Star.
London, England, 1824-08-13 00:00:00

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fAA MON. F4SlPligrtf
The Report and Aptianf the Select .consmittee
of the Muse of ebrniOns,* 'you the Sithor 'Plan.
Batas of the -United Kingdom," have been printed.
'The RepOrt is sheyt, „and so conclusion thin accounts
for, not going into details:* In it:partial!. the' eVidetife'
already obtained, the. Committee', are o °Ostia' Asne
they ought to abstisist rcor ~ ‘goaiment on it ; a,d
they report it not as arwitig itself complete, in refer
Oven to the partlof, cofantry to Which it reo
later, but as laying the foundation of a further inquiry,
which they trust the abuse wkitsilga.it to be expedient
to institute It • an larjy periiid of the neat Session of
Pailianittne...-Juue 17, 1824." - * •
The evidence relates many poitits of Considerable in-
terest on this important and choice article of hurisan,
food, as the followittg abstract will thew :
Mr. John Wilson, engaged in the Salmon Fisheries
of the Tweed, states that u-many Fishing: on that
River, which used to let for 2000 guineas a year, last
year did not pay their expenses. The decrease in the
value is owing to the decrease of the produce. The
general decrease in the Tweed is from the greit depre-
dations committed on the River in ekse time ; the
number of 6;4 that are killed in close time is immense;
if Will'ON is at its best at Alia:hawser, and falls greatly
off atterabOutthe middle of July : and in Aust,4they
get considerably advanced in spawn.".
.111 r. John 'Johnstone, of Balmerino, Dundee, exa-
mined :--Do you mean to say there is no gait of the
fishing of the Tay where the quantity of fish has in-
creased since do not mean so say that ; one station
may increase and another decrease by the way in which
it is fished ; take it generally, there is not One half of
the quantity shipped that there was.
Does the witness mean to state, that the total quantity of-fish
ofight in the Tay has decreased one half since the renieral of the
state newt—Yes; cast Is my opinion.
What are the modes of fishing now in use at the
stations on the Tay, where the stake nets were formerly
in use ?—Some of the properties that produced two or
5000 salmon, and even above 40)0, a year, are now not.
fished at all ; others are fished by floating nets of differ-
ent descriptions, which we generally term net and coble.
Can you give any idea of the number of salmon de-
stroyed in the Tay, by porpoises, 'returner', and teals,
in a seasonT—There is a great deal more destroyed by
them than is carted I I should think at least double the
number. Each porpoise, grampus, and seal, may de-
stroy, on an average, two salmon per day, if they can
get them.

Are there grampuses and seals in the ether Friths and riven
where there are salnionl—..leof in **cm I have been, where
there are salmon. • .
Are they destructive to the same degree wherever sal-
mon exist ?—Yes, we are very much annoyed with them
in the Murray Frith; I have seen seven or eight .sellsl
ranged in line before pursuit ; they break the nets, kill
a number, and let away all the rest; they lie On the
rocks in great crowds; the water is sometimes black
with grampuseinear the shore.
Do: yOu•think any of the salmon caught in the stake
nets, would have gone to sea if they had not been
taken ?—Yee; j have seen such immense quitititlen
swimming away from the rivers and Friths; I have
caught above-500 salmon and gril.tes in onostalteitet,
and at one tits* far from qtly river ; t have caught
nearly 200' 6tr from a river, and. I have often caught
less quantifies thini 200 at a time, going away from the
river ; and I have seen gieat numbers Star were not
caught, swimming away from the rivers below low water
mark, at low water, when'
the stake nets were dry.-.
Have you. seen the Amon running down before remssiewihid
sesls towards the seal—Qften. •
kit youf opinion that salmon can be kept for two es 4 tlitiesiveCite
and sold as fresh fish?-Yes, It can be; but the fish will be soli,
and of inferior quality.
. Then, unless there is some prohibition, what security
.can. you eave, that fish caught in the fence.time
not be sold at the expiration of the fence-time, when
probably the -price will be uncommonly' high ?—h
might be sold; purchasers might take it and keep &in
ice, and afterwards sell it when the fishing season 04-,
gins, after the fence-time has expired. I have seen sal-
mon brought ftom the higher parts of the Tay, and
shipped at Dundee for the London market, before the
10th of December. I think the sale should be prohibited
for certain months, as well as the.fishing..
Mr. John Halliday. a Salmott.fisher, examined..—Have you say
knowledge of the number of ova in the roe of a salmoit?-1 have
found them of different numbers, firma seventeen thousand to
twenty thousand.
In *hat manner have you acquired this knowledge ?—By boil.
Ing the roe, and counting as many as would fin an egg-cup, and
then measuring them.
Do you believe that eacleif the.ova produces a young fish, if it
be not injured?--I do. '

Are you acquainted with the Ash known by the name of hidings,
whiting*, or banocks?—l know them; they are one and the same
fibh. In Carlisle they call them whitings, iu Annan hidings, and
in the North finnocks.

Is the grilse the salmon sat fan grown, or a different species of
ftsh ?—lt is a different species et fish.

State ',Sur reasons for believing so ?—The shape is
very different; the grilse's tail is very much forked, like
that of a swallow ; a salmon's. tail is not forked like that
of a grilse, and the chowk-fins of a grilse are much
snore blue in their colour than a salmon's ; a grilse is
much smaller at the head, and immediately above the
tail, than a salmon is; it seems to be a different fish -in
shape every way; besides it goes. up, full of spawn' 'in
the end of the year, and does not come down till the
spring, when it is a kelt grilse, while the young salmon
are coming up the river in numbers of at least fiftyl for
every kelt grilse that returns to the sea.
George Little, Esq. of Coleraine Ireland, but Ere gutty raid-
ip6 atluau, Scotland, and at different stations,
examined.
On what ground do you state that the population is
hostile ?:---Before we exported the salmon (from the
Moy Fishery at 13xIliva) to England, they got their sal-
mon very low, probably not more than three farthings;
or a penny, or three halfpence a pound. Now they can-
not be got 'at those prices. On that account the people
are against the fisheries, as they say thit the fish are all
carried out of the country.
-State to the Committee the value of theXalmon per
pound on the spot, of late years?...:ln the spring months
we generally obtain lOd. a pound‘..thar ix,' during the
months of February, March, April, and May. ;In other
months about 6d. say June, July; aritt'Aognset . Sonti
we sell as low as 3d. At some of the:talons which are
-far from icehouses, we cannot get so•rnuch for, then): '
Are there grampusikmaild seals inlbe the
Frith of T 4 ?--There 'is no place I khow whet! they are
'so plentiful* though there are porpo4esnlinosrat every '
place in tbeiear and itilriths where there are salmon..
Do yeu consider them eleitructiFe to salmon do,
they may eat other fish, -bat we see them chasing. the
salmon, and we.see thei,catehing them: It is easy, ttr
distinguish‘when a porpoise a .fonow_inza:sabion, he
goes so rapidly ; when be cosasea .to WA% kfmAes
the water nse to a gran' height above tis There
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