618 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



bers are still imported from Germany. From Styria, fattened crawfish 

 have been sent to Paris by Baron de Washington. Crawfish, likewise, 

 increase very rapidly. Our present experience has shown that the eggs 

 perish when torn off from the animals, so that it will not do to press 

 them out and throw them into the water ; all that can be done is to give 

 ample protection to the female crawfish. In some places, young craw- 

 fish are kept and fed till they are able to take care of themselves. Con- 

 sidering the enormous demand for them, crawfish-culture in our num- 

 berless small brooks might soon become a remunerative occupation. 



C— PROTECTIVE LEGISLATION. 



21. — THE FISHING-PRIVILEGES. 



We possess a great deal of valuable information on all the legal ques- 

 tions pertaining to fisheries in the thorough and exhaustive researches 

 made by eminent jurists upon the historical development of the fishing- 

 privileges in Austria and in other countries possessing similar laws, and 

 also in special investigations of the subject. 



The historical development of the fishing-privileges was, especially 

 in olden times, very much the same in different countries. 



Lette and Eonne, the well-known commentators on the "Agrarian 

 Laws of Prussia," (vol. ii, p. 760,) briefly describe this development as 

 follows : 



" Originally, and far into the Middle Ages, every landed proprietor 

 had the right to fish on his property j those who owned lands bordering 

 on rivers could fish in these streams, and citizens of towns or villages 

 had the right to fish in all the waters belonging to these communities. 

 At a later period, the royal water and fishing privileges were established 

 in connection with the hunting-privileges of kings and princes, and were 

 in later times extended to nearly all the public rivers and streams, 

 and either given or rented to private individuals. The right to fish in 

 private waters, both standing and running, was, contrary to ancient 

 usage, appropriated by the owners of estates and the local authorities 

 to the entire exclusion of the vassals, (farmers.) These, as well as those 

 inhabitants who did not possess any property, were frequently only 

 allowed to fish with purse-nets and lines. 



" Exclusive fishing-privileges are not acknowleged by the common 

 law, and a person claiming such rights, as well as any others, must 

 prove his lawful title to them. The right to fish in private waters is 

 considered a natural consequence of owning property, and in running 

 waters as belonging to persons holding landed property on the shores, 

 all of which, however, varies according to the special laws and usages 

 of different countries. 



"Fishing privileges on foreign property must be considered as pre- 

 rogatives of possession, (Gr^lndgerecht^g]celten.y , 



Most jurists express the same view, as in the text-books of German 



