The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-05-24
FISH ER,S SAD LOT
DILEMMA IN WHICH ENGLISH
L ANGLERS ARE PLACED.
No Fish in the Thames to Catch, and
When There Are Can He Flshe--4i
Private. ownership of Picturesque
Waterway. "A 433s ~ n ~ ~ FL 4 ~


For years 1t 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 a new disturbing element has en-
tered the question. Whereas there
can be no fishing in the Thames now
because the fish refuse to live IN those
foul waters, when tho river is made
SO clean that fish may live there the.
pubic fishing privileges will be elir-a
tailed seriously, II 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 a prolific
Yield of sslrnon; and thero3sis tradi-
tion that a spaeial clause was inserted
in the fndenturess Of London fprert-2
ices, that they Should not be CONS
PEELED to- eat salmon more than twice
a week As time went on. however,
the growing fonlness of the river
brought about noticeable diminution
in the number of salmon taken by the
netsmen IN the higher reaches above
Teddington, until, in 1922, a magniti-
cent elean-run fish of forty pounds,
the last Of his race, was nstted In the!
neighborhood OF Boulter's Lock, and
was forwarded by its captor to King
William Nv. Since that date salmon
in the Thames have been extinct.
With the disappearance Of salmon
from the 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--i3
cept in isolated cases, no objection.
was taken by the riparian owners to
the fisherman using 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 strength of their
case on 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 sue cess
full.
The Thames, from end to end, had
as many, or perhaps more, n1onastic
houses on its banks than any other
river in the Kingdom, and nearly the
whole 81 Its fisheries were the prop
{ erty OF these hoases. AT their dis.
solution, however, their fisheries came
with the rest of their property into
I the hands Of the king. who transferred
them for services rendered to his own
farorites These grants, as it was
proved some twenty years ago by 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 their next owners. With
the exception Of Isolated stretches,
at Reading, Abingdon, Oxford and,
perhaps, one or two other places of.
minor Importance, the whole OF the
Thames from the City Stone at.
Staines to Crlcklade, in Wiltshire, Is
in private hands, and although that
portion OF the river from the mouth
of Its estuary at Yantlet creek Ia
Kent to the Free Water Stone belongs
to the public in perpetuo, there is no
knowing what ancient rights may De
brought to light and how far even
on this part Of the Thames the lib
erty of the anglers may be restricted
If it ever again becomes salmon.
river.