SALMON FISHERIES_ .The Tyne was indeed once famous for this the king of British river fish, and Shields partook of the benefits which were derived from, its abundance, cheapness, and capture, for on the 20th March, 1765, 149 large salmon were taken at one draught near the bar at South Shields ; and on the 9th of June, 1775, 265 salmon were caught by one draught, at the Low Lights, North Shields; I myself having frequently wit-nessed when young the abundant success of the fishermen at the fishery for salmon, on the edge next the river of the Herd Sand, at South Shields. The take of salmon in other parts of the Tyne, away from South Shields, was sometimes also amazing, as proved by the following extracts from Sykes Local Records. 1755, June 12th, upwards of 2400 salmon were taken above bridge in the River Tyne, and sold in Newcastle at one penny and a penny farthing per pound. 1758, July 20th, upwards of 2000 salmon were taken in the Tyne, and being brought to Newcastle Market, were sold at one penny three farthings per pound. 1760, May 29th, a remarkably large salmon was taken in the River Tyne, and sold in Newcastle Market for eleven shillings ; it weighed 54 lbs. ; was 4 ft. 4 in. long ; and 33 in. round. 1761, Aug. 6th, 260 salmon were taken in the Tyne at Newburn, near Newcastle, at a draught. 1764, May 14th, many large salmon were taken in the Tyne at Newburn ; one in particular which measured 51 feet in length, was 28 inches round, and weighed 54 lbs. 1764, July 20th, such a great quantity of salmon was taken in the Tyne, that it was sold for one penny farthing per lb. 1771, July 16th, upwards of 4000 salmon were exposed for sale in Newcastle fish market, which sold for about one penny farthing per lb. 107 salmon were caught that morning at one fishery above Tyne Bridge. 1825, October 12th, a pair of spectacles in steel case was taken out of the maw of a salmon, in the fish market Newcastle. 1833, June 13th, a prodigious and almost unprecedented take of salmon occurred in the Tyne. Nearly 600 were exhibited for sale in Newcastle fish market, and sold readily at about sixpence per lb. A comparison of this the plentiful past, with the meager present of the salmon fisheries on the Tyne, at South Shields and elsewhere, is melancholy and disheartening, for owing to the deepening of the channel of the river, by the necessary dredging operations of the Tyne Improvement Commissioners, the fishery at South Shields has been injured, while the decrease in the number of salmon caught at New-burn and the other fisheries of the Tyne, can safely be attributed in a great degree, to such defilement of the river by human agency, that the fastidious salmon will not suffer itself to be poisoned by the hateful mixture of evil odours and polluted waters, and therefore does not venture now to ascend the stream in such multitudes as in former years, when the river was sufficiently pure to encourage their entrance into and ascent up it, for breeding purposes, for the salmon says Izaak Walton, is the king of fresh water fish, and he adds quaintly, he has like some persons of honor and riches, which have both their winter and summer residences, the fresh rivers for summer, and the salt water for winter to spend his life in. The murderous array of nets, weirs, and all kinds of salmon traps, was also another operating cause of the decrease in the numbers of that noble fish, but it is to be hoped that the legislative interference of recent years, and the consequent prevention of the jastly termed in-fernal machines, to which I have alluded, will prevent that extirpation of the salmon, which would otherwise have taken place, and give the fish a fair chance of re-establishing itself in part, if not wholly, in some-thing approaching to its former plenty.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 10:29:12 +0000
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