireland, relating to a memorial of the Marquis of Waterford to 
 the Treasury, May, 1844, Appendix to Report, 1849, p. 59: 
 
 " In 1842, after the passing of the new Act, the memorialist states that he 
 demised this fishery to tenants who proceeded in 1843, to re-erect the weir 
 under the assumed title conferred by old possession, and the exemption above 
 alluded to. 
 
 "The cot-men, a very numerous and poor class of fishermen of the higher part 
 of the river, felt themselves much aggrieved by this re-occupation, more par- 
 ticularly, as by the recent Act it was decided to be an injurious possession as 
 against the public, and only to be justified by such established usage as was 
 considered reasonably to confer the right of property, and it was notorious that 
 threats were held out of a determination to proceed in a body on the part of the 
 cot-men, and endeavour to prostrate this and other weirs by force ; under these 
 circumstances the Irish government was induced to make an exception to the 
 usual course, and to proceed to try the question as one of public right, in order 
 to prevent such violent breaches of the peace as might have occurred, one of 
 the parties being a numerous body, but in a station quite unable to try the 
 question by ordinary legal forms. An information was laid consequently by 
 rule of government, before a bench of magistrates, against the weir in May, 
 1843, and dismissed, as stated by the memorialist. And on an appeal to the 
 general quarter session in July, 1843, again dismissed ; but it is not stated that 
 in this last case the decision of the magistrates was in direct opposition to the 
 charge of the presiding assistant barrister, who gave, at considerable length, his 
 opinion decidedly against the legality of the weir : a printed copy of his charge 
 is enclosed. It appears by the memorial, that proceedings were then taken 
 against the weir, as injurious to navigation, without success. This board is not 
 aware under what advice, as the commissioners do not perceive that objections 
 can be taken to it, on that account. The decisions of the magistrates do not 
 appear to be by any means satisfactory, being contrary to the decided opinion 
 of the legal authority appointed with them. 
 
 "Hitherto the cot-men remained quiescent, and felt grateful to the government 
 for its protection, and this proof of the error of a prevailing popular feeling 
 among the lower orders in Ireland, that the effect of the laws were usually for 
 the protection of the rich, and against the poor, made much impression ; find- 
 ing, however, that the weir was still maintained, and that others on the county 
 Wexford side (with rather strong claims to the title) but which had been con- 
 victed, both at petty sessions and quarter sessions in that county, were not- 
 withstanding again erected by Lord Templemore, and about to obtain the full 
 benefits of the coming fishing season, to their great injury, they proceeded in a 
 body, as stated, in March last, and destroyed the weirs again, since when Lord 
 Waterford's weir has been re-established, or is about to be, under the protection 
 of a man-of-war and the police. 
 
 " The memorialist very fairly professes a willingness to submit his claim and 
 title to any proper investigation, and the board are of opinion that such would 
 be a very proper course if it can be brought fairly before a competent tribunal ; 
 but they are not prepared to say whether the manner suggested by memorialist 
 of an action to be brought by an individual proprietor of a fishery higher up the 
 river would be a fair way of trying this question of public right ; but that is a 
 matter for the consideration of the legal authorities." 
 
 f Extract from Mr. Barry's Keport, 31 May, 1847 : 
 
 "The great spit-weir at Passage, which has been pronounced illegal, and 
 removed by the owner, Mr. Dobbyn, was re-erected by that gentleman at the 
 commencement of this season, but it was not allowed to remain long ; the cot- 
 men came down in large numbers from the Suir and Barrow, and verv quietly 
 cut it, and another decidedly illegal weir, belonging to Mr. Meade, down. This 
 
63 
 
 of Henry VIII., prohibiting ' weirs, mill-dams, engines, straites, pur- 
 prestures, and other like obstacles,' on the four rivers discharging them- 
 selves into the Waterford estuary, imposed a penalty of ten shillings 
 on any person refusing to accompany the sheriff and posse comitatus, 
 to aid in prostrating the same. The Act 5 & 6 Victoria, only re- 
 peals so much of that statute as relates to the destroying of salmon 
 fry, leaving the law for prostration still in force. It is not supposed 
 that these men acted on a tradition of this old law, but there is a later 
 statute authorizing a peaceable abatement of illegal weirs, and which 
 was sometimes acted upon prior to its recent repeal. The often 
 quoted Act of 10 Charles I., declared standing nets unlawful. By the 
 common law of the land any Aggrieved person may, without riot or 
 affray, abate a nuisance.* The right to do so was recognised by 26 
 George III., c. 50, enacting that if any person shall unlawfully erect 
 or keep up any weir upon any river in Ireland, a notice shall be served 
 on the proprietor, or occupier, or known agent; and, if continued after 
 judgment given against it for seven days, it shall be lawful for any 
 persons to prostrate the same. 
 
 The costs and expenses of prosecutions in the Waterford estuary 
 alone from the year 1842 to the 12th February, 1849, in indicting 
 parties for erecting illegal stake-weirs, amounted in fees to the clerk of 
 the Crown, to 63 19s. 6c. ; to counsel, 319 13s. 3d; and expenses 
 of witnesses, 309 15s. ; total, 693 7s. 9d. : making an average cost 
 of 100 a year, and the Crown still remaining unsuccessful in repress- 
 ing them. This expense even deterred the Government from proceeding. 
 Much doubt was also entertained how to frame or sustain an action. 
 
 A number of the cot-men were prosecuted. Judge Perrin, in his charge, 
 announced that their proceedings were illegal ; that even if a certain 
 weir was unlawful they had no right to abate it. He continued : ' Be 
 assured that the law is strong enough to support your rights, and that 
 the strongest support you can have will be found in the law and its 
 officers, and you will only endanger your rights by endeavouring to 
 enforce them by violence. If these weirs are illegal, it is the duty of 
 
 resort to such means of enforcing the law is highly dangerous, and it is hard to 
 say which is more culpable, the individual who dares the law by an illegal erec- 
 tion, after a solemn conviction, or those who, finding that they cannot get legal 
 redress, take the law into their own hands ; a great deal of excitement prevails 
 here on the subject. It is rumoured that the cot-men intend to sweep the whole 
 river of the weirs ; armed bodies of men are watching their approach, and it is 
 believed that blood will be spilt. The tenants of Mr. Power, of Faithlegg, 
 have been for some days armed, and determined to fire upon the cot-men. 
 When a gentleman of Mr. Power's position, and Mr. Dobbyn, the sub-sheriff of 
 the county, sanction such proceedings, it would seem to be high time for the 
 government authorities to interfere for the prevention of outrage." Appendix, 
 1649, p. 81. 
 
 * Baron Pennefather in case of the Queen v. P. W. Power, in an indictment 
 for a nuisance to the public right of fishery in a tidal part of the river Suir, by 
 the erection of a Scotch or stake-weir, gave this judgment : 
 
 * This weir is to be justified at common law. Taking into consideration the 
 words of Magna Charta, 12 Edw. IV., and the dictum in Weld v. Hornby, I 
 am bound to say that the erection of this weir is illegal at common law, as 
 tending to the injury of the public right of fishery. I think it is prohibited by 
 Magna Charta, and think it is an illegal weir. Whether it be " established" or 
 not, within the 23rd section of the Act, is of no consequence, as I am of opinion 
 that it is an illegal weir.' .Select Com. Appendix, 1849, p. 34. 
 
64 
 
 those concerned for the Crown to prosecute them, and to abate by legal 
 process.' 
 
 Counsellor Alcock, (Evidence, p. 488,) after quoting this opinion, 
 gives additional authorities as to the repression of public injuries, and 
 states, ' now so far as the injury to the public fishery is concerned, if 
 this weir takes fish, assuming it is an illegal mode of proceeding, it 
 is not a question which these cot-men can try in this shape ; it is a 
 public injury which can only be redressed by indictment,' yet (at page 
 454) he had previously exhibited the difficulties of laying such an 
 indictment, and (at page 490) states, ' I think they must leave it to an 
 indictment, if an indictment is maintainable at all? 
 
 In the words of Judge Perrin, ' it is difficult and dangerous to define 
 the right to abate a nuisance; but it is also dangerous to allow a 
 multitude of men, relying upon their own views of the law, to proceed 
 to assert their rights in this manner.' 
 
 It is to be hoped that sufficient powers will be given by the legisla- 
 ture to prosecute illegal weirs, and that the lower classes will not 
 again resort to these means. Such acts of violence are greatly to be 
 reprehended, and add unhappily to that ill character from which this 
 country seriously suffers, and which a long continuance of peaceable 
 conduct can only remove. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MANAGEMENT UNDER THE BOARD OF WORKS. 
 
 THE immense pressure on the Board of Public Works during 
 the famine of 1847 prevented them from furnishing a Report 
 for that year. The sixteenth annual report, dated July, 1848, 
 containing a special report on the Fisheries, combines the years 
 1847 and 1848. The ' General Observations' contained in this 
 report, exhibit the remarkable manner in which the Sea Fish- 
 eries of Ireland were affected and suffered by the distress of 
 the two previous years. The market was greatly diminished by 
 the impoverishment of the bulk of the people, with whom, fish 
 being only an accessory food, it took all their means to buy the 
 more necessary kinds. 
 
 The remarks of the Commissioners are valuable, and their 
 conclusions deserving of attention, as to the advantages of 
 developing and relying upon our Sea Fisheries as a source of 
 industry and trade, as well as a means of sustenance. In order 
 to direct the exertions of private enterprise to the formation of 
 a fishing trade, the proposal of the Commissioners to organize 
 a few fish-curing stations on the western coasts as an example, 
 was adopted by Government, and the sum of 5,000, (advanced 
 by the Reproductive Loan Society,) was applied to that 
 purpose. 
 
 To revert to the Salmon Fisheries. The decreased produce 
 of the year 1&47 is attributed by the Board as owing, not to the 
 
65 
 
 imperfection of the law, but to its too frequent infringement in 
 the almost total neglect of the observance of the close season, 
 and of protection to the breeding fish, and the fry.* But may 
 it not be reasonably argued that the constitution of the law is 
 the primary fault, if it permits such a distribution of the pro- 
 perty in Fish as will tend to create this negligence ? That 
 such apathy will not occur where there is adequate interest, is 
 known by the results in private fisheries. It needs a high sense 
 of duty, a transcendentalism of principle, to preserve an indis- 
 tinct species of property for the use of others, or for the pure 
 motive of serving the community. To create such a state of 
 public feeling is of the highest consequence ; but in its absence, 
 surer means for arriving at beneficial results should be given. 
 
 In an endeavour of the present kind, to trace progress, it is 
 impossible to avoid repetition ; but time is not ill-bestowed in 
 laying before the public the process by which useful measures 
 have been framed and introduced. 
 
 The absence of protection of the breeding fish, and of the 
 due enforcement of the provisions of the law, having occasioned 
 urgent demands for the organization of a system with a suitable 
 force, and it having been found that the constabulary and 
 coast guard could not assist as actively as was required, the 
 measure of Assessment to provide a fund for paying a suitable 
 fishery police, was again strongly advised ; and for this rea- 
 son, that " in Ireland, where so very large a proportion of the 
 Salmon Fisheries is public property, and of which the public 
 avail themselves by common law right, a sufficient amount of 
 interest is to be found vested in but few individuals, to justify 
 their incurring the whole expense of protection. Nor is there 
 
 * PROTECTION As on the number of fish that deposit their spawn, the 
 
 security with which the roe is preserved, and the fry protected in their descent 
 to the sea, will depend the 'Harvest of a Fishery,' care should be chiefly 
 directed to these points. 
 
 The penalties enacted against breaches of the elose season in Scotland are 
 higher than for Ireland ; while, considering the incentives to the offence, they 
 require to be comparatively higher in this country, where the prevalence of 
 destitution often leads men to commit such breaches of the law as will provide 
 them lodging and food in a gaol. 
 
 All reasonable measures that would secure a more efficient protection to Irish 
 Inland Fisheries, might be considered as effecting a saving of resources, and as 
 a check upon crime. 
 
 In some cases of penalties, adding the gain of violating the law to the impro- 
 bability of detection, and the prospect of leniency on the part of the bench, 
 they do not appear to have been sufficient to deter offences. Nominal fines, or 
 imprisonment for a short time, are often imposed. 
 
 The wild habits of the Irish peasantry in the unfrequented recesses of the 
 country incline them to the ' sport' of spearing. The lawlessness and excite- 
 ment of poaching enters into the passions of human nature. Sir Walter Scott 
 has described in ' Guy Mannering,' with his usual felicity, the exciting amuse- 
 ment of ' burning a river.' 
 
 A conciliatory system on the part of all concerned will be generally found 
 the most beneficial means of conservation. 
 
66 
 
 any case in which it is just that the whole expense should be 
 paid by those parties ; whilst perhaps, as it often happens, those 
 who, in the exercise of the common-law right, receive the 
 largest proportion of benefit, and the first fruits of protection, 
 are yet not bound to contribute towards that protection." The 
 Board considered that the difficulties as to assessment should 
 be overlooked, " when the great value and capabilities of these 
 fisheries are considered, when the necessity for developing all 
 such resources in this country is fully admitted, and whilst we 
 are prepared to add our testimony, that without some adequate 
 system of protection, these fisheries are sensibly deteriorating." 
 The want of funds to make passages for migration over mill- 
 dams, and to remove natural obstructions,* and the erection of 
 illegal stake-weirs, in some cases destroyed by violence, is again 
 alluded to. 
 
 SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 The Seventeenth Report of the Board of Works, dated May, 
 1849, commences with a statement of the experience formed, 
 and views entertained, as to the permanent improvement of 
 this section of the present inquiry. Containing much that is 
 most deserving of attention, it may be given in extenso some 
 remarks being at the same time offered on a few points. 
 
 " In our last annual report we referred to some of the 
 effects of the famine upon the Fisheries of Ireland, particu- 
 larly those of the west coast. We also adverted to the numerous 
 efforts made by benevolent societies, and to the course which, 
 with very small means placed at our disposal, we adopted to 
 stop or turn aside the tide of destitution that threatened to 
 destroy all the existing means of fishing, and that spirit of 
 industry without which no fishery can succeed." 
 
 That spirit had been most unfortunately affected by the vast 
 employment of the people by Government under the Labour 
 Rate Acts, when the average number relieved by daily labour, 
 from October, 1846, to June, 1847, was 356,000 men, the host 
 at one time amounting to more than 700,000 persons. The 
 defects of this sudden and irregular effort sink out of sight 
 when the magnitude of the evil to be met, and the generosity 
 
 * The Obstructions to the migration of fish throughout the rivers of Ireland 
 are manifold, both artificial and natural ; the former greatly predominating in 
 amount. The numerous mill-dams present formidable barriers, which cannot 
 be surmounted by fish heavy with roe except in time of floods; and while 
 detained below, they are an easy prey to the neighbourhood. The extent of pro- 
 duce evidently must chiefly depend on the accessible area of spawning ground. 
 Unless obstructions can be overcome, a vast extent of field, cut oft' by them, 
 will remain unfructified and unprofitable the salmon being unable to reach 
 places where, even if unprotected, a great number will escape destruction, and 
 their young come to perfection floods favouring their escape. Getting fish 
 up to the spawning beds is the cardinal point to aim at. 
 
67 
 
 of the British Government and of the Irish proprietary in pro- 
 viding for it, are considered. 
 
 " Previous to this visitation, we had observed, as detailed in 
 our annual reports, the symptoms of a growing prosperity, and 
 a tendency to the development of individual enterprise and 
 industry in the Sea Fisheries, progressing with the physical 
 improvement of the country in other matters, and accompany- 
 ing, if not consequent upon, the removal of all unnecessary 
 restrictions and detailed interference* in the trade. But per- 
 haps no trade or pursuit is more susceptible of depressing 
 influences than these fisheries, from the variable nature of the 
 demand, and the numerous direct risks to which it is liable. 
 With none it is more dangerous to tamper by direct protective 
 duties, bounties, or adventitious aid, and minute Government 
 interference ; whilst, for the very same reasons, none requires 
 more encouragement, more support from the parties locally 
 interested, and the diffusion of sound practical education in all 
 ways in which it can be legitimately given. 
 
 " If these observations be admitted as generally applicable, 
 they appear to us peculiarly so with regard to Ireland, where, 
 on the advent of the famine, scarcely a curing establishment 
 existed in the island ; and though surrounded with seas abound- 
 ing in fish, this country still imported the great bulk of its 
 cured fish from Scotland, Newfoundland, and other places : 
 where, in fact, the fisheries, being settled on no sound com- 
 mercial basis, were in the first instance threatened with annihi- 
 lation on the west and south coasts the people deserting their 
 boats and the trade in masses ; pawning their fishing gear in 
 despair of obtaining adequate markets for the produce of their 
 industry ; and availing themselves of every other less hazardous 
 or more direct and effective means of procuring food to sustain 
 their bare existence." 
 
 On the above passage it may be observed, that the remark 
 as to Fisheries being settled on no sound basis applies to this 
 Country, though reading as if applicable to Scotland, &c. It 
 may be suggested, that if a similar amount of aid expended in 
 supporting the trade there, were allotted to further its establish- 
 ment in Ireland, favourable results might be produced, which 
 would enable her to compete successfully in her own markets, 
 where a demand existed even during the famine, and was not 
 supplied by native industry. It certainly appears, that although 
 Government measures were withdrawn, and advantageously 
 according to the views put forth, little was accomplished in the 
 
 * The nature and extent of the restrictions and interference that existed pre- 
 viously is not mentioned ; nor could they exist when there was no Board since 
 1830. 
 
 F2 
 
68 
 
 direction of private enterprise, scarcely one curing station having 
 been set up before 1845. 
 
 " We regret that from the unsatisfactory state of the Eegistry 
 (arising from causes hereinafter adverted to), we cannot show 
 with accuracy, in figures, the full results of these depressing 
 causes, at least to the extent which our personal observations, 
 and those of our officers in various departments, lead us to 
 believe have arisen ; but dealing even with the totals of the 
 registry for the whole of Ireland, some idea of the state of facts 
 may be formed from the following abstract, showing the number 
 of vessels, men and boys, engaged in these fisheries at different 
 periods : 
 
 
 
 1836. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fisheries under 
 stimulus of 
 Bounties and 
 Loan Funds. 
 
 Fisheries under 
 depression by 
 previous 
 withdrawal of 
 Bounties. 
 
 1844. 
 Fisheries 
 carried on In- 
 dependently. 
 
 1845. 
 Before 
 tbe Famine. 
 
 1848. 
 Since 
 the Famine. 
 
 Number of Vessels and") 
 Boats of all classes, . / 
 
 13,119. 
 
 10,761 
 
 17,955 
 
 19,883 
 
 15,932 
 
 Number of Men and\ 
 Boys employed, . J 
 
 64,771 
 
 54,119 
 
 84,708 
 
 93,073 
 
 70,011 
 
 " Thus it would appear, that more than 3,900 first and second 
 class fishing boats, with 23,000 men and boys, and the families 
 supported by them, have been withdrawn from the trade since 
 1845. We are disposed to consider this under the mark ; but 
 when it is borne in mind that the great reduction has inevitably 
 taken place in the distressed districts of the western parts of 
 the island the fisheries on the east having been little, if at all, 
 injuriously affected the magnitude of the evil in the destruc- 
 tion of so much industrial occupation, and the necessity for 
 adequate remedies, will be more apparent." 
 
 The causes from which the correctness of the Registry from 
 whence the tabular estimate was derived may be doubted, are 
 subsequently given. It would appear that the Registry does 
 not show the number of boats withdrawn ; and, that from the 
 licenses not having been cancelled from the commencement, 
 the numbers appeared to increase from 1844 to 1845, though 
 in reality they are believed not to have done so. 
 
 The recent melancholy loss of life and fishing property on 
 the east coast of Scotland has directed the anxious attention 
 of Government towards measures to prevent it for the future ; 
 and we may hope that the far greater deprivations which have 
 been sustained in Ireland will continue to arouse similar efforts 
 in a beneficial direction. 
 
 " Acting on the principles we have adverted to, with a full 
 knowledge of the history of the fisheries of this country, and 
 of the threatened evils which, to those acquainted with the 
 
69 
 
 West of Ireland, appeared as certain results of the blight of the 
 potato crop, we proposed, for the sanction of Government, 
 liberal aid in the establishment of piers, harbours, and roads of 
 approach, as a legitimate direct aid to the fisheries ; and the 
 temporary formation of curing stations, as examples for the 
 trader, a pioneering of his way ; and as educational establish- 
 ments, not only for the fishermen, but the gentry and people of 
 the adjacent country. We are happy to be enabled to report, 
 that the results which have even already, and under the most 
 unfavourable circumstances, arisen, confirm us in the propriety 
 of the policy recommended, and lead us to hope, that amidst 
 the deepest affliction which perhaps ever visited any country, 
 the foundation has at length been laid for the establishment of 
 the Sea Fisheries on something like a permanent and sound 
 commercial basis.* 
 
 " The particulars of the course pursued by us, the instructions 
 for the establishment of the stations, some of the results, and 
 many interesting facts reported by our officers, with the praise- 
 worthy, well-directed, and benevolent exertions of the Society 
 of Friends, both in aid of our stations and in other places round 
 the coast, are detailed in our last Annual Report, to which, and 
 its Appendix, we beg to direct attention ; and we subjoin a 
 further statement of the results, and an account of our proceed- 
 ings so far as we have been able to wind up the same. 
 
 " We feel that it is rather our duty and province to report 
 facts, than make propositions with regard to the department of 
 the public service intrusted to our charge. But at the present 
 crisis of affairs in the West of Ireland, when attention is natu- 
 rally turned to this important and valuable source of employ- 
 ment, and when propositions of various kinds are being made 
 to promote it, (some of which have from time to time been 
 pressed on our consideration,) we feel it may not be out of 
 place to record the opinions which a careful continuous study 
 of the subject has led us to form, which experience has con- 
 firmed, and in which we are sustained by the opinion of the 
 Commissioners of Inquiry into the Irish Fisheries in 1836, so 
 far as the different circumstances of the country then and now 
 admit of comparison." 
 
 * An extraordinary service was done in breaking down the combination of 
 the purchasers in Dublin, by opening other stores to sell the cured fish in, and 
 extending the sale into other towns. "We entertain no doubt that the per- 
 formance of this anomalous duty by a Public Board has done much good." It 
 is added if, in addition to increased facilities of carriage, " any existing pro- 
 hibitory duties in foreign countries, or laws affecting our commerce in this 
 article with them, can be removed, whereby a new, vigorous, and wholesome 
 stimulus can be given to this trade at the present crisis, we cannot point to a 
 more natural and valuable field for enterprise, and the revival of self-supporting 
 industry, than that afforded by the fisheries of the whole western and southern 
 coast of Ireland, if steadily and judiciously followed." Page 53. 
 
70 
 
 Under this latter consideration, the entire Recommendations 
 of 1836, (see Chap. XII.,) would seem to deserve further atten- 
 tion than the Board, as it will appear, deems them entitled to. It 
 might also be imagined that, from the same motive, even fuller 
 and more defined means of encouragement would be desirable 
 than were thought expedient or advantageous at that period. 
 
 " There is, as has been frequently reported, in many places a 
 want of suitable boats, fishing gear, and boat tackle ; in others, 
 a want of suitable habitations and other convenient buildings 
 for the fishermen ; both of which deficiencies militate against 
 the productiveness of the adjacent fisheries ; and well-inten- 
 tioned persons, with laudable zeal, seeing the deficiency, pro- 
 pose now, as has often been done before, that Government 
 should interpose and apply a remedy. We, on the contrary, 
 regard these as " effects," not " causes ;" as suitable objects 
 for the exercise of private enterprise, local assistance, or even, 
 in some instances, of that of benevolent societies. But from 
 experience, we look upon the direct interposition of the Govern- 
 ment, or a Government Board, in such matters of detail, as 
 directly injurious to the trade." 
 
 There can be no doubt of the soundness of this opinion 
 with respect to direct interposition, but by certain indirect 
 methods, many matters of much service in promoting the success 
 of the fishermen might be arrived at, as it will be endeavoured 
 to be shown. For example, the custom of repairing poor men's 
 boats in Scotland, (see remarks in Appendix,) is equally appli- 
 cable and useful to the wants of our fishermen. 
 
 " It appears to us, that the Sea Fisheries are likely to derive 
 more benefit from measures directly intended to benefit other 
 interests, than from almost any measures of direct interference 
 with these fisheries. 
 
 " With a view to the permanent improvement of the fisheries, 
 and exclusive of the exceptional cases of existing famine, we 
 would propose that direct Government interference be confined 
 " 1st. To the maintenance of peace and order among the 
 fishermen, and matters immediately connected therewith. 
 " 2ndly. To the provision of suitable public accommoda- 
 tion and protection, by harbours, landing-places, and 
 roads for the persons engaged in the trade ; and, 
 " 3rdly. To any assistance which can be given through 
 existing establishments, to promote practical education 
 in the habits, modes of capture, and curing of fish." 
 Of these three points of suggestion, the first-mentioned is a 
 primary duty ; the second has always been recognised as one 
 in which aid from the public purse is required according to the 
 necessities of each case. The last, therefore, is the only one in 
 which any interposition not hitherto acknowledged is advised. 
 
71 
 
 The Government curing-houses were disposed of to private 
 persons. No definite method of assistance to promote education 
 is proposed, nor to meet ' exceptional cases of existing famine/ 
 " We admit," (the Report continues,) " that of themselves 
 these will effect but little for the immediate object. The 
 great want is, and the great stimulus to the trade must ever be, 
 the steady daily market, or sound (not fictitious) demand, and 
 a remunerating price. These attained, boats, gear, tackle, and 
 comfortable habitations, will soon be found ; and self-interest 
 will powerfully aid education to banish ignorance and prejudice, 
 which are now rather unwisely charged as causes of deficient 
 fisheries. 
 
 " For the accomplishment of these great objects, and con- 
 sequent means of self-support, in the distressed sea-coast dis- 
 tricts of the western part of Ireland, we have long looked to 
 " 1st. The early extension of railways into the centre of 
 these districts, the extension of steam navigation, and 
 the promotion of other means of communication to the 
 remote parts of the coast, whereby facilities and cheap- 
 ness of carriage being established, the demand would be 
 increased in quantity, and the price raised to a remune- 
 rative scale. 
 
 " 2ndly. The establishment by private enterprise, of curing 
 stations, whereby a daily local market would be founded 
 close to the fishing grounds, with its innumerable con- 
 comitant advantages ; and, 
 
 " Srdly. The removal of all legal disabilities affecting land 
 or agriculture, whereby local wealth and enterprise being 
 unshackled, may be free to aid such industrial specula- 
 tions as the fisheries ; and the general means of these 
 districts being improved, their value as local markets for 
 the produce of the adjacent fisheries may be increased 
 with mutual advantage to both. 
 
 " These are the general principles upon, and means by which, 
 we expect to see the sea-coast fisheries of Ireland brought to 
 the prosperous and remunerative condition of which we feel 
 assured they are naturally capable ; and we believe that any 
 less extensive means, or any more direct interference on the 
 part of the Government or its officers, would only end in dis- 
 appointment." 
 
 The truth is self-evident, that the full prosperity of Sea 
 Fisheries must wait upon those great means and measures by 
 which a Country will be generally advanced. But while looking 
 to such, let it be hoped that minor appliances will not be over- 
 looked. 
 
 The Commissioners of Public Works, in their ' General 
 Remarks on the Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries/ proceed to 
 
72 
 
 vindicate their system as pursued in this department, as being 
 in accordance with good policy. 
 
 " In concluding our Report on the Sea, and introducing the 
 subject of the Inland Fisheries, we feel it a duty, in the present 
 critical state of affairs in Ireland, when the subject of promoting 
 these important sources of industrial occupation will be natu- 
 rally much considered, to point attention to the principles of 
 the Act 5 & 6 Vic., cap. 106, which repealed all previous 
 Fishery Acts, and after long consideration and discussion in 
 both Houses of Parliament, laid the basis of a uniform policy 
 and settlement of the Fishery Laws. We also earnestly solicit 
 attention to the four annual reports of this Board, made pre- 
 vious to the famine ; to our monthly reports during its first 
 pressure, and to our last and present annual report, as contain- 
 ing very fully the results of our experience, and the opinions 
 which years of anxious study of the whole question have formed. 
 
 " We are quite aware of the disappointment which will be 
 felt, and the dissatisfaction often openly expressed against a 
 public board that declines to accede to or recommend some of 
 the various projects which the emergency of the moment, 
 praiseworthy zeal, limited experience, or personal interests, so 
 often and so plausibly urge for adoption, as a sudden means of 
 raising from a state of depression to one of prosperity the 
 fisheries of the country. But, impressed as we are with the 
 conviction that our paramount duty is to promote steady pro- 
 gress, the ultimate success of the fisheries, and the annual in- 
 crease of the quantity of good fish taken for consumption, we 
 feel that as long as we are charged by Parliament with the ad- 
 ministration of these laws, we are bound to act upon this 
 policy ; and we have, on so many occasions, found the admitted 
 advantage of acting on our own principles, rather than yield to 
 the urgency of claims for interference, preferred with the 
 greatest plausibility, and even evidence of the parties feeling 
 themselves satisfied with the truth of their position, that we 
 are encouraged to persevere in the course hitherto adopted." 
 
 An extract then follows from the first annual report. " We 
 have thus placed upon record, by the Commissioners, imme- 
 diately after the passing of the Act, the principles by which they 
 understood they were to be guided, and which we believe were 
 sanctioned by the Government ; whilst the best test is afforded 
 that no greater amount of interference on our part was sanc- 
 tioned by your Lordships, (the Lords of the Treasury,) in the 
 fact that no pecuniary means have been placed at the disposal 
 of the Board for the purpose ; nor have we ever received in- 
 structions to act upon any other policy." 
 
 The question arises here, whether the views of a Ministry, 
 prior to legislation, have been correctly interpreted by those 
 
73 
 
 commissioned to administer certain laws, and to perform duties 
 prescribed by an Act of Parliament ? And again, how far such 
 views are to prevail over the apparent attention of the Legis- 
 lature to provide adequate means for their administration ? It 
 was surely not to be expected that additional pecuniary means 
 would be accorded, unless representations of the need for them 
 were made by the authorities, who would be cognizant of the 
 requirements of the service ? On this head may be referred 
 to, the frequent allusions in the yearly reports, to the small- 
 ness of the means at the disposal of the Board, and to the want 
 of funds to make queen's shares and passes in rivers on which 
 the success of the new regulations as to Salmon fisheries de- 
 pended, a want that will long remain unsupplied unless other 
 means than those at present available are afforded. The sum 
 allowed for the staff and Government expenses of the Irish 
 Fishery department has already been placed in contrast to that 
 allotted to the improvement and control of the Sea fisheries 
 only of Scotland. Whether a similar sum could be advanta- 
 geously employed for the development of these resources of 
 both description in Ireland, is worthy of consideration. 
 
 The Commissioners continue : " Our experience since the 
 passing of these Acts enables us distinctly to report in favour of 
 the policy and line of action thus laid down. We believe that any 
 other would only end in disappointment, and a further postpone- 
 ment of the ultimate prosperity of the fisheries. With reference 
 to the sea fisheries, we have already fully expressed our opinions; 
 and in respect to the salmon and inland fisheries, we submit 
 that it never was contemplated that this Board should initiate 
 proceedings and enforce the law in every river or stream of 
 the country ; nor can we conceive any course more calculated 
 to check self-reliance, and retard indefinitely the due perform- 
 ance of magisterial, local, and individual public duties, than 
 relieving localities from the responsibility of watching over their 
 own interests, and duly enforcing the common law and legis- 
 lative regulations made for their benefit." 
 
 So zealous and almost ubiquitous a course of action was cer- 
 tainly not to be expected, but even a desirable medium was 
 unattained. 
 
 The two reports of the Inspecting Commissioners of Fisheries, 
 published by the Select Committee of last session, dated 18th 
 and 21st April, 1849, may be referred to in the Appendix. The 
 first is on the government of the salmon fisheries, and the state 
 of the laws affecting them ; the latter is addressed to the Board 
 of Public Works, with whom they are associated as joint Com- 
 missioners of the Fishery department. The observations and 
 suggestions they contain as to means of improvement are wor- 
 thy of attention, as emanating from officers who have given 
 
74 
 
 their energies and practical knowledge for many years to the 
 subject. 
 
 The Act constituting Boards of Conservators is then quoted, 
 as founded on the principle that local duties should be per- 
 formed by local parties, and that if found practically operative, it 
 will, in respect of the salmon fisheries, properly limit the duties 
 of the Board to those of a judicial or administrative class, in- 
 volved in the occasional consideration and passing of a by-law, 
 and the performance of professional or engineering duties, in 
 sanctioning works for the migration offish, and other judicial 
 or administrative acts which they are empowered to perform, 
 upon being duly moved thereto, and funds provided therefor. 
 
 " Whilst the Inland fisheries of Ireland are naturally capable 
 of great extension in value, and will, in many districts, have 
 great benefit conferred on them by the progress of arterial 
 drainage, with its consequent facilities for migration, there is 
 so great a want of co-operation, such a clashing and violent 
 opposition of interest, private rights and class distinctions, and, 
 withal, so much want of sound information on the subject, that 
 we regret to see the struggle of parties, and personal or local 
 interest, too often, of late, absorb the attention and take the 
 place of the sound commercial principle on which the Act 5 
 and 6 Vic., cap. 106, was founded. 
 
 " This Act, whilst it provided, as a matter of police, regula- 
 tions for the guidance of different modes of fishing, aimed 
 mainly at the increase of the quantity of fish, by stringent pro- 
 visions for close time, and protection in breeding ; and con- 
 templated, irrespective of parties or classes, the capture of the 
 largest quantities of fish in the best condition, during the open 
 season, consistently with the increase of the species. 
 
 " The departure from this principle is the more to be re- 
 gretted in Ireland, where so large a proportion of the salmon 
 and trout fishery is, by law, public property, and where any 
 source of industry necessarily requires all the just liberty of 
 action it can obtain." 
 
 The legalization and increased use of Stationary Apparatus 
 was granted by the Enactment on the grounds, that on the 
 sea coasts and in estuaries the changes of the tide become the 
 substitutes for human labour, and enable suitable engines to 
 rescue fish, which are swimming along their boundaries in the 
 healthiest and fattest condition, from the jaws of seals and por- 
 poises, and make them " a feast for our citizens."* 
 
 * In the part of the river (Shannon) where the stake-net fishery has taken 
 place, the number of porpoises is quite enormous ; there are also seals ; and, in 
 the construction that has been put upon the law (of 10 Charles I.), a general 
 impression has gone abroad, not that we allow the fish to g<3 to the upper waters 
 to be taken for the purposes of human food, but that we rather leave the fish to 
 
75 
 
 What would have been the effects of the Act had it totally 
 transferred the power of taking salmon from the public in gene, 
 ral along a river, and handed it over to individuals at the mouth?* 
 The consequences as to the conduct of the parties so aggrieved 
 would surely have been such as are complained of, open violence, 
 carelessness as to the law, and utter neglect of preservation ? 
 Although a ' sound commercial principle' might have been held 
 up, ordinary justice, the ill effects on the public mind, and the 
 results to the fisheries, would then have been lost sight of. 
 
 Let us suppose Scotland united to Britain under one crown in 
 the sixteenth century, and that the Ked-deer bred in her moun- 
 tains had been accustomed to resort along ' the king's highway/ 
 to feed in the richer commons of England, and to return every 
 winter to the Highlands to multiply their species one thousand 
 fold ; would the rugged Celtce of that country, and their high- 
 spirited chieftains, the predatory borderers, the foresters of 
 Elliot, Graham, and Buccleuch, have aided an Act to preserve 
 them as ' a feast for the citizens' of the metropolis ? Why, it 
 is all Lombard-street to a China orange that the deer- stalker of 
 these days would meet but their ghosts ! Their fate would have 
 been that of the Megaceros Hibernicus, the gigantic Irish elk, 
 whose gaunt skeletons tower in our museums over those of the 
 Scottish stag or the puny English buck. He might, indeed, have 
 been shown their antlers, as the remains of an animal extinct 
 shortly after the passing of an Act in London ' for the regulation 
 of red-deer,' imposing a penalty for killing them in their native 
 hills during the fence-months, but permitting the Sassenach 
 squires to slaughter them by the hundred in their gastronomic 
 perfection. 
 
 Seriously, however, the ' commercial object' is of the first 
 importance, and to be admitted accordingly. The best course 
 to promote it will be that now advocated, the insuring a suffi- 
 cient supply of fish to stock the upper waters,! and such an 
 
 be consumed by their natural enemies, the seals and porpoises Evidence of T. 
 Spring Rice, esq., M.P., 1825. 
 
 In the case of the Shannon an obstacle is presented to the ascent of sal- 
 mon in the great Lax weir, or it might be argued that the effect of a number 
 of their enemies entering an estuary would be to increase the natural tendency 
 of that fish to ascend a river See Sir G. Mackenzie's Paper, 1824. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Fleming, a naturalist, resident on the estuary of the Tay, gave 
 in evidence the same year that salmon were the prey of marine enemies, and 
 destroyed by them in great quantities. He described the porpoises as proceed- 
 ing in a large herd, consisting of several hundred, and that they seemed to hunt 
 the salmon like a pack of hounds, spreading along the channel and banks. 
 
 * The fishermen consider the Act of Parliament in 1842, handed over to the 
 
 landlords the rights which were then vested in the public Evidence of J. H. 
 
 Talbot, esq., M.P. 
 
 t The l)uke of Sutherland has found it necessary to suspend capture in his 
 great fishings, (his private ownership enabling him to do so, ) and has proclaimed 
 a jubilee for two years to the finny tribe, to recruit the exhausted stock in his 
 rirers. 
 
76 
 
 equitable share during the open season as will create a lively 
 interest above, and therefore the desire to continue and in- 
 crease it. 
 
 By continuing these extracts the views of the Commissioners 
 will be "given, and it may be conjectured from them that ' non- 
 interference' will still be overstrained in carrying out the law, 
 as the ' commercial object' was in framing it. 
 
 " In concluding this important subject, we beg again to ex- 
 
 Eress our conviction, that upon carrying into steady effect the 
 jading principles of the law of 1842, Act 5 & 6 Vic., cap. 106, 
 with those we have had the honour to submit for consideration 
 in our annual reports, mainly depends the avoidance of injury 
 to the Fisheries, if not their increase and prosperity ; and that 
 on subjects where local and individual interests are often so 
 much at variance with the general and public weal, where po- 
 pular knowledge is so very imperfect, and consequently leaves 
 so much latitude for speculative opinion, sound conclusions can 
 only safely be formed on data dispassionately collected without 
 predilections for peculiar mysteries of doctrine, modes of fish- 
 ing, or personal considerations. 
 
 " We would respectfully illustrate our view by reference to 
 the Act 9 & 10 Vic., cap. 114, the bill for which was prepared 
 and submitted to Parliament in accordance with, and to carry 
 into effect, the recommendations contained in our fourth annual 
 report as to close seasons, recommendations founded on the 
 result of two years' inquiry, and a mass of evidence printed in 
 the report. Yet, in the passage of the Bill through the House, 
 a clause was introduced, whereby eight counties were exempted 
 from the operation of the law, which has produced the most 
 extraordinary confusion; and we have had applications from 
 nearly all these counties to extend to them, by by-law, the 
 benefits from which they were excluded by this clause" 
 
 SALMON AND TROUT FISHERIES. Under this head the injury 
 they sustained, as noticed last year, is adverted to, as occasioned 
 by causes issuing from the pressure of the famine. Others are 
 also adduced, such as the non-observance of the close season 
 increased want of co-operation to protect the breeding ground, 
 the attention of the constabulary and of all other parties having 
 been directed to the more onerous duties of the times ; open 
 breaches of the law by persons of station, the overt re-erection 
 of stake-weirs, the use of machines for the capture of fish in 
 mills and factories, the placing of iron spikes across the free 
 pass or queen's share in solid weirs, and angling practised by 
 persons of the better order in the close season. 
 
 These offences, often only punished by nominal fines, and the 
 general neglect of the law, were considered by the Commis- 
 sioners to render it hopeless to expect that isolated acts of 
 
77 
 
 interference on their parts could produce any beneficial or last- 
 ing effect, or that the fisheries of any locality could be brought 
 to a permanently prosperous state by any but local means and 
 attention. 
 
 Their remarks are thus ended : " From all the causes we 
 have adverted to, the Salmon Fisheries have not been in that 
 state of quick improvement which the capabilities of the coun- 
 try, and the provisions of the law, if cordially concurred in and 
 carried into effect, would produce. In fact, it would be hardly 
 practicable these fisheries could improve, the means and power 
 of capture being increased, whilst the attention to and protec- 
 tion of breeding were neglected, or at best left to the fortuitous 
 operation of natural events." 
 
 After a perusal of this lengthened inquiry, in which the state- 
 ments of the Commissioners themselves have developed a better 
 policy to be observed for the legislation, control, and improve- 
 ment of the Salmon fisheries of Ireland, and in which their 
 explanation of their system of management is given: after 
 reflection on the disorganized state of this country, the peculiar 
 circumstances of the property concerned, and the failure to 
 execute much that the law pointed out to be done, the reader 
 may be asked whether he will join in the verdict of the Lessees* 
 of the northern rivers, that these Fisheries have diminished from 
 the constitution of the Act of 1842, and * under the regime of 
 the Fishery Board.' 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 Notes from, and Remarks on, the Evidence of J. C. Alcock, esq., 
 Member of the Leinster Circuit. [Report, 1849, pp. 452, &c.] 
 
 ' Before the Act of 1842, Baron Foster decided upon the construction 
 of the statute of 10 Charles I., that a stake-weir was absolutely pro- 
 hibited/ The words of Lord Hale are, that ' the jus privatum that is 
 acquired to the subject, either by patent or prescription, must not pre- 
 judice the jus publicum wherewith public rivers, or arms of the sea, 
 are affected for public use.' Mr. Alcock remarks ( that a weir is not 
 indictable qua a fishing engine, at common law, because you cannot 
 prescribe for a nuisance. There is no precedent of such an indictment. 
 It is not maintainable merely because it takes fish/ 
 
 Lord Clare states, that if a party has a several fishery, he has a 
 common law right to take every fish coming within his fishery. ' If,' 
 observes Mr. Alcock, 'you indict a party as for an injury to the public 
 fishery, you must show that there is an injury to public right. Now 
 the difficulty in those cases is this ; and that is why there was a mis- 
 carriage in all the indictments. We proved that there was no possible 
 mode of taking the fish in this particular part of the river, except by 
 a fixed engine. The gravamen alleged was, that we prevented parties 
 
 * See their memorial to the Lord Lieutenant, June, 1848, in the appendix to 
 the report of the select committee, page 152. 
 
78 
 
 from drawing nets over the weirs ; and it was proved that the people 
 could not catch them by a fixed engine. We interfered with nobody; 
 we caught fish for the benefit of man. The judge, in the King v. 
 O'Neil, said, that he could not conceive how it was possible to be an 
 indictable offence to catch fish in the only mode in which they could be 
 caught to supply the market.' Evidence, page 451. 
 
 But the old legal maxim of sic utere tuo ut alienum non loedas comes 
 here into force. May the use of certain powers be advantaged and 
 increased to the great damage of others ? On this head the Lord 
 Advocate of Scotland quotes the learned work of Mr. Bell ; that ' the 
 common interest which results from the migratory habits of the fish, 
 gives to each heritor on a river, having a grant of salmon fishing, a 
 title to challenge all unlawful modes of fishing.' Evidence, page 522. 
 
 Again, where the exercise of powers in a 'several' fishery are 
 greatly enhanced by the use of new methods, it might be expected that 
 the law would afford means to restrict injury to ' common of piscary ;' 
 whereas the new Act established the assumed powers, repealed the 
 laws forbidding them, and created a title to further encroachments, 
 leaving the public to dispute questions where doubts might arise. 
 
 Mr. Alcock proceeds : ' The case of the Duke of Devonshire v. 
 Smyth, as I have said, was decided upon the construction of 10 Charles 
 I., c. 14 ; and after the decision in that case, there was considerable 
 notoriety attached to the subject by those trials at Waterford there 
 having been two abortive trials ; and I believe there was a co-opera- 
 tion between the Upper proprietors and the cot-men ; for all the upper 
 proprietors seek to assert their rights under what 1 would only call a pre- 
 tence of asserting the rights cf the cot-men, but to my mind, with a 
 view of stocking their preserves in the upper river, and removing the 
 fixed engines, so as to allow as many fish as possible to get up into the 
 upper preserves, in order that every time they throw out a fly they 
 may catch fish, or set those fisheries, which are valuable fisheries, to 
 English gentlemen, in the summer.' Page 455. 
 
 Without venturing to judge the motives which have actuated either 
 the proprietors above or below, in this question, (whether the rents of 
 fishing shall be received through Scotch* tenants of novel and fixed 
 machinery, or English visitors^ armed only with a rod and line,) it 
 
 * The Aet ' legalized the use of Scotch weirs.' A letter from the Board of 
 Public Works, dated 24th March, 1843, (Appendix, page 37,) states The 
 Board are influenced in making this suggestion (that the Crown Solicitor be 
 directed to lodge informations) by another reason, viz. : that as the 5 & 6 
 Victoria, by legalizing the use of Scotch weirs, has in the opinion of cot-men 
 much injured their interests, any step taken publicly to prevent the illegal use 
 of those machines, would have a good effect on the poor and ignorant fishermen, 
 who are acting under the influence of long-existing prejudices.' 
 
 Most of the new machinery was set up in Ireland by natives of Scotland. At 
 all times we would invite both English and Scottish men to our land, as well 
 as to our waters, especially in the present, when their enterprise and example 
 would prove of the greatest value ; but their tenure of both should be on a legal 
 footing. 
 
 t Tom Purdie, Sir Walter Scott's shepherd, who had been an old black- 
 fisher,' or night-spearer of salmon, was one day sent to attend upon Mr. 
 Richardson, a London gentleman, while he tried for a fish near Melrose bridge. 
 As they walked thither, Tom boasted grandly of the size of the fish he had 
 himself caught there, evidently giving the stranger no credit for much skill in 
 
79 
 
 would at least appear that hitherto the law had been considerate of 
 those above, where a prior claim exists, care being necessary, and 
 which cannot be exerted below, and that a new law has unscrupu- 
 lously increased the lower means of capture, always naturally the 
 greatest, and perhaps sometimes used on a title of doubtful legality. 
 
 Counsellor Alcock, however, states farther on, (page 467,) that he 
 would limit the use of Fixed Engines within reasonable bounds. * I 
 will mention the principle of restriction which I would adopt. I would 
 be unwilling to restrict the use of weirs in the lower rivers, inasmuch 
 as they afford a more eligible mode of fishing in order to supply the 
 market, and greater facilities of taking the fish where they are in the 
 best condition. I would restrict the use of those weirs, so as to leave a 
 fair share of the bounties of nature to go up to the upper proprietors. 
 Secondly, I would restrict them with reference to leaving a sufficient 
 stock of fish to supply the nursery \ and also I would give an encourage- 
 ment to the proprietors of the upper portions to protect the nursery, be- 
 cause it is entirely within their private preserves. But in every other 
 respect, I consider that the rights which the proprietors of the upper 
 river have are private rights of fishing, and rights in which the public 
 have very little share or interest, because it is a right not to have the 
 fish for the supply of the market to be taken by a net, but it is a 
 right to stock a preserve that these gentlemen may have a monopoly 
 for themselves and their friends, and may lease out those fisheries for 
 others to fish, as a matter of sport. I consider it advisable in the 
 lower river to have the means of catching the fish, because non constat 
 that the fish will ever go up, and from every opinion which I have 
 been able to form, I do not know whether there are not many more 
 fish destroyed by grampuses in the open sea, and by seals and por- 
 poises in the estuary, than are destroyed by man ; and I think it 
 politic that the market should be supplied by having the proper engines 
 to take them in that estuary, where they are being destroyed by those 
 marine enemies.' Evidence, page 467. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SUMMARY SALMON FISHERIES LEGISLATION. 
 
 IN the last session of Parliament, at the instance of Mr. Anstey, 
 member for Youghal, a select committee was appointed " to 
 inquire into the Present State of the INLAND FISHERIES and 
 NAVIGATION of Ireland, and the obstructions which hinder the 
 
 the Waltonian craft. By-and-bye, however, Richardson, who was an admirable 
 angler, hooked a vigorous fellow, and after a beautiful exhibition of the art, 
 landed him in safety. * A fine fish, Tom !' O ay, Sir !' quoth Tom ; ' it's a 
 bonny grilse !' ' A grilse, Tom !' says Mr. Richardson ; ' it's as heavy a salmon 
 as the heaviest you were telling me about.' Tom showed his teeth in a smile 
 of bitter incredulity ; but when weighed, the result was triumphant for the 
 captor. < Weel,' says Tom, letting the salmon drop on the turf, weel, ye are 
 a meikle fish, mon, and a meikle fule, too,' (he added in a lower key), ' to let 
 yoursel be kilt by an Englauder.' Life of Scott. 
 
80 
 
 enjoyment of the same, and the best means of removing such 
 obstructions." 
 
 The Report of the Committee was drawn up, after a labo- 
 rious investigation of the matters referred to them, and pre- 
 sented to the House, accompanied by voluminous evidence, and 
 an appendix of documents, occupying when printed more than 
 700 folio pages, and publishing experienced views and opinions, 
 numerous plans, and Government reports and correspondence ; 
 thus laying open to the public a mass of valuable information, 
 fully evincing the need for parliamentary inquiry into the law 
 and circumstances of our Inland Fisheries a property of con- 
 siderable value, and evidently capable of great and progressive 
 improvement. As this would mainly depend on the constitu- 
 tion of the law, and the facilities given for protection and 
 further development, considering also the growing neglect of 
 all classes on the subject, and that doubts existed as to many 
 conflicting claims, involving questions of public and private 
 right, the Committee strongly recommended the immediate 
 attention of Parliament to the adoption of expedient alterations 
 in the existing law. 
 
 The points of primary importance to which attention is urged 
 in the Report, are : a speedy revision of the existing Fishery 
 Laws, with a view to amend and consolidate them : a provision 
 for the removal of obstructions to navigation wherever they 
 are injurious or illegal : a power to give secure titles to owners 
 of several fisheries, and private rights of fishing, so as to pre- 
 clude future litigation : further powers of protection, and for 
 the repression of poaching : the need of funds for making 
 queen's shares in solid weirs, and passages for fish over mill- 
 dams : a cheap, speedy, and certain process of abatement of 
 illegal obstructions and fishing engines : and a provision for the 
 more efficient administration of the fishery department of the 
 executive government. The Report has, it is apparent, been 
 prepared with great care the various intricate questions having 
 been sedulously investigated. The volume will remain an 
 estimable guide for further progress towards a full proficiency 
 of an interesting branch of our national resources. 
 
 Without proposing to do more than advert to the important 
 subject of the obstructions presented by solid dam weirs to Navi- 
 gation,* it may be remarked, that any impediments to the exten- 
 sion of that means of transit are, in the deficiency of railways, to 
 be deplored. Sir Robert Kane, in his valuable work on the Indus- 
 trial Resources of Ireland, has pointed out the peculiar natural 
 
 * Where stake-weirs exist to the prejudice of navigation, they are only 
 maintained by the sufferance of the public as regards the use of navigation, and 
 no length of time can prevent them from being amenable to this objection. 
 Evidence of T. Spring Rice, esq., M.P., 1825. 
 
SI 
 
 advantages Ireland possesses for inland carriage by water, 
 which excels that by land, in reducing the cost of transport. 
 He observes, that the extent of the principal rivers, and the 
 number and magnitude of the lakes in this island, present 
 natural means of communication such as are seldom equalled, 
 and that the structure of the central country affords unusual 
 facilities for the construction of canals. 
 
 Before the Act of 5 & 6 Vic,, c. 106, became law, those of the 
 Community who might wish to exercise the common-law right 
 of fishing in the rivers of Ireland, found much of this species 
 of property, which is of a commonable nature, in the hands of 
 private parties, whether in virtue of grants from the Crown, or 
 of ' several' powers of capture. The principal usufruct of many 
 large rivers was in the hands of lessees of companies, or of indi- 
 viduals, and exercised by movable or fixed apparatus, or in those 
 of individuals, by means of solid barriers stretching from bank to 
 bank. An exclusive right to numerous small streams was main- 
 tained by others. At the mouths of the larger and more public 
 rivers there were stake-weirs extending to low-water mark, and 
 bag-nets on the coast reaching beyond it. Some of these privi- 
 leges were sanctioned by a high antiquity, but the prescriptive 
 claims to many of the powers exercised were often in more or 
 less degree doubtful. The public rights enjoyed were farther 
 encroached upon by the new Act. The dubious establishment* 
 of some of these private claims, and giving facilities and legality 
 to the erection and maintenance of novel and additional means 
 of capture of Salmon on the shores of estuaries, and in rivers, 
 where they had been hitherto unlawful, was, at the least, oppres- 
 sive to those whose interests were thereby disadvantaged. In 
 many cases the profits of fishing were diverted from the hands of 
 the many to the few. So hazardous an experimentf should have 
 
 * So far from removing the ' doubts which exist with respect to the right to 
 use stake- weirs and nets, bag and other fixed nets in the sea and tideways along 
 the coast of Ireland, and which right it is necessary to define and declare' (18th 
 section) the effect practically has been, in the trials before different tribunals, 
 that magistrates, barristers, and judges, entertain conflicting opinions upon the 
 interpretation to be given to the statute. See the reports of trials at Water- 
 ford, Kilkenny and Wexford, and the appeals to the Queen's Bench, referred 
 to in the Report of the Select Committee, both in the Minutes of Evidence, and 
 in the Appendix. 
 
 Under the 10th Charles I., (repealed by this Act,) stationary contrivances 
 were clearly illegal in rivers, even within the limits of a several fishery ; but 
 by the above-quoted section, a bonus is held out to a man who has violated the 
 law for ten or twenty years, by saying ' you have succeeded in keeping u 
 your illegal erection for so many years, and here, therefore, is a clear title.' . 
 Evidence of Sir R. De Burgho, p. 101. 
 
 ' Any attempt to set up a peculiar right was a usurpation and fraud upon 
 the inhabitants.' Evidence of R. Allen, esq., p. 326. 
 
 f The effects generally fell heaviest on the poorer fishermen, who were de- 
 prived in numbers of their livelihood. After making an experiment ' in cor- 
 pore vilo,' on a living subject, the recovery of the patient ought to be at- 
 tended to. 
 
82 
 
 been accompanied by the strenuous exertion of all those com- 
 pensatory provisions which were intended to remove the force 
 of objections to it. 
 
 The law failed to provide the public with sufficient powers to 
 vindicate their rights, which remained infringed through their 
 ignorance of the real state of the law, or want of means to try 
 a question of title. On the other hand, sufficient powers to 
 repress infringements on private rights do not appear to have 
 been given.* 
 
 After the passing of the Act, a great increase followed in the 
 use of fixed engines. Numbers, who had previously left the 
 common freedom of piscary unmolested, set them up upon the 
 authority of the new law, and in some cases their title to do so 
 remains questionable.! 
 
 The exercise of such powers, of which the rights are uncer- 
 tain, or the means to try them are not available, must tend 
 greatly to engender those ill feelings between the rich and the 
 poor so hurtful to both, and to* add to that insecurity of pro- 
 perty in Ireland which has long been a cause of her unpros- 
 perous state. 
 
 Taking, as the object of paramount importance with regard 
 to the Salmon Fisheries, the adopting that system which will 
 raise them, as a national property, to their 'maximum, state of 
 permanent productiveness of this fish in its best condition as an 
 article of commerce, as laid down for the policy of the enact- 
 ment of 1842, and as the principle on which its provisions were 
 based, :f that, secondary to it, will be the securing rights or 
 
 * The Lessees of the northern rivers, held under the Irish Society, complain 
 that ' the greatest defect in the present laws is, that they are not sufficiently 
 stringent against poachers in the close season salmon being killed while spawn- 
 ing, in enormous quantities;' and that 'poaching in the open season has ex- 
 tended to an extravagant length, since angling became a free trade, in conse- 
 quence of the absence of the magistrate's jurisdiction at that season.' They 
 consider that under all the circumstances of the state of the law and of the 
 country, the attempt to enlist anglers for protection has failed. 
 
 t The law as it stands at present, according to the 5 & 6 of Victoria, 
 is in opposition to Magna Charta, and the common-law right ; and so it was 
 declared in point of fact by the judges, because they laid it down, that not- 
 withstanding that the 5 & 6 Victoria gave permission to parties to erect 
 Scotch weirs where- the river was more than three-quarters of a mile wide, yet 
 that neither that law, nor any other law, can or does interfere with the common- 
 law right; the common-law right being this, that no man can put up an 
 obstruction, either to navigation, or to the passage of fish in the king's high- 
 way, or in the tideway. With regard to the other portion of that clause which 
 says that a person who has maintained a Scotch weir over twenty years, where 
 the river is not three-quarters of a mile wide, shall be entitled to fish that weir ; 
 there again, the judges have declared that that is illegal, inasmuch as it is a 
 fixed engine, and an obstruction both to navigation and to the passage of fish ; 
 and although the Act of Parliament does in a certain degree legalize it, yet it 
 does legalize it against the common law of the land Evidence of the Earl of 
 Glengall, p. 149. 
 
 $ Pamphlet on the Irish Fisheries Bill, 1842. See also Seventeenth Report 
 of the Commissioners, quoted in page 74. 
 
83 
 
 interests as now existing, whether common or private; and, 
 thirdly, such equitable regulation of the powers of taking an in- 
 definite article of property, as will most conduce to the primary 
 object. For the establishing that important principle of co- 
 operation and unanimity between the different parties interested 
 in the river, fisheries of Ireland, so necessary to their mutual 
 advantage, and the only foundation for raising them to their 
 full value, it is essential that the settlement of the questions 
 involving a fair distribution, to be lasting and valuable, should 
 be equitable. 
 
 The Statute of 5 & 6 Vic., passed to regulate the discordant 
 interests, might have originally been deemed an unjust and 
 one-sided measure by those opposed to the use of improved 
 means of capture, available only to a circumscribed number, 
 and by which many would be injured by their legalization and 
 consequent increase. It may now be strictly said to have be- 
 come so by the inoperation of many of the provisions which 
 were to have acted in compensation for the encroachment 
 affecting the majority. Its effects were to multiply the most 
 powerful and exclusive modes of capture, while its provisions 
 failed to augment or improve the means of production for the 
 general good. 
 
 To reconsider the entire question to apply to it that 
 'lengthy and philosophical course of independent investiga- 
 tions,' which the Commissioners of Inquiry deemed requisite 
 ' for the attainment of fixed bases for legislation,' to advocate 
 a restoration of the principles of the Great Charter,* and a 
 repeal of the recent Act, on the ground of the unsoundness of 
 its policy, cannot now be proposed. A retrograde movement 
 is not for the present age. A step in a wrong direction will 
 be often best retrieved, not by undoing the past, but by pro- 
 viding for the future. It will now be the part of the Legisla- 
 ture to re-adjust the disturbed balance, by a righteous limita- 
 tion of exclusive powers ; by authorizing the protection of the 
 Crown for the rights of the subjects ; by facilitating access to 
 
 * A forgetfulness of former statutes is sometimes observable in our laws. That 
 their principles are made partly obsolete there is an instance in the present Poor 
 Laws, in which the salutary intent of the statute of Elizabeth, of providing work 
 for those who would eat, is not sufficiently fulfilled. It has been questioned 
 whether the Irish Fishery Act of 1842 has not repealed Magna Charta, in so 
 far as it relates to fisheries. It violates its spirit, by confirming and creating 
 exclusive rights in rivers, and revoking the Acts of Charles I. and George III., 
 which went to confirm the just jealousy of the Great Charter, and of subse- 
 quent statutes, as to undue powers of monopoly. 
 
 ' The parties framing that Act have unconsciously repealed the old statute 
 law ; they have very probably repealed Magna Charta. Judge Perrin sug- 
 gested this at the trial of Regan's case.' Evidence of Counsellor Alcock, pp. 465, 
 495. 
 
 ' In my opinion, the statute of Magna Charta has not been repealed by the 
 5 & 6 Victoria.' Baron Pennefathefs Charge, 1847. Appendix, p. 84. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 the law, and insuring its enforcement ; and by affording sucli 
 means as will fulfil the intent of the enactment in its valuable 
 perfection, and thus raise the River fisheries of Ireland to their 
 height. 
 
 The recommendations of the Select Committee set forth the 
 measures they deemed advisable ; these may be classed under the 
 heads of LEGISLATION, CONTROL, and IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 The following points appear to be those on which the inter- 
 position of the Legislature is mainly needed. 
 
 I. AN AMENDED STATUTE, consolidating the five Fishery Acts, 
 and generally amending and clearly defining their language where 
 vague, and, in detail, correcting the imperfections of many of 
 their provisions. This would unquestionably require to be done 
 with much care, and by competent legal skill, assisted by those 
 whose practical knowledge of the subject, and of the working of 
 these Acts, would enable them to point out such deficiencies as 
 have been disclosed in their past operation. It is desirable that 
 drafts of a bill be furnished to the Boards of Conservators, as 
 representing the parties interested. 
 
 Such an amendment is advised in the first recommendation of 
 the Report. Attention is also directed to some particular cases 
 of difficulty. Among these, with regard to the use of fixed 
 engines, " it is provided by the 23rd and 24th sections of the 
 5 & 6 Viet., c. 106, that 'nothing therein contained shall be 
 construed to render illegal' any stake-weirs and contrivances for 
 placing nets ' which had been established' for periods of ten and 
 twenty years, in certain cases, before the passing of the Act. 
 
 " It will be observed, that the effect of the reservation is 
 neither to legalize the erection, nor to make it illegal, but simply 
 to leave the title as it was before the passing of the Act. 
 
 " A great difficulty, however, appears to have occurred in the 
 construction of the reservation, from the use of the word ' estab- 
 lished/ It is strongly contended by some parties that the sense 
 is ' established at law,' and this construction is as strongly 
 contended against by others who interpret the word to mean, 
 ' set up,' or ' maintained;' and who therefore refer it to a simple 
 matter of fact. 
 
 " Assuming the latter construction to be correct, some have 
 contended that at all events a continuous and peaceful establish- 
 ment during the period, is necessary to give the benefit of the 
 reservation. Others again allege that, so that the period can be 
 made up, it matters not how many years may have intervened 
 during which the erection in question may have been abated. 
 These differences of construction are by no means confined to the 
 parties interested in supporting them. It appears that they have 
 formed the occasion of conflicting decisions in courts of justice, 
 and of divisions of opinion amongst members of the same court. 
 
85 
 
 "Without expressing any farther opinion on this subject, 
 your Committee have here again occasion to remark, that the 
 ambiguity of the language of the provisions contained in that 
 Act, by which the use of such engines is in certain cases per- 
 mitted in the tideways of rivers and estuaries, especially when 
 taken in connexion with the express reservation of public rights, 
 made by the same enactment, has occasioned much litigation 
 among parties, and uncertainty in the administration of the 
 law." 
 
 The word ' established' is stated not to be a legal term as 
 applicable to the undisputed possession and working of a stake- 
 weir; it would seem that an uninterrupted use was probably 
 intended. 
 
 II. PRIVATE RIGHTS. DEFINED TITLES. The appointment of 
 a temporary Commission, the effect of which would be to give 
 secure defined titles to owners of ' several' fisheries, or private 
 rights of fishing, so as to preclude future litigation, by settling 
 all disputed questions as between the public and private parties. 
 To act as the Inclosure commission does in England, or as the 
 Encumbered Estates commission is now proceeding in Ireland, 
 To determine the existence or non-existence, the legality or 
 illegality of the right claimed, and to define and register the 
 titles proved. These would then be held indefeasible and 
 inviolate. There are precedents for the appointment of similar 
 ' Courts of Claims' in both countries. 
 
 The Commission would not interfere for the purpose of giving 
 title to private rights, nor inquire into the descent or personality 
 of the title, but its effects would be to establish more firmly all 
 that were legitimate. Their future encroachment on public 
 privileges, or, on the other hand, encroachment by trespassers 
 upon them, would be repressed, and not dependent on a doubtful 
 trial at common law. The law might then reasonably arm the 
 parties interested with larger powers to protect those rights ; 
 or the summary power, in the 41st section of 11 & 12 Vic- 
 toria, for punishing trespass on well defined ' several' fisheries 
 is perhaps all that would be required. The law would thereby 
 further prevent the spoliation of private rights. 
 
 Claims not brought before, or uninvestigated by the Commis- 
 sion, would remain in statu quo. Appeal would be given from 
 the award or decision of the Commission to a higher Court.* 
 
 * PRIVATE RIGHTS The Act, by repealing almost all former Acts, has thrown 
 questions of property into confusion. Not only the public are deterred from 
 prosecutions, but even lawful proprietors are deterred from instituting such 
 proceedings as might elicit consequent defects in their own titles. The decision 
 of questions of private rights, frequently assumed* and frequently questionable, 
 
 a ' Above all things nothing is more to be deplored than the undefined state of the law 
 ia regard to claims of " several 11 fisheries ; in many cases there are the most preposterous 
 attempts at usurpation, and in others habitual encroachments upon private rights, Loth 
 
86 
 
 III, PUBLIC RIGHTS. The substitution of a speedy and sum- 
 mary process for abatement of obstructions or nuisances to 
 public navigation or fishery. It is not necessary to give judicial 
 powers to the Commissioners of Fisheries for this purpose, 
 because the ends to be obtained would be more constitutionally 
 arrived at through the ordinary tribunals of the country, if the 
 law were made clear. 
 
 By rendering the provisions of the Act distinct, the intention 
 of the Legislature may be practically carried out, in protecting 
 the rights and interests of those of the public interested in river 
 fisheries from further encroachments by private individuals than 
 the law intended, and restraining within legal limits the power 
 to erect fixed engines in tidal rivers and estuaries. For these 
 
 is left to the common law. Their injurious possession against the public a often 
 remains unchallenged from the many obstacles attending litigation. After an 
 illegal weir has been abated another is erected in the same place, the law being 
 evaded by collusion on the part of the proprietor, or by the owner in law assum- 
 ing a Protean change into a relative, friend, or pauper Evidence, J849, p. 91. 
 There are also great difficulties in the way of parties aggrieved trying a question 
 of title. b The courts and ' the London tavern' are certainly open to all, but a 
 protracted suit often gives the fish to the lawyers, and leaves the shell to the 
 clients. 
 
 The very few cases in which private parties have had recourse to legal pro- 
 ceedings for the removal of obstructions is attributable principally to the manner 
 in which, generally throughout Ireland, the fisheries are distributed amongst 
 the public, and to the fact that but few private individuals have a sufficient 
 personal interest to induce them to embark in heavy law suits. Mr. FfennelVs 
 evidence. 
 
 The Lessees of the Northern rivers, in their resolutions of 1848, propose that 
 the privileges and extent of all river and estuary fisheries for salmon be ascer- 
 tained and defined, pursuant to, and in conformity with, ' established and existing 
 rights.' 
 
 Mr. Barry, in reporting on the Rights of fishing on the river Cashen and 
 its tributaries, in 1846, (see Appendix, 1849, p. 74), writes 'The next object 
 of importance will be a clear definition of " several" and public rights, and I 
 firmly believe that the peace and happiness of the community would be pro- 
 moted more by the total extinction of the whole salmon tribe, rather than 
 that the present state of things should continue, engendering the worst feelings, 
 causing discord and contention, exhibiting scenes of selfish and arrogant usur- 
 pation on the one hand, of disregard even for ascertained rights, lawless 
 encroachment, and of barbarous and malicious retaliation on the other. It may 
 with truth be said, that property of all kinds is a prolific source of contention 
 with mankind, but property of the description under consideration is, under 
 present circumstances, in a peculiarly unsettled state; without some further aid 
 from legislation it will, I fear, be utterly impossible to fix a precise standard by 
 which conflicting rights may be clearly defined. It may be said that I exceed 
 the limit of my duty in offering these opinions, but the peace and welfare of the 
 country require that I should not conceal the result of my observations.' 
 
 leading to frequent breaches of the peace, and engendering the very worst spirit in the several 
 localities, upon a subject which of all others requires a cordial spirit of co-operation. 
 
 ' The first page in the First Report of the Commissioners, 1843, contains a full and candid 
 exposition of the principles upon which it was intended to administer the law, " to leave to 
 the public in general the power of causing the law to be enforced." In few cases unfor- 
 tunately, in Ireland, can this principle be found to work. In the case of the fisheries it 
 has utterly failed.' Mr. Harry's Report, 10th June, 1848. 
 
 a The violent disputes concerning contested rights have recently occasioned riots, serious 
 breaches of the peace, and even loss of lives. Appendix, 1849, p. 108. 
 
 b Of this there is a remarkable instance in the case of the Carra fishery. Appendix, 1849, 
 p. 61. 
 
87 
 
 purposes the Commissioners might he authorized to order the 
 necessary steps. The law having been made clear, the removal 
 of encroachments would be only a matter of Police, attention to 
 which should rest with, and the duty be performed by (as in 
 other matters of Police), a Public Department, arid the protection 
 of public rights not left to the chance intervention of irrespon- 
 sible private parties, perhaps interested, or under the influence 
 of ' fear, favour, or affection.' 
 
 The question of obstructions to Navigation might properly be 
 separated from that of Fisheries, and the Commissioners of Fish- 
 eries need not have their present powers to deal with it. The 
 Admiralty possess full powers, and the Commissioners of Fisheries 
 might be required to forward to that department all complaints or 
 objections made to them by any persons who may feel themselves 
 aggrieved by the erection of any fishing engine, accompanied by 
 their report. Such a course appears to be legitimate and expe- 
 dient, and would furnish the humble owners of small craft with 
 a medium through which their case could be made known.* 
 
 Local interests will sometimes influence the decisions of Petit 
 Sessions Courts.f The Act of 1842 gives power to any person 
 who shall think himself aggrieved by any judgment, order, or 
 conviction of any Justice or Justices of the Peace to appeal to 
 Quarter Sessions; but it appears expedient to give all such per- 
 sons the option in the first instance to appeal either to the 
 Quarter Sessions or to the Judge of Assize. 
 
 On reference to the Select Committee's Report it will be seen, 
 that the entire questions affecting the important interests of the 
 community as regards all species of fishing property have been, 
 fully and ably dealt with. 
 
 After a consideration of the serious evils that result from 
 want of obedience to the law with respect to public abuses, 
 by means of illegal modes of fishing, it appears undoubtedly 
 necessary that the Fishery Board should have the power to 
 originate proceedings in cases of dispute or breaches of the 
 law. They might be authorized, in case of any controversy 
 arising as to any claim or pretension to a public or ' several* 
 right of fishery or navigation, or in any question as to the law- 
 fulness of such modes, or as to the liability of parties to open 
 
 * The Act gives greater facilities for the destruction of weirs which are nuis- 
 ances to navigation than were enjoyed by the people at common law, but they are 
 not applicable to them when illegal at common law as encroachments on public 
 Piscaries, and in which respect the common-law process, and not the statutory 
 one, must be resorted to. Any amendment of the law which would simplify or 
 secure the process would be to that extent an amendment, and very great 
 benefit to the existing law See Evidence, p. 149. 
 
 f There is occasionally, in all parts of Ireland, a disposition on the part of 
 Magistrates not to interfere in disputed cases, and difficulties as to obtaining 
 convictions in the case of stake-weir owners See Appendix to Report, 1849, 
 p. 50, and Evidence, p. 142. 
 
88 
 
 queen's shares, as to the boundaries of fisheries, or the effects 
 of title or privilege thereto, to institute and carry on such 
 proceedings as may be necessary for the prosecution of all 
 parties offending against the law, or for determining questions 
 at issue between individuals and the public. These steps they 
 might be empowered to take, upon the application of the 
 aggrieved parties, or if the modes (apparently illegal) were 
 persisted in after due notice. 
 
 In order to enable the Board to check at the outset the 
 erection of engines in illegal places, it would be well that it 
 were necessary to give public notice of the intention to set 
 them up, and also, that all parties intending to maintain those 
 at present in use, should serve notice to that effect. 
 
 IV. PRIVATE RIGHTS. The providing larger measures to 
 repress encroachments on * several' fisheries and private rights. 
 It has been shown that where these are well defined there is 
 sufficient power to punish for trespass.* 
 
 The 114th section of 5 & 6 Victoria, hazards the security 
 of ' several' fisheries by apparently making them public when 
 the rivers in which they are enjoyed may be made navigable. 
 This is a serious evil, as it may tend to check the disposition to 
 increase inland navigation. 
 
 V. QUEEN'S SHARES. The provision of a tribunal or Com- 
 mission, by which it may be ascertained what weirs at present 
 erected entirely across rivers, are liable, under the existing 
 laws, to have enforced the opening of queen's shares or gaps 
 through them ; and also to provide, upon this being ascer- 
 tained, that the openings may be peremptorily made.f 
 
 * The Irish Society have conservators and water-keepers, but the establish- 
 ment is not yet completed. The situation is not a popular one, and none but 
 respectable persons will be employed. There are besides, 120 regular water- 
 keepers appointed and paid by the lessees. The water-keeping may be con- 
 sidered effective, so far as it extends ; but there are extensive mountain dis- 
 tricts which may be said to be almost wholly unprotected, owing, first, to the 
 heavy additional expense it would occasion, and in the next place, to the diffi- 
 culty of procuring proper water-keepers ; as in some of these districts, poachers 
 have been allowed to continue their illegal practices so long undisturbed, that 
 they look upon any of their neighbours turning water-keepers, as traitors, and 
 persecute not only those who might be willing to enlist in the service of the 
 Fisheries, but their families also. In some excellent spawning rivers, the 
 lessees cannot prevail on a single individual to act as water-keeper ; and thus 
 the salmon are left the undisputed and undeserved prey of marauders, whose 
 motto is, "a stick out of the wood, or a fish out of the water, is neither sin nor 
 crime." These illegal practices have been so long carried on with impunity, 
 that many of the smaller classes of farmers, and decent people too, in their 
 other relations of life, if they do not actually take part in poaching themselves, 
 look on without dissatisfaction or disapprobation at the practices prevailing 
 around them.' Evidence, 1836, p. 23. 
 
 f With respect to Solid weirs, your Committee have one or two additional 
 observations to offer. It appears that for years past there have existed weirs 
 of this description on many of the rivers of Ireland, used for the purpose of 
 taking fish ; and that the effect of such weirs has been, on the whole, most 
 injurious to the fisheries and the inland navigation. It has been noticed that 
 
89 
 
 VI. PENALTIES. All just and reasonable measures that would 
 secure a more efficient protection to Irish Inland Fisheries, 
 might be considered as effecting a saving of resources, and as 
 a check upon crime. The consequences of familiarizing men 
 with the violation of the law are well known to be dangerous. 
 
 The Select Committee report, that " they perceive with 
 regret, that of late years there has been growing up in Ireland, 
 a neglect on the part of all classes to protect the Fisheries in 
 that country, or to check the poaching or illegal destruction of 
 fish ; and that those evil practices have consequently very much 
 increased of late years, and are now in very prevalent and mis- 
 chievous operation." 
 
 The object of penalties being to deter offences for the time 
 to come, they should be sufficient in all cases to render it a loss 
 to incur them. The Committee report, that those now pro- 
 vided are not sufficient to repress the mischiefs against which 
 they were directed, that the extreme penalty is rarely im- 
 posed, and even if it were, the offender would often be the 
 gainer, when the profits of the offence are large enough to out- 
 free gap, or queen's share for the passage of fish, was required by some of the 
 repealed statutes to be opened in some of these weirs ; but there is reason to 
 believe that this provision has been far from receiving very general enforce- 
 ment. Some of those statutes expressly excepted certain weirs from even that 
 restrictioli ; so that the owners appeared to be empowered by Parliament to 
 maintain, even in navigable rivers, a solid weir from shore to shore, opposing 
 an effectual obstruction to the passage alike of fish and of boats. 
 
 Very much of the decline of the fisheries, and the decrease of the fish, 
 appears to have been caused by this improvident system of capture.* 
 
 * On the question how far such erections are legal, notwithstanding the 
 statutes in question, your Committee do not conceive themselves at liberty to 
 offer any opinion. But they consider that the sooner that question is determined 
 the better, whether for the parties themselves or for the public. 
 
 ' In this point of view also, it would appear that whatever may be the legal 
 rights of the owners of such weirs, public policy demands that they shall not be 
 permitted to injure the Inland Fisheries and Navigation of Ireland any longer; 
 and that the question of the title to maintain the obstruction is material only in 
 this respect, that it involves the question of title to compensation for reducing it. 
 
 'Your Committee beg to repeat, that in their opinion, the Fishery Acts 
 now in force with respect to fishing weirs used in the upper or fresh water 
 portions of rivers, are vague, inconsistent, and unsatisfactory, the unqualified 
 repeal of all former statutes having left it at least doubtful, whether the owners 
 of any such can derive any benefit from a provision subsequently made for 
 compensation to be granted for the making of queen's shares, or gaps, in cases 
 where such gaps or shares could not have been made before the passing of the 
 5 & 6 Vic., c. 106, the earliest of those enactments. 
 
 ' In case any fishing or other weirs now standing across any navigable river, 
 whether in its tidal or fresh-water portion, and not having any sufficient gap or 
 share for the passage offish, or the purposes of navigation, should hereafter be 
 adjudged to be legal, it is the opinion of your Committee, that the owner of 
 such weir should be compelled to receive out of the public funds, a just and 
 fair compensation for his right in that particular ; which being done, the Com- 
 missioners charged with the administration of Irish Fisheries, should forthwith 
 proceed to make all necessary or requisite alterations in such weir, so as to 
 secure the free passage of fish, and the navigation of such river.' Report, 1849. 
 
 The quantity of fish was so increased in the Boyne by making a queen's gap in a weir, 
 that the weir actually took more than it had done previously. Evidence, p. 467. 
 
90 
 
 weigh the risk, and even the certainty of conviction. They 
 recommend that in every case where a maximum penalty is 
 imposed, a minimum be likewise provided, and the amount of 
 either proportioned to the circumstances of each breach of the 
 law. 
 
 It may also be advisable to provide a minimum period of 
 imprisonment, with hard labour, for some offences. 
 
 Penalties may be divided into, 1, trespass ; 2, fishing without 
 license ; and, 3, non-removal of nets during the close season. 
 
 1. The law appears inadequate to protect ' several' fisheries 
 against trespassers, proceeding chiefly from the defect of the 
 absence of magisterial jurisdiction to repress angling where 
 unlawful in the open season*. (See the Memorial of the Lessees 
 of the Northern Rivers, June, 1848.) 
 
 2. The penalty for fishing without having taken out a license, 
 does not seem sufficient to deter many persons, and might be 
 increased to not less than double, nor more than treble the duty 
 to which the instrument employed was liable. 
 
 3. By rendering it compulsory to remove nets from the banks 
 of rivers, the police and water-bailiffs would be much aided in 
 preventing fishing at that period, when nets often left ' to dry 1 
 are used in the night, when it is difficult to detect the offenders. 
 
 VII. DESTRUCTIVE IMPLEMENTS. It is very desirable that 
 the powers given by Acts of Parliament passed in Ireland, but 
 repealed by the Act of 1842 should be reconsidered with 
 respect to the use and possession of instruments which mani- 
 festly tend to the annihilation of the breed of fish.f 
 
 * Examination of John Little, esq., Manager under the Lessees of the Moy. 
 (Evidence, page 417). 
 
 Employs about 250 men as water-bailiffs, and about 80 fishermen. The 
 Fishery has fallen off very much since the Act of 1842, to be attributed alto- 
 gether to the working of that, and the Act since, principally by the increase 
 of poaching in the winter time. The Act has conduced to that increase, no 
 minimum penalties being attached to the killing of fish in the winter time, except 
 in the enactment passed last Session ; and that minimum is only upon the 36th 
 section of the 5 & 6 Victoria. The magistrates fine only for serious poaching. 
 In the winter of 1841 (before its passing) he had 113 prosecutions. 
 
 1842 141 
 
 1843 
 
 1844 
 
 1845 
 
 1846 
 
 1847 
 
 1848 (up to 25th March) 
 
 In perhaps two-thirds, convictions were obtained. 
 
 heavily punished. The fines were not paid. Magistrates are generally unwill- 
 ing to punish under the provisions of the Act. Sometimes a penalty below the 
 minimum (10s.) is inflicted ; parties are seldom able to pay it, and go to prison. 
 They were usually sent there for a fortnight, and from a month to five or six 
 weeks. It is no punishment whatever ; they would rather go to gaol than to 
 the workhouse, being fed there, and not fed out of doors. 
 
 f POISONING. The destructive practice called ' burning the water,' has long 
 
 248 
 147 
 226 
 
 286 
 309 
 229 
 
 The parties were not 
 
91 
 
 The Arms Acts prohibit the possession of guns, pistols, 
 bayonets, &c., in Ireland, without license. 
 
 The Legislature in Ireland deemed it necessary to provide 
 against the destruction of brood fish, by ' idle persons going at 
 night in great numbers, disguised, with their faces blacked/ 
 often in liquor, and armed with dangerous weapons.* The 
 river police fear to confront themselves with such parties, in 
 dark nights, and in wild localities. As long as the implements 
 are possessed at all, an illicit use of them is to be apprehended ; 
 but the law could not, with justice, proscribe the simple pos- 
 session of them. Under a future good spirit of conservation, 
 many will be voluntarily surrendered. But the Legislature 
 might deem it expedient to provide a penalty for their being 
 in the hands of persons on the bank of a river, when no doubt 
 could exist as to the intent to employ them.f 
 
 prevailed in the wilder parts of Ireland ; but a more mischievous proceeding is 
 practised in the county of Kerry, of ' poisoning a river. ' 
 
 There is a kind of spurge, a weed found in woods, the botanic name of which 
 is Euphorbia Hiberna. It has a white juice, which is extracted by pounding in 
 a tub. When the water is low, this stuff being thrown in the river destroys all 
 the fish for a considerable distance, and they float on the surface. As this is 
 done in the open season, there are no means of ascertaining the perpetration of 
 the offence by the possession of fish, and there are great difficulties in detecting 
 the committers. It appears the fish are not thereby rendered unfit for food ; 
 and when it is known that a part of a river has been so dealt with, numbers 
 come down and take them out of the water. 
 
 As the present law is not sufficiently stringent to repress this pernicious 
 system, destroying the fry as well as the larger'fish, it may be advisable to im- 
 pose a penalty on the possession of such deleterious matter, or of fish wilfully 
 poisoned, if malicious intention in the first case can be proved. 
 
 * 12 Geo. I., cap. 7. ' An Act for the better preserving the Salmon Fishery 
 of this Kingdom. 
 
 ' Forasmuch as by many undue practices, the Salmon Fishery in this king- 
 dom is extremely decayed, and many idle and disorderly persons go in great 
 numbers disguised with their faces blacked, or otherwise disfigured, and with 
 lights, loops, spears, and other instruments, kill great quantities of Salmon in 
 such places in fresh water rivers as they are preparing to leave their spawn in ; 
 to prevent which pernicious practices for the future, be it enacted, ' * * for 
 any person to seize and bring before a Justice of the Peace such persons found 
 so fishing, or so disguised, though not actually fishing. A penalty of 40s. is 
 provided, or in default, thirty-one days' committal to the House of Correction 
 or Workhouse, with hard labour and due correction. 
 
 26 Geo. III., c. 50. Amending that of 23 Geo. III., 'for the Protection and 
 Improvement of the Inland Fisheries of this Kingdom.' 
 
 Section 3. ' And whereas the destructive practice of killing Salmon and 
 Salmon Peal when spent, and out of season, which tends not only to the great 
 injury of fisheries, but the health of such as eat them, is generally carried on 
 in the night, and by persons disguised, who frequently assemble with arms, and 
 thus deter water-keepers and others from approaching them to discover their 
 names, or prevent their intended mischievous practices ; be it enacted, that if 
 two or more such persons shall be found together with lights, spears,' &c., for 
 the purpose of killing fish in the night, they shall be liable on conviction to a 
 fine of 5, or committal to gaol without bail for not more than six months nor 
 less than three, and for not less than six for every subsequent offence. 
 
 Another section provides, that if the offenders cannot be discovered, the fine 
 shall be levied on the townlands on each side of the river where the offence was 
 sworn to have been committed. 
 
 t SPEARS Under former Acts of Parliament, passed in this country, powers 
 
92 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 SEA COASTS AND ESTUARIES. The shores of the sea, or of a navigable 
 river, do not belong, in presumption of law, to the owner of the adjoin- 
 ing land, whose right only extends to the edge of the high-water mark 
 of the ordinary or neap tides, and can extend to the low-water mark 
 only by grant beyond time of memory, or by prescription. 
 
 The shore is that part of the land adjacent to the sea, which is alter- 
 nately covered and left dry by the ordinary flux and reflux of the tides. 
 In other words, the rights of the proprietor of the adjoining land do 
 not extend beyond the highest ripple of the ordinary tide. 
 
 So jealous is the law of the rights of the public over the soil and 
 waters of the sea, and its branches, that every one may fish in the sea, 
 of common right, though it flows on the soil of another, and may 
 justify going on the land adjoining the sea to fish, ' for this is for the 
 commonwealth, and for the sustenance of many, and is the common 
 law.'* 
 
 The third clause of 5 & 6 Vic., c. 106, makes it lawful for fishermen 
 to enter upon 'all such beaches, strands, and wastes, on or adjoining 
 the sea shore or any estuary, as may be necessary for the purpose of 
 Sea Fishing. The nineteenth section empowers proprietors and lessees 
 of lands adjoining the sea shore or any estuary, although not possess- 
 ing a ' several' fishery, to erect stake or other fixed nets, ' saving to 
 the subjects of this realm the free and full exercise and enjoyment of 
 all other rights of fishing/ An encroachment on ancient common law 
 was therefore made by this section of the Act. The eighteenth section 
 of the Act, after reciting that ' whereas doubts-^ exist with respect to the 
 
 were given to search for salmon spears, or 'lysters,' which were declared illegal. 
 These barbarous weapons cause the decrease of the Salmon more than other 
 instruments. They are used principally by night poachers, to kill fish on the 
 spawning beds. 
 
 The STROKEHAUL consists generally of three hooks tied back to back on a 
 weight. This is thrown into the water, and when dragging along, the hooks 
 strike into the fish. It is understood often to maim more than it takes. ' Stroke- 
 hauling' is practised in some rivers by means of a triangle of large hooks 
 attached to a thick line, with a large rod and wheel, and is used above the tide- 
 way. 
 
 The OTTER is a board about a yard long, four inches deep, and half an inch 
 thick, loaded at one end, with a line attached to it at a certain point, to enable 
 it, by the traction of the boat, to preserve a parallel course abreast of the boat, 
 or nearly so. The line is generally half a cross-line, with eleven flies, or there- 
 abouts, the droppers of different lengths, the longest nearest the boat. It is 
 used with most success in shoal water, and is nearly as ' killing' an artificial 
 device as the natural enemy of the Salmon from which it takes its name. 
 
 The GAFF, or hook, is not so destructive as the spear, which more seldom 
 misses its aim ; but as it is asserted that more fish are wounded with the spear 
 and gaff than are taken, these implements must be considered 'destructive,' 
 and the use of them might be properly interdicted. 
 
 * MacMahon on the Law of Fishery. Dublin Review, 1841, p. 393. 
 
 f This recital admits the possibility of such means of fishing being illegal. 
 * I think that this statute is a fraud as against a number of persons, whose 
 rights have been unjustly taken from them by it. I think also it was obtained 
 against the rights of persons who have never had any means of defending them- 
 selves before Parliament.' (Evidence of R. Allen, esq., p. 329.) The Commis- 
 sion of 1835 admitted that they did not understand the question. During the 
 progress of the bill, how far the stake-weir owners attended to it, does not alto- 
 gether appear, (see Mr. Alcock's Evidence, p. 490, answer 6,986,) but, on the 
 other side, the cot-fishermen do not seem to have been at all represented. 
 
93 
 
 to use weirs and stake-nets, bag-nets, and other fixed nets, 
 for the purpose of catching Salmon in the sea and tideways along the 
 coast of Ireland, and it is necessary to declare and define such rights/ 
 enacts it lawful for any person legally possessed of, or entitled to any 
 several fishery in or along any estuary or part of the sea coast, to fix 
 or erect, or authorize or empower any lessee or assignee to erect the 
 same within the limits thereof. 
 
 The 19th section makes it lawful for every person who shall hold and 
 occupy as tenant in fee simple or in fee tail, or as tenant for life, or as 
 tenant under any lease for a life or lives, or as tenant for a term of 
 years, of which not less than fourteen years shall be unexpired at the 
 time of first erecting such net, any land adjoining the sea shore, or any 
 estuary, not being within the limits of a several fishery, but subject to 
 the provisions of the Act, and to such regulations and restrictions as 
 may be made by the said Commissioners as aforesaid, to fix and erect 
 such stake-net or other fixed nets as aforesaid, attached to that part of 
 the shore adjoining such land : Provided always, that no tenant under 
 any lease for a life or lives determinable, or for years, of which less 
 than one hundred shall be unexpired, shall be empowered to fix or erect 
 such stake-nets, or other fixed nets as aforesaid, without the previous 
 consent in writing of the chief landlord or lessor seised of any rent and 
 reversion in such land ; and provided also, that the placing or erection 
 of such stake-nets, or other fixed nets as aforesaid, shall not give or 
 confer any ri<jht or title to the occupancy of the said share (except for 
 the purpose of attaching the said fixed nets thereto, during such occu- 
 pancy of the land as aforesaid) \ saving to the public the free and full 
 exercise and enjoyment of all other rights of fishing, or other rights 
 whatsoever, in or along the said sea shore or coast, or the shore of such 
 estuary as aforesaid, subject to the provisions herein contained. 
 
 This last section only empowers the occupier of land to use such 
 fixed engines. The effects were greatly to abridge the former powers 
 of the public to take fish, by legalizing the use of fixed engines in 
 localities in which a ' several' or exclusive right of fishing did not 
 obtain, and thus creating a new power to employ a most efficient 
 novel means for capture. It narrowed the privilege to a certain class 
 occupiers of land. But while it gives the privilege to the landlord 
 only when occupier, and extends it to the tenant for fourteen years 
 unexpired, it makes the tenant dependent on consent of the land- 
 owner, (unless he possesses a lease of which one hundred years are 
 unexpired,) who can thus require a rent for that permission ;* in 
 
 * Adam Smith notices the very few instances in which rent constitutes part 
 of the price of sea fish, thereby enhancing the price of the commodity to the 
 consumer. The new measure enabled landowners on the sea coasts and estu- 
 aries to receive rent for a fish, from which, as bred and preserved in rivers, 
 those of the interior are more entitled to receive any such return. "The 
 power given by the Act to erect stake-weirs has been greatly abused by the pro- 
 prietors, who, instead of giving them to their tenants, have brought strangers 
 in, and received rents from those strangers. In addition to that, it greatly 
 restricts the public right of fishing with draught-nets, which affects very mate- 
 rially the tenantry of those landlords ; and we find by the evidence in the 
 Fourth Report, taken upon oath, that in 1842, and upon the passing of the Act, 
 the tenants were deprived of those weirs, and they were let to strangers.". 
 Evidence, p. 301. 
 
94 
 
 effect, to that extent creating a ' several' fishery, and conferring a new 
 species of property on the landowner. 
 
 RIVERS. The general use of fixed modes of fishing has been pro- 
 scribed by laws of nations, in the just intent of prohibiting undue 
 powers of monopoly. Perhaps, also, on the principle of the analogy 
 that none but moving implements should be permitted for the capture 
 of a commonable kind of property constantly in motion, and therefore 
 liable to be taken by individuals in too great quantities by stationary 
 apparatus. 
 
 That the proprietors of lands adjoining the sea shores should have 
 the privilege of the use of such engines, is tacitly sanctioned, or left 
 unfettered by the Great Charter. That foundation of common-law 
 rights ordains that weirs shall not exist except along the coast of the 
 sea.* The Act of 10 Charles I., passed in Ireland, forbids the 'setting 
 of stop-nets, still-nets, or standing-nets, fixed upon posts, or otherwise, 
 in the rivers where the Salmon should pass up from the sea ;' and 
 further enacts, 'that no manner of person or persons shall use, or set, 
 or take any Salmon with any such' fixed engines a clause which may 
 be interpreted to the extent that these fish were deemed inland pro- 
 perty, and to forbid their capture in any locality by stationary devices. 
 Weirs were interdicted in the rivers of Scotland by an Act of Robert I., 
 still leaving their use unrestricted on the open coasts. By the laws of 
 that country there is a prohibition of all fixed machinery for fishing of 
 Salmon in the rivers and waters where the sea ebbs and flows. This 
 is held to extend to all rivers and estuaries to the fullest extent to 
 which the sea ebbs and flows, and down to the fauces tewce at the 
 mouth of the firth, and the sands dry at low water, as well as in the 
 channel. It does not comprehend the proper shores of the sea. It 
 prohibits stake-nets in the land-locked estuary of a river, being the 
 intermediate space between what is strictly the river and strictly the 
 sea, but where the river and fresh water still exist with predominating 
 influence ; and they cannot lawfully be placed either in the channel of 
 such river or estuary, or on the sands which are left dry by the ebbing 
 of the sea.f 
 
 The legal question then resolves itself into a hydrographical one, of 
 where a river terminates, and where the sea coasts commence. 
 
 The Act of 1842 left the decision of the position of the mouth or 
 entrance into the sea of a river for fishing purposes, to the Commis- 
 sioners of Fisheries, but actually took up the question left doubtful at 
 law, by making it legal to erect fixed engines where the channel of the 
 stream is more than three-quarters of a mile broad at low water, and 
 confirming those 'established' for twenty years, and those for ten 
 years in a ' several' fishery, when existing where the channel was of 
 
 * Nisi per costeram marts. Dr. Johnson defines the word coast as the shore 
 of the sea,' and adds, ' it is not used for the banks of less waters.' An estuary, 
 (from astuo, to boil, or be in a state of commotion,) is defined as an arm of the 
 sea : the mouth of a river, in which the tide reciprocates : a frith, being a strait 
 of the sea, where the water being confined, is rough. Can the coast of the sea 
 be said to have commenced where the banks of the estuary are opposite, and 
 close in sight, and where a channel exists ? 
 
 t Evidence of the Lord Advocate of Scotland, 1849, quoting Mr. Bell's work, 
 section 1,116. 
 
95 
 
 less width ; thus in effect defining the sea shores to commence at that 
 point. 
 
 With what hydrographical or fishing justice can the ' coast of the 
 sea' be said to commence where a channel in the tidal part of a river 
 of such limit exists 1 
 
 The use of fixed nets upon the open coast is not so open to objec- 
 tion. They cannot obstruct navigation materially, nor intercept fish 
 to a monopolizing extent, as in an estuary where Salmon concentrate, 
 and move backwards and forwards with every tide, and where they 
 may be readily taken by drift-nets or seines. Bag-nets also afford the 
 only means of fishing on a rocky or exposed shore. But that proprie- 
 tors of land adjoining estuaries and tideways should, by the use of 
 these novel and improved contrivances, become the usufructuaries of 
 an entire river to an extreme degree, is manifestly impolitic and unfair. 
 
 The 22nd section of the Act 5 &, 6 Vic., c. 106, permits the erection 
 of fixed engines within one mile on either side of the mouth of a river, 
 where the channel of the tideway is more than three-quarters of a mile 
 wide at low water of spring tides, by persons not already owners of a 
 ' several' or exclusive fishery, either inwards or outwards of the mouth 
 of a river less than half a mile wide. The situation of the mouth to 
 be defined by the Commissioners. 
 
 The 23rd section is a saving for any stake-weirs and other contriv- 
 ances for placing or erecting nets, which had been 'established' for 
 twenty* years, within a tideway of less than three-fourths of a mile at 
 low water, thereby rendering them legal, and leaving the title to main- 
 tain them subject to trial.t 
 
 The 24th section provides, that stake, and ebb, and flood weirs, or 
 other fixed contrivances, ' established' for ten years or upwards, within 
 the limits of a * several' fishery, are not to be deemed illegal, when 
 they have been erected ' by any person legally possessed of, or entitled 
 to such several fishery by charter, grant, patent, prescription, or Act 
 of Parliament, in and by which such limits are accurately defined.' 
 
 The 25th section saves the right to maintain or erect ' that ancient 
 description of weir commonly called " head-weir," not fished by means 
 of a fixed net, but the rights of every party now legally entitled by 
 charter or prescriptive right, to the erection or maintenance of such 
 weir, shall continue.' 
 
 The 26th section provides, that stake-weirs shall not extend further 
 than low-water mark. 
 
 * Prescription in Scotland, to establish a right, requires forty years' posses- 
 sion on a sufficient title Evidence of the Lord Advocate, p. 519. 
 r f ' One weir may be protected by the 23rd section, and another may not. I 
 consider that with respect to this question, the only forum provided to try it, is 
 a tribunal of magistrates : that there being in the 23rd section a new offence 
 created, and a penalty and a summary method, it is clear and settled law that 
 you must proceed for that penalty by that summary method, and that no in- 
 dictment lies. This Act differs from that of Charles I., inasmuch as under the 
 latter, the offence created was expressly declared to be indictable. There is no 
 such clause in this Act ; therefore I am clearly of opinion, that no indictment 
 lies for the statutable offence created by this Act, and that that matter has been 
 decided by the only forum by which it can be tried, namely, by the tribunal of 
 magistrates.' Evidence of Counsellor Alcock, p. 502. As to the difficulties of 
 obtaining a conviction before this forum, see pages 54 and 87, and Evidence, 
 p. 142. The law officers of the Crown would not undertake the responsibility. 
 
96 
 
 The entire channel at low tides was thus undoubtedly left free ; but 
 it is well known that Salmon make along the shore in their ascent, 
 and that they are driven into the shallows by their natural enemies, 
 the larger fish of prey. Indeed, the acknowledged efficiency of these 
 modes of capture formed the policy leading to their legalization by the 
 new Enactment. The Act afforded great facilities for their maintenance 
 and erection, tending to legalize them in situations where they were 
 hitherto unlawful, and repealing all acts in force relating to fisheries 
 in Ireland whereby they were declared so. Dubious titles to ' several' 
 fisheries were left to trial at law. The title of any party claiming to 
 maintain such weirs under the 23rd section, or any party disputing 
 such title, was not to be affected by the new Act, but all parties were 
 to be entitled to their respective rights, as if the Act had not been 
 passed, except so far as such rights depended on any Act thereby re- 
 pealed. 
 
 The first clause in the new Act repeals all prior to it, ' save and 
 except as to any offences, penalties, or matters committed, incurred, or 
 done, or which may be committed, incurred, or done, against or under 
 the provisions of the said Acts, or any of them, before the passing of this 
 Act; all which offences shall be dealt with, considered, and punished, and 
 all such penalties levied, and all such matters deemed good, valid, and 
 effectual, to all intents and purposes, as if this Act had not been passed.* 
 
 Therefore, all parties who had been guilty of maintaining unlawful 
 fixed machinery under former law were still liable to the penalties 
 provided by statute. 
 
 The Act of 26 Geo. III., legalizes any weir of which the proprietor 
 has had uninterrupted possession for thirty-one years, but inflicts a 
 penalty of 50, with costs of suit for debt on the owner or proprietor 
 of the land, of a weir kept up unlawfully after thirty days' notice. 
 
 The Act of 1842 repeals the above, yet provides no penalty for the 
 case of a person assuming a right of ' several' fishery, or claiming in 
 right thereof to erect an additional weir, or to lengthen an existing 
 one. Failing to afford sufficient power to put them down when raised 
 unlawfully, it would leave the possession of a valuable yearly property 
 to the chance of a difficult question at law. 
 
 There can be little doubt that steps should be actively taken to 
 reduce the fixed engines in Ireland by the numbers which may be 
 illegal, with respect to their locality, and extension below low-water 
 mark, on the grounds of their injury to all public powers of fishing, 
 and as interfering with the rights of possessors of legal fixed engines, 
 or other private modes of capture. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GOVERNMENT CONTROL. 
 
 REFERRING to the " Suggestions" to the Commissioners of Enquiry 
 of 1835 to the explanation of the requirements of the Act of 
 1842, and of those subsequent to it, and to the annual reports of 
 the Board of Public Works as Commissioners of Fisheries, to 
 recapitulate the remarks made on the extracts from them : it 
 is submitted: 
 
97 
 
 That the policy of ' non-interference' has too far influenced 
 the governing authorities of the Irish Fisheries ; that a more 
 liberal policy in affording means for a more active administration 
 in carrying out the Act would have been productive of extensive 
 benefit to the country ; that the views acted upon were not in 
 accordance either with the intention of Government, the express 
 provisions of the Statutes, or commensurate with the require- 
 ments of the subject; and that the continuance of such a 
 policy must leave much unremedied that ought to be attended 
 to, discourage many from taking a part in this long-neglected 
 element for re-establishing our national prosperity, and generally 
 retard improvement. 
 
 The systematic non-interference of the Board of Works was 
 adopted and justified upon a principle : the question now is 
 is that system good or bad ? What has been the success of the 
 policy both of the Act of 1 842, and of the subsequent control ? 
 The result appears in one broad feature of neglect. 
 
 The cry that 'self-reliance' and 'self-government' must be 
 forced upon Ireland may proceed from some who are not inti- 
 mately acquainted with this country. Admitting the general 
 principle to be admirable, and that in all matters it is most de- 
 sirable that Irishmen should learn to rely on their own exertions, 
 and in many to govern their own affairs in all the perfection of 
 English institutions, still it may be asserted, that it cannot be 
 applied in its entirety to such matters as the Sea and Inland 
 Fisheries of Ireland involving so many mixed interests, and par- 
 taking so greatly of a public character. The analogous instance 
 of the Board of Poor Law Commissioners has been already 
 noticed. For the preservation of the peace, the enforcement of 
 the law, and the protection of life and property, crown lawyers, 
 prosecutors, and clerks of the crown and peace are more re- 
 quired in Ireland than in England. 
 
 It will perhaps not be thought foreign to the subject, in an 
 * Inquiry' of this nature, to broach other matters of an analogous 
 character, and which appear greatly to need investigation as to 
 bases for sound arrangements. There are many questions of 
 deep moment to this country, apparently requiring not only an 
 acquaintance with the principles of economic science, but with 
 Irish history and ethnology, and a practical and intimate know- 
 ledge of their several bearings, as all tending to create the wide 
 difference between Ireland and England. 
 
 The 'voluntary' and 'self-managing' systems have been proved 
 by experience to be unsuitable to Ireland in some points, when 
 carried to an excess. 
 
 It is a grave question as to how the voluntary system works, 
 or would succeed, for the support of religious pastors in each 
 denomination of creed. The dependence of the poor on volun- 
 
 H 
 
gs 
 
 fary alms-giving is now converted into a tax on landed property 
 for the relief of destitution. By reference to Captain Kennedy's 
 pamphlet, ' Instruct, Employ, don't Hang them,' it will be seen 
 that a result of the present law with regard to Dispensaries has 
 been, that none have been established in cases where absen- 
 teeism prevails, the law having been founded on the principle 
 of not levying a county tax for their support, unless where 
 voluntary subscriptions are received. 
 
 Persons acquainted with Estate management doubt whether 
 the unfettered management of Irish farmers, free from the re- 
 strictions as to exhaustive cropping usual in Great Britain, has 
 led to their advantage. Out of such restrictive conditions, which 
 primarily secure the owner of the land against deterioration of 
 his property, the admirable system, legal in England by custom, 
 and known under the name of ' Tenant Right,' has grown up. It 
 secures compensation to the occupier for the improvements he 
 may effect, whether permanent or exhaustible. Adam Smith, 
 alluding to the security given in England to the tenant, writes; 
 ' There is, I believe, nowhere in Europe, except in England, any 
 instance of the tenant building upon the land of which he had 
 no lease, and trusting that the honour of his landlord would take 
 no advantage of so important an improvement. Those laws and 
 customs, so favourable to the yeomanry, have perhaps contri- 
 buted more to the present grandeur of England, than all their 
 boasted regulations of commerce taken together.' 
 
 The recent Act, which deprives landlords of the power of 
 distraining growing crops, has been found to be productive of 
 great frauds, giving a facility to dishonest tenants to cut and 
 carry off their crops by night, while it is in effect productive of 
 no benefit to the honest man, whose growing crops are still, 
 nevertheless, liable to be seized by any creditor acting under a 
 decree of the courts. This enactment is made peculiar to Ireland, 
 denying that power to owners of the soil of this country which 
 is still permitted to those of England. 
 
 An ancient Roman writer observes, that a landlord should be 
 more rigorous in demanding good cultivation of his land than 
 in exacting rent. Neither custom nor law enable a reasonable 
 power to be exerted in Ireland in the former respect.* The 
 owner of land is often only a ' rent-lord.' 
 
 * Much light has been thrown on the question, vexed as it is in Ireland, of the 
 Relation of Landlord and Tenant, by the recent publication of Professor Han- 
 cock's valuable lectures, under the title of 'Impediments to the Prosperity of Ireland.' 
 The reader's attention is particularly requested to the 10th, 24th, and 25th 
 chapters of that work. At the same time that a tribute of praise is offered to it, 
 the author, whose labours have been so importantly directed in search of truth, 
 will assuredly permit the following remarks: in the seventh chapter an analogy 
 between land and certain commodities leather, cotton, and tea, (which are 
 articles of trade,) is assumed; but which does not exist, because the same per* 
 
99 
 
 The circumstances tinder which large estates were acquired 
 led to the continued Absenteeism of many wealthy proprietors, 
 (those who can best afford to be considerate of their tenants,) 
 atad, also, to the creation of middlemen. It is seldom disputed 
 that Absenteeism is in itself an evil, or that it is the cause of 
 many contingent upon it. The main one to property seems to 
 lie in the absence of the party most interested ; just as the sun, 
 although it exists in the night, neither warms nor invigorates. 
 
 The various evils arising from Absenteeism, from the dif- 
 ference between the laws and customs of England and Ireland, 
 and those proceeding from defective legislation, all affect 
 the general social circumstances of the country, while the cure 
 is not in its power. 
 
 Arguments have been adduced showing the greater necessity 
 for a governing control in the case of the Irish Fisheries than 
 for those of Scotland ; yet control, and liberal assistance is ac- 
 corded to the latter, and the Scottish Fishery Board act in the 
 most beneficial manner for the promotion of the commerce 
 arising from them. 
 
 To apply the principle of ' self-government' in the extreme is 
 to misapply it. Though a sound doctrine of political economy, 
 it may yet sometimes not accord with a happier philosophy of 
 Government, based on more expedient and benevolent motives, 
 and requisite for the good of the human family at large. 
 
 The Select Committee report that " considering the number 
 and extent of duties devolved upon the Board of Works in so 
 many other departments of public business, your committee is 
 of opinion, that under the peculiar circumstances of the Salmon 
 Fisheries of Ireland, and regard being had to the many conflicting 
 rights and claims arising out of the same, it is absolutely neces- 
 sary to their due administration, that it be confided to a separate 
 department of the executive Government, (not connected, with 
 the Board of Works,) and that adequate means ought to be 
 immediately provided for such administration." 
 
 The reports of the Inspecting Commissioners, printed in the 
 Appendix, contain the views of those officers, results of long 
 experience as to the requirements for the control and full 
 development of the Inland and Sea fisheries. These views 
 are expressed with confidence, and evince an anxiety for prac- 
 tical, definite, and active measures. They are now again laid 
 before the public as the best commentary on the past condition, 
 and future means of promoting the improvement of this national 
 
 manent charges, whether private or public, cannot be made upon the latter ; if 
 it existed, why should the machinery which is afterwards proposed be provided 
 specially for the case of land? The general registry of titles, &c., suggested, 
 seems to imply an odious inquisition into titles, and a continuous and penal 
 supervision of them, and is hardly in accordance with the principle set forth of 
 4 non-interference.' 
 
 H2 
 
100 
 
 property. The necessity for carrying out the laws through the 
 agency of a State department is clearly shown, so far as relates 
 to those matters in which the interests of the community are 
 concerned. 
 
 Questions as to the legality of public rights, or of disputed 
 exercise of private claims militating against them, may properly 
 come under the cognizance or interposition of the Crown, as the 
 guardian of public interests, where such are greatly injured, and 
 where unanimity, centralization of action, responsibility as to 
 expense, and accurate legal and scientific knowledge are re- 
 quired, such as the public cannot be expected to be capable of, 
 to undertake, or to possess.* 
 
 It is evidently necessary and expedient for the protection of 
 these rights, that means should be afforded by which a more 
 uniform obedience to the law may be enforced with respect to 
 public abuses. It is to be hoped that the Legislature will autho- 
 rize the Fishery Board, as the officers of Government best 
 acquainted with the nature and circumstances of such matters, 
 to take the preliminary steps for establishing their illegality, and 
 for their speedy abatement when proved unlawful. 
 
 A county surveyor is authorized to knock down any wall form- 
 ing an illegal obstruction in a highway, and Government officers 
 might be allowed to prostrate an illegal obstruction in a tideway; 
 its removal would benefit those who are too poor to litigate the 
 question of title, and the substantial weir owner might bring 
 his action against the officials if they had acted illegally. 
 
 * The Crown Solicitor, writing to the Board of Works as to the prosecution of 
 illegal weirs in 1848, observes: 'I need not remind you of the vast importance 
 of these cases, when viewed rather as the establishment of civil rights than the 
 suppression of criminal offences, hence it is that I request this assistance to be 
 furnished from the fishery department (namely, the aid of the inspectors of 
 fisheries to procure the evidence and statements of such scientific persons, 
 bailiffs, and others, as may support the case) ; and I would suggest that scientific 
 witnesses, well acquainted with the respective localities where the several weirs 
 are erected, with the currents of the river at all periods of the ebb and tide, 
 capable also of giving evidence as to the natural history and habits of salmon, 
 and other fish; as to the construction and operation of weirs, and as to fishing 
 generally; persons understanding the navigation of the river Suir practically, 
 as well with small as large craft, and consequently acquainted with the effect of 
 the currents, both of wind and water.' Report Appendix, p. 90. 
 
 In some disputed cases which might come before the Board, no question might 
 arise as to rights of property, but merely of the right to use a particular engine, 
 depending on hydrographical circumstances. Local inquiry, and decisive au- 
 thority, appears requisite in these cases. Where cases of title arose, they would 
 be referred to the competent tribunals, and wherever the rights of the public 
 were obviously infringed, the Board might institute proceedings, and assist by 
 explanation. The Select Committee considered it expedient to devolve a power 
 to regulate the length of nets to be used in all rivers, according to the breadth of 
 such rivers respectively. 
 
 Some practical objections have been raised by competent persons against per- 
 mitting the use of draft-nets above the tideway; the narrowness of the stream 
 enables an interception that cannot occur lower down : witnesses examined before 
 the committee in 1824 stated that dragging nets over spawning grounds in the 
 spring is very hazardous to the young fry when emerging from the gravel. 
 
101 
 
 LOCAL CONTROL. 
 
 Public rights obtain largely in Ireland. This cardinal difference 
 as to the composition of Fishery property is a less inducement to 
 the laws being carried into effect in this country through the 
 instrumentality of private individuals than in Scotland, and 
 affords the strongest argument for the necessity of Government 
 control. Where private rights prevail, or clash with the interests 
 of the community, the law requires to be enforced with a firm 
 and impartial arm, and the interposition of Government ' Resi- 
 dent' Magistrates is often advantageous. But as judicial and 
 penal powers have been devolved primarily into the hands of the 
 local authorities and tribunals of the country, the effects of the 
 law rest mainly on the exercise of those powers. 
 
 The recent enactment, termed the ' Assessment Act/ has 
 divided the country into districts, and invested in each a body 
 of men, locally interested in the Inland fisheries, with service- 
 able powers for their regulation and improvement. 
 
 The Act for the Assessment of instruments ,of capture, to 
 provide funds for purposes of protection, was passed in 1848. 
 Its provisions might well have accompanied the enactment six 
 years prior to it; the necessity, expediency, and equity of its 
 principle, as has been seen, was repeatedly urged by the Com- 
 missioners in their annual reports, in which the causes of the 
 failure of Voluntary associations and private subscriptions are 
 explained. It may be added that a general desire throughout 
 the country prevailed in favour of it. 
 
 It may be styled an elective system of self-management, 
 creating a species of county board of conservators or protectors. 
 The elective principle is well carried out, giving cumulative 
 votes to those whose interest in the fisheries is represented by 
 the amount of tax paid ; * the proceeds are applied solely to the 
 benefit of the right of property assessed.f 
 
 * The Select Committee recommend that the scale of license duties should 
 undergo an immediate revision in order that the burdeu of the assessment may 
 be made to fall as much as possible upon those classes which derive the chief 
 benefit arising from its expenditure in conservancy, and that the very poor may 
 be, as far as possible relieved, and that rates leviable upon engines less efficient 
 for the taking of fish may be reduced. 
 
 That the highest proportional rate should be levied from fishing property in 
 which a vested and heritable interest exists, is manifestly equitable. 
 
 The funds might often be advantageously employed in enforcing the law as to 
 encroachments upon the public, who, as a community, or as poor persons, do not 
 generally understand or vindicate their legal rights- 
 Power might be given to the local boards to apply them in defraying the pre- 
 liminary expenses of opening gaps in fishing and other weirs. 
 
 t Some slight amendments are required to improve the Act. 
 
 It is not desirable that the elections of Conservators should take place every 
 year, as frequent changes might create confusion, and loss of experience. 
 
 Rods for trout fishing were not made liable to license duty, but it is reasonable 
 they should contribute to a small amount. They are often used to take salmon, 
 and it is difficult to prevent that use. The fry of salmon are liable to be taken 
 by trout rods, while they are not caught by the large hook of a salmon rod. 
 
102 
 
 This enactment has been received with general approbation 
 and cordiality throughout Ireland ; it has infused a vitality for 
 protection through the river arteries of the island, and a new 
 era of better prospects for fishermen will date from it. The 
 frequent meeting of persons chosen as Conservators to discharge 
 the public duty of promoting a common good insures a unity 
 of action, and that practical co-operation between parties distant, 
 or differently interested, on which the success of conservation 
 depends. 
 
 The Irish Fishery Laws have evidently not been carried out as 
 they ought, and might have been, either by the executive or the 
 magistracy. Of this, abundant testimony may be adduced from 
 the reports laid annually before Parliament, and will also be found 
 in the evidence and documents of the late Select Committee. 
 The continued non-observance, and frequent breaches of these 
 laws may be said to have influenced the length and breadth of 
 the land. The subject therefore assumes a deep and serious 
 import when considered in its influence on the moral character 
 of the Irish people. To ' render the laws a reality' should be 
 the earnest aim of all on whom the duty of administrating them 
 devolves. Disrespect to these laws in particular is not merely 
 detrimental to the prosperity of fisheries, but in spreading a 
 contempt for the law and constituted authorities in general- 
 for the power that makes statutes which fail to be enforced, 
 must tend to lower that standard of public opinion, the raising of 
 which is of the first moment to this nation. 
 
 Sir John Davies records that, ' there is no people under the 
 sunne that doth love equall and indifferent justice better than 
 the Irish :' writing at a time when their desire for it must have 
 been strongly felt. 
 
 Our Fishery Laws have a novel bearing in relation to the 
 interests they effect in rivers; their full operation will also be 
 novel. Much will depend on the .justice in which they are con- 
 ceived to have been framed, and on the good sense and temper 
 in which they are enforced by our magistracy and conservators. 
 The public must see clearly that their eventual benefit is fairly 
 regarded, and that statutes have been devised and penalties 
 inflicted with the object of protecting just public and private 
 rights, and of deterring future injury to a general good. By an 
 impartial administration of such laws, and a mild but firm per- 
 severance in enforcing them, a better spirit will arise towards 
 them among our quick-sighted people, and a cordial co-operation 
 be created in all ranks, serving, under Providence, to increase a 
 provision so bountifully given to our country. 
 
103 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OP THE SALMON FISHERIES, 
 
 IMMEDIATE and wide-spreading improvement of the Inland Fish- 
 eries would be promoted by providing funds, or means to raise 
 funds, for carrying out those provisions of the Act which were 
 to compensate for the increased powers of capture below ; by 
 facilitating the Migration of fish, whether hindered by artificial 
 or natural obstructions, and thereby increasing the power of the 
 fish to reach the spawning grounds. 
 
 1st. By providing that in weirs where Queen's shares cannot 
 be enforced in Cruive Dam Fishing Weirs under the existing 
 laws, without compensating the owners, that upon the amount 
 of compensation being ascertained by an adequate tribunal, 
 funds shall be provided, partly out of the public purse, and partly 
 by levy on such parties, properties, or interests, as would derive 
 the benefits, by assessment under the provisions of the 5 & 6 
 Victoria, c. 106, section 42. 
 
 Reasons why a free grant in aid from the Treasury for such a 
 purpose is justifiable are as follows : it will be remembered that 
 the ' King's gap ' or ' free-share' is of ancient institution ; wher- 
 ever rivers have been 'put in defence,' or any 'kidels' have 
 been erected, it has either been by encroachment on the part of 
 the Crown, or of individuals, on the public right; and the Idche 
 of neglecting to enforce the law rests either with the Govern- 
 ment or the public. 
 
 It may be argued that the State should contribute to remedy 
 the evil in the case of artificial obstructions, since if there had 
 been an earlier and adequate provision for public interests in this 
 respect, they would not have now been so seriously damaged. 
 The claim arises from a neglect or ill-enforcement of earlier laws. 
 
 A grant or allocation of public money to aid in the formation 
 of Queen's shares, the removal of natural obstructions, and for 
 making passages over mill-dams would frequently prove of as 
 much service to the community interested in a large river, as in 
 its allotment to a fishery pier or quay; and would be a boon to 
 the public, justified by the precedent of the late Piers and Har- 
 bours Act, under which grants of a moiety of the sum required 
 are made, the other half having been provided by the locality. 
 
 The direct effect of increasing the brood of fish in a river 
 would be often as beneficial as the aiding the powers of taking 
 it in the sea. Where river fisheries are mostly enjoyed by the 
 public they claim a share with those of the sea, and in govern- 
 ment were and are more dependent on the laws. 
 
 The sum that would be required to effect these important 
 objects would be inconsiderable as compared with the profit that 
 
104 
 
 would accrue to the community at large. Whenever aid from 
 the Treasury is given to the fisheries of Ireland to the extent it 
 is accorded to those of Scotland, it is to be hoped that a yearly 
 sum will be specially appropriated to this valuable service. 
 
 2nd. By providing means* for the construction of passages 
 for salmon over Mill and other dams,f or for opening gaps. 
 
 3rd. By providing for the removal of natural, and some minor 
 artificial, Obstructions. 
 
 Barriers are often made in the upper parts of rivers, with large 
 stones between rocks, for the purpose of narrowing the channel, 
 in the passes of which various sorts of nets are placed to trap 
 the ascending or descending fish and fry. Powers to remove 
 
 * The Board of Public Works have a large staff of engineers under their orders 
 in different parts of Ireland, whose services might often be available to make the 
 requisite plans and estimates for passes over Mill-dams, or for the removal of 
 natural obstructions. 
 
 ' There have been constant applications made to have the passes which are 
 required under the 5 and 6 Victoria in all mill-weirs, passes over mill-weirs 
 erected after the passing of this Act ; parties have made applications recently 
 to have that done : I have brought some of those cases before the Commissioners, 
 and the board were willing and anxious to do it; but the question arose where 
 were the funds to employ an engineer ? In one case recently of a miller, the 
 board suggested that he should make this pass ; that he himself should send some 
 one, if he could, to make the plan, and submit it to the board. The miller was 
 quite willing to do that. It is in a remote part of the West of Ireland, and he 
 wrote to say that he could not get a competent person to make the plan, but 
 that he was quite ready to adopt any plan which they made. Then the question 
 arose; we had no engineer to do it, and it has been suspended<dn consequence.' 
 Evidence of W. J. Ffennell, esq f , p. 215. 
 
 t It is desirable that all persons should clearly understand that such regula- 
 tions of Mill-dykes as the law provides for can be effected without in any degree 
 causing injury to the milling power, by taking advantage of the overflow of 
 waste water, and so concentrating a sufficient portion of it as to enable fish to 
 ascend or descend without difficulty; and it is well to remark, that the erection 
 of mill-dams, if judiciously arranged in their construction, so far from being an 
 injury to the fisheries, may in very many instances be serviceable, by ponding 
 the water, and thus creating depths sufficient to harbour and protect the brood 
 and parent fish, during their required sojourn in the fresh water. 
 
 The importance to Ireland of the water of her rivers as a moving power must 
 be duly appreciated, it being in the absence of coal, the chief natural support of 
 her manufactures : but, unfortunately the interests of the fisheries, though not 
 overlooked in the statutes, have suffered by failure to enforce them. Mr. Smith, 
 of Deanston, was the inventor of an ingenious contrivance, a ladder or ' salmon- 
 stair,' of stone or wood, up the watery steps of which the fish can ascend. By 
 the adaption of this means it is quite possible to reconcile the interests of fisher- 
 men with those of mill and factory owners. 
 
 The report of the Select Committee observes : ' the case of mill- weirs appears 
 to be peculiar. They do not obstruct navigation. They are capable of being so 
 constructed as not to injure the passage of fish. They afford employment to 
 capital and to labour. It is, therefore, the opinion of this committee that every 
 facility should be given to the public in the construction of ladders and other 
 means of passage for the fish over mill-weirs, provided such erections do not 
 injure the milling power, and the present legal rights of mill-owners.' 
 
 The legislature appears to have overlooked a class of obstructions where these 
 dams exist in tributary streams, in which sufficient private interest would not 
 accrue, or where the expense of making a pass, pro bono publico, would not be 
 encountered. These cases perhaps constitute a claim to be defrayed by the 
 public, unless a more efficient remedy be provided by legislation. See evidence of 
 Counsellor Alcock, 1849, p. 494. 
 
105 
 
 these, or any similar devices for so obstructing the passage of 
 fish, are required to be given by the Legislature. 
 
 4th. Restrictions as to the use of nets in the fresh water 
 portions of rivers might fairly be made under certain circum- 
 stances. Salmon congregate in great numbers under dams 
 constructed for supplying water to mills and factories, and for 
 navigation, while waiting for floods to carry them over; here they 
 can be taken in quantities by means of nets. Their use might 
 be prohibited within a certain distance of such dams.* 
 
 The right to use nets in fresh water rivers and lakes is fre- 
 quently assumed by owners of reputed 'several' fisheries. The 
 claim to employ sweep-nets, or nets of any description in such 
 places might be restricted on the same grounds that the use of 
 fixed engines is prohibited lower down, unless a long period of 
 use could be shown. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. The Report of the Select Com- 
 mittee closes with the following paragragh: "In concluding 
 their labours your committee desire to record, once for all, their 
 decided conviction, that the wholesale and wasteful destruction 
 of the breeding fish and fry has materially injured the inland 
 fisheries, and has excited, and kept alive, much local discontent ; 
 and demands the immediate attention of Parliament in order to 
 the adoption of such alterations in the existing law as may be 
 found expedient." 
 
 With regard to the prospect of improvement in the Salmon 
 Fisheries, considering that their increased productiveness must 
 be most surely promoted by the protection of the breeding fish 
 
 * Mill-races and wheels are great causes of destruction to fish in both their 
 ascent and descent ; the salmon in ascending swim up the tail-race from whence 
 the water flows from the wheel, and by which they are sometimes struck and 
 killed, or by turning off the water they are left splashing about in a shallow 
 enclosed place, and where they can be readily captured by either gaff or net. 
 
 The fish in their descent, after having spawned, are attracted from the stream, 
 where it diverges from the river into the mill-race, by the depth of the artificial 
 channel, and in attempting to pass down sluices their backs are sometimes 
 broken, or they are beaten to pieces by the wheel. 
 
 One of the Scottish witnesses examined before the Select Committee of 1824 
 stated: "I have seen hundreds of fry lying dead at the bottom of a mill-race, 
 killed by the wheel, and have been told, by people who had seen it, that there 
 were cart loads and baskets full taken up from the mill-races into the mill on 
 the tributary streams of large rivers, and that people actually fed their pigs 
 with them. I have seen them in thousands and tens of thousands in the water 
 in the mill-leads, seeking to go down, but prevented by the dyke across the 
 river, which they could not get over." 
 
 This must be considered a gross abuse of the liberty which millers enjoy of 
 converting a stream, acting as the viaduct of a public kind of property, to their 
 private benefit. 
 
 In Scotland, where from the prevalence of private rights, and national regard 
 to the law, salmon fisheries are sometimes of greater value than the land to which 
 they are attached, doubts have been raised whether the interests of mill owners 
 are superior to those of the owners of such fisheries, and it is advanced that the 
 latter have an equal claim with the former to a consideration of their require- 
 ments of water. 
 
106 
 
 and young brood, it follows that the aim of the law should be to 
 create the liveliest interest in preservation in those parts where 
 the powers for that purpose, or for destruction, can be exercised 
 namely, in the upper and fresh water portions of rivers. 
 
 The policy of former legislation tended in the direction of con- 
 sidering Salmon a fish belonging to rivers. It was repeatedly 
 affirmed by enactment and recital that it was for the public 
 advantage that the spawning beds in Ireland should be protected. 
 Both legislation and practice have of late years proceeded in a 
 contrary direction, from the sanction given to the establishment 
 and increase of what are styled by Sir Walter Scott, 'the newly 
 invented modes of erecting snares for fish called tide-nets,' thus 
 multiplying a monopoly, and rendering the community indifferent 
 to protection. Those above were damnified to the extent of 
 their chance of catching some of the finny tribe, and this is a 
 difficult point on which to found an action. There is a vis 
 inerticc on the part of ' the public' to try a question of right, and 
 seldom sufficient individual interest on that of the owners of 
 property on the upper portions of a river to induce them to 
 embark in ' the troubled waters' of the law. Yet all are inter- 
 ested in the solution of the question of by what just and legal 
 means a free run of fish may be permitted to reach them. The 
 extraordinary instinct of the Salmon tribe, in penetrating to the 
 interior of the land, and thus diffusing themselves through a 
 country, may be said to indicate that this 'free gift of nature to 
 the captor' was peculiarly designed for the inland inhabitants. 
 Other fish remain in the salt water, and can be taken in shoals. 
 That the Legislature should give exclusive means to dwellers on 
 the sea shore for taking a fish apparently intended for those 
 otherwise unprovided, appears unfair. 
 
 The owners of good angling* waters, which are often a valuable 
 property, whether for profit or for sport, have also been materially 
 injured; and, whether as magistrates or as sportsmen,! the suc- 
 
 * It is often said that anglers make the best water-bailiffs.' 
 
 To quote the words of Mr. Mulvany, one of the Commissioners of Fisheries 
 ' any attempt to suppress fair angling during the open season will, it is feared, 
 only tend to increase the disposition to destroy the breeding fish in the close time.' 
 Appendix, 1849, p. 54. 
 
 ' An angler has the same horror of weirs that a gentleman who keeps harriers 
 has of greyhounds ; they kill more with less sport.' Mr. Alcock's Evidence, 
 p. 457. 
 
 f ' The duty of protecting river fisheries against poaching is very effectively 
 performed in Scotland, because you have every interest. You have sufficient 
 means to do it in the penal law of the land. Then you have the interest arising 
 from the preservation of a valuable property, and another interest, which is 
 quite as strong, particularly in my country, namely, the interest of the sports- 
 man ; because where a property is not made valuable to the party holding it, 
 in the shape of very high rents, it is often, as in the Tweed and some other rivers, 
 of great value as a right of sport ; and even large rents are paid to give the ex- 
 clusive use of it to tenants, lor the mere purpose of sport, without much regard 
 to the actual capture of fish.' Evidence of the Lord Advocate of Scotland, p. 520. 
 
107 
 
 cess of conservation must greatly depend upon their attention to 
 preserving. It is a manifest absurdity to expect in the case of a 
 river, the 'usufruct' of which is enjoyed by a few at the mouth, 
 that the magistracy will act as river-bailiffs to preserve for others 
 alone. To use Sir Walter's witty simile, the country gentlemen 
 would be then much in the place of a hen employed to raise 
 young ducks, and find, after a lengthy incubation, the ungrateful 
 brood betake themselves to deep water never to return. 
 
 The Voluntary associations or societies for preservation, formed 
 after the passing of the Act, soon fell to the ground: those above 
 found the fruits of their labour plucked by others below. Even 
 the wonderful fecundity and great prolific powers of the salmon 
 failed to sustain the stock against the progress of capture and 
 destruction. The old fable of 'killing the goose with the golden 
 eggs' had little weight. There is a homely Milesian proverb, 
 coarsely quoted by Shane O'Nial the rude chieftain of Ulster, 
 to queen Elizabeth ; he remarks in a letter in which he asks for 
 an English court lady to wife, that "the calf is the cow's owner's, 
 not the sire's," implying that his offspring would be English. 
 By this rule, the rearers, or dry nurses at least, of an animal, 
 would have a claim prior to any other. And does not also pro- 
 tection deserve to receive a quid pro quo ? 
 
 It has been shown how extensive is the field in the fresh 
 waters of Ireland for the ' cultivation of fish,' only requiring 
 that nature be permitted to sow it, and that man should cease 
 to destroy. 
 
 Salmon that ascend to the upper waters have a double debt 
 to pay ; there should be enough to satisfy the fishermen above, 
 and sufficient spared to breed. And it will be found good 
 economy and policy on the part of those farther down to admit 
 a sufficient number to pass up, whether by the ' Saturday's slap- 
 by,' or other provisions. Summer floods will certainly enable 
 many to escape to the spawning grounds, where sportsmen who 
 have enjoyed a good season's amusement will attend to protec- 
 tion. The 'take' in the upper streams will be, by this means, 
 far from injurious to the fishings at the mouth, where the 
 6 commercial value' must always obtain. After the most that can 
 be fairly done for the ' Protectionist ' interest, the lion's share will 
 be devoured in the tideways and estuaries. 
 
 The law might reasonably prohibit the use of nets above the 
 tideway, or in fresh waters, under some circumstances. The 
 employment of them is liable to abuse near mill waters, and in 
 stretching nets from bank to bank, If such restrictions were 
 made, there would be less scruple on the part of those below to 
 allow a larger quantity to ascend, when the means of capture 
 were thus restricted. Again, if the proprietors of good angling 
 waters would let the privilege of fly-fishing to visitors, in many 
 
108 
 
 cases more lucrative than taking the fish by means of nets, 
 (always an inconsiderable profit in fresh waters,) advantages 
 would accrue to several classes, to the neighbourhood by the 
 resort of strangers and, in the increase of fish following the 
 consequent care in protection, which would redound to the 
 credit of the really valuable interests in the tideway. 
 
 After a review of what has been already accomplished, there 
 need hardly be hesitation in believing that the productiveness of 
 our Salmon fisheries may be greatly augmented. Their real 
 character, and the bearings of their various interests, seem im- 
 perfectly comprehended. In legislating for them the true prin- 
 ciple would appear to have been reversed, by looking to the mouth 
 and not to the source of a river as that of production and profit. 
 
 The ordinary assertion of the ' brotherhood of the angle,' that 
 Salmon ' belong to the river in which they are bred, is contra- 
 verted by the observation that they leave it as soon as they are 
 able, and may with as much truth be said to belong to the ocean, 
 in which it is supposed they feed and grow. However, in the 
 judgment whether this apple of discord shall be awarded to the 
 Minervas of the land, or to the Venuses of the sea coasts, the 
 fact must be borne in mind that the fruit of a river, like that 
 of a tree, will depend on the nourishment it receives at its roots. 
 The cornucopia or horn of plenty is in charge of inland deities. 
 The question is after all a futile one. Sir Humphry Davy, not 
 an incompetent Paris, argued on the former hypothesis, and rested 
 upon it strong claims for the Fresh waters. No such exclusive 
 claim is here advanced ; they are in effect, as in letter, tributaries 
 to rivers; but, if the piscatory Irish above are not fairly dealt 
 with by those below, they may be tempted to say with O'Mal 
 to O'Donnel 'pay me my tribute, or if you don't !' 
 
 Neither can prove a valid title to exclude the other. If bred 
 in private waters these fish are fed in public. Care from man 
 is needful above, equity below, care indeed may give a claim 
 on the plea of sic vos non vobis salmona fertis aquae.* 
 
 Property of any description is a prolific source of contention, 
 and that of this unsettled nature will always continue an occasion 
 of strife. To such evils, if aggravated, the total extinction of 
 
 * Dr. Paley, in ' the general Eights of Mankind, ' thus argues the origin of 
 property : 
 
 ' Nothing ought to be made exclusive which can be conveniently enjoyed in 
 common. Probable arguments must be shown that it is the intention of the 
 Creator that things should be parcelled out to individuals. There is no argument 
 to induce such a presumption but one, that the thing cannot be enjoyed by all 
 or enjoyed with the same, or with nearly the same advantage, while it con- 
 tinues in common, as when appropriated. This is true, where there is not 
 enough for all, or where the article in question requires care or labour in the 
 production or preservation ; but where no such reason obtains, and the thing is 
 in its nature capable of being enjoyed by as many as will, it seems an arbitrary 
 usurpation upon the rights of mankind to confine the use of it to any.' 
 
109 
 
 the whole salmon tribe is to be preferred, unless laws, founded 
 on impartiality, and carried out in a conciliatory spirit, prevent 
 the breach of that charity which is the second commandment 
 to man. 
 
 In conclusion, it must be repeated that the great and solid 
 foundation for Improvement of the Inland Fisheries will certainly 
 be found in the removal or over-coming of obstructions to the 
 free migration of the Salmon. She suffers no surmountable 
 obstacles to interrupt her persevering progress. While these 
 remain they present physical barriers to the fish, and moral and 
 practical ones to co-operation between parties, whose mutual in- 
 terests require unanimity in the endeavour to cultivate and 
 protect these fisheries. All other means which may be applied 
 will fall short in the production of valuable results. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 SIBERIAN SALMON FISHERIES. " It is Russian civilization which has 
 reduced to misery the fish-eating tribes of the Irtuish and Obi, (two 
 great rivers of the Siberian Continent,) and this without the inten- 
 tion of so doing, arid in a way not liable to censure : for, to most 
 people, it will seem an advantage that the fish of these rivers should 
 be taken at particular places, in larger quantities at a time, in a manner 
 open to the inquiries of the statist, and that single families should be 
 able to make large fortunes by the fisheries, while enough still remains 
 to the original inhabitants to enable them to live with little care. But 
 it must undoubtedly be here expected, as a consequence of European 
 industry, that the remarkable migrations of the fish up the fresh waters, 
 will hereafter be known only from traditions of the past; for all over 
 the earth, from the equator to beyond the polar circle, there is hardly 
 the mouth of a river, which was not at some early period frequented 
 by those inhabitants of the sea, as regularly as they now visit all the 
 rivers of Siberia, Kamschatka, and of the American coasts, occupied by 
 the indigenous tribes : and the migration in question is, assuredly, one 
 of the phenomena which man has it in his power to eradicate com- 
 pletely from the face of the earth. Should such results be approach- 
 ing here, yet it is not likely that they will have what can be called a 
 decisive effect on the human race, for the Ostyaks must all perish before 
 that critical period arrives, but the Russians surviving them will betake 
 themselves to new branches of industry when the fisheries once fail." 
 Ermaris Travels in Siberia, London, 1848, vol. ii. p. 93. 
 
 M. Erman states that Russian traders annually fit out great fishing 
 expeditions, and settle themselves in the neighbourhood of the most 
 productive sand-banks, which they purchase or hire of the Ostyak 
 inhabitants. The nets used are 800 feet long. The salmon are salted 
 and packed in tubs, which contain from 800 to 2,500 each. Some of 
 these Russian fishing companies have recently realized profit to the 
 amount of 150,000 rubles (or about 25,000) in one summer; "but," 
 adds M. Erman, " it is at the same time equally certain, that the fish- 
 eries of the Ostyaks round about were thereby seriously damaged." 
 
110 
 
 He continues, " The Russian official agents, to whom the superin- 
 tendence of this country has been confided, have been always perplexed 
 by the difficulty of reconciling the conflicting interests in this case; but 
 never was so rare and felicitous an expedient for the welfare of the 
 land thought of, or explicitly enounced, as that contained in the still 
 unexecuted scheme of M. Karnilof, who proposed, at one time, to the 
 government at St. Petersburg, that it should take into its immediate 
 possession all the valuable fisheries on the Obi, and lease them only to 
 Russians, for ' then,' he observes, ' the harmless and amiable Ostyaks, 
 to whom the sand-banks belong by inheritance, would at once, and for 
 ever, be relieved from the anxiety of retaining possession of them, and 
 nothing more would be heard of their troublesome complaints of local 
 injuries done to them. The fish-eating inhabitants might then learn 
 to support themselves on the nuts of the Siberian pine, or by catching 
 birds and quadrupeds; so engaged, they would not be troubled with 
 competitors, and might enjoy tranquillity of mind.' " 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 THE mass of useful information collected by the labours of the 
 Commissioners of Inquiry, and their cautious and well-judged 
 Report, will always remain the beacon to guide proceedings in 
 the direction of improvement of this arm of national wealth 
 and naval strength. 
 
 The following extracts from the Report, containing their 
 recommendations, will show how far the measures they pro- 
 posed were adopted or rejected, and serve those who may desire 
 to make further inquiries. 
 
 With regard to the productiveness of the coasts of Ireland, 
 the Commissioners reported, " that the miserable and depressed 
 condition of the Fisheries is not in consequence of defective 
 natural resources: on the contrary, Ireland is a decidedly 
 favoured country as to the riches of its waters. With this fact 
 foreign nations were early acquainted, and their fishermen were 
 long accustomed to approach the Irish coasts, for the purpose 
 of fishing on ground superior to any near their own shores." 
 
 The north-western coasts abounded in fish, but the means 
 of taking it were generally rude and inefficient. " It is in this 
 district that poverty especially prevails, that famines are of 
 ordinary recurrence, and that the means of the fisherman are 
 the most completely inadequate to a profitable pursuit of his 
 avocation. Here it is that the general condition of the country 
 offers the fewest auxiliaries to the philanthropist in his plans of 
 improvement, and that the Commissioners have found the 
 greatest difficulty in discovering any satisfactory and applicable 
 measure of relief." 
 
 In the eastern waters a scarcity of fish was asserted, but 
 
Ill 
 
 appeared to apply chiefly to the in-shore fisheries. " The 
 English trawlers, who are well appointed, and fish the deep 
 waters, make no complaint. Mr. Bartlett, on the contrary, 
 acknowledges a steady profit of 30 per cent, on his outlay." 
 The famous Nymph Bank, off the Waterford coast, was affirmed 
 to yield white fish in inexhaustible quantity. Scarcity was con- 
 fined to the bays and in-shore fisheries, to which the operations 
 of the fishermen, owing to their poverty, and insufficient gear, 
 were chiefly confined. 
 
 A similar fact prevailed with respect to the herring fishery ; 
 while the shoals were said to be less abundant than formerly, 
 they were always found in the open sea during the season, and 
 boats which stood out into the deep water returned laden. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE FISHERMEN. " In 1830, when the estab- 
 lishment was dissolved which had been formed by Govern- 
 ment in 1819, for promoting the Irish Fisheries, similar to that 
 created for the Scotch Fisheries in 1808, and still maintained, 
 there were around the coast of Ireland, 64,771 fishermen, and 
 13,119 fishing-boats. In 1836 there are, according to a care- 
 fully revised enumeration, made by the officers of the coast 
 guard, only 54,119 fishermen, and 10,761 boats. This decrease 
 of 10,652 in the number of persons occupied in supplying fish 
 for the markets of an increasing population, occurring so sud- 
 denly, while the consumption of all other domestic supplies has 
 been considerably augmented, and in a period during which the 
 markets of Liverpool and Manchester have largely increased 
 the demand on the industry of Irish fishers, is a lamentable fact, 
 too plainly indicative of much local suffering. It appears, how- 
 ever, that at the appointment of the late Fishery Board, the 
 total fishing population of Ireland amounted to but 36,000, and 
 that during the short course of its activity, the numbers in- 
 creased to nearly the double. Hence it may be inferred, that 
 the subsequent falling off, must, in part at least, be a result of 
 some previous excess of stimulation ; and that the bounties had 
 indeed drawn more persons to this branch of industry, than in 
 the then condition of the country were really enabled to sup- 
 port themselves by its exercise without Government aid." 
 
 " On the social habits of fishermen, the Commissioners are 
 unwilling to hazard much remark. Like the Irish peasant, the 
 fisherman is enterprising and industrious whenever a prospect 
 of reward is held out ; and the man who voluntarily seeks his 
 living on the sea, cannot be wanting in aptitude for labour, 
 courage, or perseverance against adverse circumstances. The 
 emigrants from the Island of Arran are reported to earn a com- 
 fortable livelihood by fishing at New York and Boston ; thereby 
 proving their general qualification for the business when duly 
 encouraged. As to honesty, the Irish fisherman is considered 
 
112 
 
 to be habitually punctual in his money dealings. But, with 
 respect to sobriety, directly hostile testimony has been offered, 
 even from the same districts. It appears undeniable, that an 
 abuse of ardent spirits prevails among the fishermen in towns, 
 but exists to a less extent in the smaller fishing villages. As 
 this vice exhausts too large a portion of the earnings of the 
 poorer classes generally, the Commissioners must include it 
 among the causes which operate injuriously on the Fisheries. 
 It is an evil which can only be abated by raising the condition, 
 and multiplying the comforts of the fishermen, by the influence 
 of a practical education, and by a change in those fiscal laws 
 which are found to promote a pernicious consumption of the 
 article. In the exercise of their calling, the fishermen are 
 accused of evincing strong prejudices ; and a very common dispo- 
 sition to combine for the purposes of intimidation, and to make 
 their own will the law against all rivals and competitors. Such 
 practices are not unknown in different kind and degree among 
 other tradesmen ; and though they may disappear as civiliza- 
 tion advances, they still constitute an evil that excites a frequent 
 cry for redress." 
 
 The Fishermen of Ireland generally were found to occupy 
 small portions of land, and to depend for subsistence from that 
 source more than on the sea, " and their condition w T as mainly 
 determined by the local circumstances of agriculture." Great 
 distress was apparent, traceable to various causes ; but in some 
 places, however, the well- equipped, skilful, and prudent fisher- 
 man was represented as able to support a family, without land, 
 on a scale of comfort superior to that of other labourers. Their 
 inferiority in equipments and skill, was at once the cause and 
 effect of the low condition of Irish Fisheries, and must exist 
 until better are possessed. " The proposition of adding to the 
 existing plan of National Education, schools of special instruc- 
 tion in useful employments, is daily gaining ground in public 
 opinion. Such instruction is recommended for agriculturists, 
 by the Poor Inquiry Commissioners ; and its importance for this 
 object was pointed to in 1803, by Mr. Jefferson, late President 
 of the United States. ' The charitable schools,' he observes, 
 ' instead of storing their pupils with a lore which the present 
 state of society does not call for, being converted into schools 
 of agriculture, might restore them (the pupils) to that branch, 
 qualified to enrich and honour themselves, and to increase the 
 productions of the nation.' " 
 
 MARKETS. The quantity of fish, both fresh and cured, 
 obtained from Irish fishermen, was found to be insufficient to 
 meet the demand, fully demonstrated, as to cured herrings, by 
 the great importation of them from Scotland, and also corrobo- 
 rated as to dried fish, which was nearly all imported. The 
 
113 
 
 value of the article when fresh, depended chiefly on the near- 
 ness of the demand, especially for those of the finer qualities. 
 A potato-fed population could not be expected to afford to 
 consume this diet, unless in great abundance. The increase 
 therefore of demand, depended on increased means of transit, 
 an additional stimulus, " which, if assisted by improved har- 
 bours, and such other necessary means as a wise economy may- 
 supply, will, after no great lapse of time, place this depart- 
 ment of industry in a more healthy condition, and be met by 
 increased exertions on the part of those engaged in the trade. 
 
 " The facts as to the demand for salted fish are too decided 
 to admit of doubt. Scotch herrings are on sale in the greater 
 number of Irish towns, and even at places near the sea coast, 
 almost beside the living shoals. With respect to the other 
 species of salted fish ; the continental demand for dried fish is 
 at present extensive, and new markets might possibly be found 
 capable of taking off increased quantities. Considering the 
 progress of the colonies, and the growing prosperity of civilized 
 Europe, the prospect of remunerative returns for this article 
 must be regarded as promising. The taking of white fish has 
 hitherto been comparatively neglected, probably on account of 
 the Newfoundland Fisheries, or because they abound only in 
 the deep sea, where the boats are not sufficiently commodious 
 to follow them. But if the resources of the Irish seas be not 
 greatly exaggerated, the people of this country could easily 
 bring their fish to market at a cost below that attendant on a 
 long voyage to a distant fishery. On the causes which occasion 
 the prevalent importation of salted fish, the Commissioners 
 regret that the information they have received is incomplete and 
 contradictory. It is frequently stated, that Irish fish has a 
 preference in the market, and fetches better prices than Scotch. 
 But the Gal way evidence shows that the bulk-cured Irish fish is 
 saved in a coarse and inferior way. How then can it bear a 
 higher price ? And again, if it does so, why does it not drive 
 the Scotch fish out of the market? Irish capital, it appears, is 
 sent to Wick, to be there employed in curing herrings ; which 
 would not be, if the article could be procured better and cheaper 
 at the domestic fishing stations. But, however this may be, the 
 Commissioners are safe in pointing to an increase of care and of 
 economy, as the surest means of extending the home market." 
 
 MEANS FOR IMPROVEMENT. "Turning from the actual condi- 
 tion of the Irish fisheries, to the means for their amelioration, 
 the Commissioners have cast a retrospective glance at the course 
 of legislation hitherto pursued both at home and abroad. At 
 the outset of the attempt of the British Government to obtain a 
 national fishery, the most direct means of encouragement were 
 considered the best; but in latter times, the effort has been 
 
114 
 
 restricted principally to bounties, small grants, loans, the 
 construction of piers and harbours, and (in Scotland) the estab- 
 lishment of fishing stations; each of these deserves a short 
 separate consideration. No considerable and general effort was 
 made for aiding the industry of the Irish fishermen till 1819, 
 when Commissioners were appointed for applying, in Ireland, 
 the system adopted for the Scotch fisheries in 1808. These 
 Commissioners were empowered to distribute public money in 
 bounties, to persons fitting out fishing boats of a specified 
 tonnage, and curing herrings, cod, ling, and some other fish ; 
 also, to make regulations suited to particular localities, and 
 inflict penalties for practices then made illegal. A sum of 
 5,000 Irish, was annually placed at their disposal for the fur- 
 ther encouragement of the fisheries, but its application was 
 subsequently limited by law, to the building of piers and repair 
 of fishing boats; and a large portion of the sums accruing from 
 these annual grants was used as a loan fund, for enabling 
 fishermen to provide equipments on advantageous terms. This 
 system was continued until 1830, when the Irish establishment 
 was abolished." 
 
 BOUNTIES. The Commissioners premise by observing, that it 
 would not be expected in the present day that they should enter 
 upon the general question of bounties. A short history is given 
 of their application to the Irish fisheries since the year 1819. 
 " Under the operation of the system, a great increase in the 
 activity of the trade was experienced; much capital was drawn 
 to it and large sums were circulated among fishermen, curers, &c. : 
 what proportion these benefits bore to the sums expended may 
 be collected from the returns quoted in the appendix. At the 
 end of ten vears, when the bounties were discontinued, the trade 
 began to fall back into languor and exhaustion; little or no new 
 capital had been created by their assistance, and vested in the 
 Fisheries; accordingly, many of the boats which had been em- 
 ployed under their stimulation, were immediately withdrawn 
 from the trade, and suffered to rot on the beach, while the 
 men sought other employment, or sunk into mendicancy, &c. 
 Some portion of this failure may indeed be assigned to causes 
 not necessarily inherent in the system; such as the shortness of 
 its duration the abrupt manner in which the bounties were 
 withdrawn the cost of outfit incurred by boat owners to obtain 
 them and to evasions and frauds which were largely practised 
 to the injury of the fair dealer." They did not augment local 
 employment to any extent among the fishers on the western coast, 
 and were not obtained on the great bulk of the article caught by 
 local fishermen. " It is true that bounties for promoting the 
 fisheries are still given in France, Belgium, and Holland. But 
 the example of other countries, far from affording encouragement 
 
115 
 
 to their revival, furnishes a conclusive argument against it; for, 
 if bounties were capable of accomplishing any permanent good, 
 the necessity for their continuance ought to have ceased in those 
 countries long since." 
 
 GRANTS FOR FISHERMEN'S HARBOURS. In 1824 grants of 500 
 a year to Ireland and to Scotland were directed to be applied 
 for materials to repair the boats of poor men, where piers should 
 be built ; the residue to the building or repair of piers and quays, 
 where one-fourth of the expense was defrayed by parties locally 
 interested. In 1830, 13,000 was appropriated for completing 
 piers in this kingdom : but no provision was made for their 
 maintenance, and several had become very dilapidated. 
 
 " The policy of applying public money in aid of any branch 
 of industry, however unsound and pernicious on general princi- 
 ples, has, nevertheless, been deemed wise and beneficial, when 
 adopted for the promotion of objects in which the interests of 
 the community and of the poorer classes are more concerned 
 than those of individual capitalists such as the improvement of 
 harbours and rivers, to facilitate general commerce, and also 
 (the Commissioners submit) the providing of harbour accommo- 
 dations for fishermen. There are various accommodations 
 required by fishermen, which are peculiar to their trade, which 
 their own means are insufficient to provide, and in which land- 
 lords or other capitalists have not a sole pecuniary interest 
 sufficient to induce an outlay for providing them : such as piers, 
 boat-slips with capstans, moorings, harbour-lanthorns, with sheds 
 or stores for sails and other uses connected with the fisheries. 
 Heretofore a portion of such accommodations has been provided 
 by grants of public money, in aid of local contributions; but the 
 Commissioners are of opinion, that all should be provided on the 
 same principle, wherever they may be requisite; whether the 
 local contributions shall be made in money, subscribed by indivi- 
 duals, or assessed on the localities, or made in materials supplied 
 by the fishermen." 
 
 Leading lines of public communication w r ere frequently required 
 to these harbours, which the Commissioners conceived should be 
 provided for on the same principle as the harbour expenditure. 
 
 The fact is then adverted to that where the voluntary prin- 
 ciple had prevailed, piers had been erected on those sites only 
 for which local proprietors were willing to contribute, which 
 were not always the sites calculated the most perfectly to insure 
 the purpose. 
 
 GRANTS TO FISHERMEN. These, as alluded to in the preceding 
 section as distributed in Scotland and Ireland, were stated to be 
 given in the former country in very small amounts; and only 
 once in three years to the same person; yet were said, though 
 subject to occasional abuse, to have a very beneficial operation. 
 
 i2 
 
116 
 
 "However, it must be observed that in Scotland there are the 
 public officers of the Fishery Commissioners stationed around 
 the coast, through whom the distribution is made ; but in Ireland 
 there is now no such machinery, and without its aid the adminis- 
 tration of the fund would not be easy. The policy, moreover, of 
 these grants is very questionable. If given for repairing fishing 
 boats, they may be as justly sought for all other implements of 
 industry ; and fishermen requiring materials for nets or lines, have 
 stronger claims to aid, than those with damaged boats, who are 
 not so poor. This mode of relieving the Irish fishermen is not 
 only objectionable, but so inadequate to their wants, that the 
 Commissioners will not avail themselves of the example set in 
 Scotland, to support a recommendation for its revival in Ireland. 
 They consider the operation of Loan Funds as a better means 
 of assisting the fisherman's individual necessities ; and they look 
 forward to their establishment for the purpose." 
 
 GRANTS FOR LOCAL INSTRUCTION, AND PREMIUMS TO FISHER- 
 MEN. "Among the means suggested for extending the fisheries, 
 are premiums for good boats, and nets, and for the most scientific 
 and successful modes of fishing. If such aids be calculated 
 merely to stimulate the fisherman in the improvement of his art, 
 and not made to draw supernumeraries into the business, they 
 may be safe. The danger lies in the possibility of over-doing 
 the proposed end; and to avoid that, if the attempt be made, it 
 should rigidly be confined to local agents voluntarily interesting 
 themselves in the undertaking. It cannot, however, be concealed, 
 that in Ireland such a voluntary effort, unassisted by the public 
 purse, is not always to be expected ; and it is a question worthy 
 of consideration, whether any, or what encouragement should 
 be held out to associators for fishery improvement, who may be 
 inclined to watch particular localities, and apply such stimuli to 
 industry and order, as may from time to time appear requisite." 
 
 The Commissioners, not being unanimous as to the policy of 
 recommending such assistance, merely placed the proposition in 
 their report, specifying the objects to which it was proposed the 
 grant should be applied, should that division of the subject be 
 entertained. 
 
 LOANS TO FISHERMEN. The Commissioners were favourable 
 to the granting loans to fishermen in aid of building and repair- 
 ing boats, and providing nets and other gear, under that system 
 on which its success entirely depends. They merely refer to 
 the practice hitherto in this respect, which appears to have acted 
 imperfectly from defective regulation. "The system of Loan 
 Funds for the relief of struggling industry has been tried in 
 several parts of Ireland, and is , believed to have operated 
 favourably; as well on the morals as on the physical condition 
 of the poor. But the value of a Loan Fund entirely depends on 
 
117 
 
 the use which is made of the money. In those instances in which 
 distress proceeds from losses at sea, from sickness, temporary 
 depressions in trade, or other inevitable calamity, it must be a 
 safe and essential relief; but if it ever be suffered to draw addi- 
 tional hands into an employment, which are not called for, its 
 utility would be more than questionable. For security against 
 such a consequence, it is desirable that the establishment of 
 local Loan Funds, receiving aid from the Government, should, in 
 the first instance, flow from a voluntary co-operation of the re- 
 spectable inhabitants of the district. Such parties, on becoming 
 bound for the repayment of the loans so advanced, will take 
 good care that they are not intrusted to the idle, the dissipated, 
 or the reckless adventurer; and will, in turn, look to a sufficient 
 surety for the borrower's fidelity." 
 
 , In Scotland, where the business of fish-curing is kept distinct 
 from that of catching, the curers make such advances. The 
 system also obtained in the large Irish markets. After detailing 
 their advantages where new boats or nets are wanted, and as 
 preventing usurious charges for small accommodations usual in 
 most places the report proceeds: 
 
 "The Commissioners are therefore led to a conviction that local 
 Loan Funds for the fisheries might tend to an improvement in the 
 condition of the fishermen, and communicate a desirable increase 
 of activity to the trade. They conceive that if funds in aid of 
 local contributions were placed at the disposal of the most intel- 
 ligent contributors associated for their management in various 
 towns around the coast; who should be made responsible for the 
 repayment, (at the same time being strictly limited in their 
 application,) much good would ensue, by the industry and orderly 
 habits which they must induce; and that they might become 
 the basis of a more enlarged loan system for general purposes, 
 connected with Savings' Banks and Benefit Societies, and then 
 solely depend on the capital deposited by individuals. 
 
 "To encourage the formation of local committees for managing 
 such Loan Funds, it has been proposed to the Commissioners 
 and they think it right to offer the suggestion here that money 
 for Loans should be advanced on the security of each individual 
 associated ; that legal power should be given to the associates 
 to take as securities, the unstamped notes of the borrowers and 
 their bail, (as in the case of Charitable Loans,) recoverable if 
 requisite, by summary attachment of property, from local juris- 
 dictions. If such institutions were established, it would be 
 necessary to control them by occasional investigations of 
 accounts, by the publication of transactions, and by limiting the 
 application of the funds (while aided by Government) to specific 
 purposes connected with the Fisheries." 
 
 FISHING AND CURING STATIONS. "Among the various inter- 
 ferences with the fishing trade, heretofore adopted, the establish- 
 
118 
 
 ment of villages and towns, on the coast of Scotland, for the 
 accommodation of those engaged in the business, is believed to 
 have been productive of the greatest and most permanent effect. 
 For the purpose of thus colonizing the remote shores of that 
 country, the British Society was incorporated; and to the 
 exertions of this Society, consisting principally of Scotch land- 
 lords. Wick, in Caithness, (among other stations,) owes its 
 existing condition. On that spot, the Society, with the aid of 
 Government, built two harbours, with every desirable conveni- 
 ence for the landing and curing of fish. The number of inhabitants, 
 at first not more than 1,500, has been gradually raised to 10,000 ; 
 most of them more or less directly engaged in the Fisheries. 
 There, traders assemble every summer, with capital, to purchase 
 the produce, and with materials to preserve it, on a scale which 
 insures the production of a good and cheap article. Thither, 
 consequently, are drawn fishermen from the south of Scotland, 
 and even from England, to pursue the Herring fishery during 
 the season. Wick has thus been rendered the great seat of the 
 North British Herring Fisheries, and a centre of commerce to 
 the surrounding districts. One principal benefit arising from this 
 effort, is the complete separation of the two trades of curing and 
 of taking; by which not only the usual advantages of a division 
 of labour are secured, but also a sure and steady supply of salt, 
 and a co-ordinate reward for the fisherman's labour: two inva- 
 luable desiderata on the Irish coast. Previously to the establish- 
 ment of this and the other fishing stations of Scotland, the fish- 
 eries of that country were in the same helpless and inefficient 
 state in which they are now found in the north-west of Ireland. 
 There, were to be seen the same poverty, the same absence of 
 skill, and of the best instruments of labour ; the same periodical 
 famines, and the same scanty, yet apparently superabundant 
 population ; on these grounds, it has been thought that the 
 Scotch project is well worthy of imitation in Ireland. The an- 
 tecedents being in both cases identical, the same success is by 
 many anticipated in the one, which has been realized in the other. 
 For the accomplishment of this end, too. experience has proved 
 that a very large outlay would not be necessary. The great 
 danger incurred by the Society, says Mr. Loch, arose from a 
 tendency to over building; while little more is really required 
 to put the curer in motion, than a station for his work, and a 
 weather-tight shed for his salt and barrels. 
 
 " That the establishment of curing stations on favourable posi- 
 tions of the north-west coast of Ireland, would give the Fisheries 
 their best chance of a speedy development, the Commissioners 
 are strongly inclined to believe; but they are at the same time 
 bound to declare, that they do not anticipate an immediate 
 sequence of all those important results which attended the 
 labours of the British Society." 
 
119 
 
 They conclude by observing, that in the domestic market must 
 be found the vent for additional production. That great quan- 
 tities of fish taken were lost for want of these stations which, 
 if established and well appointed, would " avert the recurrence 
 of an evil so extensively injurious, which not only deprives the 
 fisherman of a reward for his industry, but renders an important 
 article of diet unfit for use." 
 
 FISHERY CORPORATIONS AND COMPANIES. The well-known 
 difficulties and evils attending their working are adverted to, and 
 the remarks on this head closed as follows: "As parts of a 
 grand plan of national encouragement to the fisheries, the Com- 
 missioners are bound to speak of such speculations according to 
 the experience of the past, and to hold out but small hopes of 
 their eventual benefit; if any success is to be expected through 
 their operation, the associators must confine themselves to the 
 business of curers and exporters. Limited to such mercantile 
 operations, they may succeed ; while by affording employment to 
 the fishermen, they would be productive of at least temporary 
 good. But if they extend their activity to Fishing, (a business 
 peculiarly dependent on individual enterprise, skill, and care,) 
 they will but diminish the activity and impair the morals of the 
 fishermen hired, and eventually leave the fisheries in a worse 
 condition than that in which they found them." 
 
 SUMMARY OF REMEDIAL MEASURES. " It is probably ex- 
 pected that some great proposition for a sudden improvement 
 of the Irish Fisheries will originate with this Commission; but 
 whatever disappointment may arise from the confession, the 
 Commissioners feel it a duty to declare, that the result of their 
 most anxious inquiries is, a full persuasion that no means can be 
 proposed for obtaining, by any short process, so desirable an event. 
 The progress of a gradual improvement may indeed be assisted 
 and hastened by certain measures, in which the Government 
 might beneficially co-operate ; but a real and permanent prospe- 
 rity can only be effected by the hearty endeavours of individuals 
 and bodies, locally interested, who, from good motives, or trading 
 enterprise, may seize favourable opportunities and apply means for 
 the purpose. The Commissioners, therefore, cannot recommend 
 that the Government should take a part in any other remedial 
 measures, than those embraced by the following propositions : 
 
 " 1st. That in order to remove many vexatious doubts on the 
 laws as they at present exist, every act in any way relating to 
 the SEA FISHERIES of Ireland be totally repealed, and that all 
 provisions deemed necessary, be embodied in one statute, 
 
 "2nd. That the chief superintendence and control of all matters 
 connected with the Fisheries be vested in some Public Depart- 
 ment, which shall make an annual report of its proceedings, to 
 be laid before Parliament. 
 
120 
 
 "3rd. That the jurisdiction of the local Magistracy in maritime 
 counties, be extended to Offences committed by fishermen at sea ; 
 and that it be made the duty of the coast guard as amarine police, 
 to aid the magistracy and the Superintending Authority; so as, 
 without much increased expense, to enforce the law, and carry 
 into effect such regulations as the latter body may from time to 
 time adopt. 
 
 " 4th. That agreeably to the enactments of the 48 Geo. III., 
 cap. 110, sec. 8; of the 55 Geo. III., cap. 94; and of the 59 
 Geo. III., cap. 109, sec. 51, a Government Vessel be furnished 
 at the requisition of the superintending body, at such times and 
 places as may be deemed necessary for the protection and assist- 
 ance of the fisheries ; and that a competent authority for the 
 preservation of the peace accompany such vessels. 
 
 "5th. That the superintending body be empowered to institute, 
 or, on requisition after public notice, from persons interested in 
 the Fisheries of any particular district, to adopt and confirm any 
 local Regulations which they shall consider as decidedly salutary, 
 either for the due conduct of the fishermen, for the preservation 
 of the peace, or for the protection of the fisheries. 
 
 " 6th. That such further pecuniary aid be given for the con- 
 struction and maintenance of any piers, harbours, and other 
 Public Accommodations, as may be deemed requisite to the 
 service of the fisheries; that provision be made for the repair and 
 maintenance of all those which have been provided entirely or 
 partly at the public expense, and may be thought worthy of 
 being preserved that they shall be declared public property; 
 and that power be given to frame and enforce such rules and 
 regulations as may seem desirable, in order to render them as 
 generally useful and available as possible. 
 
 " 7th. That the balance which shall remain to the credit of the 
 Irish Fisheries, after defraying the charges to which it is now 
 liable, be applied under the authority of the Lords of the 
 Treasury, in the completion and repairs of such of the existing 
 fishery piers as may be considered deserving of attention, and in 
 promoting improvements generally in the fisheries. 
 
 " 8th. That section 85 of the 1 & 2 Wm. IV., cap. 33, be 
 so modified that the funds placed by that Act at the disposal 
 of the Board of Works, be rendered not only available to the con- 
 struction of any pier, shelter-harbour, boat-slip, or capstan, but 
 to the providing of moorings and small harbour lights for the 
 fisheries, to the extent of one moiety of the expense, the other 
 moiety to be raised by voluntary contribution of proprietors, 
 fishermen, curers, or others, or by public assessment; that the 
 existing condition, which requires security to the crown for 
 future repairs be removed ; and that it shall be competent to the 
 board, at discretion, to admit, as a substitute for money contri- 
 
121 
 
 bution, an equivalent value in materials or in work applied 
 conformably to a previously approved plan. 
 
 "9th. That it shall be competent to cess-payers, rated at above 
 annually in any County, Barony, Half-barony, or 
 Townland, to assess the locality in such sum as may be necessary 
 for making up a moiety of the expense of the works specified 
 in the preceding proposition, or of any portion thereof; the 
 assessment to be distributed over a number of years, proportion- 
 ately to the amount. 
 
 "10th. That power be given to establish moderate tolls, to 
 defray the necessary expenses of maintenance of each Pier or 
 Harbour erected for fishery purposes, either in whole, or in part 
 with public money; and if the amounts arising from such tolls 
 shall exceed the sums required for the permanent repair of the 
 works, that such excess be allowed to accumulate to the credit 
 of the work, as a provision for those sudden and extraordinary 
 casualties to which such works are liable, and for the further 
 improvement of the harbour. 
 
 " 1 1th. That it be competent to the Board of Works, at discre- 
 tion, to make short Lines of Communication between such piers, 
 fishing harbours, or stations, (as have wholly or in part been 
 erected, or shall be erected, by public funds,) and the nearest 
 high roads; a moiety of the amount so expended to be levied on 
 the barony by annual instalments or provided by voluntary 
 contribution. 
 
 " 1 2th. That in cases where Loan Funds, under the management 
 of local associations shall be established, to assist the fishermen 
 in procuring, repairing, or fitting out boats intended for the 
 prosecution of the fisheries, a moiety of these funds shall be 
 supplied out of the public money, (to be sufficiently secured in 
 the repayment by the associators requiring that aid,) that the 
 same legal privileges and indulgences be extended to such 
 associations, as are given to charitable societies, under 'the 
 Charitable Loan Acts;' and that the proceedings and accounts 
 of these associations shall be at all times subject to the scrutiny 
 of the controlling body, under whose management the general 
 interests of the fisheries may be placed. 
 
 " 13th. That such local Loan Funds be encouraged in each of 
 the maritime counties, to assist fishermen. 
 
 " 14th. That Loans, not exceeding a moiety of the expense, be 
 made by the Board of Works, on the most favourable terms, to 
 parties desirous of erecting curing-houses, fishery-yards, salt- 
 stores, or fishermen's houses, under proper security for their 
 accomplishment, according to plans previously approved; pro- 
 vided the expense, in any case, shall not be less than two 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 " 15tL That tenants in tail, and bodies corporate, be empow- 
 
122 
 
 ered, notwithstanding settlements, or incumbrances, to mate 
 Leases in perpetuity, at the full improved value, of any portions 
 of Land required for fishery purposes, adjacent to the shores of 
 Ireland : such leases to be valid, provided a sum equal to five 
 years' rent be expended in good and substantial buildings on the 
 land, within seven years. 
 
 " 16th. That the section of the statute of Charles the First, 
 securing to the Public a right to the use of the strands and wastes 
 on the shores of Ireland, for fishery purposes, and conferring a 
 complete freedom of fishing on all British subjects, be clearly 
 established by a further enactment. 
 
 " 1 7th. That a Practical Education in the manufacture of nets, 
 and in other fishery avocations, be adopted in the national 
 schools of the maritime districts of Ireland." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE IRISH SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 THE shores of Ireland are remarkable in a geographical point 
 of view indented as they are with so many deep creeks and 
 havens and spacious bays. The advantage which this country 
 possesses in her insular position for maritime purposes is there- 
 fore enhanced by the gift of an extraordinary range of coast as 
 compared with her limited area. A consideration of this cir- 
 cumstance will direct attention to the fact, that Ireland is 
 surrounded by an accessible and almost boundless supply of food, 
 offering an auxiliary means of employment, and a fertile source 
 of wealth. 
 
 Without entertaining speculative ideas, or attempting to 
 magnify the importance of Sea Fisheries on many grounds which 
 appear in reflecting upon the subject, such as their commercial 
 
 value their capabilities as a source of livelihood and subsistence, 
 
 or as a training nursery for seamen it is sufficient to remark, that, 
 with the known extent of the natural supply, the density of our 
 population, the accessibility to markets, (latterly improved by 
 railway communication,) and the facilities now existing for 
 commerce these resources would apparently have promised a 
 certain and lucrative trade. It might indeed have been imagined 
 that Ireland would not only furnish an ample stock of Fish for 
 home consumption, but a superabundance sufficient to meet an 
 extensive foreign demand. Yet, instead of Ireland being a great 
 fish-producing and fish-exporting country, the fact is the reverse ; 
 the quantity of the commodity taken round her coasts falls short 
 of the requirements even of her own inhabitants, and during the 
 height of the late terrible Famine, when it might have been 
 
123 
 
 thought that a people curtailed inthefruits of the land wouldhave 
 availed themselves of those afforded by the sea, one of those 
 anomalous contrasts so frequently occurring in the history of 
 Ireland was presented the implements for capture were pow- 
 erless in the hands of the poor the food itself rotted in masses 
 for want of the means to preserve it, and the country obtained 
 its chief supply of an article, the use of which is enjoined by the 
 prevalent creed, from the industry of another people. 
 
 The misery of the people of Ireland, "starving in the midst of 
 plenty," is not less proverbial than the fertility of her soil, nor 
 the abundance in her waters less apparent than the absence of 
 power to enjoy it. The cry of destitution moans incessantly 
 over the land, like the murmur of the waves on the shore. 
 
 How to alleviate so chronic an endemic of wretchedness to 
 remedy those ills that "Kings and Laws can cure," deserves the 
 anxious investigation of all who, in a spirit of Christian charity, 
 would wish to aid a people that are now the most helpless in 
 Christendom. There are in Ireland many men who gladly see 
 in the policy of State the remedies of a physician displace the 
 practice of a surgeon, and who, in the words of early writers, 
 would remind England that her military occupation of this 
 country has "cost her more than would buy the whole island 
 twice over." 
 
 They gratefully acknowledge the increased outlay of national 
 funds, and the advantageous policy of making advances and 
 loans from them, for the promotion of the chief elements of public 
 accommodation, security, and advancement in Railways, Har- 
 bours of trade, and refuge, and other works of public utility 
 for Colleges and Schools, and for the permanent improvement 
 of Landed Property. By such means the need will surely be 
 best prevented for additional poor houses, gaols, and barracks. 
 They hail also all measures which will unfetter legal impedi- 
 ments to a better cultivation of the soil, and to the investment of 
 capital in it; but look forward, above all, to such as will provide 
 a fuller system of EDUCATION and INSTRUCTION. Acknowledging 
 that property in this country ought to bear an equable share 
 of taxation with that of Great Britain, they would also be willing 
 that it especially supported auxiliary means for National Edu- 
 cation, in all its branches, upon which the security of property 
 in Ireland really depends. Yet how far is the insecurity 
 chargeable only to her own sons ? But without the wish or the 
 power to strike a balance of the account between the two 
 kingdoms, they would not be dependent on English or Scottish 
 men, save for good Laws and for even-handed Justice. 
 
 The attention of the imperial legislature must for many years 
 be strenuously drawn to the condition of Ireland. England 
 may turn aside to home requirements, to her foreign relations, 
 
124 
 
 and to her vast colonial possessions, but the sunken fortunes of 
 a people still suffering the effects of a long course of national 
 injustice and vicious government, signalized by unparalleled 
 calamities, and linked in internal policy to her own institutions, 
 will now and again press on her like the girdle of iron worn by 
 the penitents of old. 
 
 Looking to the extension of the entire Fisheries, both Sea and 
 Inland, on a broad scale of public advantage, as a general prin- 
 ciple Ireland does not so much require aid from the Treasury 
 as sufficient laws from the Legislature to encourage enterprise, 
 whether on land or by sea. The changes now on foot in this 
 respect must produce prosperous results. 
 
 The prospect for the improvement of a resource Ireland pos- 
 sesses to an extraordinary degree, is at this time become of 
 serious import. In the deficiency of some of those vast sources 
 of wealth coal, minerals, agricultural capital, and manufactures 
 it becomes a national obligation to make the most of natural 
 advantages a duty to see "that nothing be lost." 
 
 The old policy of England in discouraging the exportation of 
 produce from Ireland, whether manufactured or natural, and 
 some jealousies of rival traders, have happily ceased. Unable 
 to compete with the sister countries in the production of manu- 
 factured goods, the Irish people must earn their food by sup- 
 plying it to others. 
 
 At this period of fearful change when the land is rapidly 
 deteriorating in value while our farmers are daily either 
 becoming impoverished, or leaving our shores our poor perish- 
 ing from prolonged distress, and the rich sinking under a pressure 
 of adversity the fate of all " trembling in the balance" it is a 
 paramount duty upon our rulers to foster and enlarge the means 
 of life to a nation afflicted by " a desolation wider than any 
 recorded in history, or shadowed forth by tradition."* 
 
 A degree of excitement appears to have attended the question 
 of the development of Fisheries in all countries, and to pervade 
 most writings upon the subject. This has often led to injudicious 
 efforts, intended to stimulate, but in the end practically inju- 
 rious, t The cause would seem to proceed from the nature of 
 the Resource, of the value of which exaggerated views may be 
 formed, but, while undoubtedly as inexhaustible as the element 
 in which fisheries are prosecuted, its extent, and the circum- 
 stances of the subject generally, are equally uncertain. Who 
 shall measure all 
 
 " The close earth wombs, or the profound seas hide 
 In unknown fathoms ?" 
 
 * Fourteenth Report of the Select Committee on Poor Laws, Ireland, 1849, 
 p. 301. 
 
 t Inquiry of the Wexford Landlord and Tenant Association into the county 
 Wexford Sea Fisheries, 1847. 
 
125 
 
 Hence it is that failures in practice come in miserable contrast 
 to the sanguine hopes held forth. 
 
 While all persons readily acknowledge the "abundance of the 
 resource," and the advantages that would attend prosperous 
 fisheries, these generalities are seldom followed by exertion. 
 Valuable and humane efforts have been made in several instances 
 to promote local fisheries attended with more or less success: 
 but, as a department of national industry in which the State may 
 usefully assist opinion seems to have taken a contrary direction 
 to that formerly entertained, and there is unquestionably much 
 room for hesitation. 
 
 During the inquiry into the condition of the Irish Fisheries 
 by the Commission of 1835, a paper was composed by one of its 
 members, the late Sir Charles Morgan, as " an Historical Sketch 
 of the British and Irish Fisheries," and appended to the Report, 
 tracing the causes why the exertions made to raise them by suc- 
 cessive governments and by individuals had proved ineffectual, 
 and giving a compendium of the measures adopted. The em- 
 ployment of the fisherman the article of produce paying no rent, 
 fish being a free gift of nature to the captor might, he observes, 
 "be thought fully equal to take care of itself, and to require no 
 encouragement to call it into activity. It is therefore not with- 
 out surprise that the inquirer learns the vast efforts made by 
 powerful nations to create a Fishery, and so often made in vain/' 
 The solution of this seeming paradox he considered to "lie in the 
 perishable nature of the commodity, and the consequent dispro- 
 portion between the cost of taking, and that of preserving and 
 conveying it to the distant market. To transport fish in a fresh 
 condition, so rapidly enhances its price, that, at a small distance 
 from the sea, it becomes an article of luxury ; and its market is 
 restricted accordingly. The inferior kinds only can be generally 
 offered for sale at prices which permit their being used exten- 
 sively as articles of ordinary diet; and these are so inferior in 
 nutritious qualities, and so much less exciting to the palate than 
 animal food, that the people who can afford to purchase meat, 
 will not largely consume them." 
 
 May not another cause of ill-success consist in the various 
 uncertain circumstances connected with a fisherman's caDing 
 and in the fact that it depends more than others upon chance ? 
 
 The sea may be said to be a lottery, the prizes from which 
 are sometimes more injurious to industry than the blanks. 
 Whenever a business partakes of the spirit of risk* when 
 
 * ' With regard to the Sea Fishery, the anomaly is not a little curious, that 
 the prosecutor should continue a branch of industry which does not yield a 
 steady or adequate remuneration ; yet, I apprehend, that this will be found to 
 characterize all speculations of a hazardous nature, and that such a contingency 
 enters more or less into the calculations of those who embark in it, whilst the 
 
126 
 
 profits are not the slow but secure returns for unremitting dili- 
 gence, a species of demoralizing influence takes place in the 
 mind, and especially wherever ignorance or superstition exist. 
 Poverty is a charge that has been brought against Fishermen in 
 all ages of the world.* The improvidence of many in Britain 
 and Ireland who rely for their livelihood upon their own manage- 
 ment is observable. They may be relieved from some blame 
 by the reflection that this often proceeds from the uncertainty 
 of their employment its prosecution waiting upon favourable 
 weather, and its good seasons on fortune accessaries beyond 
 the reach of control. An avocation thus dependent must be 
 occasional ; it is followed or abandoned at will. With some it 
 becomes, unhappily, the cause of idle and bad habits ; while its 
 larger gains, resulting partly from accident, are often produc- 
 tive of temporary extravagance, and consequent distress. In 
 some districts, where the fisherman is also a farmer, the culti- 
 vation of the land interrupts his other pursuit, and a steady 
 application cannot be given to either. The fact that the pro- 
 perty to be taken is commonable renders it liable to abuse ;f 
 and from the same cause as no one receives rent from its 
 gains it proceeds, that neither itself nor followers obtain the 
 care that is extended where interest arises. Again, the pre- 
 carious sale of a perishable commodity, the cause where good 
 markets exist of the remarkably vehement language between 
 producer and buyer, is, in remote districts, dispiriting to the 
 former. Where demand for the fresh article alone can be found, 
 it is one of those trades which are liable to be in an unhealthy 
 state, as supplying merely an article of luxury. The prevalence 
 of certain epidemics also affects it. During the cholera the de- 
 mand for fish was greatly diminished. The want of shelter for 
 craft, and of those appliances which can be arrived at by local 
 exertions, in some instances forms another impediment. 
 
 Let us hope that the cure will be found wherever it is sought, 
 in reducing these various concomitants, as far as possible, within 
 the bounds of certainty, and that endeavours will be made to 
 solve this problem. It is to be confessed, the subject is one 
 calculated to engage our feelings, but at the same time the 
 understanding must be enlisted. Under the present circum- 
 stances of Ireland it is not too much to say, that, for the better 
 development of her shore fisheries, some exertion on the part 
 of all concerned is requisite, and greatly to be desired. 
 
 A step may be advanced towards the discovery of remedies, 
 
 feeling of hope is always kept alive.' Observations on the Fishermen of County 
 Cork. By the Rev. Michael O' Sullivan: 1836. Appendix, p. 141. 
 
 Article on the Fisheries of Ireland, Dublin Review, 1837. 
 
 f Much evidence will be found in the Eeport as to the destruction of spawn 
 by the improved methods of Sea Fishing, and of the sale of fish with the roe in 
 A ripe state. 
 
127 
 
 by inquiring into the defects as well as the wants, of so impor- 
 tant a branch of industry. 
 
 These remarks apply mainly to the Fisheries around our 
 Coasts. Those of the Deep Sea are of a different description. 
 The banks on which the fish are taken lie generally at a dis- 
 tance of some leagues from the shore. Carried on from con- 
 venient harbours, large boats and some capital are required. To 
 these the minor branches send their hardier and more enter- 
 prising seafarers. Intrepidity and conduct are necessary, and 
 the character of the men engaged in them rises with the nature 
 of the pursuit. 
 
 The Parliament of Ireland endeavoured to give an impetus 
 to her Deep Sea Fisheries by pecuniary encouragement, through 
 the instrumentality of tonnage bounties. These were continued 
 after the Union, and large sums of money were devoted to the 
 purpose; but although creating an activity in the trade, its 
 true interests were injured by the frauds and evasions to which 
 the system gave rise. It was also ill calculated to serve the 
 fisheries generally, being confined in operation to larger vessels, 
 the owners of which ought to be independent of such assist- 
 ance. The system of bounties was ill-conceived, and ill-adapt- 
 ed. It led to gross jobbing, and other abuses. Any stimulus 
 which may be given through the medium of the State ought 
 to proceed in a more natural direction, in furthering local and 
 individual exertion. 
 
 An unwarrantable interference with every department of in- 
 dustrial occupation, by minute restrictions or injudicious aid, 
 is most detrimental ; but a reasonable control and assistance 
 may be looked for under peculiar circumstances. May not the 
 policy of * laisser faire et laisser aller,' wisely pressed upon 
 the minister Colbert by the merchants of France, be incorrectly 
 applied with regard to an employment which requires the en- 
 forcement of restrictions to prevent damage to a common good, 
 is dependent on public accommodations, and slenderly at- 
 tached to local property, and is one in which capital does not 
 readily embark ? Sir Charles Morgan, after reviewing the facts 
 relating to the repeated failures of successive efforts to create a 
 domestic fishery, both in Great Britain and Ireland, closes his 
 narrative with these remarks, which are heartily concurred in : 
 " By some these failures are attributed to errors of manage- 
 ment, and to a premature abandonment of the measures of 
 encouragement ; and the averment perhaps may be partly true. 
 But it is impossible to overlook the fact, that amidst all the 
 efforts of Government, and the popular enthusiasm in favour of 
 Fisheries, they have not been a favourite speculation with capi- 
 talists, so that mercantile enterprise has been far from going 
 
128 
 
 hand in hand with administrative liberality. To this statement 
 the Scotch Fishery alone affords an exception. What inference 
 should be drawn either from the rule or from its exception, the 
 reader will determine for himself; but it does not seem too 
 much to affirm on experience of the past, that whatever value 
 to individuals may be set on any assistance which Government 
 may hereafter think right to afford the fishermen, through any 
 better-directed system of encouragement, the trade must still 
 eventually stand or fall by the spontaneous efforts of the parties 
 interested, and the stimulus of remunerating markets." 
 
 Since the above observations were written many circum- 
 stances have arisen in Ireland that affect the question. Facili- 
 ties for the distribution of fish have increased, by the formation 
 of numerous roads, and by means of transit by land and sea 
 through the agency of steam. An unprecedented famine has 
 desolated the western parts, compelling the fisherman to part 
 with the implements of his trade, and obliging him to enter 
 the Poor-house. A concurrence of the potato failure and the 
 low price of corn, renders the cultivation of small portions of 
 poor land an employment which many would gladly relinquish, 
 to devote themselves exclusively to fishing, if the requisite 
 means were available. Yet an occupation such as coast-fishing, 
 necessarily scattered, unusually insecure, the profits of which 
 yield no immediate revenue to the lords of the soil will hardly 
 be locally fostered without the aid of external assistance. Our 
 fisheries of the deep sea will probably attract additional 
 capital, but those less favourably circumstanced will rarely do 
 so, save perhaps in the formation of a few isolated curing 
 stations. 
 
 Turning to the encouraging example of the Scottish Fisheries, 
 we find that these prosperous settlements on the coast pro- 
 ceeded from the desire of great chiefs of clans in the High- 
 lands to relieve the land population, and to organize a produc- 
 tive division of labour. " The British Fishery Society," formed 
 in 1786, has effected great and permanent improvements in 
 parts of the north of Scotland, previously in as depressed 
 a condition as portions of this country. In the formation or 
 improvement of harbours it was aided by Government grants, 
 but all other works, " roads, houses, curing-houses, and the 
 settlement of fish curers, through whom the home and foreign 
 markets have been opened to the industry of the people, have 
 all been accomplished at the expense, or through the exertions 
 of the landlords." 
 
 The amount of paid up capital of the Society is 28,277 
 105. Sd. Only six dividends of 2 per 50 have been declared 
 during the sixty-two years that the Society has been incorpo- 
 
129 
 
 rated.* All the profits were regularly added to the fund, 
 direct pecuniary returns never having been looked for by the 
 members of the Society, the improvement of the Highlands 
 being their paramount object. 
 
 The letters printed in the appendix to the report, from the 
 town of Wick, the chief fishing station on the east coast of 
 Scotland, the population of which increased in a few years from 
 1,500 to near 10,000 persons, [Evidence, p. 196,] exhibit the 
 fact, that beyond the mere rent of the town buildings, con- 
 siderable advantages had accrued to the surrounding country 
 from the rise of a thriving trade. The Society prudently left 
 all the minuter details connected with the prosecution of the 
 fishing business to private enterprise and care. In some places 
 an immediate stimulus was given simply and cheaply by the 
 settlement of curers of fish, and these men found it to be their 
 interest to advance requisites to the fishermen. 
 
 The only real property now belonging to the Society is its 
 establishment, and lands, and feu-duties, at Pulteney Town, 
 and the quay at Tobermory, which was reserved at the time of 
 the sale of the Society's estate there. The Society's funds 
 vested in Government Stocks, and balance with bankers, &c., 
 may be stated in round numbers at 20,000. The annual 
 feu-duties and rents of the landed property at Fulteney Town, 
 amount to about 785.f 
 
 It would be impracticable to estimate, with accuracy, the 
 returns, direct or indirect, which have been made to the members 
 of the British Fishery Society from their outlay. Success has 
 unquestionably attended the objects for which it was formed. 
 The Secretary to the Board of Fisheries in Scotland, writing 
 in 1848,t in deprecation of any measure of interference as to 
 the construction of boats that might check the fishing trade, 
 alludes to " the inestimable importance of the fisheries to the 
 welfare and sustenance of so poor a country as Scotland, carried 
 on as they are in its poorest and most unproductive districts ; 
 in fact, forming the only harvest for large masses of the popula- 
 tion." 
 
 Although there are impediments arising out of the constitu- 
 tion of the Poor Law, and difficulties connected with the surren- 
 der of land and houses in Ireland, needing only to be adverted 
 to, which would operate adversely, as similar motives influence 
 the owners of landed property in every country, Irish land- 
 lords may be actuated to form a Society for the same objects. 
 That founded by the Act of 1786 was incorporated as the 
 " British Society for extending the Fisheries, and improving the 
 
 * Statement of James Loch, esq., M.P. Report of Commission, 1636. 
 Appendix, p. 62. 
 
 f ReportFishing Boats, Scotland, 1849, pp. 15, 26, 59. 
 
130 
 
 sea-coasts of the kingdom ; " with this the improvement of the 
 interior went hand-in-hand, and was as has been seen the 
 primary consideration. Whether exertions in these direc- 
 tions ought to be aided by the State is a question in political 
 economy. 
 
 To the objection that loans from Government are not ex- 
 tended to other undertakings, it may be observed that some 
 points of difference occur. Among these may be mentioned, 
 the recent alterations of the law on the faith of which contracts 
 between the owners and occupiers of Land were based ; also, 
 that certain undertakings with respect to land, for which loans 
 obtained through the intervention of public securities may be 
 advanced, do not possess such speculative character as would 
 render them an insecure investment ; and that this species of 
 real property, (from which local taxes are principally raised.) is 
 capable of giving adequate security, and is one in which per- 
 manent works can be encouraged by a machinery for charge and 
 repayment not available to private persons. The Land Im- 
 provement Act recognises the principle of loans, through the 
 medium of the Government, for the general advantage of the 
 country, and to provide employment for the labourer. Its 
 extension to the erection of farm buildings, the plant of agricul- 
 tural manufacture, under particular circumstances and proper 
 arrangements, would prove an important addition to the benefits 
 conferred by its operation. Perhaps it is not impracticable that 
 its simple and tried system may be applied to the service of 
 the sea coasts. If so extended, an attention and exertion may 
 be aroused, without which hope of success can hardly be enter- 
 tained. Charity, self-interest, and the science of political eco- 
 nomy are to be combined in the formation of a principle of 
 action. Is not the virtue the better part ? and is it not best 
 exercised in Ireland by enabling the labourer to work ? 
 
 The Pagans of Greece and Italy granted immunities and 
 rewards to some men, because they had contributed towards 
 the gratification of the prevailing taste for fish among the rich, 
 either by their inventions or industry. The states of Christen- 
 dom may be exhorted to foster an art, because it contributes to 
 the sustenance of the people. 
 
 By referring to the "Suggestions" directed to the Commis- 
 sion of Inquiry of 1835, which are printed in the Appendix, it 
 will be seen that it was contemplated at that time to adopt 
 expedients for the benefit or relief of the poorer class of fisher- 
 men, who might be injured by the intended removal of restric- 
 tions on improved methods of fishing, of which they had not 
 means to avail themselves. 
 
 A Poor Law for Ireland was then under consideration, and 
 was passed in 1838, the second year of the present reign. It 
 
131 
 
 has been shown that the owners and occupiers of land, upon 
 whom the burden of that law falls, are not directly interested 
 in the prosecution of sea fishing; nor can they be deemed 
 answerable for the consequences of insufficient employment in. 
 the sea, as they undoubtedly are, to an extent, for those arising 
 from its want on their own properties. It is also to be feared that 
 the effects of that law, may even, in the case of small properties, 
 deter the owners from encouraging a settlement of fishers. 
 
 By referring back to the fourth chapter, (page 31,) it will be 
 seen that the Remedial measures recommended by the Commis- 
 sion of Inquiry were adopted in the Bill of 1838, but were 
 omitted in that of 1842. 
 
 The rejected recommendations were the 
 
 8th. For providing several matters of Fishery and public 
 accommodation; one moiety of the cost to be raised by voluntary 
 contributions, or by assessment. 
 
 1 1th. For making short lines of roads, near piers, harbours, or 
 stations; a moiety to be raised on the district, or provided by 
 voluntary subscription. 
 
 1 2th. For the encouragement of Loan Funds. 
 
 17th. For providing Practical Education in matters connected 
 with Fishery avocations. 
 
 These measures were recommended by the Commissioners 
 after cautious deliberation, as those in which Government might 
 take part. Whether their adoption is called for and warranted 
 under the existing circumstances of Ireland is certainly deserving 
 of consideration. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ARTHUR YOUNG closes his remarks on the Fisheries of Ireland with 
 the following passage. He attributed their neglect to want of capital, 
 and remarked that the measures of the Legislature had not been attended 
 with any considerable effect, and instanced the mischievous effects of 
 bounties : 
 
 " Before I quit this article of Irish fisheries, I shall observe, that next 
 to the cultivation of land there is no object in their national economy 
 of so much importance. No manufactures, no trade, can be of half the 
 consequence to Ireland, that many of her fisheries might prove if 
 encouraged with judgment. There is no undertaking whatever in 
 which a small capital goes so far; nor any in which the largest will pay 
 such ample profits. Scotland has the herrings somewhat earlier, but 
 they come in good time to Ireland for the Mediterranean trade, and in 
 a plenty that ought to make their capture a favourite object. The 
 bounties hitherto given have been so far from answering that they have 
 in some respects done mischief. I was present more than once at the 
 meetings of the fishery committee of the Irish House of Commons, and 
 I found them making anxious inquiries how to avoid great frauds, from 
 which I found that notorious ones had been committed. 
 
 K2 
 
132 
 
 "This is the great misfortune of bounties when they are not given with 
 great judgment and care. Relative to the fisheries the profit is so great, 
 that all acquainted with them will engage as far as their capital will 
 admit; whatever bounties are given therefore should not be with a view 
 to instigate men possessed of capital, for they do not exist, but to 
 put capitals into the hands of those who will certainly make use of them. 
 It appeared in the minutes of the Lough Swilly fishery that one boat and 
 the nets sufficient cost .20; the best bounty would be to give boats and 
 nets to men used to the fishery, because few are able to buy or build them. 
 To give a premium on the report of the herrings or upon the tonnage 
 of the boats will not answer, for it supposes them actually taken, and 
 built, that is, it supposes the very difficulty got over which want of 
 money makes perpetual. 
 
 "Before the boat is in the fishery it must be built, and before the fish 
 are exported they must be taken; those who have money to do either 
 will go to work without any bounty, the profit alone being sufficient. 
 In countries so very poor, the first steps in such undertakings are the 
 most difficult; and to assist in overcoming the early difficulties is what 
 the Legislature should aim at. Giving boats and nets to men that would 
 certainly use them does this, and would be productive of great national 
 good; always supposing that frauds and jobbing were guarded against; 
 if they are permitted to creep in, as in giving spinning wheels, the 
 mischief would be far more than the benefit. .20,000 per annum thus 
 expended would give 1,000 boats, which would soon accumulate to a 
 vast number, and if the effect was so great as to find the herrings regorge 
 in the home market, then would be the time to drive them out by a 
 bounty on the export, if their own cheapness did not bring the effect 
 without it. I am far from recommending a new system of bounties 
 upon an object that had not received them before, they have been long 
 given or jobbed, all I mean is, that if the public is burthened with such 
 payments, care should be taken that they are given in the mode that 
 promises to be most advantageous." 
 
 LOAN FUNDS. " General conclusions drawn by Messrs. Townsend and 
 Barry (two of the Commissioners of Inquiry), from the information 
 received through the medium of evidence; and the answers to the 
 printed queries, as well as from their personal observations on their 
 tour of inquiry." [Printed in the Appendix to the Report of 1836.] 
 
 "That the resource derived from the Loan Fund of the late Fishery 
 Board was, in most instances, admitted to have been extremely benefi- 
 cial to the fishing classes. 
 
 "That wherever a reasonable degree of caution was exercised in the 
 administration of the fund, and of diligence in its final collection, the 
 smallness of the loss was most extraordinary, as in the cases of Dingle, 
 Glandore, and Baltimore, where out of a sum of 2,022 17s. 9c?., due at 
 the period of the extinction of the late system of encouragement, 
 1,870 Is., was within the following year repaid to the department 
 under whose management it was collected. 
 
 " That it is very generally considered that the system under which the 
 fund was managed, both as to the periods for which the loans were 
 made and the mode of making them, was extremely defective and 
 objectionable. 
 
 "That the beneficial effects of a judicious system of general loans to 
 
133 
 
 the poorer classes in Ireland have been most incontrovertibly established, 
 and may be particularly illustrated by a reference to the city of Cork 
 Charitable Loan Society, whose losses upon advances of 38,520, to 
 12,840 families have amounted in six years only to .8 17s.; also by a 
 reference to the Gorey Loan Fund, county Wexford, and the Courtmac- 
 sherry and Lislee Loan Funds, in the county Cork; in each of which 
 places a considerably increased capital could be worked. 
 
 "That the difficulty of obtaining proper encouragement in remote 
 districts is the most serious obstacle to the advantageous establishment 
 of loan institutions; and that local co-operation, and local contributions 
 towards the expenses of management, are so desirable to insure the 
 successful working of such institutions as to render it prudent to make 
 them indispensable conditions to aiding the formation of such funds. 
 
 "That the operative fisherman could well afford to pay for the accom- 
 modation afforded to him by small loans, a consideration so far exceeding 
 the ordinary rate of interest at which money may be procured by the 
 Government, as to form a fund in aid of local contributions, sufficient 
 to cover losses and the expenses of management. 
 
 "That it is not reasonable to expect from the Government more than 
 co-operation in providing the funds and in exercising a salutary general 
 control over their administration. 
 
 "That it is desirable, if only for the purpose of insuring judicious and 
 honest management, either to require security for the reproductiveness 
 of the fund, from the intermediate sources of its administration ; or, in 
 cases where that may not be possible, to devise some other means to 
 guard against mismanagement or misappropriation by irresponsible 
 persons. 
 
 "That the advantages of these establishments would be materially 
 increased by rendering them depositories for the small savings of the 
 industrious classes : and that each establishment may, by being furnished 
 with the forms and models for the institution of a benefit society, or 
 sick and widows' fund, or Boat Insurance Society, become a nucleus for 
 producing industrious, moral, and provident habits, and for improving 
 the condition of the coast population generally." 
 
 SUCCESS OF A LOAN FUND. From the time when the storm of famine 
 first broke over Ireland, while none could doubt the hand of visitation, 
 few hesitated to believe but that all would work together for good in 
 the end. Amidst appalling scenes of mortal anguish and distress, heart- 
 stirring energies were called forth in many directions, where the bene- 
 volent and the good stood forward in the noble work of exertion. In 
 this cause, many priests of the Roman Catholic persuasion who devote 
 themselves to the service of their church and people were con- 
 spicuous, while as a body they helped to sustain that exemplary 
 patience under hunger and deprivation for which Irishmen are so 
 remarkable in history. Ministers of the Protestant Church proved, in 
 numerous instances, the value of their services to their parishioners at 
 large. Among the foremost in the cause of charity, the Society of 
 Friends has always been conspicuous. The seed they sowed with a 
 liberal hand fell on fruitful ground in one instance. Amongst nume- 
 rous urgent applications for aid received by them, was a pathetic 
 appeal from the Minister of King, a maritime parish on the coast of 
 the County Waterford, situated at the western side of Dungarvan Bay, 
 
134 
 
 and extending from the Slievegrine mountain to the shore. Besides a 
 large scattered population, this parish contains the three fishing villages 
 of Helvick, Ballinagoul, and Ringagoonah, peopled by between two and 
 three thousand persons, a hardy race, depending chiefly for their sup- 
 port upon fishing. Supplies of food were sent to them, but the Society 
 soon became sensible, that although gratuitous relief was indispensable 
 to save the famishing, unless assistance by means of industrial employ- 
 ment could be rendered, little, if any, permanent benefit would be 
 effected.* To induce the fishermen to resume their accustomed occupa- 
 tion, which besides affording profitable employment, would likewise 
 bring in an additional supply of cheap nutritious food, it was suggested 
 that perhaps loans, to be repaid by small weekly instalments, might be 
 a judicious mode of assisting them. The Rev. Mr. Alcock, the philan- 
 thropic promoter of the relief, undertook to give his personal co-opera- 
 tion, but at the same time expressed a fear as to repayment, for the 
 fishermen were so reduced to poverty, as to have parted with their 
 nets and gear to buy food, and some of them had even burned the 
 oars of their boats, for want of other fuel. 
 
 ' So many unsuccessful attempts,' as is remarked in the plain state- 
 ment of the proceedings adopted, (' Facts from the Fisheries,' Waterford, 
 8vo., 1848,) ' have been made in years past, to promote and encourage 
 the Irish Fisheries, that in making a fresh effort of this nature, the 
 Committee considered it needful to commence upon a very moderate 
 scale; and in forming regulations for conducting it, to be principally 
 guided by those fundamental principles which so powerfully and uni- 
 versally influence human action. 
 
 I With these views, although the crews of upwards of one hundred 
 fishing boats were anxious to obtain assistance, it was concluded to be 
 the wiser and more prudent course, to begin only with fifteen ; it being 
 at the time intimated to the others, that if these proceeded satisfac- 
 torily, and paid up regularly, the number would be increased. 
 
 * In selecting these cases, previous good conduct, sobriety, and in- 
 dustry, were to be the recommendations ; and thus at the outset, cha- 
 racter, and not mere destitution, was established, and quickly under- 
 stood to be the passport to favour. 
 
 ' The loans, varying from 10.9. to 3, were to be expended solely for 
 the repair of boats, and providing fishing apparatus; and whilst pro- 
 visions were high-priced, a small weekly allowance of meal, as sea 
 store, was given gratis, to each boat's crew, for a short period. 
 
 ' One month after the loan was made, repayment was to commence 
 in weekly instalments of not less than sixpence in the pound. The 
 sums thus received, it was announced, would be immediately re-lent to 
 other parties; and the persons assisted were therefore encouraged to 
 do their part in benefiting their neighbours, by paying in a greater sum 
 
 II ' The Society of Friends, eminently prominent in their judicious and bene- 
 volent efforts to alleviate the distresses of the people, directed their attention to 
 the Fisheries ; and in all cases where their proceedings were under the control 
 of their own managers, or where they had the good fortune to find judicious 
 administrators of their bounty, permanent good results have followed. 
 
 The indefatigable exertions of the Rev. Mr. Alcock at Helvick Head, aided 
 by Mr. Strangman of Waterford, and Lord Stuart de Decies, have produced an 
 establishment which deserves to be ranked very high on our list.' Report of 
 Inspecting Commissioners, 1849. 
 
135 
 
 than the stipulated amount, whenever the week's fishing proved suc- 
 cessful; and the expectant applicants exercised a salutary vigilance 
 that there should be no undue remissness in the payments. 
 
 ' In order still further to induce punctuality, and likewise to aid 
 these miserably poor people, without compromising the feelings of in- 
 dependence and self-reliance, which the Committee were most anxious 
 to cherish, it was also stipulated, that if the instalments of sixpence in 
 the pound were regularly paid up for thirty weeks, that is fifteen shil- 
 lings in the pound, the remaining five shillings, or 25 per cent., would 
 be remitted as a bonus; but any person getting four weeks into arrear, 
 would be disentitled to this allowance; and this arrangement has had 
 a very beneficial effect. 
 
 1 But however excellent a plan may be in the abstract, experience 
 abundantly shows, that unless the individual who undertakes its man- 
 agement and supervision is qualified for the task, disappointment is 
 oftentimes the result. The accompanying interesting reports (from 
 the Rev. Mr. Alcock), and the valuable suggestions they contain, will 
 fully testify how judiciously and successfully the views of the Com- 
 mittee have been carried out.' 
 
 The sum thus lent was 56 2s. Qd., which with 7 from the London 
 Ladies' Association, and twenty barrels of meal, constituted the whole 
 amount advanced. 'With this and the repayments, 178 loans have 
 been made; and the parties thus assisted have, it appears, besides 
 (with little exception) regularly paying up their instalments, been en- 
 abled to maintain themselves and those dependent upon them ; at a 
 time, too, when in the surrounding parishes the Poor Law Guardians 
 were overwhelmed with wretched objects imploring relief. 
 
 'In tenth month, 1847, a deputation from the Auxiliary Committee 
 visited the district, and were much gratified at beholding the happy 
 countenances, the independent bearing, arid consciousness of self- 
 respect apparent among the fishermen. 
 
 ' These poor people, whilst pouring forth their grateful acknowledg- 
 ments for the assistance given them, feelingly adverted to the severe 
 injury they sustained by the legal restrictions on the use of the trammel 
 net, to which within the last few years they had been subjected. This 
 kind of net is cheap in its construction, inexpensive in working it, and 
 takes a large quantity of fish. Different applications have been made 
 to the Irish Fishery Board for the removal of these prejudicial restric- 
 tions, but hitherto without effect not even the slightest relaxation 
 having been yet granted. In Great Britain it appears there are no 
 such restrictions. On the contrary, this mode of fishing is perfectly 
 free and unrestrained ; and it certainly does seem extraordinary why 
 a different course should be pursued as regards Ireland. 
 
 ' Another great impediment to their success has been the want of 
 a suitable pier to shelter their frail craft from the winter storms. At 
 Ballinagoul they pointed to a rude sort of breakwater, formed of loose 
 stones, that they had laboriously piled together, and which is their 
 only protection, but totally inadequate for the purpose. This subject 
 was therefore brought under the notice of the Commissioners of Public 
 Works; and that Board immediately sent down their engineer to 
 examine and report upon it, and have since agreed to expend the sum of 
 
136 
 
 1,800 in erecting a commodious pier there for the safety and accommo- 
 dation of the fishing boats. The preparations for commencing this useful 
 work are now in a state of much forwardness; and it is hoped a con- 
 siderable portion of it will be completed during the present year.' 
 ******** 
 
 f In submitting these preliminary observations, with the annexed 
 Reports, to the notice of the public, the Auxiliary Committee enter- 
 tain the hope, that efforts of a similar nature may be made on other 
 parts of the coast, the main points to be kept in view, being simply 
 to begin on a moderate scale; to select the persons to be assisted from 
 among the most deserving, rather than the most destitute; and to 
 frame the regulations so as to make it the interest of all parties to 
 adhere to and maintain them. 
 
 . ' The Committee further indulge the expectation, that a perusal of 
 these pages may arrest the attention of some influential members of the 
 Legislature, and promote the speedy removal of the prejudicial and im- 
 politic restrictions, which debar the poor Irish fishermen from the free 
 use and consequent advantages of the valuable kinds of net which are 
 in profitable and unrestrained operation in England and elsewhere. 
 
 'Much has been said about encouraging the Irish Fisheries; but 
 every reflecting mind must at once perceive, that until there is freedom 
 of action for catching the fish, as well as security for the vessels en- 
 gaged in it, by the construction of piers in suitable places, it is almost 
 hopeless to expect any great extension, or permanent improvement, in 
 this valuable branch of national industry. 
 ' WATERFORD, 8th Month, 21st, 1848.' 
 
 The above remarks were drawn up by the Committee of the Society 
 of Friends. A perusal will reward the reader of the reports accom- 
 panying them, from the Rev. Mr. Alcock, the director of this successful 
 mode of relieving his maritime parishioners. The simple narrative 
 describes the pride and increased exertion of the fishermen at the pub- 
 licity of their success ; the general gratitude for the allocation of funds 
 to build a safety pier; the improvements arising in the neighbourhood, 
 such as the establishment of a curing station by two natives of Scot- 
 land; and the improved physical and moral aspect of the industrious 
 inhabitants. 
 
 THE BRITISH FISHERY SOCIETY. Many suggestions will be found in 
 the Report and Appendix of 1836 as to the formation of a similar 
 association in Ireland. From these the following may be extracted. 
 
 1 The Government grant of 9,000 for the harbour, laid the founda- 
 tion of the improvements at Wick; and that grant would have been 
 given as in other instances, to any individual or body, who would 
 comply with the conditions of investing a similar amount in the work. 
 Beyond this the society have sunk no money here; and their feu from 
 Lord Duffers will ultimately be, and is now, a profitable bargain their 
 sub-feuars and tenants having improved and ameliorated the estate. 
 If in Ireland there is a good and ascertained fishing station, but where' 
 from want of harbour and other necessary accommodations, the fishery 
 cannot be carried on to a tenth of the extent it would otherwise be, 
 and that the lord of the manor is unable or unwilling to make those 
 
13T 
 
 improvements then it would undoubtedly be advantageous to raise 
 money by subscription, and constitute the subscribers into a " Society 
 for extending the Fisheries and improving the Sea Coast of Ireland." 
 
 ' An association similar to the British Fishery Society, I conceive 
 might be of essential service to Ireland, provided it confined its encou- 
 ragement, as in the instance of the British Fishery Society, strictly to 
 harbour accommodation, and the feuing the ground in favourable situ- 
 ations leaving every other detail connected with the prosecution of 
 the Fisheries to private enterprise.' Appendix, pp. 56, 57. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to draw attention to the last observations. 
 The details of fishing business appear especially to require to be left to 
 individual enterprise and attention, and to demand a rigid system 
 of economy. A curing establishment will hardly succeed unless it is 
 the speculation of one person, and a project upon which his livelihood 
 depends. Under the most favourable circumstance^, good and frugal 
 management is essential. Notwithstanding the abundant supplies of 
 fish which occasionally resort to the coast, Irishmen have to compete 
 with communities both in Scotland and Newfoundland, who have the 
 advantage of a more certain source, and who are long and well trained 
 to the cure of the article. Fluctuations in the demand must be ex- 
 pected, but should not discourage, when it is remembered that the home 
 market furnishes the largest demand for the fish of Scotland, and that 
 Newfoundland fish is also consumed here. 
 
 SEA FISHERIES. Measures in which assistance or control from the 
 State appear to be legitimately applicable to the Irish Sea Fisheries, 
 in aid of enterprise or of local exertion. 
 
 These may be classed under the heads of Public Accommodations, 
 Control, and Instruction. 
 
 To the great primary duty of Government, the protection of the 
 community from fraud and violence, may be added that arising from 
 the expediency of affording additional securities for the application of 
 capital and labour, wherever these cannot be expected to be obtained 
 by private outlay, or where individual interest is not sufficient to pro- 
 vide them. 
 
 PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. Safety-harbours and piers have always 
 been recognised as undertakings which cannot be expected to proceed 
 from private wants or enterprise alone, on account of their magnitude, 
 as open to the public at large, and as dependent on the power to levy 
 tolls. 
 
 Much has been recently done in the construction of these important 
 objects, on which the extension not only of fishing, but of commerce 
 depends. There are, however, parts of the eastern coast of Ireland on 
 which there is yearly a great loss of life and property, which the for- 
 mation of two or three harbours might prevent for the future in a great 
 degree. 
 
 The Scottish Fisheries on the eastern coast are dependent on good 
 harbours, while those of Ireland are for the most part carried on by 
 shore boats. But the increased development of Deep Sea fishing must 
 await the increase of accommodation for the larger vessels which its 
 prosecution requires. 
 
 Sir John Franklin stated in his examination in 1836, that he had 
 lately visited several harbours on the west coast, and found some of the 
 
138 
 
 piers, in the harbours rescrted to by fishermen, so badly placed for 
 affording shelter, that he could not account for the selection of their 
 sites, and he observed many sites in which piers would be of importance 
 to all classes engaged in industry. He was then informed that the 
 choice of sites for piers was governed by the locality of the property 
 held by land proprietors undertaking to pay a moiety of the cost of 
 erecting them. In this case an evil arises from the aid being made 
 dependent on ' voluntary ' exertion. The land offering the best site 
 may be owned by a heavily-encumbered proprietor, the estate may be 
 under the Court, or the land itself leased. 
 
 Mr. Nimmo's valuable survey of the coast of eleven northern coun- 
 ties is printed in the Appendix to the Report. 
 
 Mr. Donnell's report on Fishery Harbours is also printed. It is 
 closed with the following remarks on the impolicy of requiring local 
 contributions in all cases : 'However presumptuous the expression of 
 disapproval of a legislative enactment may appear, by so humble an 
 individual as myself, I venture to observe that the clause contained in 
 the section of the Act of the 5 Geo. IV., c. 64, which requires local 
 contributions in aid of every grant, works badly. It has the effect of 
 fixing the construction of harbours on inferior instead of superior sites : 
 local contribution is only to be obtained where the individual sub- 
 scribing will derive personal advantage; he therefore, in general, pro- 
 poses the site as the condition of his subscription ; and though a pre- 
 ferable site may not be very remote, if local contribution cannot be 
 obtained for it, the Board cannot decide in its favour, but must either 
 submit to grant for the inferior site, or give up the measure altogether. 
 The principle of local contribution is good, but its universal and indis- 
 pensable application, practically renders the selection of the best sites 
 impossible.' 
 
 As an instance of the difficulty caused by this requirement, a case 
 brought before the notice of the Commission may be mentioned. A very 
 enterprising and prosperous fishing community existed at Ballinagoul, 
 on the Waterford coast; the late Fishery Board were so convinced of its 
 importance as to offer to contribute three-fourths of the expense of 
 erecting a pier there, but the proprietors of the soil would not come 
 forward, and although the people themselves offered to contribute in 
 labour, the project was necessarily abandoned. Page 160. 
 
 The Act 9 Vic., cap. 3, allotted a sum of 50,000 for Fishery Piers 
 in Ireland. Three-quarters of the sum required for each might be a 
 free grant, the residue to be secured as the Commissioners saw fit: 
 not to exceed 5,000 in any case. Any person residing, or being 
 proprietor or occupier of land adjacent to the sea coast might apply 
 by way of memorial, praying that such district or place may be ex- 
 amined and the works executed, and undertaking to defray the pre- 
 liminary survey, <fcc., should the work not be proceeded with. 
 
 The Commissioners are empowered to select any place ; also to secure 
 loans upon the county by presentment where a considerable market for 
 fish exists, or rises thereout ; or on the district, or on ' lands.* The 
 grand jury may present without the medium of a previous petit ses- 
 sions. There is also a power to levy tolls. 
 
 The assistance given towards these objects is now dependent on pri- 
 vate applications. This is not desirable. A broad scheme to guide 
 
139 
 
 future operations is wanted, and also the power to construct any small 
 harbour or pier wherever it is required, and levy a proportion of the 
 cost off the district. 
 
 ' Bid harbours open, public ways extend, 
 And temples, worthier of the God, ascend ; 
 Bid the broad arch the dang'rous flood contain, 
 The mole projected, break the roaring main ; 
 Back to his bounds their subject sea command, 
 And roll obedient rivers through the land : 
 These honours peace to happy Britain brings; 
 These are imperial works, and worthy kings.' 
 
 LOAN FUNDS, SAVINGS' BANKS, BENEFIT SOCIETIES, &c. Although it 
 has been said by a master-observer of human nature that, 
 
 ' Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,' 
 
 Loan Funds, under careful local management and stringent regulations, 
 are often advantageous in supplying the wants of many minor callings, 
 whose operations require the advance of a little capital, or are subject 
 to vicissitude. Reference may be made to the success of many of 
 these auxiliary societies in Ireland, and especially to that established 
 by the Society of Friends at Ring. The recommendations of the 
 Commission of Inquiry, and the report at page 132, may also be re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 SAVINGS' BANKS are the best reverse of the loan system. They 
 might, perhaps, be made to co-operate, and support a loan fund. 
 Government has recently introduced a measure for an adequate super- 
 vision and control of these institutions. They require legal restric- 
 tions, and a certain amount of interference, to give them that security 
 without which they may rob the provident, and become a hollow cheat. 
 It is one of the primary duties of the State to protect the community 
 from fraud. 
 
 REPAIRING FISHERMEN'S BOATS. It is questionable if grants of money 
 for this purpose, as practised in Scotland, proves a healthy mode of 
 aiding fishermen. The Commissioners for the British Fisheries, in 
 their report for 1847, state : "The grants thus made, though small in 
 amount, have been of great benefit to many a poor fisherman, by 
 enabling him to fit out his boat for the fishery, which otherwise he 
 could not have done; but the Commissioners again refer to the opinion 
 expressed by them in former reports, that this annual grant might be 
 applied in a more beneficial manner in the formation of prudential 
 Societies for the Relief of the poor Fisherman." 
 
 BENEFIT CLUBS. Difficulties are experienced in England in obtain- 
 ing a permanent subscription on the part of the fishermen to these 
 useful institutions. At Scarborough a sort of insurance or benefit 
 club was established, towards which the members were to pay from 
 6d. to 2s. 6d. per month, and to be entitled to the whole of what they 
 had paid, whenever an accident, such as loss of nets or life occurred. 
 A handsome donation was made up as an extra inducement to join; 
 but, after some years, the subscribers fell off, although the funds were 
 good, and no pains were spared to induce the fishermen to subscribe. 
 
 However, the Rev. Mr. Alcock's success in the County Waterford 
 leads to an assurance, that wherever painstaking persons will under- 
 
140 
 
 take to conduct such benevolent societies a similar success will attend 
 them. For such a purpose the co-operation of the clergy is most 
 desirable. 
 
 FISHING CHARTS. In a treatise " On the Importance of Extending 
 the British Fisheries," by S. Phelps, [London, 8vo, 1818,] the failure 
 of their extension is principally attributed to their never having been 
 methodically made a national object of investigation. The Commission 
 of Inquiry of 183*5 has removed this want in a great measure, with 
 regard to those of Ireland; no allusion, however, appears among their 
 recommendations with respect to that important materiel of proceed- 
 ings the carte du pays. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Deane, in a paper addressed to the Royal Dublin Society, 
 in 1847, writes as follows, in advocating that the deep-sea fishing banks 
 should be surveyed by Government, as well with a view of ascertain- 
 ing their exact position, as of recording their productiveness : 
 
 ' During the past year some gentlemen with whom I connected 
 myself sought to organize a Company for supplying fishing-boats, and 
 for fishing generally. We presented a memorial to the late Govern- 
 ment for a vessel to survey the great Nymph Bank, and a revenue 
 cruiser was at once placed at our disposal; but not having received 
 public support, we were, with much regret, unavoidably prevented 
 from taking advantage of this liberal offer. 
 
 * The expense of providing gear would have been very considerable, 
 (more than those who organized the project felt themselves called 
 upon to incur,) and it was even questioned by practical men whether 
 the survey could have been effectively carried on by one vessel, and 
 more particularly as the time was limited for her occupation in our 
 service. I believe, also, that the value of any survey made by private 
 individuals would not be recognised by the public as authentic, and 
 that to be really useful it should be conducted by Government, through 
 the medium of its own officers, aided by experienced fishermen, as well 
 as by men of science. A report formed on a survey of this kind 
 would be most valuable, particularly to those anxious to embark in 
 the fishery of the deep seas, and a knowledge of the position and of 
 the resources of the banks would, I have no doubt, tend to increase 
 the number of vessels of that size sufficient and capable for promoting 
 those fisheries. 
 
 * Mr. Strangman, of Waterford, told me that he, as well as others, 
 would have embarked capital in providing vessels for carrying on the 
 deep sea fisheries of the Nymph Bank, but that they were deterred from 
 so doing, in consequence of the expense which a preliminary survey of 
 its position and productiveness would entail.* 
 
 " Charts of fishing banks would contribute materially to the promo- 
 tion of the fisheries Government is now making a nautical survey of 
 the coast; and with a small additional expense the Admiralty survey- 
 ors could easily examine the several fishing banks, and by having 
 experienced fishermen with them, could not only set down the nature 
 of those banks, their soundings, currents, <kc. but also, by ' trying the 
 ground,' ascertain the kinds and quantities of fish resorting to them. 
 The resources and treasures of the deep being thus tested, an additional 
 stimulus for perseverance and exertion is thereby given the fisherman 
 no longer works in the dark as heretofore, but knows in what direction 
 
141 
 
 to shape his course in search of fish, should he not succeed in finding 
 them in their accustomed haunts." Facts from the Fisheries. Water- 
 ford, 8vo., 1848. 
 
 Sir John Franklin suggested in 1836, that surveys should be made 
 of the reputed fishing banks on the western coast, to ascertain their 
 precise position, extent, soundings, and the supply of fish resorting to 
 them. 
 
 Some of the charts appertaining to the coast survey were published, 
 and were reported in 1836 to be "sought after with much earnest- 
 ness." Appendix, p. 18. 
 
 The erection of small white beacon posts on rocks, and the buoying 
 of sunken and isolated rocks, forms also another important point in 
 which the aid of Government might be given. 
 
 Where such appliances were provided in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of the coast, the funds might be leviable by district assessment. 
 
 CONTROL. The Commissioners of British Fisheries, in their report 
 for 1847, refer to the complaints of the reckless destruction of the spawn 
 and fry of herrings every year off the coast of Ayr, by which myriads 
 of that fish are destroyed. They urge the need of enactment to bestow 
 upon them additional discretionary powers to enable them to impose 
 restrictions, and protect the brood of sea fish. 
 
 The Board of Works, as Commissioners of Fisheries in Ireland, although 
 they state in the Seventeenth Report that they have sparingly exercised 
 their restrictive powers in * consideration of the vast extent and illimit- 
 able supply of the ocean,' have sometimes exercised them with great 
 advantage, to the prevention of injury to spawn by the improved 
 methods of fishing by drag-nets. It may perhaps be thought expe- 
 dient to add to these powers the necessary Government control over loan 
 funds, &c. and over any department for Instruction, should such 
 measures be approved. 
 
 INSTRUCTION. It has been seen that the Board of Public Works, as 
 Commissioners of Fisheries, recommend that, beyond the acknowledged 
 necessity for the interposition of the State for the preservation of the 
 peace, and for the formation of public accommodations, direct Govern- 
 ment interference should be extended to any assistance which can be 
 given through existing establishments, to promote practical education 
 in the habits, modes of capture, and curing of fish. 
 
 The Special Commission of 1836 recommended, 'that a Practical Edu- 
 cation in the Manufacture of Nets, and in other fishery avocations, be 
 adopted in the National Schools of the maritime districts of Ireland.' 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Alcock, whose experience in promoting the fisheries 
 in his parish entitles his suggestions to attention, observes : " The 
 Government is deputing Practical Instructors to proceed through the 
 different counties, and deliver lectures on Agricultural subjects, intend- 
 ing thereby to improve the system of farming. Now, if something 
 similar were done for the Fishermen, would it not be the means of 
 effecting much practical good? The difficulties attending such a scheme 
 are few; the Lecturer would not have to travel from farm to farm, nor 
 from parish to parish, in search of an audience ; he would easily find 
 one assembled at every fishing station. He could adopt, as he advanced 
 round the coast, what appeared to him to be the must successful methods 
 of taking the different kinds of fish, and impart such knowledge to 
 
142 
 
 those at other stations not so well informed; he could explain the most 
 approved manner of fishing, as practised in Holland, England, Scotland, 
 &c., and by exhibiting specimens of the most improved Fishing Gear, 
 contribute materially to benefit a class of persons who, I regret to say, 
 have in many places much to learn." 
 
 Sir Robert Kane, in his work on the 'Industrial Resources of Ire- 
 land/ closes his description of the extent of materials for industry 
 whicli exist naturally in Ireland, by pointing out how indispensable 
 practicable education in industrial knowledge is to the employment of 
 even the richest gifts of nature. 
 
 ' The fault/ he writes, 'is not in the country, but in ourselves; the 
 absence of successful enterprise is owing to the fact, that we do not 
 know how to succeed; we do riot want activity, we are not deficient 
 in mental power, but we want special industrial knowledge. 
 
 'As in the existing circumstances of Ireland manufacturing industry 
 can only come into play by slow degrees, it is by improvements in 
 Agriculture, for which education is absolutely necessary, that the most 
 rapid and most extensive amelioration in the condition of the people 
 must be effected. Agricultural education is, therefore, the object on 
 which immediate attention should be concentrated in this country/ 
 ******* 
 
 ' Above all, with temperate habits, and with the education which 
 the National system will give to every individual of the growing race, 
 there is no danger but that industry may be accompanied by intelli- 
 gence, intelligence by morality, and all by the steadiness of purpose, 
 and tranquillity of habits, on which the happiness of the family, and 
 the peace of the community depend. This is the result which it should 
 be the object of all to gain. This would render us independent of the 
 wretched political differences on which we waste our strength. 
 
 ' Vast in its consequences, it is yet simple in its means of attain- 
 ment, it only requires that each man intending to live by the land, 
 should learn what the land is, and what can be done with it. That, 
 having so learned, he should apply himself steadfastly to the practical 
 working of his occupation. So he is certain of success. Success will 
 render him independent, independence will render him respected, and 
 respect will bring him power. Thus knowledge is power. Practical 
 knowledge; for power is essentially practical.' 
 
 Sir Robert Kane's remarks are, of course, applicable to the Irish 
 Fisheries, as a branch of our economic interests. As generally appli- 
 cable, should they not obtain serious consideration 1 ? Property in Ireland 
 depends, indeed, upon the condition of the people, and may reasonably 
 be taxed, not only for the support of the destitute, but for an educa- 
 tion that would serve to prevent destitution, and to enhance the value 
 of property. 
 
 It has been well observed, ' Ought not the knowledge of the hydro- 
 grapher, the naturalist, and the practical fisherman, be combined to 
 afford us some sound basis upon which the Irish Fisheries might be 
 fairly founded, and the wealth that lies in the sea turned to national 
 account.' 
 
 In illustration of this position, it may be remarked, that the great 
 fishing bank in St. George's Channel was only discovered as lately as 
 1735, by Mr. Doyle, an hydrographer. Monsieur Soyer, in his last 
 
143 
 
 erudite book on Cookery, mentions the circumstance of the London 
 market having been latterly well supplied with red mullet, the wood- 
 cock of the finny tribe, in consequence of a curious discovery of a 
 naturalist in the west of England. A better success in fishing on one 
 part of the Irish coast was stated to the Commission of 1836 as attri- 
 butable to the fishermen having been taught by the coast guard to use 
 hooks instead of thorns at the end of their lines. 
 
 If it were needful, much evidence might be brought forward to show 
 the advantages that would accrue from a system of practical education 
 for the coast population. The services of the coast guard might, per- 
 haps, be brought in for the purpose. 
 
 Example is often a better teacher than precept. The Deep Sea fish- 
 ing has been greatly advanced in some places by the employment of 
 Englishmen as masters of the boats. This, however, as a matter of 
 private arrangement, need only be alluded to, the present object being 
 chiefly to inquire into matters in which it may seem reasonable to 
 expect the assistance of Government. 
 
 It will be seen by reference to the Report of the Select Committee 
 of 1838, on Education in Ireland, that the voluntary system for the 
 support or extension of education has been tried to a great extent, and 
 for a long period, and has failed. The conclusions of the committee 
 as to the need of extended and organized institutions for Public 
 Education and Instruction are now even more worthy of consideration 
 at the present time^ than at the time their admirable Report was 
 drawn up. 
 
 It may not be thought foreign to the present subject to venture the 
 following suggestion: Some difficulty is presented by the question 
 as to the disposal of persons convicted of crime, or under sentence of 
 transportation. To keep them in a certain state of confinement, and 
 yet employ their labour to advantage, forms another difficulty. That 
 which it is most desirable to solve is relative to the best mode of treat- 
 ing such persons, so as to render them fit to return to society as good 
 members. It might be practicable to appropriate some of the smaller 
 islands that surround our shores for these purposes. Some of the least 
 criminal would be sufficiently prevented from escape by the insularity 
 of their prison. An island of any extent would afford means of out- 
 door occupation, while some trades analogous to their circumstances 
 might be taught or practised. For example, if an extensive Fishery 
 existed, the manufacture of nets, and the making or repair of boats 
 might be carried on. 
 
144 
 
 EXTRACTS from the STATISTICS furnished by the COMMISSION OP INQUIRY 
 in 1836, in the APPENDIX to their REPORT. 
 
 Cured Herrings imported into, and exported from Ireland page 29. 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 Irish Fish. 
 Barrels. 
 
 Foreign. 
 Barrels. 
 
 Total. 
 Barrels. 
 
 1798 
 1799 
 1800 
 1808 
 1816 
 
 106,172 
 122,430 
 44,180 
 33,531 
 60,161 
 
 4,215 
 5,589 
 1,040 
 2 
 915 
 
 7,631 
 8,694 
 4,841 
 1,161 
 
 4,215 
 13,220 
 9,734 
 4,843 
 2,076 
 
 1847 
 
 99,610 Imported from Scotland, B. Fishery Ketura, 1847. 
 
 Fish Imported into Ireland page 29. 
 
 IMPORTED FROM. 
 
 COD. 
 
 Cwts.' 
 
 COD. 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 IJNG. 
 
 Cwts. 
 
 HERRING. 
 
 Barrels. 
 
 SALMON. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1802. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Britain, 
 
 220| 
 
 76 
 
 937 
 
 56,947 
 
 
 
 Other Countries, . 
 
 6,768 
 
 410 
 
 
 
 22,663 
 
 
 
 1808. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Britain, 
 
 1,668 
 
 221 
 
 1,138 
 
 26,764 
 
 2 
 
 Other Countries, . 
 
 6,781| 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 6,767 
 
 10 
 
 Boats and Men engaged in the Sea Fisheries of Ireland, 1836 page 32. 
 
 DECKED. 
 
 HALF -DECK ED. 
 
 OPN SAIL BOATS. 
 
 ROW BOATS. 
 
 No. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Men. 
 
 No. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Men. 
 
 No. 
 
 Men. 
 
 No. 
 
 Men. 
 
 215 
 
 7,099 
 
 1,234 
 
 870 
 
 10,292 
 
 4,684 
 
 1,812 
 
 9,179 
 
 7,864 
 
 37,829 
 
 Total Number of Boats, . . .10,761 
 ,, ,, Fishermen, . . 54,119 
 
 Boats and Men engaged in the Sea Fisheries of Scotland ; 
 
 1838. 1847. 
 
 (Report, p. 37.) (Report, p. 24.) 
 
 Boats decked and undecked, . . . 11,427 15,279 
 
 Fishermen and Boys, 49,720 61,257 
 
 Coopers, 1,989 2,280 
 
 Persons Cleaning and Packing the Fish, . 26,038 28,561 
 
 Labourers, 7,235 7,299 
 
 Total Number of Persons, .... 84,982 99,397 
 
 FishCurers, 1,916 1,553 
 
 NOTE The number of boats and men employed in Ireland appears to hare 
 
 been less in the year 1836 than at any other. By reference to page 68 of this 
 volume, it will be seen that in 1848 the numbers of boats and men employed in 
 Ireland exceed those in Scotland of the previous year. 
 
145 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 i. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS on the COURSE of the PROPOSED INVESTIGATION 
 into the SUBJECT of the IRISH FISHERIES. 
 
 CONSULT and make an abstract of the principal provisions of the different 
 Acts of Parliament referring to the Fisheries, distinguishing those which 
 have been repealed, from those still in force. 
 
 Consult the Reports of the Irish Fishery Board, presented to Parlia- 
 ment, their minute books and correspondence, with any other papers or 
 publications of the day, tending to give an account of the operations of 
 that period. 
 
 Although it will be found that nearly the whole of the proceedings 
 at that time were connected with the system of Bounties, and no idea 
 of a renewal of such a system, in any degree can be admitted ; yet it is 
 necessary to record how the affairs were managed, and many useful 
 points unconnected with it, may incidentally be elicited. 
 
 Consult the regulations adopted in other countries, more particularly 
 the various Acts of Parliament affecting the Fisheries of England and 
 Scotland; also the reports of any commissioners, boards, or committees, 
 or of any private societies or associations for the promotion of the 
 fisheries; to ascertain the measures that may have been, or still are 
 adopted for that purpose. 
 
 Much information may probably be obtained from works published 
 on the subject, as also from Pamphlets, Reviews, &c. 
 
 Endeavour to ascertain from these sources, as well as from inquiries, 
 as from persons conversant in the various branches of the business, and 
 experienced in the regulations adopted at the different Fishery Stations, 
 what are the measures that have been found beneficial, and those which 
 have proved otherwise. The object being to catch as great a quantity 
 of fish as can be taken, without the risk of producing scarcity in suc- 
 ceeding years ; various interesting subjects of inquiry present themselves, 
 as connected with this desideratum. 
 
 It will be necessary to ascertain how far the restrictions, laid upon 
 different modes of fishing, the limits to the seasons, to the localities of 
 different fisheries, and to the kind of nets employed, are founded on 
 good principles; and whether some of these regulations have not origi- 
 nated in old and erroneous conceptions, or in the false principle of 
 encouraging the more imperfect methods adopted by the poorer class who 
 have not capital or means for the adoption of improved systems. 
 
 The poor fishermen on the coast naturally support the latter principle, 
 on the plea of the cruelty of not enforcing restrictions on operations 
 depriving them, as they believe, of their only means of subsistence, and 
 thus reducing themselves and families to a state of beggary; but what- 
 ever other expedients may be adopted for their benefit, the principle of 
 
146 
 
 individual relief, at the expense of general improvement cannot be 
 admitted. 
 
 Visit the different stations on the Irish Coast inquire minutely into 
 their capabilities the varieties of fish found there the seasons for 
 taking them and the best modes for the purpose the probable extent 
 to which the business might be carried the nature of the shores, har- 
 bours, and accommodation for the vessels the interior communications, 
 markets, &c. 
 
 Ascertain the means employed, and the extent to which the work is 
 at present carried. 
 
 Investigate any peculiarity affecting each station, the dissensions 
 among the boatmen or fishermen, whether arising from subjects con- 
 nected with the business, or from party feelings; the superstitions or 
 prejudices existing in some parts; the degree of undue influence 
 exercised by associations, or any existing tendency towards injurious 
 combinations, or other acts likely to deter capitalists from embarking 
 in the undertaking. 
 
 On many parts of the coast disputes have arisen between the line 
 fishermen and those using trawling, or other nets, which have led to 
 acts of violence complained of. Such proceedings have been reported in 
 Dublin bay, off the Skerries, at Dingle bay, and other places. At the 
 Claddagh (Galway town), an association has long existed among the 
 fishermen, who have a self-appointed chief, and are subject to rules and 
 regulations founded on superstitious and indolent habits, and opposed 
 to many useful and industrious operations so powerful is this body, 
 that it has been very frequently necessary to check their proceedings 
 by Government armed vessels. These are a few instances; but many 
 others may probably be found in other places. 
 
 The result of this examination will tend to prove how far the provi- 
 sions of the Acts of Parliament, and the existing measures and regu- 
 lations are efficient or otherwise : whether those founded on general 
 principles are applicable, and should be adopted, or if they may 
 not require modification, or addition for peculiar circumstances, or 
 localities. 
 
 Much information may probably be obtained on this head from the 
 officers employed by the old Fishery Board; but the opinions of those 
 in subordinate stations must be received with caution on the subject of 
 the systems it may be advisable to adopt, as in many instances their 
 minds are deeply imbued with ideas of the propriety of the renewal of 
 Bounties of extensive Government establishments, with other measures 
 not generally approved on the present improved system of true policy; 
 but which will naturally find clamorous advocates on the slightest 
 encouragement. 
 
 It would be necessary to take a distinct view of the operations and 
 regulations for the deep sea, the inland, and the shore Fisheries, as also 
 that at the mouths of rivers. All are of great importance, have been 
 much neglected, and require different treatment. 
 
 The propriety of the use of the Scotch stake- net, against which there 
 is a strong prejudice in Ireland, is deserving of consideration. They are 
 undoubtedly most productive, but it is asserted that they exhaust the 
 supply of fish to an extent that may threaten a material diminution in 
 the stock for many years. 
 
147 
 
 In the rivers the construction of Eel and Salmon weirs will form an 
 interesting subject of inquiry; and whether they also, in their present 
 form, and being practically of unlimited operation in season and situation, 
 may not be found too destructive. 
 
 A clear statement of these and other similar researches will be 
 extremely valuable as a guide to future exertions, and on them may be 
 founded the detailed provisions of an entire new Act, of which the re- 
 gulations should be under the cognizance of the civil Magistrates and 
 authorities of the country, with as little direct interference as possible 
 from the Government, an interference which has hitherto been too much 
 mixed up with every undertaking in Ireland.* 
 
 II. 
 
 REPORT of the COMMISSION of INQUIRY of 1835, on the SALMON 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 THE Commissioners appointed on the 2nd November, 1835, to inquire 
 into the State of the Irish Fisheries, and the means of improving them, 
 have in the Replies to their Queries, received a considerable mass of 
 information respecting the actual condition of the principal Salmon 
 Rivers, and explanatory of the views of those interested in their 
 Fisheries. This information, condensed and arranged under separate 
 heads, for more convenient perusal, will be found appended to the 
 present Report. 
 
 The Commissioners have also consulted the Parliamentary Papers 
 relative to the British Salmon Fisheries, and such other publications on 
 the subject as they have been enabled to procure; and they have, to the 
 extent of their opportunities, sought for viva voce evidence on the subject, 
 at several Fishing Stations, in their progress through the country. 
 
 From the Replies to Queries, it appears that the Irish Salmon Fisheries 
 are by no means in a satisfactory condition, as well from insufficiency 
 of the existing laws, as from the systematic breach of their provisions. 
 
 Many rivers, heretofore highly productive, are stated to have become 
 incapable of repaying the outlay of the fishermen; and generally, 
 throughout the South of Ireland, a diminution of fish, to a greater or less 
 extent, is referred to causes within the reach of legislative control. 
 
 In comparing these Replies with the evidence contained in the Par- 
 liamentary Reports, the Commissioners find a very close approximation, 
 if not an actual identity, in the exigencies, legal and physical, of the 
 fisheries of the two countries. They meet with the same complaints of 
 the Upper Proprietors, against the practices pursued by the Lower 
 Proprietors, and in Estuaries and Tideways; and the same complaints of 
 the Lower Proprietors against the negligence of those whose possessions 
 are on the shallow waters. The same denunciations, also, are made of 
 artful contrivances to evade the laws for the protection of the breeding 
 Fish, in their transit to and from the spawning ground; and of the des- 
 truction of Fry, both voluntarily, and by mills and other impediments. 
 
 * This document was enclosed in a ' letter of appointment and instruction* to 
 the Commissioners of Public Works, dated Dublin Castle, 2nd November, 1835, 
 and signed by Lord Morpeth. 
 
 L2 
 
148 
 
 In short, the natural history of the animal being everywhere similar, a 
 similar course of injurious practices isevery where found to require a simi- 
 lar legal interference for the protection of the breed. In Ireland, however, 
 a frequent non-observance of the close season, and an unusual prevalence 
 of poaching (in some cases amounting to a total destruction of the 
 fisheries), absorb a larger portion of public attention ; and are considered 
 as especially requiring immediate legislative redress. 
 
 The prevalence of poaching in Ireland, though in part attributable to 
 the circumstances and habits of the peasantry, is principally encouraged 
 by the absence of an efficient Police ; and this, again, is referable to the 
 peculiar nature of the property, and the conflict of interests which that 
 occasions. It is probable, likewise, that the facilities given to poachers 
 by the Irish Acts, which concede to the proprietors and river farmers 
 the right of taking Salmon at all times of the year in several of the 
 Irish rivers, may also contribute to the same results. 
 
 The more productive fisheries are situated nearest to the mouths of 
 the rivers; whereas, the legal protection of the breeding fish is princi- 
 pally requisite in the upper and shallow waters. 
 
 This natural conflict of interests is much increased by the mal-practices 
 above mentioned, which are pursued in the fisheries along the course of 
 the stream; for unduly intercepting the fish in their passage upwards. 
 These are, in some cases, so successful as to deprive the Upper Proprie- 
 tors of all pecuniary interest in the fisheries, and to render them 
 absolutely indifferent to poaching, and unwilling to co-operate, either 
 in purse or person, towards its abatement. 
 
 Wherever the lower fisheries are of sufficient value to pay the expense 
 of protection, and the shallow spawning places are under the effectual 
 control of the beneficiaries, the breed seems to be adequately protected; 
 and few complaints are then made of a deficiency of Fish, arising from 
 the use of especial engines employed in lawful fishing ; whence it may 
 be inferred that disputes on that point relate rather to the distribution 
 of the property, than to its absolute quantity. 
 
 Neither, in such fisheries, is the exact period of close times a matter 
 of major concern. Those interested in them naturally abstain from 
 what is injurious to themselves; whereas, the indiscriminate take of 
 Salmon, at all seasons, is desirable only to the poacher, or to the Upper 
 Proprietor who has no marketable share in the proceeds of the river. 
 It is chiefly, therefore, where a rivalry subsists between different classes 
 of Proprietors, that the proper times of fishing, and the use of stake-nets 
 and other well contrived engines for capturing the fish, become matters 
 of dispute or litigation. 
 
 The extent to which this conflict of interest operates, is cognizable in 
 the contradictory nature of the evidence offered in the various reports, 
 as well respecting the natural history of the fish, as the tendency of the 
 several practical points in debate. On scarcely any one particular is 
 the testimony concurrent and unanimous; insomuch, that fixed bases 
 for legislation can only, if at all, be attained, by a lengthy and philoso- 
 phical course of independent investigations. Occupied, as the Commis- 
 sioners have been, with the Coast Fisheries, they have not found leisure 
 for such an examination; and the subject, both in its relations to 
 private property, and to the interest of the public in a maximum supply 
 of fish, is too important to be hastily and carelessly provided for. 
 
149 
 
 Under these circumstances, the Commissioners would feel themselves 
 compelled to ask a long extension of time for making their Report, if it 
 were necessary to go into a separate investigation on behalf of Ireland; 
 but they are satisfied that no such necessity exists that whatever laws 
 are requisite for the British Salmon Fisheries, will be found generally 
 sufficient for those of Ireland. Convinced, also, that no industry on 
 their part could lead to the collection of a fuller body of evidence, than 
 that already accumulated in the Parliamentary Reports, they cannot 
 reasonably hope to arrive at conclusions more satisfactory to all the 
 parties interested, than those obtained by the long and laborious inves- 
 tigations of the Parliamentary Committees. 
 
 They therefore deem it most expedient, as well with a view to public 
 economy, as to the early relief of the Irish Proprietors, to close their 
 labours now; referring to the evidence they have collected, and to the 
 several reports on the British Salmon Fisheries, printed by order of the 
 House of Commons ; and suggesting that measures be taken for 
 embracing the Irish Salmon Fisheries in any Act which will arise out 
 of these researches of the Parliamentary Committees with such addi- 
 tions as may be found necessary in placing the Fisheries of the two 
 Countries on the same legal footing. 
 
 Department of Public Works, Dublin, 
 4th November, 1836, 
 
 III. 
 
 REPORT 011 the GOVERNMENT of the SALMON FISHERIES of 
 IRELAND, and the STATE of the LAWS at present affecting 
 them. 
 
 THE Act of 5 & 6 Vic., c. 106, passed in 1842, was for the purpose of 
 consolidating and amending the Acts then in force for the regulation 
 of the Irish Fisheries ; it repeals all the former Acts. 5 & 6 Vic. c. 
 106, s. 2, constitutes the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, 
 Commissioners for the execution of this Act, and gives them power, 
 with the sanction of the Treasury, to appoint any number of clerks, 
 inspectors, or other officers, which may be necessary. 
 
 The Commissioners are intrusted with a variety of important duties. 
 We think that a more active exercise of the powers vested in them, 
 than has hitherto been adopted, is expressly required by the provisions 
 of the Act, and essentially necessary for the material improvement of 
 the Fisheries; and that in some cases sufficient provision being made, 
 no difficulty exists in enforcing the law, while in others the law may 
 require alteration and amendment. 
 
 REGULATION OF FISHING AND MILL WEIRS WHERE COMPENSATION is 
 NOT TO BE MADE. Section 41 provides, that after the 1st day of January, 
 1843, in all standing fishing weirs, a free share, of certain dimensions, 
 shall be left, and that existing free shares shall not be reduced in 
 width; and imposes a penalty for omission in one case, and for com- 
 mission in the other. Section 54 provides, that spur walls of greater 
 length than twenty feet, shall not be attached or suffered to remain to 
 any cruive weir or cruive dam used for fishing. 
 
150 
 
 Note. The law is distinct with respect to the duty of the Commis- 
 sioners to cause all spur walls to be reduced to twenty feet, and in the 
 narrow rivers the Commissioners have a power to require a lesser length 
 than twenty feet; but this latter duty is only imposed by them upon 
 application being made. This portion of the section is rather vague. 
 Section 58 provides, that boxes, cribs, and cruives, shall be regulated 
 according to the provisions of the Act. Sections 59 and 60 provide, 
 that in such cases as the above, and in which no compensation is to be 
 paid, the Commissioners shall have power to make or open, or under 
 their warrant cause to be made or opened such gaps, and such spur 
 walls, and such cruives, to be regulated. Section 95 provides, that the 
 expense of executing such works shall be recoverable from the parties 
 omitting or committing, by civil bill. Section 63 provides, that in all 
 mill, navigation, and irrigation weirs to be built after 1842 (the passing 
 of the Act), passes shall be made for the fish. 
 
 For this purpose no funds are required further than those necessary 
 for survey and plan ; and as the Board of Works have upon their staff 
 engineers for general purposes, and with fixed salaries, we think this 
 service should be performed by them, and that the Act clearly intended 
 that it should. This is a matter of great importance to the fisheries; 
 and the neglect in carrying out the provisions of the law from the com- 
 mencement, creates a difficulty which would otherwise not exist. It 
 is this : when a weir is being built, there is little, if any, expense in- 
 curred by the builder in making the pass; whereas, after it has been 
 built, there may be considerable expense, attended with some difficulty, 
 vexation, and inconvenience. 
 
 REMARKS. We consider that the matters contained in these sections 
 are amply provided for ; and the only thing remaining to be done, is 
 for the Commissioners to carry out the plain provisions of the law ; 
 that no application to them is necessary; therefore, that the duty is 
 peremptory, not only according to the spirit of the Act in its general 
 context, but by special provision. There are no funds to be provided, 
 either from the public purse or from private parties. A legal difficulty 
 might certainly arise, with respect to opening and widening some 
 gaps, under the proviso in the 41st section, and the first part of the 
 42nd section, which exempt weirs in which no queen's share could be 
 made or enforced by law, previous to the passing of the Act; but there 
 are many weirs in Ireland upon which no controversy could arise upon 
 these points. 
 
 REGULATION OP FISHING AND MILL WEIRS, WHEN COMPENSATION is 
 TO BE MADE. Sections 41 to 53, provide for making queen's shares in 
 fishing weirs, in which gaps could not be enforced by law, before the 
 passing of the Act, and for which compensation shall be made. 
 
 REMARKS. The whole of this legislation has been a dead letter, and 
 is likely to continue so, unless the law is altered. The proviso of the 
 41st section, and the first part of the 42nd section, in recognising the 
 existence of weirs in which by law no queen's shares could be en- 
 forced previous to the passing of the Act, and failing to define under 
 what circumstances they could be enforced, leaves the question in a very 
 unsatisfactory shape. The exception contained in those sections clearly 
 refers to the 18th section of 26 Geo. 111., c. 50, repealed, which saved 
 from liability to prostration, weirs of which proprietors have had an 
 
151 
 
 uninterrupted possession for thirty-one years, or have held by patent 
 or charter grant. If it was defined under what circumstances, and in 
 what manner, the queen's share could be enforced, where none existed 
 when the Act passed, it would clearly, under the provision of the 59th 
 section, be the duty of the Commissioners to have it done; but framed 
 as the 5 & 6 Vic. is, in this respect, it could not be expected that the 
 Commissioners should originate expensive, and perhaps doubtful proceed- 
 ings, to ascertain this; and no private party is likely to do so. Those 
 provisions made with regard to compensation, when the parties might 
 be entitled to it, and the mode of assessment for the amount, never will, 
 we are convinced, be acted upon, as no private party, circumstanced as 
 the rivers are in Ireland with respect to the right of fishing, can have 
 sufficient individual interest to induce him to do so. No one will incur 
 the preliminary expense, which cannot be recovered unless two-thirds 
 of the persons to be assessed agree. Such cumbrous legislation is quite 
 inapplicable to the question; and the parties to be assessed are not 
 those who would derive the largest benefit. Those most to be served 
 in opening such weirs, by which the upper waters would be amply 
 stocked for brood, are the public, who fish in the tideways and around 
 the coast under the common-law right of all subjects. We think, in 
 the first instance, the law should be made definite with respect to the 
 test, by which it shall be determined which weirs should and which 
 should not be opened without compensation, by investing the Com- 
 missioners with powers to ascertain by inquiries, what weirs came under 
 the exceptions in 26 Geo. III.; and as the provisions in that Act may 
 not be quite clear, we think it would be expedient to render them so in 
 an amended Act. Were this done, the powers of the Commissioners 
 under the 59th and 60th sections might be made available for effecting 
 the object of the Legislature; and the number of weirs now existing 
 without gaps, might be so reduced in number, as to render the aggre- 
 gate sum required for compensation so trifling, that it might be pro- 
 vided by instalments from the assessment funds, advance being made 
 first from some other public fund. 
 
 REMOVING NATURAL OBSTRUCTIONS, AND MAKING PASSES OVER MILL- 
 WEIRS EXISTING IN 1842, (before the passing of the Act.) Section 62 
 provides, that Commissioners, upon application, and expense being 
 paid, shall remove natural obstructions. Section 63 provides for 
 making passes in existing mill-weirs, upon expense being provided by 
 parties making application. II & 12 Vic., c. 20, provides that a 
 portion of funds raised by assessment may be applied to this purpose. 
 
 REMARKS. In very few instances have parties come forward to pro- 
 vide funds for these purposes. Few have a sufficient individual in- 
 terest to induce them to do so. It is of great importance that such 
 passes should be made generally throughout Ireland. The benefit 
 would be very great to the fisheries, not merely to parties above those 
 weirs, but to the public below, and around the coasts; as in the case 
 of gaps in fishing weirs ; as the impediment to the heavy breeding fish 
 seeking to ascend the rivers to spawn, in the close season, is far the 
 greater evil of such obstructions. 
 
 Something may in time be effected towards a remedy for this, 
 through the application of the funds raised by assessment under the 11 
 & 12 Vic., but the process must be very slow, as those funds will be all 
 
152 
 
 required for paying persons to protect the fish which may ascend. It 
 would appear not to be inconsistent with equity, to compel millers to 
 bear this expense, when it is remembered that the public have con- 
 ceded great privileges to that class, in allowing them, contrary to law, 
 to build weirs entirely across rivers, and to raise them to great heights. 
 Next in importance regarding the regulation of mill-weirs, without 
 interfering with the milling power, is providing means to prevent the 
 fish from entering the tail-races of mills; and we have no doubt that 
 this also can be effected without any injury whatever to the milling 
 interest, by erecting gratings set in frames, which could be removed at 
 all times when the water might be so high as to require a perfectly unin- 
 terrupted flow from the wheel, to prevent back-water. For the object 
 effecting the passage of fish, those gratings would only be required 
 when the water is low ; because when it is high, there would be suffi- 
 cient stream in the natural bed of the river to induce the fish to 
 approach the pass over the weir; and at this low state of water, the 
 gratings could not by possibility throw back-water upon the wheel ; 
 and although the millers as a body may object to this, they are unwil- 
 ling to admit the rights of any interference whatsoever, and endeavour 
 to have it established, that their interests are paramount to all others. 
 Still, we will venture to assert, that their most eminent engineers cannot 
 honestly dissent from the proposition which we submit. We think, 
 therefore, that this question should be amply investigated, and that it 
 is sound policy, in governing the resources of a country, to prevent 
 any class or interest from sacrificing another, when it can be avoided, 
 without either loss to individuals or the community at large. 
 
 POWER TO ERECT STAKE-WEIRS. Section 18 empowers proprietors of 
 several fisheries to erect stake-weirs and bag-nets, subject to provisions 
 of Act. Section 1 9 empowers occupiers of land to erect stake- weirs 
 where no several fishing exists. Section 20 regulates the size of 
 meshes and stake bag nets. Section 21 provides that no stake-net 
 shall be placed so as to be injurious to navigation, and empowers com- 
 missioners to declare them a nuisance, and order them to be removed. 
 Section 22 provides that no stake-net shall be placed where the breadth 
 of the river is less than three-fourths of a mile wide. Section 23 saves 
 the right to erect in narrow portions of rivers, where weirs have been 
 established for twenty years before the passing of the Act.* Section 
 24 saves the right to erect in narrow portions of rivers, to the owners 
 of several fisheries, where weirs have been established for ten years.* 
 Section 25 saves the right to erect head weirs in narrow portions of 
 rivers. Section 26 provides that stake-weirs shall not extend beyond 
 low-water mark. 
 
 REMARKS. The object of the statute authorizing the use of stake- 
 weirs appears to have been for the purpose of introducing more effec- 
 tive engines for the capture of fish, and the privilege being limited to 
 the occupiers of land, and owners of several fisheries, the common-law 
 rights of the public were unquestionably interfered with, for the benefit 
 of a very few, comparatively with thousands who exercised and en- 
 joyed the right as subjects, to the free and uninterrupted fishing and 
 navigation of the tideways ; and a consciousness of this appears to have 
 
 * This clause does not save a right to erect, but only to maintain. 
 
153 
 
 been felt by those who sanctioned the Act, and which is recognised in 
 the proviso to the 23rd section, in a way calculated to perpetuate liti- 
 gation and dispute, and leave the question of right, as between indi- 
 viduals and the public, pretty much as it stood before the passing of 
 the Act. 
 
 Had the prohibition contained in the 22nd section, to erect stake- 
 weirs in the narrow portions of estuaries, or within one mile of the 
 mouths of rivers, been held inviolate, much less objection might be felt 
 upon the part of the public ; but the saving of weirs established for 
 twenty years in one case, and for ten years in another, contained in the 
 23rd and 24th sections, has led to much abuse, and been the cause of 
 inflicting an aggravated degree of injury upon the public; for upon 
 the strength of this, many parties erected weirs after the passing of the 
 Act, in places where they had formerly been prostrated by legal means 
 through the ordinary tribunals of the country, as well as by the public 
 in the assertion of their rights; and great difficulty has been experi- 
 enced in obtaining convictions before magistrates, in such cases, arising 
 from the difficulty of determining the true interpretation of the Act 
 with respect to the definition of the word " established." 
 
 The intention of the Legislature appears clearly to have been to 
 permit only such weirs to exist as had been uninterruptedly enjoyed 
 without dispute, upon a principle of expediency, perhaps, thus recog- 
 nising vested rights enjoyed so long. But the principle of rewarding 
 those who might have persevered from time to time for twenty years, 
 in violating and resisting the law, and in usurpation of the rights of 
 the public, never could have been contemplated; and the law we think 
 should be amended, so as to leave no doubt upon this question, and no 
 difficulty in dealing with it. 
 
 Section 21 provides, that no stake-net shall be placed so as to be inju- 
 rious to Navigation, and empowers the Commissioners to remove them. 
 The Commissioners have not exercised this power; and it maybe very 
 questionable whether it is expedient that they should be invested with 
 it, because, with respect to navigation, the Admiralty have ample 
 powers under the common law, with reference to it. We believe it to 
 be quite undisputed, it imposes a very embarrassing duty upon the 
 Commissioners, quite foreign to the question of Fisheries, and places 
 them, we think, in a false position, the Legislature having imposed this 
 duty upon them ; strictly speaking, they should perform it, and failing 
 to do so, a public department may rest under the imputation of some- 
 thing more than mere neglect, and their having declined to do so in 
 this instance, has created difficulty in some prosecutions at common 
 law before judges of assize ; for it has been pleaded to juries by 
 lawyers that the Commissioners of Fisheries have not considered stake- 
 weirs injurious to navigation, otherwise they would no doubt have 
 administered the law, and performed the duties imposed upon them 
 by the Act, and this plausible assumption has had its effect; while 
 we believe the real cause of the Commissioners of Fisheries declining 
 to act has been, that it would involve the prostration of almost all 
 weirs, and render entirely nugatory the whole provisions of 5 & 6 Vic., 
 purporting to legalize them, in any position almost, within the mouths of 
 harbours, no matter what the breadth of the channel might be. Section 
 
154 
 
 25 saves the right to erect head-\veirs in narrow portions of rivers, to 
 parties legally entitled by charter or prescriptive right ; and section 
 
 26 saves the right to extend such weirs beyond low-water mark. Here 
 again occurs a more embarrassing point, with regard to navigation, 
 than even in the case of stake-weirs, because the extension beyond low 
 water mark necessarily involves a more decided and material obstruc- 
 tion to Navigation. 
 
 Taking a broad view of the question of Stake-Weirs, we think that 
 any benefit which might accrue to the community at large by enabling 
 a certain class of persons, limited in number, to use engines of this 
 description, upon the assumption that a greater quantity of fish, in the 
 aggregate would be captured and which we very much doubt would 
 be the result is far more than overbalanced by the means of employ- 
 ment to thousands afforded by fishing being cut off, while the industry 
 of the lower classes who ply with small craft within our harbours and 
 tideways is also greatly crippled, and injuriously interfered with; and 
 upon these grounds we think it would have been more consistent with 
 sound principles of political economy, as well as of public justice, not 
 to have gone further in legalizing Stake and Bag nets, than sanctioning 
 their use upon the open coasts, outside the mouths of harbours and estu- 
 aries, where other means cannot be used so effectively, and where small 
 craft do not ply in any considerable number. We further submit, that 
 upon other considerations, the state of the law as it exists is objection- 
 able, and its provisions quite inconsistent one with the other, and that 
 it has a bad tendency upon the public mind; for that while, in one 
 sense, as relates to fishing, stake-weirs, under the provisions of 5 & 6 
 Yic., may be legal in certain portions of harbours and estuaries over 
 three-fourths of a mile wide, in another sense they may not be so, and 
 cannot become so by any length of time, as regards navigation. Hence 
 they can only be maintained by sufferance of the public, and are likely 
 to perpetuate a fruitful source of dispute between antagonistic interests 
 the power of wealth and station perhaps too often prevailing against 
 the humbler classes, who can only be taught to respect and obey the 
 laws, by knowing that they are uniformly and impartially adminis- 
 tered. 
 
 MOUTHS OF RIVERS. Section 22 provides that stake-nets shall not be 
 placed in mouths of narrow rivers, or within one statute mile seaward 
 or inwards, and empowers Commissioners to define mouths. Section 
 
 27 provides that draft-nets shall not be used in mouths of narrow- 
 rivers, or within half a mile seaward. Provides also, that nets shall 
 not be drawn or stretched entirely across the mouth, or any other part 
 of any river. 
 
 REMARKS. We consider the law requires amendment in these re- 
 spects : 
 
 1st. With respect to the prohibition to use draft-nets within half a 
 mile seaward of the mouths of rivers, the Commissioners should be left 
 a discretionary power to prohibit the use of such nets, also inwards in 
 some narrow rivers. The object of the law, which is to permit a portion 
 of the fish to ascend the fresh water, is defeated for want of this power, 
 as persons can come inside the mouths of rivers, and use such nets, in 
 a manner very injurious to the fisheries generally. To this exception 
 
155 
 
 there should be no saving for several rights, either real or assumed, as 
 the regulation is calculated to benefit all interests. 
 
 Sndly. With respect to stretching nets entirely across rivers, the 
 object of the law is also defeated, because falling short by one inch 
 comes within the law, while the injury intended to be guarded against 
 is committed with impunity. The Commissioners should be invested 
 with power to regulate the length of the nets to be used according to 
 the breadth of the rivers. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. Having referred to the material points which 
 we consider require amendment, it may be right to add, that there are 
 minor ones in the 5 & 6 Vic., and subsequent Acts, which if an Act 
 were about to be passed to consolidate these, should be attended to; but 
 it may be unnecessary to submit them in detail. 
 
 The Salmon Fisheries of Ireland are so circumstanced with respect 
 to mixed public and private rights, (the former so far predominating in 
 amount,) and conflicting bodies, of upper and lower tidal, and fresh 
 water interests, that they cannot, as we believe, be governed so as to 
 improve them in any material degree, except through a public depart- 
 ment, and this principle appears to have been fully recognised by the 
 Legislature when 5 <fc 6 Vic. passed. 
 
 The deep sea fisheries also, including the oyster fisheries, require 
 very considerable State regulation. They are in many respects differ- 
 ently circumstanced from those of England, both with respect to the con- 
 dition and habits of the people engaged in prosecuting them, and their 
 geographical character is also different. The many and deep indenta- 
 tions of the Irish coast, where, in narrow spaces, the fishermen are con- 
 centrated, pursuing different modes of fishing, require rules and regu- 
 lations to be made and enforced, which could not be effected by a 
 system of self-government by the people engaged in them. The Legis- 
 lature also recognised this principle with respect to the deep sea fish- 
 eries of Ireland, when the Act of 1842 passed, as will appear by refer- 
 ence to its provisions, and imposed many important and onerous duties 
 upon the Commissioners connected with them. 
 
 To carry out the direct requirements of the Legislature contained in 
 the Fishing Acts, adequate means have not heretofore been applied. 
 There have been only two inspectors employed to perform all the 
 duties connected with both sea and inland fisheries, and the whole 
 sum annually expended by the State, since 1842, has not exceeded an 
 average of 1,200 a-year, for salaries of inspectors, clerks, travelling 
 expenses and advertisements; in fine, for all expenses incurred. 
 
 We respectfully submit, that if it be considered expedient to con- 
 tinue upon the statute book those laws which impose upon a State 
 Department specific duties for the public service, that those duties 
 should be faithfully and fully discharged, and the means afforded for 
 doing so, and that to carry this into effect, the estimate which we 
 submit would be required. And considering the importance to the 
 country of so governing the Irish Fisheries, as to enable them to ad- 
 vance in improvement, and the bad moral effect produced by not carry- 
 ing out the existing laws affecting them, by which the lower classes 
 are made to hold other laws in disrespect, we are fully persuaded 
 that the sum proposed would soon become reproductive many fold, in 
 collateral advantages to the community at large. 
 
156 
 
 ESTIMATE. 
 
 Two Commissioners of Fisheries, at 600 per annum, each, 1,200 
 
 Four Inspectors for Ireland, at 250 each, to cover travelling 
 
 allowances, 1,000 
 
 Two Clerks in Office at Dublin, at 125 each, .... 250 
 Incidental Expenses, Travelling, Advertising, Educational Pur- 
 poses, Tracts, Models, &c. &c., 1,550 
 
 4,000 
 
 The second section of 5 & 6 Vic., c. 106, contemplates the necessity 
 for, and provides for the appointment of these inspectors, who should be 
 working, practical men, and whose services we think are indispensable, 
 for the purpose of assisting the Commissioners in their administrative 
 duties, of guarding against encroachment upon public rights in the sal- 
 inon fisheries, and of insuring the due regulation of fishing weirs. Their 
 services would also be valuable, and much required, in the regulation 
 of the sea fisheries, and in communicating instruction to those engaged 
 in them. 
 
 J. REDMOND BARRY, ) Inspecting Commissioners 
 W. J. FFENNELL, ] of Irish Fisheries. 
 Office of Public Works, 
 Department of Fisheries, 18th April, 1849. 
 
 IV. 
 EXTRACTS from the REPORT of the INSPECTING COMMISSIONERS 
 
 of FISHERIES. 
 
 THE Inspecting Commissioners of Fisheries, in presenting to the Board 
 the Schedules usually appended to the Annual Report on the Fisheries, 
 beg to submit the following Observations: 
 
 SEA FISHERIES. The information received from the several coast 
 guard districts has been very imperfect and unsatisfactory, and it has 
 been found impossible to procure any returns whatsoever from others ; 
 therefore our department cannot be held responsible for the correctness 
 of that Schedule in the Appendix, which gives " the present state of 
 the registry of fishing vessels on the coast of Ireland." The frequent 
 changes that have taken place in the appointment of inspecting com- 
 manders, the death of others, and the substitution of a system of 
 subdivision of the districts between inspecting lieutenants, have pro- 
 duced great confusion; and until arrangements are made for a new 
 system of registry, the statistics of the coast fisheries never can be 
 accurately ascertained; we have every reason to believe that in numbers, 
 both of boats and men, there is a most deplorable diminution, and the 
 officers who have furnished correct reports all agree in representing the 
 whole coast establishment as reduced to a very low ebb. We feel that 
 the unparalleled destitution which prevails in the maritime districts 
 renders it especially incumbent on us at this moment to suggest every 
 possible means of stimulating the energies of the coast population; and 
 while we fully admit the danger of interfering without incurring a risk 
 of doing as much harm as good, we feel that in the present extremity 
 it is scarcely possible to hope for a re-organization of society without 
 resorting to measures which in ordinary times may be considered 
 exceptionable. The public attention has been greatly attracted lately 
 
157 
 
 to the Coast Fisheries, as a boundless source of profitable employment, 
 and some very gratifying instances have been afforded by benevolent 
 persons of the benefit arising from the application to the object of a 
 little capital judiciously directed. Since the commencement of these 
 distressing times, the terms ' fishery station' and 'curing house,' have 
 become more familiar upon most parts of the coast than they ever were 
 in days of comparative prosperity. 
 
 The establishment of the Government curing stations at Killybegs, 
 Belmullet, Valentia, Castletown, and Baltimore, has, for example, 
 been productive of as much benefit as could, under the circumstances, 
 have been reasonably anticipated; and although the wind up of these 
 concerns will not elicit profitable results in a pecuniary way, they have 
 in an educational point, and as models of an improved system, been 
 gradually successful. The extent of business done was at all times less 
 an object in those establishments than the exhibition of a better cured 
 article, and the training of all who wished to learn a better and more 
 thrifty management. 
 
 The Society of Friends, eminently prominent in their judicious and 
 benevolent efforts to alleviate the distresses of the people, directed their 
 attention to the fisheries; and in all cases where their proceedings were 
 under the control of their own managers, or where they had the good 
 fortune to find judicious administrators of their bounty, permanent good 
 results have followed ; but in most instances their liberal system of relief 
 was antagonistic to our stringent regulations, which wholly precluded 
 every species of gratuitous aid in any shape. This branch will form a 
 subject for a distinct report when the concerns are all wound up. The 
 indefatigable exertions of the Rev. Mr. Alcock, at Helvick Head, aided 
 by Mr. Strangman of Waterford, and Lord Stewart de Decies, have 
 produced an establishment which deserves to be ranked very high on 
 our list. The piscatory school at Galway, under the management of 
 the reverend gentlemen of the Dominican Convent, with an auxiliary 
 curing house, established by the Rev. Mr. D'Arcy, and other gentlemen, 
 with the aid of funds given by the Society of Friends, under the super- 
 intendence of an experienced Cornish fish-curer, have proved infinitely 
 valuable to that locality. The Society of Friends have been our succes- 
 sors at Castletown, Berehaven. 
 
 The Earl of Courtown, and a small company formed at Courtown, 
 having secured the services of one of our Scotch curers, Mr. James Low, 
 have produced specimens of the finest bloaters, and other cured fish, that 
 have come to the Dublin market Lord Courtown and Mr. George Le 
 Hunte, of Artramont, in the county of Wexford, both sent young men 
 to be trained at our station, at Killybegs, by Mr. Windrum, our curer 
 there, who instructed them gratuitously in fish-curing and coopering; 
 and Mr. Le Hunte, who has also established a small curing concern on 
 the Wexford coast, after the closure of our Killybegs concern, sent the 
 same young man to Montrose to be perfected in the trade by the father 
 of Mr. Low. The introduction of an improved description of coopers' 
 tools, which were brought from Scotland for our stations, proved a 
 valuable acquisition for the manufacture offish barrels ; such implements 
 for this special purpose never having been in use before by the trades- 
 men here; they are now considered valuable models at Killybegs, 
 Belmullet, Dingle, Castletown, and Courtown ; having been purchased 
 
158 
 
 by the persons now conducting these establishments. The Royal Irish 
 Fisheries' Company, instead of plunging into the vortex of wild and 
 ill-conceived speculations, upon the usual scale of large joint-stock fishing 
 companies, are wisely feeling their way upon a moderate scale, and from 
 their establishment at Dingle the Dublin market is occasionally supplied 
 with some of its finest turbot and soles; they have secured the services 
 of Mr. Brown, one of the best Scotch curers; and under the steady and 
 quiet management of the two gentlemen who have the direction of the 
 concern we entertain a confident hope that the project will prosper, and 
 speedily become a safe and profitable source of investment for the public 
 as well as of advancement of the fisheries. Our curing establishments 
 at Killybegs and Belmullet have been transferred to enterprising persons 
 who are making active preparations for the curing season; and there is 
 every reason to hope that at Valentia we shall speedily find similar 
 successors. At Ballycoltin, in the county Cork, the exertions of the 
 Rev. Mr. Kingston, are stated in a published report to have produced 
 the most gratifying results; and at the Galley Head an intelligent 
 person, Mr. Morley, of the coast guard service, aided by the kindness 
 of the benevolent Lady Carbery, and of the Rev. Mr. Stewart, has done 
 much to sustain the energies of the fishermen. Captain Thomas, the 
 enterprising manager of the Coosheen copper mines, near Schull, has 
 contrived to render the fishery first an auxiliary, and more recently a 
 substitute for the employment which in more prosperous times the 
 mines used to afford. At the Little Killeries, on the Galway coast, 
 General Thompson has established a fishing colony, having erected 
 comfortable habitations, to which he annexed small allotments of land; 
 which, with perseverance was likely to have been successful, till the 
 inducement of out-door relief drew off several persons who had been 
 supporting themselves by their own industry. It is much to be deplored 
 that other active and benevolent persons have experienced similar diffi- 
 culties where gratuitous relief was given. 
 
 The pursuits of a Fisherman are precarious and laborious in the best 
 of times, and unhappily the mental and physical energies of the people 
 have been so thoroughly paralyzed, that in most cases they preferred a 
 wretched existence to an occupation for which neither their food nor 
 their clothing was suited. In many instances upon the south coast, the 
 crews of row-boats who had ventured to sea in an exhausted state, have 
 been in imminent danger from their inability to come back from the 
 fishing ground, through absolute weakness from want of food. We have 
 especially referred to those new cases of individual exertion to promote 
 employment in fishing; and we are enabled to add, that in several old 
 existing establishments increased activity has been evinced, and that 
 public attention seems to have been directed to the object as one of the 
 staple resources of the country. The curing establishments of Mr. 
 Dawson and Mr. Cadogan, at Kinsale, are not inferior in extent and 
 accommodation to many of the best concerns in Scotland ; and we have 
 with much satisfaction learned that a considerable trade in fish has been 
 carried on out of that place through the intervention of enterprising 
 adventurers from Skerries, who have become large purchasers of fish 
 upon the south coast for the supply of the Liverpool market. Among 
 the most valuable sources of demand for fish, and of profitable employ- 
 ment for the people, we should not omit to include Mr. Robertson's 
 
159 
 
 preserving concern, near Roundstone, where salmon, oysters, lobsters? 
 and other fish are upon an extensive scale preserved for export. This 
 branch of the trade is particularly suited to remote localities where the 
 fish abounds, and the sources of demand or the facilities of conveyance 
 are limited. It must be needless for us to observe, that among the most 
 legitimate means of improving our fisheries should be considered increased 
 means of transport to favourable markets, either by railroads, or upon 
 the cross lines by well appointed carts. 
 
 Mr. Bianconi, the great coach and car proprietor, has, with his usual 
 liberality, signified to us his readiness to make all his conveyances 
 available for the purpose, at the very lowest scale of charge, and we 
 have reason to believe, that owing to that advantage is the better supply 
 to many of our inland towns, as well as the increased export from those 
 places out of which there is steam navigation. It seems now to be 
 pretty well understood, that where there exists a facility of transport, 
 the sale offish in a fresh state is more safe, and generally more profitable, 
 than after it has been cured; but in remote districts under present cir- 
 cumstances this is quite impossible; and when one sees the merely 
 nominal price which the poor hard-working fisherman often procures 
 for the produce of his night's labour, it is hardly to be wondered at that 
 he should often seem to be deserving of censure for indolence and want 
 of exertion. Mr. Campbell informs us that fine haddocks are now offered 
 at Belmullet for Qd. per dozen. The sea coast districts of Ireland are 
 at this moment decidedly the poorest and most depressed places. Vast 
 numbers of the population are inmates of Workhouses; it is well known 
 that the habitations of these persons once deserted, have generally been 
 destroyed ; if they have been of a description suited to the occupation 
 of human beings, there would be much reason to deplore the wholesale 
 demolition which one sees along the coast; such as they were, they 
 afforded a temporary shelter, and it is much to be feared that we cannot 
 hope for better houses. It is obviously the interest of proprietors who 
 wish to render their coast and island property productive, to provide 
 the fishermen with the means of locating in favourable places; but the 
 want of money and the utter prostration of energies, which at present 
 prevail among all classes, will require the application of some stimulus, 
 some direct inducements to exertion, or the masses of fishermen will be 
 forced for the want of common shelter to continue in the Workhouses; 
 or to congregate into the outskirts of towns, where they will become 
 the victims, as well as the cause of disease. 
 
 It may with some truth be said, that a Government department cannot 
 be expected to do more than recommend to parties directly interested 
 the course which they believe to be most likely to be beneficial; such 
 recommendations have been long and frequently given in respect to 
 curing establishments, but nothing of the kind was ever constructed in 
 some of the most favourable localities until after the example given at 
 our stations. We have reason to believe that the formation of small 
 Fishery Villages in advantageous positions would be generally beneficial ; 
 we know that at Valentia, the want of habitations alone prevented a 
 valuable and productive community from having been formed round 
 our station. We submit that the residue, which will be produced on 
 winding up the Curing Stations could not be more judiciously applied 
 than in encouraging the establishment of one or two model fishing 
 
160 
 
 Villages in favourable situations. The co-operation of proprietors may 
 be sought for by an offer to contribute a portion of the cost of the two 
 first villages that shall be built in approved localities, and according to 
 approved plans. 
 
 Forty houses, affording sufficient accommodation for as many families 
 
 may be constructed for 20 each, 800 
 
 A house and sheds for salt and fishing stores, common to all, . . 200 
 
 1,000 
 
 To each bouse tliere should be appended an allotment of a small portion 
 of land. 
 
 The co-operation of the National Board of Education may we presume 
 be counted on, and these little establishments may become sources of 
 useful training as well as of relief. We entertain very sanguine expec- 
 tations that one or two such examples would, if well arranged, become 
 objects of imitation; we have long felt the difficulty of introducing 
 improved habits among a scattered peasantry whose pursuits were not 
 especially directed to one object; this plan seems to us the cheapest 
 and best mode of trying the experiment. The benefits resulting from 
 the plan of Agricultural Instruction would naturally suggest the value 
 of similar efforts for the introduction of improved modes of taking and 
 preserving fish. It may be well deserving of consideration how far 
 poor law unions in maritime districts may be permitted to co-operate 
 in such objects as we propose. The cost of a family for a year in the 
 Workhouse would place them in an independent position for life. From 
 that admirable measure the Laud Improvement Act, 10 Vic., c. 32, 
 the construction of buildings for farm purposes has perhaps very wisely 
 been excluded;* but there are vast tracts of land upon our shores that 
 are wholly unsuited for agriculture, but that present upon their 
 margins abundant sources of food and wealth, which can never be 
 available without habitations. Such establishments as we have sug- 
 gested may perhaps be considered a legitimate object for limited aid, 
 under the terms of the Act, if altered or amended. It could not be 
 expected, nor indeed would it be desirable, that more than a portion, 
 say one-half or two-thirds, of the necessary funds should be charged on 
 the land, and it may fairly be spread over a limited period, say ten 
 years. Without some such exertions, we greatly fear that many parts 
 of the shores of Ireland will never cease to be barren wastes. 
 
 MAEKETS FOR CURED FISH. ^Our experience in the conversion of the 
 produce of the curing stations has convinced us, that in order to remuner- 
 ate adventurers in the fisheries, it is not enough to buy fish, and to cure 
 it very well. We have generally experienced the greatest difficulty 
 in obtaining a sale at paying prices for the fish at all our stations. The 
 intense poverty of the country, and the prejudice against the use of salt 
 fish without the potato, have no doubt greatly increased the difficulty; 
 but we find that our Scotch neighbours make a similar complaint. In 
 the last Report of the Commissioners, for the British Fisheries, printed 
 by order of Parliament, on the 19th March last, we find they state, 
 " the unprecedented and ruinous condition of the Irish market for cured 
 herrings, where they were almost unsaleable at any price, the Com- 
 
 * However, see "Ireland and the Plantation Scheme," by James Caird, 
 chap. xii. Edinburgh, 8vo, 1850. 
 
161 
 
 missioners having received various representations from fish-curers 
 throughout the kingdom, pointing out the depressed state of the trade, 
 principally owing to those foreign prohibitory duties which prevent 
 the transmission of British cured fish into several of the continental 
 states, and praying that measures may be adopted to obtain additional 
 markets for the produce of the British fisheries in foreign countries, or 
 a modification of the high rates of duties exacted, beg to bring this im- 
 portant matter under the consideration of the Government, and to 
 express an earnest hope that something may be done to relieve the 
 depressed condition of the herring fishery, produced principally from 
 the above causes." Most cordially do we express our full concurrence 
 in the wisdom of this suggestion. In 1823, one of the present Inspect- 
 ing Commissioners, then Inspector-General of the south coast, urging in 
 his report to the Fishery Board the importance of an abolition of the 
 salt duties, (page 43,) adds, "the advantages to the agricultural interests 
 would likewise be considerable, and a stipulation may be made with 
 the Government of Portugal, that in consideration of our receiving their 
 salt duty free, they shall receive our cured fish on the same terms; at 
 present the duty on importation into Portugal is nearly prohibitory, 
 and we are therefore deprived of a valuable market for any fish that 
 we may hereafter be enabled to export." To the above report there is 
 a note appended in 1824 by the Board's secretary: "In consequence 
 of a communication made by the Board of Fisheries to the Irish 
 Government, in January 1824, on the expediency of applying to the 
 Spanish and Portuguese Governments for a reduction of the duties laid 
 on the importation of British and Irish cured fish into both these 
 countries respectively, a representation was made to the Lords of Privy 
 Council for Trade, who returned for answer 'that frequent represen- 
 tations had been addressed to the Governments of Spain and Portugal; 
 but that owing probably to the state of those countries, these represen- 
 tations have not hitherto produced the desired effect.' " 
 
 SALMON FISHERIES. The Inspecting Commissioners, in making their 
 report upon the salmon fisheries, feel it to be their duty to bring some 
 questions connected with this branch of the department under the 
 consideration of the Board, which they feel demand special and parti- 
 cular attention, as they relate to the duties imposed upon the Commis- 
 sioners by the Legislature. 
 
 From the best information which we have been able to collect, we 
 regret to be obliged to report, that the salmon fisheries do not appear 
 to be in a state of progressive improvement. This must be attributed 
 to the want of protection to the breeding fish, in the close season, which 
 may ascend the rivers, as well as to a deficiency in the means required 
 for removing obstructions to their ascent, and some other important 
 matters to which we shall refer, connected with abuses of the law and 
 a failure in its administration. 
 
 The Act of the last session of Parliament, 11 & 12 Vic,, c. 92, hav- 
 ing made provision for raising funds for protection, by assessment upon 
 engines employed in fishing, and rates upon the valuation of fisheries, 
 under the poor law, and which we hope may ultimately work well, 
 and be productive of much good ; however, as this Act practically 
 did not come into operation until the 1st of February last, (the com- 
 mencement of the open season,) and then only to the extent of collect- 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 ing the funds to be derived from the sale of licences, we are not in a 
 position yet to be able to state much connected with its working. 
 From a few districts considerable funds have been returned already, 
 and we hope that in several others the results by the end of the fishing 
 season, will be to a great extent satisfactory, while in some we fear 
 they will be inadequate for the object required ; however, the prin- 
 ciple of assessment having been long advocated and urged upon the 
 Commissioners by many persons generally throughout Ireland, con- 
 nected with salmon fisheries, we have no doubt that its adoption was 
 expedient, and that it will ultimately be productive of substantial 
 good. We have used our best exertions up to this time to render the 
 Act effective by carrying out, as far as lay in our power, the duties 
 devolving upon us in arranging and guiding the machinery required 
 to bring it into operation, before placing it under the control and 
 management of local boards, who are to be called into existence in 
 July next, and shall continue to do so until that period arrives when 
 the Act provides that its administration shall be placed in their hands, 
 and we annex a copy of the arrangement of districts which we have 
 made, with a schedule of rates fixed for this year, which has been 
 widely circulated and published in the newspapers, conformably with 
 the terms of the Act. 
 
 Upon application being made to the Executive Government to afford 
 the aid of the constabulary in enforcing the payment of licenced rates, 
 it was granted, and the inspector-general of that force has promptly 
 acted, by issuing circulars to those under his command to attend to it; 
 and we beg here to state that in all matters connected with the duties 
 of the constabulary, as regards the enforcement of the fishery laws, we 
 have found Sir Duncan M'Gregor most cordial in his co-operation, 
 whenever we have found it necessary to seek his aid or confer with 
 him on the subject. 
 
 ILLEGAL STAKE WEIRS. We regret to be obliged to state that not- 
 withstanding the frequent convictions in the superior courts of persons 
 for erecting illegal weirs in the estuary of the harbour of Waterford, 
 many have still persevered in doing so, and the Board being fully in 
 possession of the facts connected with this subject, it may be only 
 necessary for us to suggest that it appears requisite for the preserva- 
 tion of the peace of the country, and the protection of the rights of the 
 public, that more direct and summary powers should be afforded by the 
 Legislature than those which exist at present for the suppression of 
 such a system of defiance to the law as has been pursued in this locality, 
 which we are convinced has produced in a moral point of view a very 
 bad effect upon the public mind, particularly as regards the humbler 
 
 f We feel it our duty also to call the attention of the Board to the 
 subject of stake weirs in other localities, where, although the same 
 degree of excitement may not have arisen, as in the neighbourhood of 
 Waterford, still the law is not obeyed, and great abuses exist, and in 
 some instances the draft-net fishermen have assembled and prostrated 
 them. 
 
 In the river Blackwater, in the county of Waterford, there are many 
 stake weirs illegally erected, and also in the Shannon. Some of those 
 are placed where the channel is less than the breadth required by the 
 
163 
 
 law to sanction their erection. Others extend beyond low water mark, 
 and many of them materially, we believe, interfere with navigation. 
 
 We feel it to be our duty also to represent to the Board an abuse of 
 a different description, or perhaps, more properly speaking, a violation 
 of the law, attributable, we regret to be obliged to add, to some persons 
 of high station. 
 
 Under the provisions of 5 & 6 Vic., c. 106, sees. 18 and 19, no per- 
 sons are authorized to erect stake weirs or bag nets, except the occu- 
 piers of land adjoining the coast where they may be placed, or the 
 owners of several fisheries, under certain regulations and restrictions, 
 and 8 & 9 Vic., c. 108, sec. 5, subjects to penalty and forfeiture of 
 net, any persons erecting or using such, " other than the persons 
 entitled to exercise such right under the provisions of the first-recited 
 Act;" arid notwithstanding this clear and distinct provision, by which 
 the Legislature intended to give a privilege to use a certain description 
 of engine for fishing, to the occupiers of land adjoining the coasts and 
 estuaries, many proprietors of estates have let the shores of their pro- 
 perties to persons occupying no land in the locality, and coming from 
 distant parts of the country, thus depriving their tenants of the ad- 
 vantages intended for them, and them only, by the law of the land, 
 and turning the profits to their own account, and this practice, which 
 exists to a great extent, has naturally much increased the hostility to 
 stake weirs. The public generally object to them as encroachments 
 upon their common rights, while the occupiers of land feel that their 
 privileges under the statute also are illegally denied them, being trans- 
 ferred to others by those who have no legal power to do so, but with 
 whom humble persons cannot well contend, from the dependent posi- 
 tion in which they are placed. 
 
 This is an abuse which we think should be suppressed through the 
 constituted authorities, by prosecuting all persons using stake weirs 
 who are not entitled to do so, as occupiers of land; for the aggrieved 
 parties cannot venture themselves to come forward ; and in addition 
 to this individual injustice, the effect upon the fisheries generally is 
 bad in rendering those persons who live upon the lands adjoining the 
 coasts and shores of tidal rivers, reckless with regard to protecting the 
 fisheries, or obeying the laws relative to them, and who might natu- 
 rally be taught to feel a disposition to do so if they were allowed to 
 avail themselves of the beneficial interests attaching to the use of stake 
 weirs, to which they are legally entitled if any one be. 
 
 CLOSE SEASON. Many applications have been recently made to alter 
 the close season, but we have felt it unnecessary to bring them under 
 the consideration of the Board, acting upon the decision which was 
 previously made of deferring to make any change until the boards of 
 conservators shall be formed, and through whom the general interests 
 of the several districts will be represented. 
 
 PRODUCTIVENESS. We have no means of obtaining an account of the 
 aggregate annual value of the salmon fisheries, and therefore cannot 
 state accurately the comparative produce of the past season with that 
 of any other, but from all the information we could obtain, we believe 
 that last season was not an abundant one. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. Having been associated with the. Commis- 
 sioners of Public Works, as Commissioners of Fisheries, by the Act of 
 
 M2 
 
164 
 
 last session of Parliament, and thus been made to participate with 
 them in the responsibilities attaching to the faithful discharge of those 
 duties imposed by the Legislature, we feel that we owe it the public, to 
 the Board, and to ourselves, to point out some deficiencies in adminis- 
 tering the laws, which we conceive have existed since the regulation 
 and management of the fisheries were intrusted to this department, 
 the effect of which we believe has been materially to retard the advance 
 of improvement in the salmon fisheries; and we feel assured, that if 
 our views are considered to be correct that the Board will cordially 
 support us in them, and adopt in future a more active system of govern- 
 ment, should we succeed in making it clear that it is required for the 
 public service, and enjoined by the express provisions of the Acts of 
 the Legislature. 
 
 Being fully aware of the extreme pressure resting upon the mem- 
 bers of the Board for the past three years, arising out of the unfortunate 
 condition of the people of this country, we feel that it was impossible 
 for them to give that attention to this subject which, under other cir- 
 cumstances, might have been more fully rendered, but now that they 
 are relieved from the burden of those duties, connected with the direct 
 and immediate obtainment of food for the starving population, we hope 
 a favourable opportunity is afforded of bringing under their considera- 
 tion a question affecting the good government and development of the 
 fisheries, acknowledged to be a most important natural resource, from 
 which food, wealth, and employment may be derived in an abundant 
 degree, and of which Ireland is at present so much in need, and on 
 whose behalf, as regards the permanent well-being of her people, the 
 Parliament and the Government are at present so solicitous. 
 
 For the purpose of submitting definitely, and in detail, to the Board 
 the opinions which we entertainj we beg to refer to the copy of our 
 Report to the Committee of the House of Commons now sitting for the 
 purpose of inquiring into the state of the Irish Fisheries, and the laws 
 in force affecting them, which we have already laid before the Board, 
 as we feel that it maybe more convenient to avoid repetition, and may 
 be unnecessary to enter more minutely into the subject than we have 
 done in that document, and which, for the purposes of the Annual 
 Report to Parliament, may be appended to this our Report to the 
 Board, and made a portion of it. The only additional remarks which 
 we deem it necessary to make are the following: 
 
 1st. That the regulation of weirs, fishing cruives, and spur walls, 
 referred to therein, cannot be effected except through the medium of 
 the Commissioners of Fisheries, as provided for in 5 & 6 Vic., and that 
 therefore the public being debarred from the power of doing this service 
 for themselves, and persons in the capacity of servants to the public 
 having been appointed for the purpose, the duty we consider, in justice 
 to the public, becomes imperative, and is not discretionary, and we 
 know that much discontent and disapprobation prevail upon part of 
 the public with respect to it. 
 
 2ndly. That with respect to the provision contained in 5 & 6 Vic., 
 with reference to furnishing a statistical account of the Fisheries to 
 Parliament, we beg to state that no means are afforded at present for 
 accomplishing to any useful extent such an account; and this would 
 be an important service, which might be rendered in addition to many 
 
165 
 
 others required^ through the instrumentality of local inspectors, which 
 we have recommended in our Report to the Committee of the House 
 of Commons. 
 
 We append an account of the Fisheries in Ireland, valued under the 
 Poor Law. It is so small in amount comparatively with the real 
 aggregate value of it, fully illustrates the very small portion of the 
 Irish Fisheries claimed as private property, and establishes the great 
 extent to which public right exists, which can only be protected and 
 regulated to any materially useful end, by a more active administra- 
 tion of the law, as provided through a Government department. 
 
 J. REDMOND BARRY, ) Inspecting Commissioners 
 WM. J. FFENNELL, j of Fisheries, 
 
 Office of Public Works, 
 Department of Fisheries, 2lst April, 1849. 
 
 V. 
 
 LICENSES. Act 11 & 12 Vic., c. 92. An ACCOUNT of Money 
 Received, and Licences Issued, under provisions of this Act, 
 from the 1st day of February, to the 1st day of September, 
 1849, by each Stamp Distributer of Licences for the following 
 Districts : 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 1 
 
 
 '" 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 Date. 
 
 No. 
 
 DUtrict. 
 
 1) 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 "8 
 
 * 
 
 1 
 
 0) 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 Amount. 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 P 
 
 H 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 _; 
 
 ei 
 
 n 
 
 ^ 
 
 J 
 
 (0 
 
 ci 
 
 CO 
 
 at 
 
 2 
 
 ~ 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 d 
 
 ^ 
 
 Q 
 
 v o 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fc 
 
 
 
 
 fc 
 
 5 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 & 
 
 
 , 
 
 1 
 
 Dublin, . 
 
 28 
 
 , 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J. d. 
 36 
 
 
 2 
 
 Wcxford, 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l no in n 
 
 
 3 
 
 Waterford, 
 
 71 
 
 43 
 
 45 
 
 5 
 
 15 
 
 | 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 lUz 1U U 
 372 15 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 Lismore, . 
 Cork, 
 
 41 
 46 
 
 37 
 9 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 'l 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 J 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 303 15 
 181 10 
 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 Bantry, . 
 
 12 
 
 ^ 
 
 'l 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 63 15 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 Killarney, 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 | 
 
 3 
 
 
 101 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 Limerick, 
 
 73 
 
 10 
 
 is 
 
 66 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 
 13 
 
 56 
 
 434 15 
 
 S' 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 Galway, . 
 West port, 
 
 10 
 
 58 
 
 12 
 2 
 
 
 10 
 29 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 109 10 
 98 10 
 
 . 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 _ 
 
 1 
 
 
 *T* 
 
 11 
 
 Ballina, . 
 
 38 
 
 5 
 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 1 ni n A 
 
 S 
 
 12 
 
 Sligo, . 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 i Uo U 
 44 10 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 Ballyshannon, 
 Letterkenny, 
 
 91 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 10 
 
 
 4 
 
 '2 
 
 27 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 162 10 
 67 
 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 Londonderry, 
 Ballycastle, 
 
 46 
 19 
 
 '5 
 
 
 42 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 34 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 37 
 
 
 30 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 2 
 
 18 
 
 471 10 
 111 10 
 
 L 
 
 17 
 
 Drogheda, 
 
 80 
 
 16 
 
 '9 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 
 '2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 168 15 
 
 
 
 Grand Total, 
 
 763 
 
 40 
 
 91 
 
 17 
 
 "l 
 
 - 
 
 32 
 
 175 
 
 32 
 
 01 
 
 48 
 
 93 
 
 14 
 
 2,982 15 
 
 The Poor Lw Valuation Per Centage to be added to the above. 
 
166 
 VI. 
 
 THE GREAT LIMERICK WEIR. The Shannon is by far the largest 
 river in the British islands. It has the breadth and value of a navi- 
 gable highway at a distance from its mouth at which the Thames and 
 Severn are, in comparison, inconsiderable streams. It is two hundred 
 and fourteen miles in length, and is navigable through all that extent, 
 except for a few miles. The tide ebbs and flows for sixty-four miles of 
 that distance; and for forty miles the river has an average breadth of 
 a league. 
 
 This great artery for wealth and commerce must once have teemed 
 with the Salmon tribe, as the American rivers are known to have done. 
 It is fed by numerous streams, all as many nurseries for this fish, and 
 expands into wide lakes, in which they may lie secure. 
 
 Without acquiescing in all the views expressed in the following 
 extracts from an article on 'the Illegality of Crown Grants of Public 
 Fisheries in Ireland,' the facts set forth in them show part of the history 
 and effects of the great barrier Weir on the river Shannon. 
 
 "The Shannon gradually narrows to something less than a quarter of 
 a mile at Limerick. About two miles above the city the Corporation 
 erected a weir across the channel, from shore to shore; this weir was 
 so constructed that not a salmon could pass through or over it. Between 
 it and the main sea the Corporation would not allow any one to fish, 
 and between it and the source of the Shannon they of course did not 
 allow a salmon to appear; and thus all the fishing in the river was 
 confined to that one spot, and was managed by five men four to take 
 the fish out of the chambers of the weir, and the fifth to kill and count 
 them. Had that weir been indicted and abated as a nuisance, and all 
 other illegal weirs and fisheries along the course of the river been 
 removed, and all persons been allowed to exercise their rights of fishing, 
 and in a lawful manner only, there would have been 'ample and well 
 paid employment ' afforded to at least forty thousand persons. 
 
 "But it is not the poor alone who are defrauded by these weirs. 
 Every gentleman who has lands on the banks of a fresh water private 
 river, up which salmon would come were they not prevented by these 
 weirs, is defrauded of the full enjoyment of his property; for to the 
 lawful fishery in such a river he is as much entitled as to the fruit in 
 his kitchen garden. The country gentlemen very soon saw the wrong 
 inflicted on them by such weirs, and endeavoured to relieve themselves 
 by the aid of the Legislature. A bill was introduced, in 1784, into the 
 Irish Parliament, for promoting the inland fisheries; one of the clauses 
 of which provided that in each weir on the Shannon there should be 
 fixed a sluice, or flood-gate of six feet in width ; and that it should be 
 left open on Saturday evening to Monday morning, in order to permit 
 the fish to go up the river to spawn. 
 
 " This very fair proposition was opposed by a Limerick member, on 
 the ground that the Corporation 'had for many years enjoyed, under a 
 charter, the right of having weirs on the river Shannon,' and that their 
 chartered rights should not be thus interfered with. The Attorney- 
 General doubted very much the legality of the charter encroaching on 
 private property. The charter mentioned by the honourable gentle- 
 man was undeniably of that description; for by the weirs erected under 
 
167 
 
 its authority, all the upper part of the Shannon was rendered destitute 
 of fish, and the proprietors of land abutting upon the river were 
 deprived of the benefit of the fishery, to which they must have an 
 original right. The bill now before the Committee was intended to 
 restore in some degree the benefit of the fishery to the interior country, 
 without injuring the city of Limerick; for though at their weirs there 
 were often caught from six hundred to one thousand fish per day, for 
 the whole upper part of the river, it was only desired that a small 
 passage should be opened for a few hours once a week, that the mother 
 fish might go up to spawn. 
 
 " The bill was lost, but a few years afterwards another was brought 
 in, and passed ; which provided that in every weir, in every river, and 
 in the deepest part of such river, there should be a passage twenty-one 
 feet wide, called the king's gap, left always open (23 & 24 Geo. III., 
 c. 40, s. 11). This statute has been, however, in most cases disregarded 
 by the weir-owners. The Limerick Corporation for a long time set it at 
 defiance, till at length legal proceedings were taken against them ; and 
 even when they were obliged to leave the gap open, they endeavoured 
 to defeat the object of it, by putting several white substances in it, and 
 particularly one in the form of a crocodile, to frighten the fish from 
 passing up (see Report of 1825, passim). 
 
 "In general, throughout the entire kingdom, wherever the gap is 
 left, various expedients are resorted to for the purpose of rendering it 
 inefficacious; so that the proprietors of the fresh water fisheries are 
 almost as completely defrauded of their fishings as if that statute had 
 never been passed. But even supposing that the weir-owners fairly 
 complied with it, see what a fraction of their rights they leave to the 
 private proprietors twenty-one feet out of an average breadth probably 
 of a quarter of a mile. 
 
 "Looking at all these circumstances can we wonder that the whole 
 population should be hostile to such a system 1 
 
 Everybody, not directly interested in it, lifts his hand against it. The 
 people refuse to obey what they are told is the law, and the magistrates, 
 who are not interested, refuse to enforce it. 
 
 But for this weir, the river would be navigable some distance above it, 
 the tide rising to a height of twelve feet at each side of it. It is made 
 of stone piers extending across the river like the piers of a bridge, and 
 lath-work stretched across securely from pier to pier at the western 
 side, or that on which the Salmon come from the sea. To every alter- 
 nate pair of piers there is lath-work affixed at the eastern side also, so 
 as to enclose a complete chamber. There is an aperture for the Salmon 
 to get in, and of course none to get out. Between the other piers there 
 is no passage for them, so that when they push their snouts against 
 the lath-work they are obliged to grope their way aside till they get 
 into these very snug 'chambers.' 
 
 " Thus this weir stands continually, from morning till night, and 
 night till morning during the fishing season." Dublin Review, Novem- 
 ber, 1841. 
 
 The writer forgot to state that the prescriptive title to this weir is 
 many hundred years old. The legal title of the Corporation of 
 Limerick to it, whether by right of patent, or of long enjoyment is not 
 questioned, but the existence of the obstruction, both to a free run of 
 
168 
 
 iish, or in the more important consideration of navigation, is undoubt- 
 edly a great evil, and its injurious effects ought to be lessened as far as 
 the law will permit. The lessee only pays 300 per annum rent at 
 present, the value of the weir having been greatly reduced by the 
 introduction of stake nets into the estuary. It might be worth while, 
 on the part of the owners of those nets, and of the proprietors in the 
 interior, to join in purchasing the lease and the weir together, supposing 
 that the owners would consent to part with them. 
 
 The Great Lax weir at Limerick extends entirely across the river, 
 in a diagonal direction; the breadth of the stream there is 1,141 feet. 
 
 In this great artificial obstruction there is but one opening, of not 
 quite twenty-one feet, but the weir does not reach quite to the banks 
 by a few feet on each side. It is built, of stones, bound together by 
 upright posts of timber. The top of the weir is much higher than the 
 surface of the water. This gap is the only opening for boats, and in 
 summer the water is too shallow to admit a keel-boat drawing three or 
 four inches. The gap bears a proportion of only one fifty-fourth part 
 to the width of the river at that part. 
 
 It is said that the tenant some years since made 2,500 by the 
 profits of this weir. Evidence of Sir R. De Burgho, 1849. 
 
 VII. 
 
 From "An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political/' by 
 Edward Wakefield, 2 vols., 4to, 1812. 
 
 " The SALMON is mentioned by Pliny; but it seems not to have been 
 known to the Greeks, for it has never yet been found in the Mediter- 
 ranean, and those people had very little intercourse with the northern 
 countries where it abounds. In Europe, Kamtschatka, Greenland, 
 Newfoundland, and in the northern parts of America, it is plentiful. 
 Notwithstanding it is a sea fish, it proceeds up rivers to deposit its 
 spawn in some favourable place; and it is remarked, that when it has 
 once made a choice, it returns to the same spot again, like the swallow 
 to the building where she before had constructed her nest. The latter 
 circumstance has been long ascertained, by marking the bird ; and the 
 former was proved in the following manner by the French naturalist, 
 De la Landes having purchased from the fishermen of Chateaulin, a 
 town in Lower Brittany, where about 2,000 Salmon are caught every 
 year, a dozen of these fish, he fixed copper rings round their tails, and 
 set them at liberty. The fishermen assured him afterwards, that the 
 next year they caught at one time five of those marked Salmon, 
 another time three, and a third time the same number. In spring, as 
 soon as the ice begins to break, the Salmon seek the fresh water; and 
 it is observed, that they are found in much greater numbers in those 
 rivers which discharge themselves into the sea by a narrow mouth, 
 than in those which spread to a considerable width. They gene- 
 rally enter the rivers in spring, taking the tide and the wind, 
 which the fishermen call the Salmon wind. In the warmer parts of 
 Europe this ascent takes place in February and March; but in the 
 colder, in April and May. They are fond of water which flows with 
 
169 
 
 rapidity, and where the bottom consists of pebbles and sand; here they 
 remain till autumn, and having deposited spawn, they proceed back 
 to the ocean; a few, however, continue sometimes the whole winter in 
 fresh water; for it frequently happens, particularly in Sweden, that 
 the streams freeze so early as to prevent their return. In Ireland also, 
 Salmon are found in some of the rivers throughout the whole year. 
 When Salmon enter a river they do so in numbers, arranged in two 
 rows, forming the two sides of a triangle, one of the largest being com- 
 monly stationed at the summit; and if they meet with any obstacle 
 which deranges this order, they resume as soon as they have past it, 
 their former position. They swim always in the middle of the stream, 
 and near the surface of the water, but if the weather is stormy or 
 hot they continue their course nearer the bottom. Their keeping at 
 the surface, and in the middle of the stream, arises no doubt, from 
 their fondness for currents; for it is known by the experiments of 
 Mariotte, that a stream is always stronger in the middle than at the 
 sides, and that water flows with more velocity near the surface than at 
 a greater depth. 
 
 " Salmon take long migrations, and if they meet with a waterfall or 
 barrier, spring over it by putting their tail to their mouth, so as to 
 form their body into a circle;* in this manner they are able, if the 
 water be deep, to throw themselves to the height of five or six feet; 
 when they reach the summit of the fall, they strike the water with 
 their tail, as a sign of their satisfaction, and proceed onwards ; if they 
 fail in their attempt, they renew it after a short rest, and continue in 
 this manner till they accomplish their end, or discover the impossi- 
 bility of succeeding. When Salmon arrive at a place where two rivers 
 meet, one of which is rapid and the other still, they first enter the 
 former, but afterwards proceed to the latter, with a view, perhaps, of 
 finding a more quiet place for depositing their spawn. They prefer 
 also rivers closely bordered with trees, because they are fond of the shade, 
 and of cool water; on the other hand they avoid rivers, the mouths 
 of which are beset with buildings, as has been experienced by the 
 fishermen in Sweden. They do not readily proceed from rivers into 
 small streams, the mouths of which are shallow, except in stormy 
 weather, when the water is so turbid that they are not able to see their 
 way. The floating of wood drives back Salmon, and they seldom 
 approach places where there are buoys, or movable objects of the like 
 kind; they are scared also by any thing that is red, and, therefore, it 
 is advisable not to cover houses near Salmon fisheries with tiles of that 
 colour. Saw-mills, in consequence of their noise, frighten Salmon as well 
 as other fish, and if the former, when they approach the coast or mouths 
 of rivers, hear any noise, or perceive seals, their mortal enemies, they 
 immediately retire. In the year 1743, whole shoals of Salmon were 
 sent back into the sea, from the mouth of the river Tornea, in Sweden, 
 by the firing of a few three-pounders belonging to the artillery." 
 
 * The body of the fish is one continued muscle; this gives them their great 
 strength, and their swiftness in the water. 
 
170 
 
 VIII. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS adopted at a Meeting of the Proprietors and 
 Lessees of Salmon Fisheries of Ireland, Londonderry, 13th 
 June, 1848, as a basis for a Memorial to the Lord Lieutenant. 
 [Appendix, 1849, p. 150.] 
 
 1. ' An Assessment Bill, according to the Scotch principle, 9 Geo. IV. 
 cap. 39, sec. 1, and no other, to be under the management of the pro- 
 prietors and farmers of the fisheries; and that no person or party shall 
 have power to interfere with them in such assessment. 
 
 2. ' That draught nets used for taking Salmon at sea, being fished 
 by persons who have no right to the shore, should be deemed illegal, 
 unless possessed by proprietors of the shore adjoining, or persons 
 authorized by them. 
 
 3. ' That all drift or mesh nets used for taking Salmon in the sea, 
 estuaries, lakes, or rivers, shall be declared illegal, inasmuch as such 
 nets are injurious to fisheries at large, by turning off much more fish 
 than they take, and are only used by poachers in rivers and lakes. 
 
 4. ' That Magistrates shall have summary power in the open as 
 well as in the close season to punish trespassers. 
 
 5. ' That every description of cross-line fishing in lakes frequented 
 by Salmon shall be prohibited, as it is in rivers. 
 
 6. ' That the privileges and extent of all river and estuary fish- 
 eries for Salmon be ascertained and defined, pursuant to, and in confor- 
 mity with, established and existing rights. 
 
 7. ' That different open and close seasons shall be fixed for different 
 .rivers; and that the bag-nets on the coast shall be bound to the same 
 open and close season as the river to which they pay the protection 
 cess. 
 
 8. ' That the same close season shall be fixed for the taking of 
 Trout as for Salmon, as many Salmon are destroyed in the close season 
 on the pretence of fishing for Trout. 
 
 9. * That angling shall be stopped in each river on the same day 
 as every other description of fishing, since, if a fish is unfit to be taken 
 by one mode of capture, it should not be taken by another. 
 
 10. ' That there be a minimum penalty in every case of not less 
 than 2, or two months' imprisonment, without right of appeal, and 
 that warrants issued by Magistrates shall be levy and body warrants, 
 embodied in one, so as, failing the goods, the police may take the 
 offender, the same as iu revenue cases. 
 
 11. ' That no person shall fish, by any means whatever, in any 
 river or tributary thereof, or estuary, where the tide ebbs and flows, 
 nor within one mile of low-water mark from the mouth thereof, at any 
 season, without the leave of the proprietor. 
 
 12. ' Forfeiture of all instruments or engines used in taking 
 Salmon or Trout by poachers within the limits of fisheries; and that 
 all nets, spears, gaffs, or other instrument or engine found in the pos- 
 session of unauthorized persons, in or on the bank or banks of any 
 river or lake, be taken as primd facie evidence of intention of fishing, 
 and punishable accordingly. 
 
171 
 
 13. * That angling as well as other fishing shall be prohibited on 
 Sundays. 
 
 14. ' That the weekly close time shall be for draught net fishing, 
 from the low water next in point of time after six o'clock on Satur- 
 day evening to the low water next in point of time before six o'clock 
 on Monday morning.' 
 
 A memorial to his Excellency, founded on the above Resolutions, 
 was then drawn up and approved of, and directed to be forwarded to 
 his Excellency by Dr. Shiel. 
 
 (Signed,) JOHN LITTLE, 
 
 Chairman of Committee. 
 
 IX. 
 
 The following extracts are made from an instructive and impartial 
 article on ' Salmon Fisheries,' in the Quarterly Review, vol. xxxvii., 1828. 
 The question of the propriety of Fixed Engines is well discussed, and 
 that one which contains much difficulty as to the boundary river- 
 ward of which fixed nets ought to be prohibited, receives some eluci- 
 dation : 
 
 " The great labour constantly required in the management of mov- 
 able nets in rivers, and the number of fish which occasionally make 
 their escape to the higher stations, led, at an early period, to the erec- 
 tion of a fixed apparatus of wooden lattices, or wicker-work, for the 
 purpose of intercepting the migrating fish, and directing them into 
 suitable labyrinths for capture. These engines, anciently termed kidels 
 in England, and more recently fish-weirs, or locks, and cruives, in Scot- 
 land, differ in their form, extent, and composition, according to the 
 resources or ingenuity of their proprietors. In many cases they extend 
 across the stream from bank to bank, and consequently intercept all 
 the fish on their way to higher stations, and thus secure the monopoly 
 of the stream. Where the whole river and its streams belong to one 
 proprietor, such an engine would unquestionably be the most efficient 
 and the least expensive, and might be so constructed and regulated as 
 to be perfectly harmless. But where different proprietors have an in- 
 terest in the river and tributary streams, the use of such an apparatus 
 is equivalent to the monopoly of their fisheries. Even if this engine 
 extended but a short way into the water from each bank, so as to 
 leave a free space in the middle of the stream, of such an extent as it 
 should, according to the ordinance of Alexander III. of Scotland, * in 
 all parts be swa free, that ane swine, of the age of three zears, well fed, 
 may turne himself within the streame, round about, swa that his suowt 
 nor taill sail not touch the bank of the water,' or according to the in- 
 terpretation of competent authority, ' be free from any hedge or heck, 
 palisadoes, or rails, placed for interrupting the Salmon,' still this space 
 can be so easily filled up by a temporary apparatus, as to enable the 
 engine to intercept all the running fish; and there is abundance of 
 evidence in the Reports to lead to the conviction, that the abuse now 
 referred to is in full practice at all the kidels and cruives in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 " In our opinion, fixed engines of this description, on all rivers with 
 mixed property, should be everywhere abolished, agreeably to the 
 
172 
 
 declaration of their illegality in MAGNA CHARTA, where it is ordained, 
 ' Omnes kidelli deponantur de caetero penitus per Tharnesiam et Med- 
 weyam, et per totam Angliam, nisi per costeram maris.' 
 
 " Where such engines exist, by any supposed right which a court of 
 law would sustain, the other proprietors of fishings in the rivers should 
 be furnished with a power to remove them upon payment of the value 
 of the proven rent during fifteen or twenty years; and while in exer- 
 cise, they should be restrained to the margin of the stream, so that a 
 third or a half of the channel should at all times be free from obstruc- 
 tion." 
 ********** * 
 
 11 Human ingenuity, we have seen, has been exhibited in the use of 
 various engines to secure Salmon after they have entered the rivers; 
 nor have devices been wanting to effect their capture while yet in 
 stations under the influence of the tide. It has been stated that Salmon, 
 when they leave their unknown haunts in deep water, approach the 
 coast, and enter the estuaries, and there remain, moving about in shoals 
 under the influence of the tide, until the rivers are in suitable state to 
 receive them. To attempt to capture fish, in such situations, by the 
 movable net, would be a wasteful expenditure of labour. In a river, 
 this (movable) engine, if of sufficient size, gives the industrious fisher- 
 man a full command of the stream, especially if he arranges his re- 
 sources so as to be sending out one net while he is hauling in another, 
 as the proprietors of the more inland streams feel to their cost. In the 
 estuary, and on the sea- shore, the varying depth of the water, the 
 inequalities of the bottom, the comparatively limited space which the 
 net encloses, and, above all, the frequent swell of the water, lifting the 
 net from the bottom, and giving to the fish a ready way to escape, 
 offer such obstacles to the movable net as to render it, in such sta- 
 tions, almost a useless engine. The method, which had so frequently 
 presented itself to savage tribes, of employing a net to act by the ebb- 
 ing and flowing of the tide, appears to have been in use on the British 
 shores from an early period. It is the kid-el referred to in Magna 
 Charta, and the nowts mos piscandi of Hector Boece. By means of 
 upright posts fixed in the sand, and extending from the shore to low 
 water mark, nets are kept suspended and stretched, so as to direct the 
 fish, moving with the tide, into suitable courts or labyrinths, where 
 they are detained and left accessible to the fisher, on the ebbing of the 
 tide. These tide-nets, which in Scotland have obtained the denomina- 
 tion of stake-nets, capture both the fish moving into the estuary with the 
 flood, and those moving out of the estuary with the ebb-tide. The 
 fish which these nets entangle are in the best possible state, having 
 recently arrived from deep water, and they are in a situation to be 
 conveyed to the market in the speediest manner. Yet, in spite of the 
 antiquity of this method of fishing, and its obvious efficiency, there are 
 not wanting individuals who long for its abolition, and who wish it to 
 be declared unlawful for a proprietor of fisheries on the sea coast to 
 employ the tide to his advantage. Before, however, discussing this 
 branch of the question, it may be necessary to inquire into the restric- 
 tions at present imposed by law on these tide-nets, and to what extent 
 they may be employed, without injuring the public interests of the 
 Fisheries. 
 
173 
 
 " If we attend to the natural history of the Salmon Fry, we shall 
 find, that in rivers, even where these are under the influence of the 
 tide, the tender beings descend in myriads at the margin of the stream, 
 but when they reach the head of the estuary, they betake themselves 
 to the shelter of the deep and salt water. If fixed nets be erected in 
 those places, in rivers which are frequented by the fry, the injury to 
 the Fisheries, arising from their destruction, will be great indeed. It 
 was to guard against this evil that they were prohibited in rivers in 
 England, by Magna Charta, and in Scotland by an Act of Robert I., 
 while they were left unfettered in their use on the sea coast. But at 
 what point are we to assign the limit, riverward of which the tide nets 
 ought to be prohibited 1 It is the want of precision, in our statutes, in 
 reference to this point, that has created in our estuaries an extent of 
 debatable ground, the disputes concerning which have led to the pre- 
 sent parliamentary inquiry. It is fortunate for those senators, who are 
 now called upon to legislate upon a subject which their predecessors 
 overlooked, that there is a natural limit, riverward of which tide-nets 
 can, in no ordinary circumstances, injure or intercept either the de- 
 scending spawned fish or the fry; and that limit is the point where 
 the river is intersected by the mean level of the sea, and where the 
 fish, migrating downwards, avoid the margin from its turbulent cha- 
 racter, and occupy the middle and bottom of the estuary. We are 
 aware, that there is another natural limit, which has been proposed, 
 viz., the point of constant ebbing or flowing, or point of stagnation at 
 the head of the estuary. Though this point will seldom be far distant 
 from the other, it is inferior to it in permanency of character, since it 
 will be found more seaward in winter than in summer, and during 
 floods than in the ordinary state of the river, as it is the point where 
 the antagonist currents neutralize each other in a common level. 
 
 " If tide-nets be permitted at the mouths of rivers, even for some 
 distance seaward of the point where the river naturally ceases, they 
 will be productive of two evils, against which it is necessary to guard. 
 They will interrupt the trade in the river, in ships and boats, and 
 thereby prove a nuisance in a commercial country. They may be so 
 arranged, even when prohibited beyond low water mark, as to inter- 
 cept all the fish about to enter the river, and thus deprive the proprie- 
 tors of inland fisheries of all share in the spoil. But both these evils 
 admit of a very simple remedy. In no case, in an estuary having a 
 bar at its junction with the sea, should the outer posts of the nets ex- 
 tend beyond low water, so as to preserve entire the full stream of the 
 river to the sea; and in no case should they occupy a space on the 
 banks on each side of the estuary, exceeding the tenth part of the 
 breadth occupied by the water at the flood of neap tides. By such an 
 arrangement, the navigation of the head of the estuary would not be 
 interrupted, or monopoly of the fish acquired. 
 
 " It is not to be disguised, that tide-nets, even when restrained in 
 estuaries within the limits now recommended, have been held up to 
 
 ?ublic odium, as detrimental in the extreme to the true interests of the 
 'isheries, and as interfering with the natural and vested rights of the 
 inland proprietors. After an attentive examination of all the objec- 
 tions to the use of tide-nets, we have been led to trace them, exclu- 
 sively, either to ignorance of their real nature, or to the most unjusti- 
 
174 
 
 fiable selfishness. It was, at one time, confidently asserted, that the 
 tide-nets destroyed the fry, and the descending spawned fish; but we 
 presume that this idle declamation has ceased, since the publication of 
 the Reports, wherein it is demonstrated that the places most suitable 
 for the erection of tide-nets, under the limitations already noticed, are 
 those places which neither the fry nor the spawned fish frequent. 
 
 "It has been somewhat hastily announced that Salmon, being bred 
 in rivers, belong to the owners of river property, and not to the pro- 
 prietors on the banks of the estuaries or the sea shore. In this view 
 of the matter it seems to be forgotten that the fry leave the rivers as 
 speedily as possible, to obtain in the sea those sources of nourishment 
 suited to their youth, which their birth-place cannot afford them. But 
 if we must admit that Salmon are the property of those in the fords of 
 whose streams they have been bred, then those only ought to have 
 liberty to catch fish who have spawning fords; and the numerous and 
 important fisheries, at present the most valuable in the kingdom, which 
 are situated in rivers near their confluence with estuaries or the sea, 
 must be proscribed as scenes of poaching, a conclusion, we suspect, 
 not very acceptable to many who have urged the objection with great 
 vehemence." 
 
 X. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH of the BRITISH and IRISH FISHERIES. 
 Compiled by SIR T. CHARLES MORGAN, M.D. 
 
 " Fish being an article of produce that paysno rent, a freegift of nature 
 to the captor, the employment of the fisherman might be thought fully 
 equal to take care of itself, and to require no encouragement, to call it 
 into activity. It is therefore not without surprise that the inquirer 
 learns the vast efforts made by powerful nations to create a fishery, and 
 so often made in vain. 
 
 " The solution of this seeming paradox lies in the perishable nature 
 of the commodity, and the consequent disproportion between the cost 
 of taking and that of preserving and conveying it to the distant 
 market. To transport fish in a fresh condition, so rapidly enhances its 
 price, that, at a small distance from the sea, it becomes an article of 
 luxury; and its market is restricted accordingly. The inferior kinds 
 only can be generally offered for sale at prices which permit their 
 being used extensively as articles of ordinary diet ; and these are so 
 inferior in nutritious qualities, and so much less exciting to the palate 
 than animal food, that the people who can afford to purchase meat, will 
 not largely consume them. Except during the gluts of mackerel and 
 herrings, the artisans of London very rarely purchase fresh fish; and 
 the cured fish they decline altogether, or nearly so. 
 
 " To obtain an extensive sale for this article, it is for the most part 
 necessary that it should be subjected to the processes of curing, and ren- 
 dered capable of conveyance to far distant markets. But the curing 
 of fish, while it implies a considerable degree of art and some outlay 
 of capital, so far decreases the estimation of the commodity in con- 
 sumption, that salt fish usually finds a still less ready market than 
 fresh ; and in thriving communities, it is consumed only by the poorest 
 
175 
 
 population, and at times when better articles of diet are scarce and in- 
 accessible. The general use of even the best kinds is very much con- 
 fined to Catholic countries ; and depends rather on a dogma of religion, 
 than on a principle of political economy. 
 
 " Fish, therefore, must be an object of commerce very readily liable to 
 over-production ; and sudden fluctuations in the quantity taken, greatly 
 increase the difficulty of maintaining a proper ratio between demand 
 and supply. The fish market is constantly varying between extreme 
 points of glut and scarcity; and the necessary consequence must be a 
 low average profit to those engaged in its capture. 
 
 " The fisheries, as an object of national importance, depend altogether 
 on a demand for the salted article, and that too in some more extensive 
 market than the immediate neighbourhood of the fisheries ordinarily 
 affords. Before such a market is found, and rendered accessible, it is 
 to no purpose that fish abound. They exist in the sea, as good land 
 lies in the back settlements of America. Both are susceptible of sup- 
 plying the wants of man; but both are useless, through their distance 
 from a centre of distribution. Again, the most productive fishing 
 grounds of the British Islands happen to lie principally off remote and 
 ill-inhabited coasts; and before they can become extensively available 
 to the native population, capital and industry must seek them out, and 
 bring to the spot all the materials for curing and for fishing on a large 
 scale. But in a climate tolerably genial, such a mode of investing 
 capital would hardly be adopted, until the demands of agriculture and 
 manufacture were tolerably satisfied. 
 
 " Accordingly, it was the Dutch, who, having little land to cultivate, 
 and being dependent almost exclusively on commerce for subsistence, 
 were the first to render the fisheries a staple of national industry; and 
 they are still the only nation who have very largely depended on that 
 species of wealth for the source of their prosperity. In England, from 
 its earliest commercial existence, capital has found ample sources of 
 investment without embarking largely in the Fisheries. Although its 
 waters abound in fish, the trade for ages was very nearly confined to 
 the supply of the local markets : and it was not until the time of the 
 Stuarts that the fisheries excited public attention; when, owing to the 
 political jealousies then commencing between England and Holland, 
 the desire was formed of depriving the Dutch of their herring trade, 
 and of thus crippling her warlike resources. 
 
 " In this anxiety to injure an enemy, the nation did not advert to the 
 different situations of the two countries; but rushing at once into a 
 cumbrous and expensive scheme for becoming impromptu fishermen, 
 they entered blindfold upon a series of experiments, from which even 
 now, they are not totally disengaged. The eagerness of the nation to 
 jump to the desired conclusion, would not brook the naturally slow 
 development of the trade; but strove by monopolies and privileges, by 
 bounties, &c., to force it into a precocious maturity. The result was, 
 (as might have been foreseen), reiterated failure; and it was not till 
 the war of the French Revolution had utterly annihilated the Dutch 
 commerce, that a real opening was made for the profitable investment 
 of British capital in this branch of industry.* To these causes of 
 
 * " This eagerness to share in the spoils of the sea has not been confined to 
 England. The idea of forcing a national Fishery has prevailed amongst most 
 
176 
 
 failure, which circumscribed the growth of the British Fisheries, others 
 peculiar to Ireland may be added. Besides the necessity imposed 
 on the latter country, of following in the career of the former, two cir- 
 cumstances may have been active in drawing the attention of Ireland 
 to the resources of its waters. 1st. The neglected state of the manu- 
 factures, and consequent want of employment; and, 2ndly, the peri- 
 odical recurrence of local famines. The latter, more especially, could 
 not fail to excite the attention of the public, by the dreary contrast it 
 presented between starvation on shore, and an abundant supply of 
 food existing in the neighbouring sea ; a supply which wanted only to 
 be taken, to become available to the wretched peasantry. Accord- 
 ingly, the money raised by charitable subscriptions has more than once 
 been spent in equipping the coast population to become fishers; and 
 legislative efforts have been made to attain the same end, in a more 
 permanent way. 
 
 "But, to look more minutely into facts, the people of northern 
 Europe, during the middle ages, were reduced to live, during their long 
 winter, very principally upon salted provisions; and the resources of 
 the sea fishery could not have been neglected in those places, where 
 fresh food of so relatively agreeable a kind, could be obtained, to vary 
 the limited and unwholesome diet. From the process of taking fish, 
 to that of curing it, the step is short and consequential." 
 
 [A brief compendium is then given of the measures adopted for the 
 promotion of the Scottish Fisheries.] 
 
 " Such is a very abridged history of the British Fishery Laws. It 
 remains now to take up that of the Fisheries of Ireland. The re- 
 sources of the Irish waters seem early to have attracted public 
 notice. Sir W. Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex, 1673, says ( the 
 fishing in Ireland might prove a mine under water, as rich as any 
 under ground ;' and so strongly was he impressed with this idea, that 
 he proposed that no individual should be admissible into the House of 
 Commons, nor entitled to a commission of the peace, unless he had 
 taken a practical part in the encouragement of that branch of industry. 
 So far back as the 5th of Elizabeth, an Irish statute prohibited foreign 
 vessels from fishing in the Irish seas without a license. This license 
 was taxed at 13*. 4rf. annually, for twelve- ton vessels. Philip II. of 
 Spain paid into the Irish Treasury 1,000 for liberty to fish the Irish 
 coast; and in the reign of Charles I., the Dutch were allowed a similar 
 license, on the payment of 30,000. In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as 
 a favour, to employ one hundred vessels in the Irish Fishery so little 
 was the idea then entertained, that the resources of Ireland could, or 
 should, be made available to the Irish subject. In the 7th Geo. II., 
 an Act was passed for the encouragement of the Coast Fisheries. Two 
 years afterwards, Mr. Doyle announced his discovery of a most pro- 
 lific fishing ground, the Nymph Bank, off Waterford ; and he published 
 a proposal for supplying London, Liverpool, and Bristol, with fresh 
 
 of the European communities ; and the means adopted by some of the govern- 
 ments of other nations, are set forth in the Appendix. Documents are wanting 
 to furnish a just comparison between the cost of these efforts, and the returns ; 
 but the fact that such aid is still thought necessary to the existence of the re- 
 spective Fisheries, bears strongly against the soundness of the policy which 
 continues it." 
 
17T 
 
 fish from the south coast of Ireland, by means of well-boats. The 
 scheme, however, came to nothing, and it was not till 1786 that it was 
 resumed. 
 
 "The system of bounties having taken root in England, was natu- 
 rally adopted by the Irish Parliament, by 3 & 4 Geo. III., twenty 
 shillings per ton was granted on all deep-sea fish; which was subse- 
 quently (25 Geo. III.) limited to fish for curing. The consequence of 
 this change was great distress among the fishermen; and on the 19th 
 of March, 1789, a petition was received from the Skerries fishermen, 
 (the principal body,) complaining of having been ruined by fishing for 
 the bounty on the north-west coast, under the new law; and praying 
 for aid to pay their debts, and carry on the white fishing for Dublin 
 market. By 41 Geo. III., a grant by the British parliament of 
 30,000 was dedicated to bounties for the supplying fresh fish to 
 London, Westminster, or other town or city of Great Britain ; and Mr. 
 Frazer at this period, repeating Doyle's experiments, ascertained the 
 abundant resources of the Nymph Bank; and the Marine Society of 
 London accordingly, having built fishing vessels, for the supply of the 
 London market, offered to let them on hire, to ply on this bank. The 
 then Chief Secretary of Ireland approved of this plan, and recom- 
 mended that two of these vessels should be engaged. In pursuance of 
 the project, 6,000 was assigned out of the Parliamentary grant for 
 the furtherance of the Irish Fisheries; but the recommendation was 
 not followed to execution. In 1802 another effort was made by the 
 Government in behalf of the Irish Fisheries ; and Mr. Frazer was sent 
 to Dublin with orders to hire vessels for experiment, and with permission 
 to apply for revenue cruisers to assist in the furtherance of his object. 
 
 " At this time, says Frazer, well-boats were unknown in Dublin ; but 
 eighty-seven wherries, from twenty to fifty tons, and about eighteen 
 yawls, supplied the city with all the fish it required. In this summer, 
 Frazer proceeded with two hired wherries to the Nymph Bank, where 
 he found abundance of white fish, and still greater quantities further 
 to the westward. The presumed verification of the resources of the 
 bank induced Mr. Secretary Wickham to recommend the formation of 
 a company at Waterford, for fishing it with well-boats; 128 shares, of 
 50 each, were subscribed, the Government adding 10 per cent, to 
 the subscription, and engaging to pay a bounty of 30s. per ton to the 
 vessels so employed. The Government performed its part; but the 
 spirit of party, says Frazer, got possession of the company, and its 
 affairs were so mismanaged, as to inspire the notion that the object was 
 to insure a failure. Frazer, however, succeeded in carrying a cargo of 
 cod to London, which he sold to advantage. According to his autho- 
 rity, capital might have been successfully employed in the Irish Cod 
 Fishery, between October and April, the boats being afterwards sent 
 to the North Seas, off the Feroe Islands. Well-boats might also have 
 plied successfully all the year round, in the Turbot fishery. In 1803, 
 the Marine Society resolved that the Irish Fishery should be further 
 pursued, and offered to subscribe to the Waterford company. The 
 company, however, refused the offer, and the Society subscribed 
 20,000 to fish independently, and on its own account. But eventu- 
 ally their bill of incorporation was thrown out, and nothing further 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 was attempted. Frazer, meantime, made three voyages to Bristol, and 
 sold his fish at good prices the city paying a bounty of 2s. Qd. per 
 cwt. on the cargoes. In 1804 the Waterford company dissolved. 
 
 " Another efibrt had been previously made by the Government in 
 behalf of the Fisheries, under the management of the Dublin Society. 
 For this purpose, Is. per barrel duty was laid on imported herrings, 
 to be expended in the encouragement of the north-west Fishery. This 
 duty, by 23 & 24 Geo. III., c. 1, was raised to 3s. and by an Act of 
 the following year, to 10s. (subsequently reduced to 9s.) In 1776-7 
 (17 & 18 Geo. III., c. 18), bounties were granted on ships prosecuting 
 the white fishery, south of latitude 44. In 1801-2 (21 & 22 Geo. 
 III., c. 15), three Inspectors of Fisheries were appointed, and 6d. per 
 pound sterling ordered to be deducted from the bounties for their pay- 
 ment. In 1785, 20,000 was granted to trustees, on the petition of 
 William Conyngham, esq., for the encouragement of the Fisheries; 30s. 
 per ton bounty was also granted to the owners of British or Irish 
 Fishery vessels, up to the concurrence of eighty tons. Another bounty 
 of 60s. was given for building vessels for the deep-water Fishery, on 
 the north-west coast, to be launched before December 1st, 1788; and 
 lastly, bounties were granted on the export of fish, fish oil, and whale- 
 bone, not being for Great Britain or the Isle of Man. The Inspectors, 
 too, were at this time increased to five, and Is. in the pound sterling 
 stopped for their salaries. By the same Act, fishing vessels were re- 
 quired to bear distinguishing marks, the size of the meshes of fishing 
 nets was regulated, and the season for taking oysters was subjected to 
 rule. By 25 Geo. III., c. 65, it was enacted, that 20,000 might be 
 raised on the estate of W. Conyngham, esq., for the same purposes 
 as the preceding grant to that gentleman. On the following year, 
 bounties were extended to vessels not under twenty tons, and an ex- 
 port bounty of 2s. 2d. per barrel on herrings was granted. At the 
 same time 10,000 were voted to certain individuals, for building 
 accommodations to fishermen, and improving the navigation of Lough 
 Swilly the parties advancing an equal sum. In 1786, barrel bounty 
 was raised to 4s., and premiums offered of eighty, sixty, forty, and 
 twenty guineas respectively, on the four greatest quantities of herrings 
 taken between January 1st, and December 31st of that year; 3s. 3d. 
 per cwt. also was given on the export of white fish, in lieu of the 
 bounties granted on that article by 25 Geo. III., which were repealed. 
 In the year 1791 (32 Geo. III., c. 23), the bounties of 25 Geo. III. 
 were continued till the 25th March, 1795, and from this period, by a 
 succession of prolongations, (and with some insignificant change of 
 detail,) this statute continued to be the great regulator of the Irish 
 Fisheries, until the year 1819, when the Irish Fishery Board was in- 
 stituted. Of the proceedings of this body, and their results, particulars 
 will be found in the succeeding pages. It continued in activity during 
 ten years, which may be considered as the period of greatest activity 
 in the Irish Fisheries; and with its existence closed the long succession 
 of efforts to establish the Fisheries by pecuniary encouragement. The 
 abolition of bounties, (and consequently of the Irish Fishery Board,) 
 was the work of public opinion, which, as usual, followed lagging in the 
 rear of the march of events. From the year 1830 to the present time, 
 
179 
 
 an interval has elapsed, marked by a reaction, consequent on the previous 
 stimulation, and by a languor in the so-favoured branch of industry, 
 which has called forth the present Commission. 
 
 " In retracing the facts spread through a period of more than two 
 centuries; the reader cannot but be struck with the repeated failures 
 of successive efforts to create a domestic fishery, both in Great Britain 
 and in Ireland. By some, these are attributed to errors of manage- 
 ment, and to a premature abandonment of the measures of encourage- 
 ment; and the averment perhaps maybe partly true; but it is im- 
 possible to overlook the fact, that amidst all the efforts of Government, 
 and the popular enthusiasm in favour of fisheries, they have not been 
 a favourite speculation with capitalists, so that mercantile enterprise 
 has been far from going hand in hand with administrative liberality. 
 To this statement the Scotch Fishery alone affords an exception; 
 what inference should be drawn either from the rule or from its ex- 
 ception, the reader will determine for himself; but it does not seem 
 too much to affirm on experience of the past, that whatever value to 
 individuals may be set on any assistance which Government may here- 
 after think right to afford the fishermen, through any better-directed 
 system of encouragement, the trade must still eventually stand or fall 
 by the spontaneous efforts of the parties interested, and the stimulus of 
 remunerating markets." 
 
 XL 
 
 EXTRACT from the SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT of the COMMIS- 
 SIONERS of PUBLIC WORKS. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. No branch of the industrial resources of 
 Ireland suffered more severely, in the first instance, from the famine 
 and distress of the years 1846-1847 than the Fisheries, both deep sea 
 and inland. This anomaly is the more remarkable where their great 
 capability of productiveness was so well known, and where, in the 
 natural order of things, a people curtailed in the supply of the fruits of 
 the land, might have been expected to avail themselves of the bounti- 
 ful supplies of food which the surrounding sea afforded. Yet it is a 
 fact that, in the autumn of 1846, when the impending famine was cer- 
 tain, and when deaths from starvation had already occurred, supplies 
 of fish, the most abundant which had been known for years, existed on 
 many parts of the coast, and that on parts of the southern and western 
 coasts, large quantities of fish were allowed to rot on the shore, or were 
 spread on the adjacent fields for manure. 
 
 This extraordinary state of things resulted partly from a prejudice 
 against the use of fish as a dietary, without potatoes, partly from the 
 utter prostration and distress which the want of food produced, (and 
 which compelled the coast population to part with their boats, tackle, 
 &c., as well as every other implement or means of earning a livelihood 
 for food, to maintain their very existence,) but mainly from the fact, 
 that the fisheries of this country, however valuable or important, were 
 not fixed on the solid basis of an established trade, nor were followed 
 or maintained as a real commercial undertaking for the profit which 
 they would directly yield. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 In our monthly reports, and in several other papers published in the 
 Belief Correspondence laid before Parliament during this eventful 
 period, these facts, their causes, with some of the measures proposed 
 for their remedy, were put forward. 
 
 Whilst the deep sea fisheries were injuriously affected by the with- 
 drawal of boats and tackle, left to rot on the shores, or in pawn offices, 
 and by the fishermen themselves resorting to the more certain and 
 ready means of public works, and soup kitchens, for the bare support 
 of life; the inland fisheries were materially injured by the increased 
 infringement of the laws, passed for their protection and improve- 
 ment. 
 
 The close season prohibitions were openly violated, when it was felt 
 to be difficult to enforce regulations, that were met by the plea of want 
 of food; and it is much to be feared, that in consequence, a general 
 disregard for the most useful regulations of the law, has supervened to 
 an extent that has caused much mischief already, which it will require 
 much time to correct and remove. 
 
 Whilst such were the depressing results of the famine in the first 
 instance, there are still strong grounds for hoping that those very 
 results, by exposing the unsound and undeveloped state of one of the 
 most valuable (and which at the same time it would be easy to render 
 most available) of the resources of the country, will have their good 
 effects. 
 
 The fact of great numbers of persons dying from want of food (or 
 such profitable employment as would enable them to buy it), along the 
 shores of a sea abounding in fish, and which was calculated to afford 
 remunerative employment in its production, has established beyond all 
 controversy, the necessity for permanently developing and relying 
 upon the fisheries in this country as a source of industry and trade, 
 and consequently of food. 
 
 XII. 
 THE RIVERS OF IRELAND. 
 
 Edmund Spenser, if not a follower of rural sports, was a keen ob- 
 server of them. The allegoric passages drawn from that of Hawking, 
 so frequent in the ' Faerie Queene,' are depicted with the accuracy of a 
 practised falconer. 
 
 In his poem of ' Epithalmion,' he invokes the water-spirits of the 
 river Aubeg, or the ' Narrow-water,' the stream passing under his 
 residence of Kilcolman : 
 
 Ye Nymphes of Mulla, which with carefull heed 
 The silver scaly trouts do tend full well, 
 And greedy pikes which use therein to feed ; 
 (Those trouts and pikes all others doe excell ;) 
 And ye likewise, which keepe the rushy lake, 
 Where none do fishes take. * * * 
 And eke, ye lightfoot mayds, which keepe the deer, 
 That on the hoary mountayne use to towre ; 
 And the wyld wolves, which seeke them to deroure, 
 With your steele darts doe chace from coming neer ; 
 Be also present heere. 
 
181 
 
 The poet, in describing this country as once deriving much of its 
 picturesque attraction from wood, takes notice of the abundance of her 
 rivers and lakes: 
 
 Whylom, when Ireland flourished in fame 
 
 Of wealth and goodnesse, far above the rest 
 Of all that bear the British islands' name, 
 
 The gods then us'd (for pleasure and for rest), 
 Oft to resort thereto, when seem'd them best ; 
 
 But none, of all, therein more pleasure found 
 Than Cynthia, that is sovereine queene profest 
 Of woods and forests, which therein abound, 
 Sprinkled with wholsom waters more than most on ground. 
 
 Spenser, in his ' State of Ireland,' after pathetically describing the 
 * lamentable desolation' and ' utter waste' brought upon the province 
 of Ulster by civil war, breaks out into praise of the land : ' and sure 
 it is yet a most beautiful and sweet Country as any under Heaven, 
 being stored throughout with many goodly Rivers, replenish'd with all 
 sorts of Fish most abundantly, sprinkled with many very sweet islands 
 and goodly lakes, like little inland Seas, that will carry even ships 
 upon their waters; adorned with goodly Woods, even fit for building 
 of houses and ships, so commodiously as that if some Princes in the 
 World had them they would soon hope to be Lords of all the Seas, and 
 ere long of all the World. Also full of very good ports and havens 
 opening upon England, as inviting us to come unto them, to see what 
 excellent commodities that country can afford ; besides the soyl itself 
 most fertile, fit to yield all kind of fruit that shall be committed there- 
 unto. And lastly the heavens most mild and temperate, though some- 
 what more moist than the parts towards the West.' 
 
 The chief rivers of Ireland are introduced by Edmund Spenser in 
 his poetic allegory of the ' Faerie Queene/ in the episode of the ' mar- 
 riage of the Thames and Isis,' after those of England : 
 Ne thence the Irishe rivers absent were : 
 Sith no lesse famous then the rest they be. 
 
 He thus alludes to that trio of noble streams whose confluence below 
 Waterford forms the estuary and harbour of that city, rising in the 
 mountains of Leinster and of the centre of Munster, and conveying 
 the waters of several shires to the ocean : 
 
 These three faire sons, which being thenceforth poured 
 
 In three great rivers ran, and many countries scowred. 
 
 The first the gentle Shure that, making way 
 
 By sweet Clonmel, adorns rich Waterford ; 
 
 The next, the stubborne Newre whose waters gray 
 
 By faire Kilkenny and Rosse-ponte boord ; 
 
 The third, the goodly Barrow, which doth hoord 
 
 Great heapes of salmons in his deepe bosome. 
 
 In the poem of ' Mutabilitie' he speaks of the vale of Tipperary as 
 
 The richest champaign that may else be red : 
 and of the 
 
 Faire Suir, in which are thousand salmons bred. 
 
 The immense extent of country ' un-watered' by these great rivers 
 is only inferior to that drained by the Shannon: with their many 
 tributaries they afford a vast and fruitful field for the production of 
 the salmon tribe, which, if assiduously protected, would yield a large 
 
182 
 
 amount of commerce and employment. The Waterford estuary, * fruit- 
 ful and full of branches by reason of many waters/ is the most valuable 
 fishery in Ireland, because, though supplied from a less area than the 
 Shannon, its productiveness is not similarly injured by a solid weir at 
 the entrance. 
 
 The lakes and rivers of Ulster appear to have always abounded in 
 fish in a more remarkable degree than those of other parts of Ireland, 
 probably owing to the greater humidity of its climate, adverted to by 
 Spenser, and also to their northerly situation. 
 
 The produce of the two Banns, the Foyle, and Blackwater, doubtless 
 greatly assisted the last Irish prince of Ulster to make successful head 
 against the English power for so many years. Not only his ' fastnesses 
 and places of strength' lay in the wooded glens between these rivers, 
 and under the mountains of Tyrone, but the provision their waters 
 afforded enabled him to winter his native forces and Scottish auxilia- 
 ries in the islands of Lough Neagh. 
 
 Who has not heard while Erin yet 
 
 Strove 'gainst the Saxon's iron bit 
 
 Who has not heard how brave O'Neil 
 
 In English blood embrued his steel, 
 
 Against St. George's cross blazed high 
 
 The banners of his tanistry, 
 
 To fiery Essex gave the foil, 
 
 And reigned a prince in Ulster's soil ? 
 
 But chief arose his victor pride, 
 
 When that brave marshal fought and died, 
 
 And Avon-Duff to ocean bore 
 
 His billows, red with Saxon gore. 
 
 THE SHANNON. This beautiful and majestic river, characterized by 
 Spenser as ' the spacious Shenan spreading like a sea,' is not only * the 
 principallest of all in Ireland,' according to the quaint old naturalist, 
 Dr. Boate, but ' the king of island rivers/ Its waters are broad and 
 navigable at a distance of upwards of two hundred miles from their 
 debouchement into the Atlantic. The rivers of Great Britain can be 
 traced only as inconsiderable brooks at such a distance from their 
 mouths. 
 
 Taking its rise among th hills of Leitrim, it pursues its course 
 through ten different counties, proceeding in an ample current, or 
 spreading into wide lakes. The vast watery district it embraces, the 
 upper waters flowing in from an area calculated at four thousand five 
 hundred square miles its numerous tributary streams and extensive 
 inland lakes together with its great tidal estuary of sixty miles in 
 length, into which several large rivers flow, must be considered in 
 its piscatory relation as the monster reservoir of Ireland. 
 
 The spawning grounds furnished by such an extent of country are 
 necessarily very numerous, and capable of producing much value. 
 Many deep and spacious loughs afford refuge for the parent fish before 
 and after depositing their spawn, as well as for the tiny brood. Such 
 retreats are very advantageous to the fish; their absence in other 
 districts is detrimental to the increase of salmon, particularly in dry 
 seasons, when the waters become low in smaller rivers which are not 
 supplied with lakes or deep pools. 
 
 When the great extent of the Shannon and of the rivers connected 
 
183 
 
 with it is taken into account, measuring altogether hundreds of miles, 
 and when the natural character of a great proportion of these waters 
 is considered, the beds over which they flow being so well suited for 
 the reception of salmon ova, an estimate may be imagined of the 
 wealth which might be derived from them, if a care was bestowed upon 
 them adequate to their importance in a piscatory point of view. 
 
 THE IRISH LAKES. Ireland possesses not only the largest river in 
 the British islands, but also the la.rgest inland sea, Lough Neagh. It 
 is fifteen miles in length, and twelve broad, and the area covered by 
 its waters are estimated at one hundred thousand acres. Its shores, 
 though destitute of the interest of scenery, are cultivated by an indus- 
 trious and intelligent people. 
 
 The lakes of the Erne, in Fermanagh, are celebrated for their ro- 
 mantic scenery : the neighbouring Lough Melvin is well known for its 
 abundant supply of salmon and trout, and there are few districts in 
 Ireland which attract more visitors for the amusement of angling. 
 Those of Killarney are superior in every attraction to others in the 
 island. The wild mountainous Lough Corrib and Lough Mask, the 
 picturesque Lough Gill, and the minor loughs Conn and Culliri, are the 
 principal lakes of Connaught. Their extent, solitude, and stern scenery, 
 with the agreeable pleasures the country affords to a sportsman, will 
 certainly cause them to be more frequented than they now are. 
 
 XIII. 
 ANGLING IN IRELAND. 
 
 Although Angling does not enter into the catalogue of rural sports, 
 for the encouragement of which a distinguished politician used to say he 
 would willingly bring in one bill to make poaching felony, another to 
 encourage the breed of foxes, and a third to revive the decayed amuse- 
 ments of cock-fighting and bull-baiting that he would make, in short, 
 any sacrifice to the humours and prejudices of the country gentlemen, 
 in their most extravagant form, providing only he could prevail upon 
 them ' to dwell in their own houses, and be the patrons of their own 
 tenantry,' yet the earnest eloquence of Isaac Walton has ranked it 
 high in the list, as a peaceful and humanizing pastime. It also offers 
 a means by which the well-being of the Irish people may be advanced, 
 in promoting a happy intercourse between them and the higher classes 
 of their own and of the sister island, as well as in attracting visitors to 
 her romantic and inmost recesses, and in assisting to raise the prosperity 
 of one of her natural resources. 
 
 To this adaptation of human enjoyments to subserve a good purpose 
 the benevolent mind of Sir Walter Scott was remarkably alive, and 
 those of statesmen have been frequently awake. It is to be found 
 gleaming through his beautiful compositions, and especially in that 
 from which the passage above is partly taken, his essay on Ornamental 
 plantations and gardening, in which the value of a taste for country 
 pursuits and pleasures is referred to, and Pope's celebrated apology 
 for profuse expenditure in buildings and grounds is quoted; 
 
 Yet hence the poor are clothed, the hungry fed, 
 Health to himself, and to his children bread, 
 The labourer bears. 
 
184 
 
 With similar views, and with a knowledge of the civilizing effects 
 of agreeable country residences, the lordly Strafford, when viceroy of 
 Ireland, writes in a despatch dated 1634, 'there is a great want of 
 good houses in this kingdom, which may be an occasion they (the 
 nobles and gentlemen) take not that delight in their abodes in the 
 country, as otherwise I am persuaded they would, found they at home 
 decency and handsomeness to entertain them.' 
 
 The rebuke of James the First to the country squires who thronged 
 his court will be remembered, reminding them that they were like 
 great ships in a river when at home, while in London they were only 
 like small boats in the sea, or minnows among tritons. In his son's 
 reign measures were taken to promote rural sports, and the game laws 
 were rendered stringent. 
 
 It is well known that the absence of 'game' in Ireland is one of the 
 causes that leads a man of fortune to become an absentee; he quits his 
 own property in this country, and often spends the income from it 
 among English preserves, or on the moors of Scotland. Yet Ireland 
 possesses in her inland streams an attraction that might not only keep 
 him at home, but even prove sufficient to induce some of the wealthy 
 of the sister countries to reside amongst us. Ireland has been said to 
 be ' the classic land for the exploits of the water sportsman.' Daniel 
 writes, in his Rural Sports, that ' the waters of Ireland abound in all 
 that can invite an angler to their banks; perhaps they are better 
 stored, and the fish contained in them of a size superior to those found 
 elsewhere in the United Kingdom.' 
 
 A very interesting fishery exists in the lakes of the Shannon, and 
 particularly in those situate in the county of Westmeath. These lakes 
 abound in trout of large size and superior quality. A basket of eight 
 or nine fish, averaging three pounds weight, is not an unusual result of 
 a day's fishing. At one season of the year the " green drake/' 
 appears; this is a green fly, which rises from the bottom of the lake to 
 the surface, and, when emerging from its shell, is greedily taken by the 
 fish. Trout are taken in great numbers at this time. Persons from 
 all quarters assemble to take part in the amusement, many come over 
 from England for the sport, the hotels are filled, and lodges and 
 cottages in the vicinity of the lakes are fitted up for their accom- 
 modation a number of boats are built and equipped, and an important 
 amount of employment is given in many ways. The 'drake' season, 
 which lasts some weeks, is looked forward to anxiously by those who 
 derive profit or subsistence from supplying the visitors with the many 
 things they require, and in attending them in boats upon the lakes. 
 
 The lakes of Killarney were at one time resorted to by numbers of 
 persons for the sake of the salmon fishing, but, owing to the erection 
 of Scotch weirs in the river by which these waters are discharged into 
 the Atlantic, at length scarcely a single salmon ascended to them. 
 After the Act of 1842 was passed the resident proprietors succeeded 
 in having several of these weirs prostrated, and the lakes are now 
 remarkably well supplied with fish. The suggestion may be offered 
 that the use of nets in these lakes is to be lamented, and that the 
 amusement of good angling, added to the pleasures which the exquisite 
 scenery of Killarney affords, would greatly increase the number of 
 visitors, and in that manner add to the wealth of the neighbourhood. 
 
185 
 
 Fly-fishing may be found in the highest perfection in other parts of 
 Ireland which are less frequented. By careful preservation the landed 
 proprietary of many wild and mountainous districts might derive a 
 little revenue and benefit from their streams analogous to that which 
 the rnoors of Scotland return to their proprietors, by the influx of 
 sportsmen. Is it not somewhat an oversight on their part not to 
 cultivate these waters, while their lands must long remain profitless ? 
 
 Among those who were examined before the late Select Committee 
 on the state of the Inland Fisheries of Ireland, was Mr. Richard Allen, 
 sergeant-at-law, a member of the English bar, who gave much interest- 
 ing evidence as to his visits to this country for the amusement of ang- 
 ling. He had ten years previously published a memoir of his tour, 
 describing the pleasure he had derived from it, and giving descriptiona 
 of parts of Ireland of which little had been known to visitors before. 
 So many anglers were attracted to visit these places in consequence, 
 that on the Waterville lake, in the Ivera mountains, two inns have 
 been built for their accommodation, and the place has been since much 
 frequented, greatly to the civilization and assistance of the people 
 there. Several good houses have also been built, which are occupied 
 by gentlemen who come to angle upon the lake. 
 
 Mr. Allen's evidence may be adduced to show that recent legislation 
 on River Fisheries has tended to diminish the means and power of 
 angling in Ireland. He complained that the Act of 1842 confirmed 
 certain exclusive and monopolizing privileges to individuals, in many 
 cases transferring to them the fish which hitherto might have been 
 taken by the public at large ; and that these privileges were let to a 
 few parties, and their produce sent away to a distant market, the rents 
 being mostly, also, remitted to England. He thought that a freer 
 fishery would induce persons of property to reside in Ireland, and adds, 
 1 such is the beauty of that country, the fertility of the soil, and such 
 the kindness and good conduct of the people (and I walked through 
 the whole of it, and speak advisedly when I say, that a population 
 more inoffensive I never passed through) I say that these circum- 
 stances do offer vast inducements to persons of independent property 
 to go there, and if property could be purchased, to reside there." The 
 Act for facilitating the sale of Encumbered Estates has removed diffi- 
 culties in the way of purchase, and it may be noticed, that in the 
 numerous advertisements, either for the sale or letting of demesnes, 
 the existence of excellent fly-fishing is sometimes mentioned as one of 
 the agremens. 
 
 Although very many exclusive rights of fishing are claimed in the 
 fresh water portions of the rivers of Ireland, it is an acknowledged 
 fact, and one which, it is to be hoped, may be generally known and 
 acted upon, that there is a greater freedom of access for anglers to the 
 Irish streams than is permitted to those of Scotland. The well known 
 anecdote in the history of that country of Sir William Wallace, its 
 noble defender, will perhaps occur to the reader's memory ; how, when 
 he was but a stripling, he went a fishing in the river Irvine, near Ayr, 
 and having caught a number of trout, the boy who attended him was 
 carrying them home, when some soldiers of the English army, which 
 then garrisoned Scotland, came up, and insisted with much insolence 
 on taking the fish from him. Wallace was willing to allow them a 
 
186 
 
 part of the contents oi his basket, but refused to part with the whole. 
 The soldiers persisted, and from words came to blows. The gallant Scot 
 resisted these odds, though with no better weapon than the butt-end 
 of his fishing rod, put the invaders to flight, and brought home his 
 fish safe and sound. The brotherhood of the angle have the character 
 of being of a peaceable disposition, and in these days will hardly 
 quarrel with any on the score of a few fish : those of the fraternity in 
 Ireland would rejoice to see their English and Scottish brethren invad- 
 ing their land, armed with rod and line, and intent on carrying off a 
 larger basketful than themselves. 
 
 The effect of the observance of the " weekly close time," in allowing 
 a fair share of the fish to ascend to the upper waters has, in districts 
 where it has been properly observed, greatly increased the number of 
 persons who fish in the fresh water streams for sport or as a means of 
 livelihood. By the return of licences taken out last year, it appears 
 that 763 licences for salmon rods were sold. The number for the pre- 
 sent year will probably be far more. In the Wexford district 1 6 were 
 taken out last year, and upwards of 50 in the present. There are a 
 considerable number of men throughout Ireland who follow the calling 
 of taking fish by rod and line, and earn their living by that means, 
 and by attending upon sportsmen. In some rivers, and at some periods, 
 the occupation is remunerative enough. It is stated in recent evidence 
 that thirty-four salmon were killed in sixteen days by one man. 
 Forty-six is the largest number which is stated to have been taken in 
 one week by a single rod. 
 
 To revert to views that have been so frequently expressed, as to the 
 policy of encouraging a spirit of protection in the upper portions of 
 rivers, by rendering them sufficiently productive to make the pursuit 
 of fishing in those districts a frequent pastime for the gentry, and a 
 source of lucrative occupation to numerous practised and professional 
 anglers, although it is hard to imagine that many Irish rivers, long 
 neglected, will become so populous in fish as to insure the latter desir- 
 able result, nevertheless, it must be admitted that this object should 
 be held in view, and that endeavours should be made in that direction; 
 in effect, to give those who can best protect the weak points, the nurseries 
 of fisheries, an interest in, and a will for the purpose, so as to enlist 
 country gentlemen as voluntary conservators, and, if possible, convert 
 poachers and spearers into water bailiffs and innocuous fishermen. 
 
 The resort of British gentlemen to Ireland for the indulgence of the 
 simple and gratifying recreation of Angling, which brings them in 
 contact with the Irish peasantry under agreeable circumstances, and 
 when the pleasures of the pursuit warm the hearts of different grades 
 of men towards each other, might often result in their visits being 
 prolonged into permanent residence, and in valuable advantages to this 
 country, which their adoption of it would certainly give rise to. 
 
 XIV. 
 NOTES on SALMON FISHERIES. 
 
 " There are no fewer than forty-two salmon weirs on the Blackwater 
 between Youghal and Lismore; the one immediately under the castle 
 is the last and most productive ; where it is by no means rare to take 
 
187 
 
 600 fish at a haul. The fishery is rented from the Duke by Mr. Foley, 
 at a rental, we were informed, of 700 per annum. The fish, being 
 property, are consequently preserved ; and the water is not free to the 
 angler; although he may, and we believe often does, obtain the privi- 
 lege to fish there from the courtesy of the renter. 
 
 " From all we have heard and seen, we consider there is no spot in 
 Ireland that offers to the angler so many temptations ; the scenery is 
 everywhere delicious; the banks that immediately skirt the river are 
 not inconveniently crowded with trees ; the accommodation at the inn 
 is unexceptionable the charges small, the rooms comfortable, and the 
 servants attentive to a degree; above all, the river is thronged with 
 salmon, and abounds with the finest trout. It is no exaggeration to 
 say that we saw the salmon leaping in hundreds. Circumstances pre- 
 vented our being able to throw a fly until the evening of the day after 
 our arrival; and as our stay was brief, we had but a couple of hours 
 to devote to the sport a sacrifice of enjoyment to duty which all 
 brethren of the angle will understand and appreciate. Our recompense 
 was, therefore, but a brace of fish comparatively small in size, for the 
 largest weighed but ten pounds and a quarter. If the river in the 
 neighbourhood of Lismore were free, we doubt if there be any place 
 in the United Kingdom that would promise so ample a recompense to 
 the votaries of the gentle craft; and we presume to hint that so great 
 would be the consequent influx of visitors to his beautiful town, that a 
 far greater revenue would arise to the Duke than that which he derives 
 from the rental of the weir." From Mr. and Mrs. Hall's " Ireland." 
 
 SPENT FISH. The law very properly requires that all Salmon and 
 Trout that have recently spawned shall, when they are caught, be 
 returned immediately to the water without injury, and makes the 
 possessor of fish in that condition liable to a penalty. Fishermen 
 have given it as their opinion, that ' spents, if they were as delicate as 
 egg shells' when taken in nets, can be so returned without being in 
 any degree injured. It is of consequence that the Close Season should 
 be so regulated as to avoid, as far as possible, that any spent fish 
 should be liable to be taken, or otherwise it may be said that the law 
 in one point holds out an inducement to its violation in another. 
 
 One of the witnesses before -the Select Committee of 1824, who at 
 that time paid a rent for fishings on the Tweed to the amount of 
 5,000 a-year, mentioned that Salmon were in a very unwholesome 
 state some days previous to, and a month after spawning, and that he 
 had heard of an instance of a whole family dying in consequence of 
 eating salmon in that state. 
 
 It was formerly the practice in Scotland to preserve, or ' kipper,' 
 unseasonable fish. Isaac Walton uses the word ' kipper' as expressive 
 of fish in that condition. 
 
 DIFFERENCE OF VALUE OF SALMON. Mr. James Bell, a renter of 
 fisheries in the Tay and Tweed to the amount of 9,200 a-year, stated 
 in evidence before the Select Committee of 1824, that salmon taken in 
 the stake-nets were often inferior to those taken by net and coble, 
 because, unless removed before low tide, the water receded, and left 
 the fish floundering about, heated, and dying. 
 
 Mr. J. Crawford, who has been long engaged in the Waterford 
 salmon trade, stated before the Select Committee of 1849, that as good 
 
188 
 
 sale could not be made of salmon caught by the fishermen with cots 
 and nets, as of what were caught by the weir, for that by plunging 
 about in the nets they are apt to knock their scales off and injure 
 themselves. 
 
 With respect to the difference between the value of a salmon taken 
 in the sea or in the fresh water, he stated that the London salesmen 
 give fourpence a pound more for a tidewater fish, caught near the 
 mouth of a river; that fish going up and remaining above three weeks 
 out of the tidewater into fresh water become * grey,' and of a gluey 
 fat nature, and that salesmen mark in their account the number of 
 grey fish fourpence per pound less than what they pay for the tide- 
 water take. 
 
 BURNING THE WATER. In Scotland this illicit practice is termed 
 " blazing," and the fire is frequently carried about in a machine called 
 a " cruizie." The spear used is called a " lester" (in Ireland a "lyster.") 
 Parties of as many as twenty or thirty men sally out after nightfall, 
 one man walks in the centre carrying the " blaze," a faggot made of 
 dry fir, sometimes dry broom, stuck on a pole, this he raises high 
 above his head; there are generally two persons, walking one before, 
 the other behind him, carrying the lester, or three-pronged spear. 
 
 In Ireland the light is often a torch of bog-fir, or the readier expe- 
 dient of a wisp of straw and lucifer match, especially when the poacher 
 apprehends detection. The spear commonly used is not tridental, but 
 has from five to seven prongs. The fire throws a strong glare on the 
 water, and the fish are easily seen and struck. It is only during the 
 close season that salmon are thus accessible, when they are on the 
 spawning beds ; at an earlier period they are in deep water. 
 
 This practice is perhaps the most destructive of any to the increase 
 of river fisheries, whether considered as the taking of fish hardly fit 
 for human consumption, or, in the more consequential view, as destroy- 
 ing them at the very period when about to accomplish that surprising 
 power of increasing and multiplying their species with which nature 
 has endowed the salmon tribe. 
 
 XV. 
 SCOTTISH SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 The recent examination by Captain Washington, by direction of the 
 Admiralty, into the disastrous loss of life, and damage to fishing pro- 
 
 ?erty, on the east coast of Scotland, in the gale of the 19th August, 
 848, and his interesting report, elicit some remarkable facts connected 
 with sea-coast fishing. On that part of North Britain, the calling is 
 prosecuted in small open boats, which nightly leave the harbours, and 
 return laden with herrings during the season, in a fresh state for the 
 curer. The rocky character of the shore makes it impossible for the 
 fishermen to beach their craft a class of boats not calculated to outlive a 
 storm, and therefore dependent on shelter. Considerable loss of life and 
 boats had previously occurred before the date above mentioned; but on 
 that melancholy occasion, 124 boats, belonging to five of the principal 
 fishing towns, were lost or damaged, by which, (besides a loss of nets, 
 &c., to the value of 7,011,) more than 100 men were drowned, leav- 
 
189 
 
 ing 47 widows, and 161 children, totally unprovided for ' a calamity 
 without precedent in the annals of the British Fisheries.' 
 
 The Report observes that it must be remembered the loss of the 
 boats, <fec., does not fall upon fish-curers or merchants, but upon the 
 poor fishermen alone, many, if not most of whom, are rendered desti- 
 tute by it. Harbour accommodation appears to be insufficient, either 
 in capacity or accessibility at low water, to the large fleets that resort 
 there as many as 800 belonging to the town of Wick alone. Parlia- 
 ment has since voted a sum of 6,000 for the repair of one of these 
 safety harbours. 
 
 The extent to which great local improvements have been stimulated, 
 by the small sum annually allotted to piers and harbours in Scotland, 
 is noticed. The following extracts are taken from the Report : 
 
 " In reviewing the evidence adduced on the present Inquiry, it can- 
 not fail to strike the most cursory observer, that the want of good 
 harbours, accessible at all times, is the grand cause of the loss of life and 
 property, and the increased risk connected with our Fisheries. It is not 
 the construction of two or more large central harbours of refuge (as has 
 been suggested) that is wanted; but a general deepening and improve- 
 ment of all the existing harbours and rivers, along the whole eastern 
 coast of Scotland. Nor would the improvements of these harbours be 
 attended with any very considerable outlay. It is scarcely credible 
 that the small sum of 2,500 a-year, which Parliament has devoted to 
 building harbours and piers in Scotland, for the last few years, should 
 have given so great a stimulus to important local improvements as 
 those grants are found to have done. But they are quite inadequate 
 to grapple in earnest with the wants which exist. Four times their 
 amount, or 10,000 a-year for a few years, steadily laid out on piers 
 and harbours, would do much to remedy the want, and to place the 
 fishermen of the east of Scotland on a par with those of more favoured 
 coasts. It would be an act of mercy to a race of hardy, industrious, 
 frugal men to 10,000 fishermen of one of the poorest and most unpro- 
 ductive districts of Scotland, who are not at sea as occasional passers- 
 by, but are constantly hovering off the coast in pursuit of their calling, 
 for three months together, exposed to the suddenness and violence of 
 North Sea gales, such as that of August, 1845, and again in August, 
 1848, without the common shelter that all mariners are entitled to look 
 for in the hour of need. 
 
 "The value and importance of the Fisheries, in several points of 
 view, but especially as an inexhaustible source of abundant and nutri- 
 tious food, seem hardly to have been sufficiently considered. By the 
 Report of the Commissioners for the year 1848, it will be seen that the 
 quantity of herrings cured during that period, was 644,368 barrels; 
 besides which, the quantity taken and sold for immediate consumption, 
 was 354,977 barrels, making the total produce of the British herring 
 fisheries for the year to amount to 999,345 barrels, in value probably 
 about one million sterling. During the same period, it appears that 
 364,951 cwts. of cod and ling were taken. The boats employed were 
 15,062, manned by 60,346 fishermen and boys, and the whole numbers 
 of persons engaged in curing the fish, &c., was 97,477. The tonnage 
 of vessels employed in conveying salt, and in exporting herrings, was 
 66,214 tons, and the total value of boats, nets, and lines, amounted to 
 
190 
 
 1,250,078; that is to a million and a quarter of money, not the capital 
 of merchants or fish-curers, but the property, and in many cases the 
 only property of the poor fisherman, who if he loses his boat loses his 
 all. The above are large and valuable interests, and recent circum- 
 stances have increased, and are daily increasing their value. Our 
 coast railroads have become the means of creating and supplying the 
 great demand for fish in the interior of the country. The quantity of 
 herrings consumed fresh, or disposed of immediately after being caught, 
 during the past year, greatly exceeds the return of any former year; 
 showing that the facility which exists for transporting fish, is already 
 producing its effect on our Fisheries, and is likely greatly to increase 
 the demand. Not impossibly, too, the recent alteration in the Naviga- 
 tion Laws may induce vessels from France and Spain to resort to our 
 shores to purchase fish, and so lead to the reduction of the present high 
 duties in those countries; and thus a trade might be opened up where 
 now none exists. But whether the herring fishery increase or not, the 
 white fishery must increase. A ready supply of good food will not 
 be long neglected where there are the means of getting at it; and 
 every facility and encouragement should be given to the fisherman to 
 meet the demand with as little hardship and risk as possible to him- 
 self, and with as much economy as practicable to the consumer; and 
 this alone low-water harbours can effect; and they in their turn would 
 assuredly lead to the adoption of a better and safer class of boats." 
 
 XVI. 
 MEMORANDA AS TO SEA FISHERIES. 
 
 The price of fish is not enhanced to the consumer by the payment 
 of rent, owing to the property of fish being public. It only represents 
 the labour of taking it, and the profit on the value of the machinery 
 employed. But the comparative goodness, the scarcity of the article, 
 and the demand for it, are elements that enter into its value. The 
 fertility, or the barrenness of the sea, or of a river, diminish or raise 
 the price of the commodity. At distant markets the price assumes a 
 level. As any article in general use as food will range in value with 
 that of other articles of corresponding quality, it is to be believed that 
 any great increase of production from Fisheries will not diminish the 
 profits of the calling, but that fish will always fetch a proportional and 
 inferior price to the same weight of other animal food. 
 
 The herring fishery is the staple and important branch of the trade. 
 Economy in the mode of smoking or curing this fish will reward the 
 inventor. Or a process for neutralizing the over-saltiness of the cured 
 article would bring red herrings into more general use. 
 
 The development of the fisheries on any large scale of national value 
 depends upon the general home consumption of cured fish, or on an 
 extended export of the article when cured in a superior manner. The 
 sales effected by Government at their curing stations, during the famine, 
 showed a profit of from 50 to 80 per cent, on the purchase, cure, and 
 sale of fish, independent of the cost of the plant. The fishing com- 
 panies established at Dunmore, near Waterford, are reported by the 
 Commissioners as yielding a clear profit of from 10 to 13 per cent. 
 
191 
 
 over and above all expenses, besides giving remunerative employment 
 to the men engaged in them. 
 
 The mode by which the fisheries, as a trade, may be placed on a 
 firm basis, is by the establishment of curing stations. The fitting out, 
 and hiring out, deep sea boats, by persons who could exert a local 
 attention, would often prove remunerative. Nets and gear should be- 
 long to the seamen. 
 
 Before forming a fishing establishment in any district, the first point 
 to be ascertained is what sorts of fish principally abound there; for a 
 different kind of boat, gear, and skill, are required for each. It is the 
 want of paying due attention to this point, that has caused so many 
 attempts to improve this branch of industry to prove abortive. See The 
 Deep Sea and Coast Fisheries of Ireland, by W. Brabazon, esq. 8vo, 1848. 
 
 Colonel Solomon Richards, governor of Wexford, in a brief history 
 of the County, written in 1682, attributes the decayed state of that 
 town two-thirds being at that date in ruins to the decline of the 
 herring fishery, 'which was so great, that about the year 1654, there 
 were made, and entered into the custom-house, above 80,000 barrels of 
 herrings, and 'twas thought above 40,000 more were made that were 
 not entered. Which trade is so decayed, that about the yeare 1678, 
 there was not above 200 barrels made in the whole towne, nor is there 
 above 200 made this present year.' 
 
 A vast quantity of cured fish is annually imported into Ireland, 
 although the use of this food may be said to be limited. By the Re- 
 ports of the British Fisheries, there were imported during the years 
 1844 arid 1845, 248,063 barrels of herrings, and 30,559 cwt. of cods, 
 ling, and hake. The value of the former, at a late average price paid 
 by the importer to the curer, would be 17s. per barrel; and of the 
 latter, 12 per ton. According to this calculation, the curers received 
 from this country in two years, for herrings, 210,853; and for cod, 
 ling, and hake, 18,335 making together, 229,188. Therefore, in 
 these items alone, a sum of 114,594, annually, was paid out of Ireland, 
 for food which is abundant on its own shores. This is according to 
 the cost price as paid to the curer; but when the expense of freight, 
 and the profits of importers and traders are added, the consumers have 
 been calculated to pay yearly the sum of about 161,062. 
 
 " Fish heads and bones are carefully preserved in Nordland, Finmark, 
 and in Bergen's Amt, and are boiled down to a soup, of which cows 
 are exceedingly fond. In Bergen's Amt, where more herrings or 
 sprats are caught in any particular spot than there are barrels and salt 
 to preserve, the fish are spitted on sticks, and hung up to dry; they 
 are then generally devoured by the cows, which in many places sub- 
 sist very much on this diet. If fish make a diet nutritive enough for 
 a man, there seems no very good reason why they should not suit a 
 cow, if she can be got to like them. It appears to be the plan here, 
 not to wait until the cattle are starving, before giving them any of 
 those articles in the room of hay or straw, but in all years, good or 
 bad, to give them one or two of these warm feeds, weekly or daily. 
 The animal at first has probably been driven by hunger to such food; 
 but imitation would induce a whole stable of cattle to eat what one 
 appears to relish. It is not likely that substitutes can be brought so 
 far that the horse and his rider will sit down to a beef steak together, 
 
192 
 
 although in Germany they take slice for slice of the brown loaf; but 
 it is very possible that many a poor cottier in Scotland and Ireland, 
 might save his cow in a backward spring, if he had spared fodder, by 
 giving her one feed a-day of scalded sea-weed or fish heads, or any 
 procurable substitute which he could give her a taste for." Appendix. 
 1836, p. 187. 
 
 XVII. 
 CONDITION OF THE IRISH FISHERMEN. 
 
 The improvident habits of fishermen are a chief cause of the ill 
 success of their calling. Those of Ireland are not so remarkable for 
 enterprise, and for a steady prosecution of the business, as the English 
 fishermen, especially in the deep sea trade. To incite them to more 
 exertion, and to a diligent search for fish, a successful prosecution of 
 fishing from off their own coasts would probably be the surest means. 
 
 Their great use of ardent spirits arid of tobacco often renders them 
 dissolute and indolent. These were the poison and ruin of the Aus- 
 tralian savage, and of the American Indian, and are now the bane of 
 the uneducated Celt. 
 
 Fishing in the Beep Sea is essentially different from that pursued 
 along the coasts. To prosecute the trade successfully, a large class of 
 boats is requisite. For example, the celebrated Nymph Bank, off the 
 coasts of Waterford and Wexford, requires vessels of from forty to 
 sixty tons. They should be provided with every kind of fishing gear, 
 of the best kind, such as trawls, seines, herring and mackerel nets, long 
 lines, &c., so as to be able to avail themselves of, and turn to the best 
 advantage, any kind of fishing that might turn up. Their being well 
 manned is also a necessary point. The profits of each boat will greatly 
 depend on the experience of the skipper. 
 
 A highly profitable trade in deep sea fishing has, in the last few 
 years, grown up at Dunmore, at the mouth of the estuary of Water- 
 ford. The construction of an excellent harbour for Her Majesty's 
 steam packets has afforded shelter to craft, within access of the rich 
 grounds in George's channel. From twenty to thirty boats of from 
 thirty to forty tons have reaped a considerable harvest, and it is 
 believed that an addition of twice or thrice that number would not 
 diminish the returns. A large annual outlay takes place in the 
 neighbourhood as a consequence of the trade. 
 
 The evidence given in 1836 as to the condition of the Claddagh 
 fishermen, is interesting. They are described as assiduous and en- 
 terprising, and, although poor, superior in comforts and character to 
 the labouring classes. The district then contained about 2,000 per- 
 sons, nearly all the families of men whose earnings were derived from 
 the sea. These families lived very peaceably, and great domestic 
 morality existed among them. The fishermen never took any ardent 
 spirits out to sea, but, after any unusual success, they sometimes 
 indulged in liquor. None of them had any land, so that no other 
 occupation interfered with their calling, or working at their boats and 
 gear. Not more than one-sixth of their time through the year was spent 
 at sea, but, with a better description of craft, and an improved system, 
 their employment in actual fishing might have been more than doubled. 
 
193 
 
 The evidence obtained as to the condition of fishermen in other 
 parts of Ireland frequently alludes to the circumstance that the pre- 
 carious and irregular nature of their employment, and the uncertainty 
 and inequality of its profits, generated a corresponding irregularity in 
 themselves, and caused them to be more addicted to the use of ardent 
 spirits than was common with men following other occupations. They 
 are reported as generally well conducted, and decidedly superior in 
 bodily energy and other respects to the agricultural or manufacturing 
 classes; but that their life, as one of danger and toil, and liable to 
 excesses and reverses, was more open to excitement and temptation. 
 
 "The fishermen along the iron-bound coast from Loop Head to Gal way, 
 and about the mouth of the Shannon, use a carioe, a frame work of ash 
 covered with canvas; these things are kept in the cliffs, and launched, 
 hauled up, and shouldered with facility in places where no boat of 
 wood could be used at all. They are about twenty-four feet long, 
 about two and a half feet wide, and one and a half feet, or a little 
 more, deep, and highly dangerous for unpractised people to get into at 
 all, but in the hands of the natives do wonderful work, and the said 
 natives will go to sea in them in weather that other people would not 
 attempt in any open boat. A great number of them are now in the 
 employ of the Dublin Fishing Company at Dingle, and they bring in 
 more fish, in proportion to outlay, than, I believe, with any other 
 species of vessel. The men are obliged to sit low down in them, and 
 maintain the sitting position, which, for a whole night, is no joke, and 
 perhaps none but the hardy Celt, (subject to starvation, privation, and 
 hardship, without feeling it ?) could endure the same. They go to sea 
 in them with nothing beyond their fishing gear, save an iron pot for 
 a fire-place, and turf to burn therein ; their food the first fish they 
 can catch, and if none is caught they do with an empty belly. They 
 commonly carry four men, who pull two small sculls each, without any 
 blade; the oars having wooden lugs or ears, are shipped permanently 
 down on the gunwale. These canoes can compete in speed with our 
 fastest gigs, provided the water be smooth, and no strong head-wind." 
 Lieut. Church, R.N., Fishing Boats' Report, 1849. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 EXTRACT from an Article on the FISHERIES of IRELAND, in the 
 " DUBLIN REVIEW," 1837. 
 
 The present depressed state of the Fisheries of Ireland has been 
 attributed to the following causes: the poverty of the Fishermen, 
 their ignorance and prejudices, the want of shelter for their craft, 
 injudicious laws and restrictions, and the frequency of wars. 
 
 Poverty is a charge which has been brought against fishermen in all 
 ages of the world, from the Ichthyophagi, with whom Menelaus was 
 condemned to mess during his disastrous voyage homewards from 
 Troy, to the native Australians of our own days; yet, poor as the 
 vocation is, it did not prevent the Dutch from embarking in it, and 
 persevering in it so as to render it a source of comfortable subsistence 
 for no small portion of their population, and of revenue and greatness 
 to their country; neither has it prevented the population in many of 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 the maritime villages of England from procuring from it, for themselves 
 and their families, if not the comforts enjoyed by the agricultural 
 peasantry, at least a certain elevation in social existence, adequate to 
 maintain them several degrees above that state of squalid destitution 
 which the Irish peasant deems alone deserving of being branded with 
 the name of poverty. The poverty of the Irish fisherman, therefore, 
 does not proceed merely from his being of that vocation. It may 
 tend to prevent his rising into some more profitable line of living; but 
 it exerts no necessary influence to depress him into beggary. His 
 ignorance, the second cause, is the natural the necessary result of his 
 poverty; and as to his prejudices, they are but an additional link in 
 this chain of causes and effects. 
 
 In confirmation of the position, that the destitution, ignorance, and 
 prejudices of this class in Ireland arise from circumstances extraneous 
 to their mode of life, we shall, instead of entering into abstract theore- 
 tical disquisitions, adduce the actual state of the fishermen of Claddagh, 
 as given in " Hardiman's History of the Town of Galway," and shall 
 make no apology for deviating somewhat from the direct course of our 
 inquiry, because, while the episode is not without its connexion with 
 the main subject, it serves to introduce to notice a genus, or, more 
 correctly speaking, a variety of the Homo Hibernicus, little known, yet 
 worthy of being studied from the singularity of its distinctive charac- 
 teristics. Let the reader compare the following graphic description of 
 the insulated village of Claddagh, insulated not physically but morally, 
 for strictly speaking it is a suburb of the populous town of Galway, 
 with his recollections of the inland Irish peasant, as painted by the 
 still more graphic and equally accurate pens of Edgeworth, Caiieton, 
 or Inglis; and he must acknowledge that the former exists in a better, 
 a purer moral atmosphere than his brother agriculturists and mechanics 
 of the inland districts: 
 
 " The Claddagh is a village in the western suburb of Galway, inha- 
 bited by about 3,000 individuals, who support themselves solely by 
 fishing; they have no land attached to their cottages; a milch cow 
 and a potato garden are equally rare among them. The colony, from 
 time immemorial, has been governed by one of their own body, perio- 
 dically elected, who is called the mayor, and regulates the community 
 according to laws understood among themselves : his decisions are 
 always final. When on shore, the villagers are occupied in fitting up 
 their boats and tackle for the next expedition; and spend their leisure 
 in regaling themselves with their favourite beverage, whiskey, or assem- 
 bling in groups to consult about their maritime affairs. When preparing 
 for sea, they take out potatoes, oaten bread, fire, and water, but no 
 spirituous liquor. On returning from the fishing, where they are often 
 absent for several days, they are met by their wives and female rela- 
 tions on the shore, to whom they hand over the whole of their capture, 
 which forthwith becomes the sole property of the women, who dispose 
 of it at pleasure, the men troubling themselves no further about it, and 
 contenting themselves with what money is necessary for the repair of 
 their boats, and whatever whiskey, brandy, and tobacco their wives 
 choose to allow them. They are ignorant; they speak no language 
 but Irish; they have no schools, contenting themselves and their 
 families with the religious instruction they receive from the convent 
 
195 
 
 church of the village, which is most liberally supported by them. So 
 secluded and orderly are their general habits, that they are scarcely 
 thought of in the town of Galway, on the borders of which they reside, 
 except indeed on the festival of St. John, one of their great gala days, 
 when the whole male community parade the streets, dressed in their 
 holiday clothes, with banners flying, and other rural antic devices, to 
 attract the attention, and excite the merriment of the spectators." 
 
 Here we see that the Claddagh men, so far from being in the state 
 of necessity that goads almost irresistibly to vice and crime, live and 
 have lived, from generation to generation, in comfort, and content, 
 subject only to those occasional depressions which the vicissitudes of 
 the elements, or general and sudden political changes, must produce 
 upon them as well as on every other class which depends upon daily 
 labour for subsistence; and therefore, must infer, that if the generality 
 of the fishermen in other districts be different, the effect is attributable 
 to circumstances unconnected with the nature of their employment. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 EXTRACTS from a PAPER delivered to tlie COMMITTEE of 1824, 
 on the SALMON FISHERIES. By Sir G. S. MACKENZIE, Bart. 
 
 " As the streams forming the sources of rivers are the least liable to 
 be affected by vicissitudes of weather, and as Salmon naturally push 
 for these, it is of the utmost consequence to allow the early fish to 
 escape, in order that they may reach them, and there deposit their 
 spawn in safety. 
 
 " The Salmon has many enemies, which prey upon it at all the 
 stages of its growth ; and it is obvious that when these enemies happen 
 most to abound, the Salmon will be more scarce than when the num- 
 bers of its enemies are reduced. While in the state of spawn, and 
 when emerging from the ova, eels, pike, trout and birds, devour the 
 young. The water ousel, though a small bird, appears indefatigable 
 in its search for the spawn of Salmon and other fish. Every kind of 
 water fowl is destructive of spawn, and of the young fry. The otter 
 destroys considerable numbers of grown fish, and this enemy may be 
 more numerous than is commonly supposed, as he does not expose him- 
 self much to observation. 
 
 " But these enemies are of little consequence when compared to those 
 which the fry have to encounter in the sea, and the Salmon on its way 
 to the rivers. It is impossible to protect the fry from natural enemies 
 in the sea, but I think much may be done to save the Salmon from the 
 attacks of the porpoise and seal. The former of these is often con- 
 founded with the grampus, which is much larger, and is not so numerous, 
 though more indiscriminately voracious. The porpoise is seldom more 
 than seven feet long, while the common grampus reaches to twenty- 
 five feet. While the porpoise will repay the trouble of capture, the 
 grampus is of little value. A porpoise, it is said, will yield a hogshead 
 of oil, and its flesh was in former times eaten at the tables of the rich. 
 The skin is said to be valuable for making leather. The value of the 
 seal is well knawn ; it is very destructive of Salmon, and follows 
 them even into the fresh water. Hitherto no adequate means have 
 
196 
 
 4 
 
 been adopted for taking either the seal or the porpoise, and it will be 
 necessary that a bounty should be given to encourage their being de- 
 stroyed. It has occurred to me that both, and also grampuses when 
 they come up the estuaries in pursuit of Salmon, might be easily taken 
 by a method similar to that by which a large species of shark is cap- 
 tured in Iceland. Bait is put upon stout hooks fixed to small chains, 
 four or five feet long, to which a line is attached, with a buoy, and the 
 whole is fastened to a small anchor ; were similar hooks baited with 
 Salmon to be anchored across estuaries, or even fastened to stakes or 
 stones at low-water mark, it is certain that great numbers might be 
 taken." 
 
 [An engraving accompanies this paper, to show the method proposed 
 for taking these animals.] 
 
 " The time for opening the rivers should be regulated by the time 
 of the descent of the fry and foul fish. In the rivers with which 
 I am acquainted, the descent is seldom accomplished till towards the 
 end of April; and as far as I know, this is the case with most rivers 
 in Scotland. If the close time were to continue till the 10th or 15th 
 of April, all the fry and foul fish, at least the greatest bulk of them, 
 will have descended, and a sufncient number of early fish will have 
 passed up. 
 
 " The last method of taking Salmon which I have to mention is the 
 stake-net; and I understand it to be a chief object with the Committee 
 to ascertain whether this engine, when placed in the sea, be injurious 
 to the river fishings. I trust that the statement I am now to make 
 will prove me conscious of no other feeling than that of perfect impar- 
 tiality, and that I have more regard to truth than to interest. It has 
 been hinted to me that stake-nets might probably turn to some 
 account, if erected on some parts of my property on the west coast of 
 Boss-shire. I am in utter ignorance of the capabilities of my small 
 portion of the coast; but allowing myself to anticipate some benefit 
 should stake-nets be made legal, I am much more deeply interested in 
 the river fishings on the eastern coast. Being thus in a manner placed 
 in a situation to plead for two opposite interests, I am aware that my 
 testimony may appear to be given purposely to serve both; but my 
 opinions were formed before I was aware that I could have any in- 
 terest in the stake-net fishing. I will state what I know to be 
 truth, and my opinions are formed on well-ascertained facts ; and 
 though what I am to state contains much that is against stake-nets, I 
 begin by mentioning that I am far from being hostile to the extension 
 of the sea fishery, provided it be placed under strict regulation. 
 
 " With respect to stake-nets, as now used, being injurious to the 
 Salmon fry, they are so unquestionably near the mouths of rivers and 
 in narrow estuaries ; but if properly stretched in the manner I will 
 describe, they could not do the smallest injury to the fry. The pass- 
 age of the fry happens at different times in different seasons, and does 
 not take place all at once in any year; sometimes fry are seen so 
 early as January in the Tay, as I have been informed by good autho- 
 rity, and continue till the end of May ; but generally the great bulk of 
 the fry passes in April, as is the case in the rivers of the north of 
 Scotland. I have heard the fact so often stated by persons of credit, 
 that I have no doubt that stake-nets detain the fry. But, as already 
 
197 
 
 remarked, the fry could not be stopped if the nets were properly 
 stretched. And even if this did not prevent the destruction of fry, it 
 is an easy remedy to prohibit stake-nets being erected till May within 
 estuaries. But the principal fact to be ascertained is, whether Salmon 
 bred in a river uniformly and certainly return to it. That they do, 
 is, I think, beyond dispute; not only so, but that each river has its 
 own variety or tribe of fish. I know more than even that; for it is a 
 fact that three varieties of Salmon, quite distinct from each other, enter 
 the river Conan, and that two of these belong to its two branches. I 
 once happened to be angling below the junction of the lowest branch, 
 with a party of strangers on a visit to the late Lord Seaforth, at Braham 
 Castle, when by a singular chance I killed three Salmon, one of each 
 variety, and I showed them to the gentlemen with me. The variety 
 that belongs to the main river is a handsome fish, being considerably 
 broader in proportion to its length than the others. That belonging 
 to the lower branch, the river Orrin, is a long lank-looking fish, and is 
 little esteemed when compared to the others. The Salmon of the 
 upper branch, the river Rassay, or the Black Water, are more round 
 and full, and reckoned the best of the three varieties. It consists with 
 my own knowledge, that at least two varieties go up the Dornoch Firth, 
 one of which is the remarkably large and coarse variety, bred in the 
 river Shin. I have no doubt that if the members of the Committee 
 will take the trouble to compare the Salmon exposed for sale in the 
 fish shops of the Metropolis, they will see enough to satisfy them that 
 there are varieties of Salmon. Seeing that a peculiar and well-marked 
 variety uniformly ascends the river Rassay the fishing of which be- 
 longs to me exclusively and that the fish of the other streams con- 
 nected with it are easily distinguished, I may here remark, that if 
 stake-nets or sea fishing were to be prohibited on the ground that it 
 would deprive the rivers of fish, I might then with justice demand, 
 that the River Conan should not be fished below the junction of my 
 branch of it, on the ground that a vast number of my fish, bred in my 
 own river, would be captured. The Committee will give what weight 
 they please to this remark. From what I have stated I have no 1 
 manner of doubt whatever, that every Salmon found in the sea, whether 
 in estuaries or in the ocean, belongs to some river or other. Hence 
 all Salmon caught in the sea though it may be perhaps impossible to 
 tell to what river they belong, unless when the variety is well marked 
 certainly would have entered some river had they not been inter- 
 cepted. The conclusion is, that stake or other nets in the sea deprive 
 some river or rivers of as many fish as they take. From what is 
 known of the habits of the Salmon, I believe this as firmly as if I had 
 attended every Salmon in the sea to its own river. Some ignorant and 
 interested persons have been heard to affirm that the Salmon spawns in 
 the sea ; this has never been observed, and it is not possible ; for if spawn 
 were to be deposited in salt water, as before observed, it would perish. 
 If it were true, the Salmon would not enter the rivers at all. It has been 
 said, that stake-nets intercept but very few Salmon that would go into a 
 river ; that most of those taken would have been devoured by porpoises 
 and seals, or have gone out to sea again, and have been lost. Grant- 
 ing the first allegation to be true, it is not an argument in favour of 
 
198 
 
 stake-nets, but a powerful one against them ; for it is absurd to sup- 
 pose, that because the seals and porpoises are deprived of what they 
 would have eaten, they would refrain from pursuing Salmon. They are 
 only driven by this deprivation to devour what would have escaped 
 them had the stake-nets been out of the way; and thus all the Salmon 
 taken in a stake-net are a clear loss to the rivers, which cannot make 
 it up as the porpoises and seals do. With respect to the other allega- 
 tion, that the stake-nets capture only such fish as would go out to sea 
 and not enter the rivers, I do not believe it. It is attempted to be 
 proved by fish being caught both during the flow and the ebb of the tide. 
 This, however, proves nothing; because the Salmon do not all make 
 directly, in a straight line, for the river, but swim in all parts of an 
 estuary indifferently. If they did not, but kept the main channel, 
 they never would come to the stake-net at all. The fish coming up 
 with the tide, if they do not reach the river before the tide turns, 
 drop down and renew their attempt with the help of the next tide. 
 They may be turned for a time by their foes; but whatever be the 
 cause of their wanderings, their instinct impels them towards the river 
 sooner or later, which they will enter or perish; and when they do 
 enter a river they will not leave it, if they be not removed, until after 
 they have deposited their spawn. All Salmon are either male or 
 female; and therefore it is absurd to suppose that they do not all 
 equally feel the impulse to ascend the rivers ; could it be proved that 
 there were neuters among them, some arguments that have been ad- 
 vanced by interested persons might be of some weight in favour of sea 
 fishings. That Salmon, when they meet obstacles in a river which 
 they cannot surmount, drop down into the pools, and remain there 
 until a supply of water induces them to make another attempt to 
 advance, I know from repeated observation during my practice as an 
 angler. But I consider it as certain that no Salmon, having entered 
 an estuary or a river, and been put back by any cause, ceases in its 
 endeavours to return. There can be no doubt, then, that stake-nets, 
 whether placed in the ocean or in estuaries, deprive the rivers of fish 
 to the full amount of the capture, 
 
 " I am by no means disposed to resist persons, who are already pos- 
 sessed of chartered rights to fish in the sea, from using the stake-net, 
 properly regulated. Nor do I conceive that persons who have rights 
 to fishings, and no waters to fish in but the sea, can be equitably ex- 
 cluded from exercising their rights in the sea, and taking whatever 
 fish may come in their way, Salmon as well as others. If the spawn 
 and fry of Salmon, and the growing fish, be properly preserved, there 
 will be enough for all, as many as can be taken. As Salmon from the 
 salt water are vastly superior in quality to fish that have been some 
 days in rivers, I do not see why the interest of the public should not 
 be attended to by encouraging sea fishing. But as it would be going 
 too far, and unfair, to allow persons who have no right to fishings to- 
 interfere, or to grant new charters, no one should be suffered to take 
 Salmon in the sea without being able to show a distinct clause in their 
 charters, granting the right, nor to have more than one net on their 
 property. The Board of Commissioners which I have suggested might 
 have power to inspect the charters of persons who erect stake-nets^ 
 
199 
 
 when required to do so by any one having interest. I would strongly 
 recommend, however, that no stake-nets should be allowed, until after 
 the measures which the Committee may recommend to the Legislature 
 shall have taken full effect in restoring the former supply to the rivers." 
 
 XX. 
 
 COOKERY OF SALMON. So much having been written on the question 
 of catching salmon, the reader may well be referred to Monsieur Soyer's 
 advice as to how to cook it. It may be observed, that the usual mode of 
 killing this fish when taken in a net is injurious to its keeping pro- 
 perly; it is usually killed by blows on the head, or on the nose, a slight 
 tap on which is fatal. In this way the blood is left in but the blood 
 will run if the vein under the tail is cut, and the fish will keep better. 
 Salmon is the venison, as red-mullet has been termed the wood- 
 cock, of waters. The former, to be eaten in perfection, should certainly 
 be kept until it has a flavour that does not pertain to it when too fresh. 
 Most fish depend on their sauce; the salmon requires an acid and 
 strong condiment. Drive down to the " Crown and Anchor" at Green- 
 wich of a June afternoon, and order your " Cotelettes de saumon a 
 ITndienne" 
 
 M. Soyer writes " The male is the finest flavoured fish, and has more 
 curd than the female. Of late years it has been considered that this 
 fish should be eaten as fresh as possible, for which purpose it is crimped 
 when alive, that it may be flaky, and the curd in it. In former times 
 it was considered best to keep it two or three days; it is certain, that 
 in keeping it, the curd undergoes a change, which produces a volatile 
 salt, and oily balsamic particles, that renders it nutritive and invi- 
 gorating. This fish, when out of season, may be distinguished by 
 having large scarlet, purple, and blue spots on its sides, the male snout 
 long, the female snout hooked. (?) When in season the colour ought to 
 be a silvery pink grey; when cooked, the flesh should be of a dark 
 rose colour; when out of season it is pale. Small headed fish are the 
 best." The Modern Housewife. By Alexis Soyer , 1850. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 SPAWNING PLACES IN SIBERIA. I am indebted for the following 
 description of the spawning beds of the salmon in Kamschatka, to 
 W. D. Cooley, esq., the translator of M. Erman's instructive travels in 
 the northern Asiatic continent, taken from the third volume of the 
 tour, which remains unpublished in a translated form. In the two 
 volumes which have been translated by Mr. Cooley, curious accounts 
 will be found of the river fisheries of Siberia, which are the most pro- 
 ductive in the world. In the remaining volume, containing M. Erman's 
 visit to Kamschatka, there are many passages alluding to the habits of 
 the salmon. He states that this fish, during the process of spawning, 
 press their jaws together so forcibly, that they cannot feed, and must 
 consequently die. 
 
 " In the spring-river of the Buistraya, the salmon were in crowds, 
 although the stony bed of the rivulet was but three paces wide, and 
 
200 
 
 even in clear places not above six inches deep. Many fish as long as 
 my arm were still struggling here up against the strength of the cur- 
 rent; others appeared so fatigued that they staid under our horses' 
 hoofs, if we rode into the water, and countless numbers were already 
 dead, knocked to pieces against the stones. Then too I saw for the 
 first time, in a river of Kamschatka, an astonishing multitude of this 
 year's young. They were some a finger long, some of double that size, 
 and remained in the quiet deep pools along the banks of the rivulet, 
 behind roots or other accidental obstructions. Here, accordingly, it 
 appeared as if nothing but the desire of suitable spawning-places drove 
 the salmon every year from the sea to the vicinity of the springs, 
 though this view of the matter still leaves the remarkable phenomenon 
 in many respects unexplained; for it is hard to discover any great 
 advantages which the strong and violent rivulet possesses over the 
 lower course of the stream. The more constant temperature of the 
 mountain waters, hardly amounting, nevertheless, to 3 Reaumur, 
 37 '75 Fahrenheit, and the later entrance of the frost into them, do not 
 appear to hold out any great advantages to fish, which are already 
 fully formed in the warm season, and must renounce the far more 
 abundant food and the softer bottom which they would be sure to find 
 everywhere lower down in the same river. But besides, the exclusive, 
 or even general spawning, in spring-waters seems inseparable from a 
 great if not unexampled destruction of living germs. In fact, it is 
 quite evident that every year much more than half of the new genera- 
 tion is lost, if we are to suppose that the old fish which we saw dead 
 in the middle part of the river's course, deferred depositing their roe 
 till the end of their intended migration, and so become converted, 
 themselves and their posterity, into food for bears and dogs." 
 
 XXII. 
 
 SEA FISHERIES. Having been lately favoured with communications 
 from a gentleman who is conspicuous for promoting a successful prose- 
 cution of the Deep-Sea fishing trade, the following memoranda from 
 them are subjoined: 
 
 The writer premises by observing that most persons appear under 
 the impression that Fishing is a very simple art readily acquired by 
 any person even the most ignorant, and that it consists in merely 
 casting a line or a net into the water, and bringing the produce to 
 land. But it is actually as diverse in its operations, and requires as 
 great a variety of implements and skill in using them, as the numerous 
 handicrafts connected with the manufacture of wood work. In conse- 
 quence of this erroneous idea, our poor peasantry are not unfrequently 
 upbraided with idleness and laziness, because they do not gather up 
 the wealth that abounds on our shores. Adam Smith likewise tells us, 
 that from time immemorial fishermen have been poor and improvident ; 
 and so doubtless they will continue to be, wherever this branch of in- 
 dustry is not pursued as a regular trade, conducted on sound and cor- 
 rect principles. Sea fishing, to be profitable, must be based on this 
 fundamental rule, as the foundation stone. It is owing to the non-adhe- 
 rence to this rule, that the large sums granted by Government during 
 
201 
 
 the past thirty years, for promoting and extending the Irish fisheries, 
 have been so singularly unproductive of beneficial results. 
 
 The writer considers that ' the capturing of Fish in the sea should 
 be perfectly free and unrestricted, and that parties thus engaged should 
 be allowed to introduce and use all improved modes and engines with- 
 out restraint or limitation; for if sea fishing is to be remunerative, 
 (and unless it is so, no person will follow it as a trade,) the great 
 object to be kept in view is to take the largest quantity of fish with 
 the smallest expenditure of labour and capital.' Without proposing to 
 enter into the difficult question of the expediency of restrictions, and 
 entertaining great deference to the opinion of the writer, it may be 
 observed that a mass of evidence exists as to the injurious effects of 
 drag nets on the spawn of fish, and in driving away the shoals of her- 
 rings. It is also remarked, that the Irish fisherman should be allowed 
 the same measure of freedom in pursuing his calling, and using im- 
 proved engines, as is enjoyed by his fellow craftsmen in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 The six Reports from the district of Ring, in the county of Water- 
 ford, are referred to, as comprising the questions of removal of restric- 
 tions, practical Instructors, small loans, improved boats, &c. and also 
 fishing charts. Upon the latter point the writer states with gratifica- 
 tion, that the Admiralty has responded to the request made to them, 
 and that a naval officer of much hydrographical experience, who has been 
 long engaged on the coast survey of Ireland, has received instructions 
 to examine the different banks that lie to the south. Government 
 assistance is not recommended, excepting in the construction of Piers. 
 1 What is mainly wanted for the successful prosecution of Sea fishing, 
 besides the removal of restrictions, is Self-reliance.' 
 
 An interesting experiment is now in progress on a part of the coast 
 of Cork, under the enterprising and benevolent exertions of some 
 natives of Scotland, for the formation of a fishing establishment, prin- 
 cipally through means of a curing station, and the employment of the 
 native fishermen. Its success must chiefly depend on the activity of 
 the latter, on their physical and' moral condition, and on their means 
 and appliances for taking fish. These men are represented as being in 
 a state of destitution, and as unfit to endure exposure to weather, being 
 without adequate clothing and shoes. The assistance of a loan fund, 
 under sufficient security and stringent regulations, might perhaps here 
 be brought in. 
 
 The two last Reports, the fifth and sixth, to September, 1849, from 
 the Ring district, (' Facts from the Fisheries? Waterford, 1849,) may be 
 referred to by any who would seek to improve the condition of a fish- 
 ing community on the coast by an economic system of assistance. A 
 freat improvement is reported in the condition and appearance of the 
 ishermen and their families, their boats and fishing gear were in good 
 order and active operation, their dwellings were in a state of comfort, 
 and the whole place was found to be wearing a thriving aspect. The 
 value of the stock of salt fish retained by these men, who had formerly 
 been in a miserable condition, for their own use during Lent, was cal- 
 culated at upwards of 1,200 ! This, besides what had been sold, had 
 all been caught within a few previous weeks by trammel nets, supplied 
 by means of small loans to the crews of twenty-one boats. 
 
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DUBLIN : PRINTED BT ALEXANDER THOM, 87, ABBEY-STREET. 
 

 
 
 
 
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
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