ex 



VVL'll; (6) tliiit matiiro bieeJiiiy fibh nml the iiinnatuio ones are destroyiHl 

 at all seasons ol' the year anil in every possible way ; (7) tliat nets witli 

 very minute meslies are employed ; (8) that fish are trapped in some 

 districts and snared in all ; (i)) that waters are dammed, laded ont, and 

 even ])oisoned in order to take the iisli ; (10) that there would be no 

 dillieulty in prohibiting' the sale of the I'ry of iisli in the bazars ; (11) 

 that some protection to the lish is called for; (12) that such would not 

 alfect the lishevmen to any ajipreeiable extent unless fence-mouths were 

 instituted; (1^) but that these ajipear to be necessary in the hilly districts 

 during' the lirst two mouths of the monsoon; (If) that the mininunii 

 size of the meshes of the nets should be one inch between knot and knot; 

 (15) that the jjoisoning' of waters to obtain fish should be prohibited. 



227, The necessity of fence-mouths in the rivers of the hilly dis- 

 tricts durinj' the commencement of the 

 mousoons when large lisli ascend tor breeihug 

 purposes appears to be apparent. " Tlii.9 is," one Deputy Commissioner 

 observes, " the best lishing- season," the breeding- lish in fact at this period 

 easily falling' victims to the most clumsy contrivances. 



^ . , 228. Poisoning- waters to obtain the 



Foisouiiii' waters couJeniueu. /• i • • n i i 



'' lish IS universally condemned. 



229. The Second Asuialaiit Rdxident, llaidarabad, remarks that 



the class chiefly devoted to iishing- in this 



Opinion of llic Sccoiul Assist- ■ t t , i: , tl , i!l i i i 



, ;, ., , part ot India are the ijhoees, who do not, 



nut IJcsidfut. ' (• ,1 1 i. ii • i • 



ho'ifever, conline tliemselves to this occupation 

 only, but seek their living- also as domestic servants, and monopolize what 

 remains in this ])art of India of the work of palkee-bcaring-. Through- 

 out the Assigned Districts fishing- is pursued free from any restrictions, and 

 all sorts of lish are indiscriminately captured in all possible ways. 



230. The OJIlicialing Cummissioncr, West Berar, reports that as 



^„. . „ lishing' is (luite unrestricted, every sort of lish 



Oiiitiion of the Officiating Com- • , i • -i i i 



niisJiouci-, West 15.1 ai-. '« capturcd in evcry possible manner, and 



those too small for use are tlirown away. The 

 class chiefly concerned in fishing are the Bhoecs, but the trade is incon- 

 siderable, and they pursue other occupations. Moreover, other classes 

 also engage in it wdien the fish are sulliciently ])lentiful to attract them. 

 It follows, that whatever restrictions may be imposed, no class of jieople 

 will be so afl'ected as to interfere with their means of livelihood, nor does 

 auy portion of the community depend on lish as an article of food, there- 

 fore any remedial measures found necessary will not even be hard or dis- 

 tressing- to any class of people. T'lirtlier, fishing- rights do not exist, for 

 under a ryotwari settlement all fisheries are common property, indeed 

 belong' properly to Government, and there does not appear to be any village 

 tanks where the right of reserved fishing could be claimed. Hence tlicre 

 is nothing- to prevent the imposition of rules for the preservation of the 

 immature or bi eding fish, and some of a general kind are called for 

 under the state X things exhibited in these reports. The rules proposed 

 are, (1) the iin.nibition of lishing during July and August, and if need 

 be also September; (2) the interdiction of the use of nets with the knots 

 of the meshes nearer together than one iiu-h ; {?■>) declaring it illegal to 

 }ioison the water with llic obji-ct of killing the lish, 



