xlii 



of the neta to be employed, appears to be looked ujjoii as the most 

 effectual measure. It is said that such will be difficult to be carried out 

 in some districts, and it is suggested that a general Act applicable to the 

 whole of India would be unworkable, and it would be better to have 

 one which may be applied (with moditications) to particular rivers and 

 localities. 



S7. Should any regulation be enacted defining the minimum size 



of the mesh of the nets to be hereafter used 



Oiiinioua tta to whnt the in any frcsh-water fishery, the following are 



miuiuiuiu size ot tue uieau or .1 ^ ■ ■ c ,1 • t^ ^^ ■ 1 



nets should be. •'"c opniions or the various ll,uropean omcials 



as to what that size should be. Eight answers 

 are given : one proposes from half an inch to one inch ; a second, half an inch 

 for bag'-nets, and one inch fur drag-nets ; three otliers suggest hall' an inch, 

 and the remaining three 1 inch. Such propositions would of them- 

 selves be sufficient to show to how small a size the mesh of the nets in this 

 Presidency has dwindled down. One inch between knot and knot, 

 however, appears to be the most generally apjiroved size. 



88. Along with the size of the mesh of the nets, must be considered 



the question as to whether it is advisable to 



the^'iulerthe'tv/^f'fil'"''""^ P^-ol'i'^it ^^^ -!« of the fiy of fishes in 



the bazars, or those which could not be taken 

 in the legal nets, and so must have been obtained by unfair means. T/id 

 Assistant Collector of Sural denounces the idea as " an arbitrary inter- 

 ference \vith trade, such as could not be enforced save by a penal statute 

 of an obnoxious character." " No such restrictions are enforced any- 

 where in Europe that I am aware of." £"No person is allowed wilfully to 

 take or destroy the young of salmon, to buy, sell, or expose for sale, or 

 liave in his possession the yoiuig of salmon, to place any device for 

 obstructing their passage, to wilfully injure them, or to distm-b any 

 spawning bed, or any bank or shallow on which the spawn of salmon 

 may be ; and any person acting in contravention of these provisions is 

 • liable to ferfeit all the young of salmon found in his possession, as well as all 

 rods, lines, nets, devices, and instruments used in committing any of 

 such oifenees, and to incur a penalty not exceeding five jionnds for each 

 offence." [Luios relating to Salmon Fisheries of Great Britain, J. Baker, 

 1868.)] The Collector of Puna also objects, but on the grounds, that 

 instead he would rely on regulating the size of the meshes of the nets. 

 The Collectors of Broach, Nasik, Ahmednuggur, Satara, and Belgaum, as 

 well as the Assistant Collector in the latter district, see no objections to 

 this prohibition. 



89. As regards fence-months, more especially in the hilly districts, 



n . . ,• ,1 in the rivers of which localities the larger 



(Jpmions respecliiig theneces- , i- n 1 ji at 1 j i- 



sity or tho reverse of fence- Borts ot nsli, as tuc Manasccrs, resort ror 

 months, aud pciisoning of wiitera br ;eding during the first few months of the 

 for fishing purposes. niousoon. In Kaira it is observed a fence 



season would be no hardship. In Nasik and Rutnaghari that no objec- 

 tions exist against prohibiting the capture of fish for the first two months 

 of monsoons in the hilly regions where they are breeding, except the 

 difficulty of carrying out such a regulation. The Collector of Ahmcd- 

 uuggur considers a close season desirable. As regards poisoning waters 

 to obtain the lish, this is universally condemned where practised, but 



