( 10 ) 



Tims the bazars fully supplied are not, one-fifth of the total, 

 and oue-fifth of those which arc so, obtain such from the sea. 



The FuEsn-WATEU Fisheries of India and Burma. 

 LV. Where no regulations exist as to the method in 

 How wasteful iiijmics to fish- wliich iislicries sliould be worked, and 

 eries commeuee. sliould otlicr circumstances bc cqual, 



that country or district Avhich is most populated by man will 

 be the most denuded of fish. Individuals w^oidd sooner live 

 by fishing than by agriculture, as the trouble of capturing 

 the finny tribes is less than tilling the soil, being simply 

 catching without any idea of preservation. Naturally, fish 

 have been endowed wath certain means of increase, and 

 protection, such as producing an enormous niimber of eggs or 

 frequently breeding, or even by the action of periodic floods, 

 when small-meshed nets cannot be used in rapid streams,* 

 and by swamps covering a large extent of country, wdierc 

 shelter is afforded by grass, rushes, &c., rendering vain 

 man's attempt to depojmlate. But, as inhabitants augment, 

 watery wastes become drained and cultivated, predaccous 

 man increases his methods of destruction, and then a de- 

 crease of food becomes apparent. As the price of food rises, 

 so that of fish increases, and if the fish-eating population 

 yearly becomes larger, increased exertions are used 

 to capture fish to meet their demands : the size of the mesh 

 is decreased, weirs are augmented, and everything taken, 

 no matter how small, as fishermen never appear to consider 

 from whence the next year's supply is to come, but only the 

 easiest method to take at the present time all they are 

 able. Commencing in Burma, we observe in sparsely 

 populated districts fish abound, and in quantities amply 

 sufficient for the adjacent people ; but where the population 

 is larger and the means of disposing of the captures greater, 

 increased modes of destruction are called into existence: 

 streams are dammed and laded out, w^eirs of vai-ious forms 

 are erected, and the use of small meshed nets, and the 

 dcsti'uction of fry is carried on. In Sind, the Indus may 

 be considered one large preserve where fish are reared, for 

 owang to the constant clu.nge in its course, its banks (except 

 at certain places) are not well adapted for the permanent 

 residence of fishermen, llic surrounding laud being liable 



* Tliis Bniniint of |)iotectioii does not extend to nny prent extent to tlie fry of (islies, 

 ns tlioy wmilil bt' wnsljcd nwaj \iy ii raijiil ciuruiit, conSLiinontly Ihay seek the sljullows. 



