Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1868

SCHEDULE (G.) BYELAW.

25th and 26th Vict. Cap. 97.

26th and 27th Vict. Cap. 50.

27th and 28th Vict. Cap. 118.

" Acts to regulate and amend the Law respecting the Salmon Fisheries of Scotland."

We, the Commissioners appointed under the said Acts, and empowered thereby "to make " General Regulations with respect to the Construction and Alteration of Mill Dams or " Lades, or Water Wheels, so as to afford a reasonable Means for the Passage of Salmon," do hereby make the following General Regulations with respect to the Construction and Use of Mill Dams or Lades, or Water Wheels :—

a.

Every new Dam, and every Portion of any Dam that may require to be renewed or repaired after this Time, shall be made and maintained Water-tight, or as nearly so as possible, so that no Water that can reasonably be prevented shall run through the Dam ; but all Water not taken into the Lade for the Use of the Mills or other lawful Purpose shall be made to flow over the Dam as fully as may be practicable.

b.

There shall be a Sluice or Sluices at the Intake of every Mill Lade. No Water shall, with the Exception herein-after stated, be allowed to enter any Mill Lade beyond the Quantity required for the Use of the Water Wheel or Wheels of any One Fall on that Lade, or for other lawful Purpose in the Lade ; that is to say, no Water shall be allowed to escape from any Lade into the River by means of any Bye-wash or Overflow, but all Water not required for the Uses aforesaid shall be made to flow over the Dam into the River as far as may be practicable.

At the Option of the Millers or Manufacturers, this Provision may be carried out either by shutting the Sluice or Sluices at the Intake of the Lade, or by raising the Banks of the Lade to a Height that will prevent an Overflow of Water from the Lade when the Sluice at the Wheel and the Bye-wash Sluice herein-after mentioned are both kept shut. Provided always, that the said Byelaw shall not apply to Millers or Manufacturers when taking Measures necessary for the Protection of their Premises during heavy Floods, or when Rivers are cumbered with Ice, or while necessary Repairs are being executed on any Emergency; provided that nothing be omitted or done unnecessarily to defeat the Objects of this Byelaw. Furthermore, in all Cases when the Intake Sluice is more than 300 Yards from the Water Wheel, it shall not be imperative to shut the Intake Sluice, or to keep the Bye-wash Sluice shut, during ordinary Meal Hours, or during any Stoppage of the Wheel not exceeding an Hour at a Time.

c.

At the Intake of every Lade there shall be placed and constantly kept a Heck or Grating for each Opening, or one embracing the whole Openings, the Bars to be not more than Three Inches apart, if horizontal, and not more than Two Inches if vertical.

d.

A similar Heck or Grating shall be placed and constantly kept across the Lade or Troughs immediately above the Entrance to each Mill Wheel.

e.

A similar Heck or Grating shall be placed and constantly kept across the lower End of each Tail Lade at its Entrance into the Main River.

• NOTE.—To prevent any Obstruction to the Flow of the Water by the Hecks or Gratings in the Lades, it is recommended that the Lade should be increased in Width where the Hecks are placed, and that the Heck, instead of being in a straight Line across, should be curved or pointed up or down Stream; and thereby increased in Length, so that the aggregate of the Openings between the Bars shall exceed the Sectional Area (or Waterway) of the Lade, and thus compensate for the Space occupied by the Bars.

f.

There shall be a Bye-wash Sluice placed as near as practicable above each Water Wheel in the Embankment of the Lade of not less than Three Feet in Width, with its Sill as low as the Bottom of the Lade, and the said Sluice shall be raised to a Height sufficient to allow the Smolts to descend for at least Five but not exceeding Eight Hours each Week from the 15th March to the 1st July, not more than Six Days intervening between each Time of Opening.

There shall be a Salmon Pass or Ladder on the Down Stream Face of every Dam, Weir, or Cauld, capable of affording a free Passage for the ascending Fish at all Times when there is Water enough in the River to supply the Ladder. The Width shall not be less than Four Feet in the Clear in Rivers of less than 100 Feet in Breadth at the Site of the Dam, nor less than Five Feet in Breadth in Rivers of less than 200 Feet and more than 100 Feet in Breadth as aforesaid, nor less than Six Feet in Breadth in Rivers of more than 200 Feet in Breadth as aforesaid; the Upper Sill shall be not less than Six Inches below the lowest Part of the Crest of the Dam for the whole Width of the Ladder ; the Inclination shall in no Case be steeper than Five horizontal to One perpendicular, but, wherever practicable, shall be Seven or Eight horizontal to One perpendicular, and in all Cases shall be provided with Breaks or Stops placed at suitable Intervals, so as to lessen the Velocity of the Current sufficiently to allow the Fish to ascend without Difficulty.

The Foot of the Ladder shall be placed where there is most running "Water, and with the best Lead for the Fish to approach it; and if the Ladder should project beyond the Toe of the Dam, there shall be an Apron of Stone formed to the Dam, extending as far down the River as the Entrance to the Pass or Ladder, and extending throughout the whole Length of the Dam at cither Side of the Ladder, and on a high enough Level to prevent there being any Pool in the River, or sufficient Depth of Water farther up than the Entrance to the said Pass or Ladder, by which the Fish might be induced to remain there obstructed in their Ascent, and not be led to the Ladder.

• NOTE.—The Commissioners would recommend the following Details to be adopted in the Construction of Salmon Ladders, in addition to those given in the foregoing Byelaw, but do not insist on them, provided some other perfectly efficient Arrangement be substituted,—viz., the Side Walls to be not less than Twenty-two Inches in Height; the Breaks to be not less than Eighteen Inches in Height, with Openings of Ten Inches in Breadth at the alternate Ends of each Break, and Five Feet apart in Cases where the Gradient of the Ladder is One in Five and of a greater Distance, but the same Proportions being maintained where the Gradient is easier than One in Five.

g.

No Dam shall be so altered as to create a greater Obstruction to the free Passage of Fish than at present exists.

WM. J. FFENNELL,

FRED. EDEN, } Commissioners.

JAMES LESLIE, }

Fisheries Department, Home Office,

29th Day of Aril 1865.

Approved,

G. GREY.

Whitehall, 19th July 1865.

(This Byelaw to take effect from the 28th July 1865.)