CHAPTER VI

The Salmon Fishing, which, until late years, was only fol­lowed when the fish had arrived in the rivers that they de­posited their spawn in, where they were caught with seine nets at a time when they were approaching the period of spawning, and consequently going out of season, has of late years become a Sea Fishery, which has turned out a more profitable way of fishing, both as to getting them in greater numbers and in better season. A salt water salmon is far superior to a salmon that has been even a short time in river water, the flesh is a better colour with a large flake of curd between each flake of fish, which is both firm and rich. The salmon always return annually to spawn in the same river that they were spawned in, and it is on their passage to these rivers that they are generally taken off the headlands near them, in Scotch, or Bag, or Chamber nets in the following manner. From the shore a net is stretched out seawards, for, two or three hundred yards at right angles with the shore, and adapted to the depth of water off the place where it is set to where it terminates, out in the sea at high water mark. This net is well corked to keep it afloat, and also well leaded to keep it stationary. This net is called a leader, at the sea end of it is placed a bag net, or chamber net, with an entrance into it, where it joins the leader -these chambers are of different forms, of which I

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fig. No. I.

1. The leader,

2. The corks.

3. The leads.

4. The chamber.

5. The entrance to the chamber .

6. The spars to keep chamber extended.

The chamber is closed by a net across at top, and also a net- the bottom of it.

fig, No. 2.

1. The leader.

2. The entrance into the chamber.

3. The circular chamber.

The chamber of the net, Fig. 1, is 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep, and 15 or 20 yards long; Fig. 2 re- presents the circular chamber net; there are several other forms upon which these nets are made, but they are all upon of leading the salmon into a chamber that they cannot make their way out of. The oblong nets generally have light spars made fast across the top of the net, and float-ing the surface of the water to keep the chamber stretched its full length and breadth. Some of these nets have the leader kept up by spars that are stayed with a light rope made fast to pegs on either side of them, while the net stays them at right angles to the pegs. This is the manner in which nets left dry by the tide are set, and the fish is taken shall give some plans. In some of these the chamber net is a continuation of the leader running out into deep water, floated with corks and moored in its position with heavy leads. It has several openings netted in it made of a tapering form, through which the salmon can swim into the chamber. The annexed sketch gives a plan of this net.

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out of them each tide; but in nets that are set out in the deep sea the salmon are often allowed to remain several days in the chambers, and are often only taken out to meet the demand for them. The meshes of these nets, according to Act of Parliament, were, 2 inches from knot to knot, that is 10 inches in diameter, and being of a yielding nature, a salmon of 5lb. weight could force his way through it; numbers did so at the Coleraine Fishery, and some of them caught afterwards in the salmon boxes at the Ban River, with their fins and scales torn off, gave evident proof of their having escaped out of the chamber nets; the size of the mesh has since been reduced to an inch and-half from knot to knot, or 6 inches in diameter, (by an order in Council.) These nets must be lifted out of the water at the first time of low water after noon on Satur­day, and not set until after sunrise on Monday morning. I will follow the salmon a little further, and shew the manner in which they are taken in the salmon boxes, and the construction of the boxes, which is in the following manner:-at a part of the river where there is a sharp or shallow water, several walls are built parallel with the stream, at a distance of from eight to ten feet from each other, they must be pretty strong, two and-a-half feet thick of solid mason work and from ten to fifteen feet long. At each end. of these is a frame work of wood called a rack, made of small parallel bars, about two inch square placed across from wail to wall, parallel with the surface of the water, and an inch-and-a-half distance be­tween each bar ; thus the stream runs through them and the river is generally stopped by jetties at both sides of the sal-mon boxes, so as to turn as much as possible the current of the river through the salmon boxes. There is a tapered en-trance formed by the racks, between every second wall into which the salmon swims, when trying to get up the stream to the spawning beds, which are the gravel banks of the river The entrance into the salmon boxes are made upon the same

plan as the entrances into the chambers of the salmon nets. The annexed sketch shews the plan of the salmon boxes belonging to Sir Richard O'Donnell, Bart., erected upon the Newport Pratt river.

1. The stone walls,

2. The opening between the wooden racks for the fish to enter.

3. The closed boxes with racks without entrances.

4. The small entrances to the closed boxes.

5. The door in top of closed box with padlock, to take fish