CC1V 



382. The Deputy Commissioner of Thyetmyo (July 29th, 1872) 



observed that he fully replied to the ques- 



'+2??rgg! *""** *T\<ri?°ir, in i869 [«■ -r»*» 



which the duel Commissioner never forward- 

 edj, and that he believes that report contained the whole of the informa- 

 tion now applied for with regard to the entire Prome District, of which 

 Thyetmyo then formed a part. No great destruction of breeding-fish, 

 except the shad, occurs, judging from the fish in the bazars. " Very 

 young fish, I fear, are destroyed in great numbers during the rainy sea- 

 son. At this period of the year they leave the river, and ascend any 

 little stream or backwater they can find, and here they fall an easy prey 

 to men, women, and children, who pursue them with all sorts of contri- 

 vances, which, though generally very simple, are very killing. Two 

 women, for instance, holding a sheet between them, will in half an hour 

 or so collect a few pounds of small fry. The smallest mesh of the nets 

 in use is | an inch each side. The greatest objection to regulating the 

 size of the mesh would be, that if the size of mesh is decreased (?) there 

 would be a diminution of the Government revenue." For the fisheries 

 one inch between each knot is recommended. If fry are allowed to be 

 caught, they may as well be eaten; therefore there would be no use 

 prohibiting their sale. 



383. The Commissioner of the Tenasserim Division, (July 15th, 



n . . „ „ „_ . , 1872) reported that breeding-- fish and very 



Opinion of European (Jmcials ' ji j • i • tj.-i.j_ 



of the Tenasserim Division. y oun £ ones are destroyed in his district to 



a great extent by nets, weirs, hooks, basket- 

 traps, dameng, traps in streams and rivers, and in other different ways 

 in rented fisheries. They are caught at all seasons of the year, and in 

 inland fisheries from January to April. There is no restriction as to the 

 size of the mesh of nets employed, and there would be many difficulties 

 in regulating such, the chief of which is, that fish, both large and small, 

 are mixed up to form the compost called ngapee. Without the small fish 

 the bulk of the large fish caught would be small, and the value of the 

 fisheries very much reduced. Deprecates any rule fixing the minimum 

 size of meshes, but would leave the people to use nets as they found them 

 best suited for their work. Fry not sold in the bazars would be turned 

 into ngapee, so any prohibitory order against its sale would be of little 

 use. " In my opinion, generally in this province, the rivers and creeks 

 are so large and numerous, and the space of country covered by inun- 

 dation every year so vast, that there is yet ample breeding-ground for 

 fisli without imposing any strict rules as to preservation of fish and 

 their fry. As population, however, increases, and as embankments are 

 raised to confine the present spill-water of the rivers within narrower 

 bounds, then it may be necessary to assist Nature by causing less 

 destruction of the fry ; but I am sure that, as yet, generally the 

 supply is enormous, the breeding-grounds are extensive, and there is no 

 need of any great interference to preserve the stock. To give the large 

 breeding-fish and their fry free ingress and egress to the inundated 

 plains from the rivers, the use of tsuys or bamboo traps across streams 

 not rented as fisheries has been prohibited. This is all that is required 

 at present. As time goes on, other restrictions can be made as they 

 were found to be necessary." [If prohibiting " the use of bamboo traps 



