Ixx 



land for iiroduciiig- food, and iudiscriminute farming' is not pennittcJ : 



forests liave l)eeii uined in this country by the sanio ' iVee forestry' having 



been allowed as is now destroying the fresh-water fisheries, and mueh the 



same olijections were raised against preventing the poor i)coplc cutting 



fuel when, where, and how they pleased; the result is too well known to 



comment upon. 



IJ'3, Lastly, my propositions, in addition to those in paragraph 



-, ,, , .. 138, are to intei fere as little as possible with 



runner pci-sounl nropositioiis. ji .• ,• . ,_ f ■ 



the natives, excepting to prevent unlair 



fishing. Whether the fisheries are let for this purpose or a net tax is 



instituted, does not appear so material, as that a certain minimum di.stance 



be declared shall always exist between each knot of the meshes of nets, 



or in the interstices of substances forming weirs, trajis or cruives, 



or in any fixed trap or traps used in the capture of fish. This distance, I 



wonld suggest, should be one inch, but this is a detail that mightbe modilicd 



to suit dilferent districts. No fixed fishing weirs should be permitted to 



exist entirely barring a stream; a free passage should be impeiative. 



Cruives or wicker traps, or those formed of wire or any other substances 



used as fixed tiaps, should only be permitted on a written authority, and 



the month in which they are permitted to be employed should be stated. 



In Great Britain they are absolutely prohibited in fresh waters. Either 



immature lish should be prevented from entering irrigated fields, or a 



free passage ])ermitted as proposed by the Collector of South Canara. 



Fence-months in hilly regions I consider highly desirable, during such 



periods as large fish are ascending to breed or returning to the rivers in 



the plains. This might be fixed at a period, not exceeding two mouths, 



to be selected by the local authorities. 



141. The Madras Reveuue Board suggest the appointment of two 



rioposnl of Rovcmio lioai-a to Inspectors of Fisheries with establishments, 

 nppoiut two Inspectors of but prior to this being carried out, it would 

 rishciios. ai)|)ear desirable to decide, whether any mea- 



sures are going to be taken to preserve the fresh-water fisheries of that 

 Presidency, and, secondly, wli it are those measures to be, if any are 

 adoj>tcd'(' 



115. In the Proccedingt; of the Board of Revemie of Itladras (May 

 2hth, 186'J), with reference to fisheries in 



ProceDdiiiga of tl.e Board of ^ ; , ^j j.j ^.^^ j -^^ j^ observed that 



lieVL'Uuc; tliciv iir;iit ruled lor , • , J i 



frosU-wiiter tislieriea. there IS scarcely au^'where a numerous and 



distinct class dependant on this pursuit for 

 subsistence, though the Godaveri river may furnish an exception. As 

 regards prohibiting the use of nets below a certain size, it appears to the 

 Board impossible to forbid the use of a mesh of less than four inches in 

 circumference (or one inch between each knot of the meshes), for they 

 believe that whiting \SiUago siluuiia, a marine lish at Madras, is so termed, 

 and here is an objection made which is capable of being proved or disproved. 

 This fish is as wide as high, and its height is oue-sixth of its length ; 

 now it is well known no whiting under 10 or l!j inches is fit fur the 

 table ; such would only just escape a net with 2 inches between each knot of 

 the meshes] of the average size, and all the smaller mullet falso a sea- 

 lish] could pass through meshes of that size, to say nothing of prawns, iin- 

 meusc numbers of which arc consumed in Madras and elsewhere, and uhich 



