626 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



abolishing such fishing-privileges as form a lasting opposition to a 

 rational culture of the waters and the preservation and increase of the 

 stock of fish. 



Towns or villages can only make use of the inland waters belonging to 

 them through specially appointed fishermen or by renting them. It is 

 not permitted to make the fisheries free to all persons belonging to the 

 community. 



The period of lease must, as a rule, not be shorter than twelve years, 

 and exceptions to this regulation can only be allowed by the local 

 authorities in special cases. 



If the fisheries belonging to one community are to be subdivided into 

 several districts which are to be rented separately, such action must be 

 approved by the local authorities, who have to see to it that they are 

 not subdivided too much. 



The local authorities are empowered to fix the number of fishing- 

 apparatus in the several districts, which is not to be exceeded. 



If two communities possess equal privileges iu the waters bordering 

 on their territory, they can only carry on the fisheries in common. If 

 such communities cannot agree as to the manner in which this is to be 

 done, the local authorities will decide the matter, (fl 7.) 



Persons holding fishing- privileges in a larger connected sheet of water 

 may, with a view to better supervision and protection of the craft, form 

 themselves into an association, with a statute, which must be approved 

 by the government; such association must be represented by a board, 

 to be elected by all the members according to the statute. 



Before such statute can be approved, the privileged persons must be 

 heard on the formation of the association and its statute, and, if one 

 of these raises objections, the representative assemblies of the district 

 in which the sheet of water in question is located are consulted. By the 

 consent of all parties concerned, the object of the association may by 

 the law be extended to the cultivation of the fish-waters in common. 

 (flff 8 and 9.) 



The draught of the law discusses the question whether, after the 

 example of several old provincial codes and after the model of some 

 modern German fishing-laws, such as those of the Baden and Wiirtem- 

 berg, a rule should be made that every person who desires to fish should 

 have a permit. This rule, says the draught, is taken from the game-laws. 



Hunting and fishing are industries which in some respects are closely 

 related to each other, and which, nevertheless, are totally different in 

 the very points in question. 



The economical value of fishing to the life of a nation very consider- 

 ably exceeds that of hunting. Fishing is the chief industry and fre- 

 quently the only means of earning a living in numerous families, in 

 entire villages and districts, while hunting nearly everywhere is an 

 occupation carried on outside of the various trades or industries. 



If hunting privileges have unhesitatingly been granted on permits, 



