upwards (o attiiln tlie lioail of tliis ' kool,' or else left in its diied-up bed : 

 one iinfive sl.aiids at the liead of tlie eliaiinel, and by making' a great 

 f:)daRliing' ho (Viglitens flic fisli from coming np to tlie stream, and thus, 

 without using a net at all, numerous small tislics are taken, whilst these, 

 or most of them, ought to be for the next year's sujipl}'. This mode of 

 dcst'uction must be very injurious to hill fisheries, but could be easily 

 remedied, by com]iplling the owner of each canal to make a matted grat- 

 ing of Ixiughs or bnmlwos or a similar obstruction at the head of each, 

 which, without impeding the water, would prevent the entrance of the 

 lish. 



11. Analogous to the foregoing, is the diverting of hill streams 

 _. ,. ,.,11 J and thus capturing all the fishes therein, 



Pivntiiif; lull stronnifl, nnin- , , • ii i i t ii t 



iniMKilKm, tliciMociionnfwciig a'so damming them up and lading them out, 

 mid imnicrs iiud poisoning the and the existence of weirs and impassable 

 "'"''^''- barriers, which are made instrumental in the 



capture of fish, and it was projierly decided iu the Kaiigra valley that 

 "the system of catching fish by means of dams, weirs, and stake-nets was 

 proliil)iled, as being the chief cause of the destruction and diminution of 

 the lish in the nai row hill streams." Poisoning streams is not reputed 

 to be carried on in the Panjab. 



liJ. Another mode of destroying largo numbers of fish in the 



Panjab, is the existence of irrigation weirs 



IniRniion weirs nnd cnnnis without fish passes, across large rivers, and 



ns lit nivscntexistiue', destructive i ■ i 't i i i r i '"n „ . i „ .. 



to fisheries which ]iermit valuable lislies, as the maliaseer, 



which breeds along the bases of the lulls, to 

 descend, but prevents any return to its breeding places as already dc- 

 scrilied. Worse, if |)nssible, probably, are the irrigation weirs which have 

 impassable falls up which fish cannot ascend, but over which they may 

 descend, and so become trapped. Thus the maliaseer go down these large 

 channels, but cannot return. It lia,s been suggested that they might 

 continue their descent, and thus find an exit at the lower end, but this tliey 

 will not do. As the canal becomes shallower towards its termination, tho 

 falls are lower, the holes formed below them less deep, and there is not so 

 much food, consequently they will not lie found there. This is not .1 

 theoretical 0]Mnion, but deduced from actual observation made when a 

 canal was dried off. These canals are emptied at certain periods for 

 re]>airs or other causes, and at this jieriod many tish are left diy in the 

 bed and are easily killed, but a large number retreat into tho holes which 

 exist and contain water. In some of these canals a custom obtains to 

 ]iermit the employees to kill all they are able, in any manner they can; 

 in other places this is more or less prohibited ; whilst in some the fi.shing 

 is let out and every living fish destroyed, no matter how small ; and as 

 none can ascend out of the canals, the destruction is enormous and sufFi- 

 cient to ruin any fisheries. ' Dr. Allen,' of the 2nd Ghurkas, thus 

 observed on these constructions: — " The fisheries are certainly decreasing 

 as regards the number of fish, both in the (janges and .Tumna rivers. 

 The chief cause of this, 1 believe, to bo the drain on them caused by 

 the canals. Rlahascer, rolioo, kalabeinse, &c., abound in all the canals 

 Iiotli from the Jumna and (langcs. The maliaseer aie very ])h'ntil'ul 

 in the Jumna canal (Kurnal branch, which runs down to Ilansi and 

 llissar) and in the Ganges canal. When these canals silt up, or tho 



