Ixxv 



fishing, but which was in fact a capitation tax on the castes that exercised 

 the fisherman's calling 1 . At the permanent settlement, the amouut o£ this 

 tax was set clown at Rs. 3,4G3-;J-9, but this sum included the tax on 

 sea fishermen, from whom by far the greater portion of it was collected, 

 as appears from the incidence of the tax falling almost entirely on the 

 estates on the coast. " With reference to Dr. Day's proposition to pro- 

 hibit the use of nets with meshes under four inches in circumference, I 

 believe the result of such an attempt would be to put a stop to fresh- 

 water fishing altogether. The fish that form the favorite food of the 

 fish-eating community are small, and not larger than white bait. I do 

 not profess any knowledge on this subject, but have heard it stated that 

 the above delicacy are the fry of large fish ; and yet I have never heard of 

 any proposition to prevent their capture in order to increase the general 

 fish-snpply. Such an attempt could not create greater consternation at 

 Blackwall, than Dr. Day's measures for preventing the capture of small 

 fish would throughout the Presidency." £ These conclusions appear to be 

 based on the proposition, that preventing the massacre of the fry of 

 fish will not augment the fish-supply; as regards Blackwall, it is difficult 

 to understand how views entertained at any locality in Europe within tidal 

 influence can have any bearing upon what measures would be most 

 efficacious in India to prevent the extermination of fishes in fresh- 

 waters above the influence of the tides.] "The practice of poisoning 

 water to obtain the fish is not employed in these parts ; but that and 

 draining tanks for the purpose of securing all the fish in them might be 

 properly prohibited." 



151. The Collector of the Goclaveri District (October 28th, 1869) 



observed, that the fisheries in his Collectorate 

 thfcrifl'lSc" ° f formerly realised from 3 to 10,000 rupees 



yearly, but for the last few years rents have 

 not been taken. To re-open the renting system would oppress the fisher 

 class, i. e., those who live by fishing alone. If the returns proved good, 

 the leases would be taken by outsiders, and sub-let by them at a higher 

 rate to the fishermen ; and if small, a class who make but at most a 

 sufficient livelihood now, would be heavily taxed. The introduction of a 

 Fishery Act would certainly entail the necessity of an establishment to see 

 its provisions carried out, for the closest supervision would be needed. 

 Draining or poisoning tanks for fishing purposes is not practised in the 

 district. Renting out the fisheries " will certainly result in the re- 

 imposition on the fishing class of the abolished moturpha, though in 

 another shape, and be in my opinion a backward step in our legislation." 

 £ If renting waters for fishing is a backward step, it is difficult to see how 

 the renting of land can be justified, or charging for the use of water for 

 the purpose of irrigation, thus, as remarked by the ' Chief Commissioner 

 of British Burma' in 1853, "they who gain their livelihood from 

 working the waters, may with equal justice pay tax, as those who obtain 

 it from the lands, and fishing may be looked on as the most profitable 

 employment of the two." If the money raised by these rents is to be 

 used for the purpose of improving the fisheries, as is that received from 

 taxes on fishing nets and angling in Great Britain, and so to largely 

 augment the food of the public and consequently lower its price, the 

 objection to collecting the Government rents appears to vanish, excepting 



