CORRESPONDENCE. 895 



PROPOSED INVESTIGATION AND PROTECTION OF THE 

 FISHERIES OF WESTERN INDIA. 



As the result of the correspondence with the Bombay Government on this 

 subject, the following Resolution has been published : — 

 Fisheries — 



Measures for the improvement of — in the Bombay Presidency. 



No. 5472. 



Revenue Department, 

 Bombay Castle, 2nd June 1908. 



Resolution. — Government have read with interest the papers on "Estuary 

 fishing — some remarks on its decadence, as an industry, in the Konkan, Western 

 India," and " Protective Legislation for Indian Fisheries " forwarded by the 

 Bombay Natural History Society. In the former of these papers the writer 

 Mr. Wallinger of the Bombay Forest Department, depicts the evil effects of the 

 methods employed by fishermen in the Konkan in catching fish in estuaries and 

 creeks. In his opinion the methods are far too destructive in their operation 

 without any compensating results either to the fishermen or to the fish-con- 

 suming population, and have brought about the extinction of what was some few 

 years ago a flourishing industry. The paper ends with an enumeration of some 

 of the legislative measures adopted from time to time in England, Scotland and 

 Wales for the preservation of fish. The second paper is a reproduction of an 

 article that appeared in The Field of 2nd and 9th May 1903, in which the writer 

 complains of the deterioration in the fish supply of Northern India brought 

 about by what he considers to be an absence of protective measures, and con- 

 cludes with a powerful appeal to Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy and Governor- 

 General of British India, to have recourse to legislation to put a stop to a state 

 of affairs, which, if allowed to continue, will, in his opinion, lead to an extinction 

 of the fresh water fisheries of that part of India. 



2. In forwarding these papers, the Bombay Natural History Society express- 

 ed the hope that Government may be able to see their way to introduce some 

 legislation for the protection of the fishing industry in Western India, with 

 the view of preventing what they consider to be the wholesale des- 

 truction of the fry of estuary and fresh water fish, and point out that the 

 beneficial results of any effective legislation would be apparent in most creeks 

 and rivers in a few years. The Society further suggest the expediency of 

 creating a Fisheries Department for the purpose of enforcing the legisla- 

 tive measures recommended by them, and observe that if further inquiries 

 are deemed to be necessary to justify the introduction of legislation, the 

 desirability of appointing a Commission or an Officer to continue the investi- 

 gations already started may be considered. These recommendations and 

 suggestions of the Society are supported by the Chamber of Commerce, 

 Bombay. 

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