The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1900-06-19
FISHERS SAD LOT.
DILEMMA IN WHICH ENGLISH
ANGLERS ARE PLACED.
No Fish In the Thames to Catch, and
When There Arc Can He Fish9-
Private Ownership of Picturesque
waterway. .

For years it has been the ambition
of fishermen and fish lovers to re-
stock the Thames river with salmon.
For this purpose the Thames Salmon
Association was formed, and has done
good work, which some day may re-
suit in accomplishing the object for
which the association was organized.
But new disturbing element has en-
tered the que9tEna. Whereas there
can be no fishing N the Thames now
because tee fish refuse to live in those
foul waters, when the river is made
so clean that fish may live there the
pubic fishing privileges will be cur
tailed seriously, If not entirely abol-
ished The land under water near
the banks and on both sides Of the
river seems to belong to private per-
sons. In the Middle Ages the Thames,
then a pure and limpid stream even
at London Bridge, gave prolific
yield of salmon; aTd there Is tradi-
ton that a special clause was inserted
in the indentures of London "prent-
ices" that they should not be com
PEELED to eat salmon more than twice
a week. AS time went ON, however.
the growing foulness of the river
brought about a noticeable dininutiOn
in the number Of salmon taken by the
netsmen In the higher reaches above
Teddington, until. In 1922 a magnih-
cent clean-run fsh of forty pounds.
the last of his race, was netted in the
neighborhood of Boulter's Lock. and
was forSerded oZ It's captOr to King
William ". Since that date salmon
in the Thames have been extinct.
With the disappearance or salmon
from tie Thames the rights and priv
ileges Of the riparian owners all along
the river from London to Cricklade
became comparatively valueless, and
were therefore. allowed to lapse. Ex-
cept in Isolated cases, no objection
was taken by the riparian owners to
the fisherman ucing the Thames as
his playground. until as time went ON
the public began to regard the priv
ileges thus conceded to them as their
rights, and even went TO the length
of contesting the strsagth Of their
case oR several occasions in various
of the law courts. but in almost every
instance with disastrous results to
themselves.
These rights of the riparian owners
will hold an important position in the
event of the efforts of the Thames
Salmon Association proving success
full
The Thames, from end to end, had
as manT. or perhaps more, monastic
houses on It's banks than any other
river "a t;le kis gdom. and nearly the
whole CO its fiEheTies were the prop
ertT Of these houses. At their dis
solution, however. their fisheries came
with the rest OF their property into
the hands of the king, who transferred
them for services rendered to his own
favorites. These grants, as It was
proved some twenty years ago oy the
evidence given by the Royal Com
mission on the Thames Fisheries, are
as valid to-day as they were when
they were transferred from the mon
asteries to thsir next owners. With
the exception of isolated stretches
at Reading, Abingdon, oxford and
perhaps, one or two other places oi
minor Importance, the whole Of the
Thames from the City Stone al
Staines to Cricklade, in Wiltshire, Il
in private hands, and although thai
portion Of the river from the mouth
of its estuary at Yantlet creek il
Kent to the Free Water Stone belongs
to the public in perpetuo, there is NJ
| knowing what ancient rights may b.
brought to light, and how far ever
on this part of the Thames the lib
erty of the aEglers may be restricted
II 1t ever again becomes a salmon
river.