lxiv 



prefer gait-fish to fresh. Even at Bellary there appears to be a good 

 demand for salt-fish, but in a few of the inland talookas it cannot be sold. 

 This seems to have reference in some places to the proportion and caste 

 of the Hindus. 



128. Are the markets well supplied? Along the coasts and in places 



within easy reach of the sea they would 



• ut' S M Ued n * rk0t " iUSUffi ' Seem t0 be so ' but not inland - 0ut of 39 

 cien y supp 11 Tehsildars of Collectorates not, or only slight- 



ly, bordering on the sea, the following are the replies, that the markets 

 are sufficiently supplied in 4 : insufficiently or hardly, if at all, in 35. 



129. Have the fish in the fresh waters increased, decreased, or remain- 



ed stationary ? Omitting vague answers, 64 

 Fish supply in the waters has T h il(k , replies have been received ; they 

 generally decreased. r . • .-i 



are as follows : — o report an increase in the 



amount in their talookas ; 46 either a large decrease or a decrease ; and 



12 that the supply remains stationary, or else that no decrease is perceived 



this year. 



130. IF hose are the fisheries ? is a question adverted to by some of 



the reporters, and it appears to be almost uni- 

 Fisheries Government pro- vers ally considered that those existing in inland 

 pei y ' waters, with a few exceptions, are Government 



property, but doubts are entertained by the Revenue Board whether the 

 " sanction of a legal enactment may not be necessary to enable the Gov- 

 ernment to interfere with the exercise of practices which long custom may 

 have converted into communal rights.'" £Paterson, ' Fishery Laws of 

 Great Britain/ observes of persons who claim right of fishing due to long 

 custom — " no length of time during which such acts are capable of being 

 explained on the ground of license, can prevent the owner putting an 

 end to such license. He may resume his original rights at any moment 

 and withdraw the license, for no man ought to have his rights abridged 

 by acting liberally towards the public or his neighbours."] How and 

 when numbers of the fishery rents ceased to be collected is adverted to in 

 para. 146. 



131. The fishermen, as a rule, are the agriculturists, palanquin - 



... , . „ bearers, small traders, coolies, and others, who 

 The fishermen, with but few ' . . .? . ' , . 



exceptions, only, follow this carry on this pursuit when not engaged in 

 occupation in addition to their their ordinary avocations, and as there are no 

 usual work. restrictions, their only idea is to obtain what 



they can, when they can. Were all the fisheries ruined, it would not 

 pecuniarily affect them, except to a secondary degree, as their living is not 

 dependant upon fishing. In some districts, as Bajahmundry, Chingle- 

 put, Combaconum, and a portion of Coimbatore, some few persons exist, 

 who appear to be entirely dependant on this occupation. 



132. Are breeding fish destroyed, and, if so, how? In every dis- 



trict this can be said to be carried on, 



Breeding fish arc destroyed ■ { ]} [n f th f f H 0W i ngr 



by irrigation weirs arresting their 1 1 J . . . . .& 



progress, being trapped whilst manners: — tirst, irrigation weirs which detain 

 ascending to breed or returning breeding fish ascending or descending, and 

 to the rivers, by weira and other their being allowed to be netted at those 

 y po places; this seems to be considered unavoidable, 



due to the want of fish passes. Irrigation canals, where there are deep 



