THE FISHERY INTERESTS OF AUSTRIA. 663 



that any person belonging to such community has the right to fish ; 

 sometimes the mayor of a village is mentioned as the privilege-holder, 

 or the clergyman, or some landed proprietor ; the fisheries are mostly 

 considered as belonging to the former proprietors of the lands, among 

 them the cities; and, in other cases, the privilege is said to belong to 

 the inhabitants of the banks, and occasionally to these and to every- 

 body." 



In Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, these privileges are placed in a 

 peculiar position by the regulations for buying them off. 



In Bohemia and Moravia, fishing-privileges on the land of others have 

 been abolished by the ordinances relating to the buying-off of privileges 

 of June 27, 1849, § 4, Z. 3; and in Silesia, by the ordinances of July 11, 

 1849; and an indemnity has only been conceded to the former holders 

 in cases where it could be proved that the privilege was based on a 

 special contract with the owner of the soil. 



The regulations for buying off" privileges in the other provinces do 

 not contain any paragraphs relating to the fisheries. 



When, somewhat later, doubts were raised as to the proper meaning 

 of different regulations, the ministries to whom this matter was referred 

 consulted on them in common. The ministry of justice, in its note of 

 December 30, 1851, Z. 13740, said that the fishing-privileges based on 

 different titles had not been changed in the other provinces ; but that 

 in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, this whole question had a different 

 aspect. In these provinces, a change had already been made by the 

 ordinances, (§ 4,) and, based on the abolition of all fishing-privileges on 

 the soil of others, many new property-rights had been established, with, 

 to some extent, respect for legal forms. If the state of affairs existing 

 prior to the year 1848 was to be continued, or, properly speaking, cre- 

 ated anew, any measure tending to this end must be preceded by a 

 special law sanctioned by the emperor, declaring the above-mentioned 

 § 4 null and void. 



The ministry of the interior thereupon, by its ordinance of January 

 31, 1852, Z. 4G0, informed the commissions for regulating the buying- 

 off of privileges, as well as the assemblies of Bohemia, Moravia, and 

 Silesia, that, conditionally on some future possible regulation of these 

 matters, every fishing-privilege which is not exercised in waters be- 

 longing to others shall be maintained ; and that any one who desires to 

 have his property freed from the burdensome, fishing-privileges, in ac- 

 cordance with the above-mentioned § 4, must bring absolute proof that 

 he is the exclusive owner of the property in question, viz, the water, it 

 being understood that all doubts as to the ownership will have to be 

 decided only before the proper court. Wherever the mutual relations of 

 the owner of the property and the holder of the fishing-privilege come 

 under the law of September 7, 1848, the commissions named above have, 

 conditionally on some future regulation of the fishing-privileges, to act 

 in accordance with existing rules. 



