Ixxix 



ill wliicli fisli !U(' ()lil:iiii;il)lo in iiumljois iiic (be liver TuoiiLiMnKlrn, 

 \\lii(;li IkuukIs tlic district on the west ami nortli, and sonio cif^lit or ten 

 (if the lnr!j;'c tanks scattered througli the collcctorntc. The single lank for 

 lisliing is at Darogco, situated within 19 miles of Bcllary. Tlic only 

 mode resorted to for catchijig (ish, is that of placing a net across the 

 mouth of the sluice, and thus capturing all those that arc forced 

 through by t]\e pressure of the water. The size of the mesh of tlie 

 net thus used is of no consequence, as all fish esciiping this net must 

 of necessity die within a short time afterwards liy the di-ying uj) of the 

 channels. In the river the want of largo markets along its hanks will 

 probably prevent fishing in it from being a profitable speculation for 

 some time to come. The fishery here may be regarded as practically 

 iiiexhaustilde, and it does not appear necessary to place any restrictions 

 on it. It would rather seem to need encouragement. It is not consi- 

 dered that the right of Government to let any fisheries in the district 

 would lie disputed. No rule exists why they should not be let, except 

 that it is not probable that any persons would lie found to bid for them ; 

 letting by a term of yeais is preferable to annual auctions, so that the 

 contractor has an ojiportunity for recovering in a good 3-ear what he 

 may have lost in a bad. Fish, when very young, are not destroyed to 

 iiny great extent. The nets used in fishing are usually of a smiilj mesh 

 liut they are, as a rule, cast nets, nnd merely catch those sin.nll fish tliat 

 lie in shallow water [this is cxnclly the jilaco where the fry are to be 

 found.] The nets used in the Toongbhmlra are generallj' of a larf-e 

 mesh. If it were deemed advisalile to prohibit the use of small-meshcd 

 nets, it would merely be rctiuircd to insert it as a stipulation in the con- 

 tract; no notice is absolutely necessary. The ylcfiiry Collcdor (Juno 

 ■1th, 1870) propose to let out the fishing of seven tanks, Init he considered 

 it impossible to give out that of tlic river on lease, and reported that 

 no protective measures were necessary. 



155. The Collector of Tavjur (November 15th, 1807) observes 



^ . . , „ „ „ , r *''"*- pjcvious to the construction of the 

 Opimou of the Collector of i ^,.,„„ r^„i„. • l • ioo/i i\ i i /> i 



.,..^, 'r. lower Colcroon anient m 18.30, the .sable fish, 



Chipea palasah, was cauglit in the ncighbonr- 

 liood of Trichinopoly, but since that year it has, according to general 

 report, disappeared. It comes up stream from June to the middle of 

 August. On July 20l-h, 1870, the same odlcial reported, that the right 

 to the fishery of all tanks as well as village channels in this district 

 belongs to the ISIerassidars, having been conceded to them in the orders 

 of Governmrnt of June 1 1th, 1857, No. 570, pariigra))h 29 ; and if, there- 

 fore, it is intended to prohibit the draining of the tanks for catching tish, 

 he thinks it must be done by legislative enactment. In n jn-evious letter 

 dated August 17th, 1809, the Collector observed that all rivers in his 

 district are let by auction, and that this does not ajijiear to entnil any 

 hardship on the fishermen classes; it is only small tanks tliat are annually 

 drained, for the pnrjiose of being filled witli fresh-water from river channels, 

 at which period ndvantnge is taken to capture the fish in them. "Waters 

 are not poisoned in T.nnjur. Fisliing near anicuts is forbidden on engineer- 

 ing considerations; a close month in irrigation canals from October to 

 I'ebrunry is approved of, because it is after October, when the Hoods have 

 subsided, that the bulk of the fish are caught on their return to the sea. 



