XII.—The Brackish-water Lochs of North Uist

Abstract

About the year 1695 Martin Martin visited the Hebrides, and of the Island of North Uist he writes, “There is such a number of fresh water lakes here as can hardly be believed. … They are generally well stocked with trout and eels and some of them with salmon, and, which is yet more strange, cod, ling, mackerel, etc., are taken in these lakes into which they are brought by the spring tides.” This old reference suggested that the brackish-water fauna of the Hebrides might be of considerable interest and extent. Consequently I spent part of the summers of 1933 and 1935 in North Uist in order to study the fauna of the lochs and the conditions under which the animals were living.