The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-02 00:00:00

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THE SALMON run : r - - litrt-:-
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A Blue book, of 78 pages, the t : :inadirisp feWe,
in 5..,.... es ......_ .........:.._ .•_. v. - T Ala titit ..*8i5.,4,11,/ .rj
just been issued. The rep. ' le 7/ICof theicrest
month. Mr. Ffennel observes in the course of his report :
" Two open fishing seasons and three close seasons have
now passel since the Act of 1861 came into operation, afford-
ing sufficient time for the occurrence of results upon which
reliable conclusions may be formed, and well-founded hopes
entertained of the future progress of improvement under the
influence of the present laws. The manifest increase of fish
within so short a period is greater in many waters than the
I most sanguine had anticipated. The approval by the coun-
try of the policy and principles upon which the recent legis-
lation is based has been widely established by the uncle •
viable reality of success, and it is satisfactory to find that
many who were at first dieposed to doubt, and held back in
apathy, have been led into active co-operation in adminis-
tering the laws, by the evidence which is now presented to
them in the unquestionable form of ascertained utility. The
zealous interest that has sprung up throughout the country
in promoting the restoration of the salmon fisheries, which
have been nearly annihilated by grievous abuses, has stimu-
lated inquiry. Attentive consideration has been directed to
the subject, and an amount of knowledge has been obtained
which, as it progresses, enables people to see their way more
clearly, reconciles them to principles which at first they were
disposed to repudiate, and converts the former opponent of
legislative measures into the strenuous advocate for obtain-
ing further aid from Parliament to enable the objects of the
law to be more amply carried into effect." Mr. Ffennel has
taken advantage of the experienceol those who are interested
in the question and have taken part in administering the exist -
ing law, by issuing a series of queries, and thus collecting the
opinion of the country from the answers returned regarding
its present working, the results which have followed, and the
additions or amendments, if any, which might be suggested,
These queries and the replies he published in his report.
The fishery question, he says, involves such a variety of
matters, arising out of local and peculiar circumstanues, that
it is difficult, if not impossible, to meet them all by direct
legislation in a manner so complete that the spirit or prin-
ciple of any Act of Parliament can be fully carried out, and
he can see no way to overcome this difficulty except through
the agenoy of an authority to make by-laws. This rower,
he thinks, might be defined in pointing out the object to
which it should be applied and guarded by providing an
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appellant jurisdiction in the event of any attenpt to exercise
it in an arbitrary or unconditional spirit, recognising it in a
ministerial capacity only to carry into effect with integrity
the declared and evident intentions of the Imperial Parlia-
ment. In the replies to the queries a marked unanimity
prevails as to the propriety of compulsory rating to obtain
funds for protection. A strong opinion is expressed in many
of the replies, in favour of including the protection of trout
with that of salmon, and Mr Flannel is strongly convinced
of the expediency of such a step. Mr. Eden, the other in-
spector, suggests as a means of providing funds for the pro-
tection of the fisheries the imposition of a licence duty upon
all engines used for the capture of salmon. An assessment
upon all rateable fisheries might also, he says, be imposed.
Some compulsory means of raising funds and of producing
co-operation between the different interests to be found in
salmon rivers, he believes, are absolutely indispensable. The
punishment for offences sanctioned by the Act Mr. Eden
thinks inadequate, and he also urges the propriety of im-
posing upon the owner of the eel fisheries the restrictions
necessary for the protection of the salmon, young and old.
The mischief occasioned by an improper use of the eel
stages is exceedingly great. The fisherman has a right to
set his stages; he is only trying for the eel or two which he
may possibly catch, and if in so doing he destroys the pro-
duce of a whole year's care and expense on the part of the
salmon fishery proprietors he does not care, and he cannot,
as the law stands, be made to do so. But it happens from
the habits of the two fish that the proper fishing of one can-
not in the least interfere with the other. The salmon breed
in the fresh, eels in the salt water, and the former are run-
fling up the rivers when the latter are falling down, so that
the restrictions recommended, Mr. Eden contends, would
not entail the smallest hardship upon the eel fishery owners