FISHERIES AND SEAL-HUNTING. G5 



The trans- Caucasian fisheries. — Thisbasin containsfour fisheries; those 

 of Salyan aud of Kizil-Agatch being the most important. The fishery 

 of Salyan, to which the " vataga" (fishing-establishment) of Bojii- 

 Promysl or Providence belongs, extends from the month of the Konra 

 to the town of Salyan, where the river Akoncha leaves the Konra to 

 follow itsown course to the sea. At this point the fishery of Kizil-Agatch 

 is located. The fisheries extend fifty " versts " (about twenty-nine miles) 

 from the sea-coast. Above Salyan, on the Konra and on the Arape, the 

 fisheries of Mougaue, Chemakha, Elizabethpol, and Arase are found. The 

 waters of Bakou extend from the mouth of the Alatchai to Mount Akh 

 Syvir, comprising a fishing-ground in the sea as far as fifty " versts " 

 (about twenty-nine miles) from the shore, as well as the seal-hunting 

 in the islands. The fisheries of Kouba commence at the mouth of the 

 Samouch and extend to the district of Bakau. 



The government always leases. out the trans-Caucasian fishing-basins 

 for a period of eight years 5 the contracts being made at Tiflis. From 

 1S1G to 1854, the amount of rent received by the government was only 

 180,000 " roubles," ($120,000 gold.) It then rose to 320,000 " roubles," 

 ($221,000 gold;) then to 385,000 " roubles," ($200,500 gold ;) and at the 

 present time it amounts to 390,000 " roubles," ($273,000 gold.) The per- 

 son who rents a fishery keeps Tartar and Russian laborers at a fixed 

 monthly salary, amounting, from 1816 to 1851, to 1£ "roubles," ($3.15 

 gold.) He also supplies the laborers with food, fishing-implements, and 

 boats. Besides their fixed monthly pay, 1% "kopecks" (not quite one 

 cent) is giveu for each sturgeon that is caught. 



At the "vataga" (fishing-establishment) of Bojii-Promysl, fifteen 

 " versts " (eight aud a half miles) from the mouth of the Koura, and iu 

 the Akoucha, there are bars formed by poles and stakes driven into the 

 bed of the river, forming a curved liue from one shore to the other. In 

 every bar, openings are left 3 " sagenes" (21 feet) broad, called " gates," for 

 letting boats and fish pass. But, contrary to the regulations, these open- 

 ings are usually closed by means of stationary nets. Fishing is always 

 very good in all the space between the bar and the sea. People fish 

 here with hooks, stationary lines, " palangres," and with large and small 

 nets and seines. The lines, being furnished with pointed hooks, which 

 are not baited, are either held up by floats or are ballasted and arranged in 

 rows. The fish coming from the sea are caught on the numberless hooks, 

 and are taken up by the fishermen, who patrol all the rows of lines reg- 

 ularly. Besides these implements, stationary and floating nets are also 

 used. For catching the " som* (Silur us glanis,) the so-called "eissauge" 

 (very large nets) are employed. The " som " is only fished for in the 

 spring ; during the other mouths of the year it is entirely neglected, be- 

 cause a great deal of salt is required to preserve this extraordinarily fat 

 fish, and much fuel to extract the oil, both of which articles are scarce 

 and expensive. In the autumn, the "chemaya" (Aspius clwpeoides) is 



caught by means of floating nets, the thick part of which is made of 

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