oxvu 



il. inoxp(Hliou(., mostly liccnnso a lar'^'c piovcnlivo cstaMisIinicnt wcmld lie 

 ici|iiiictl, olio " tliat auotlicr class of poor peojile would 1)0 pestert'd with 

 orders and regulations, which they and their neighbours would not 

 understand," and ten do not see any ohjoctions. Tlie following- are the 

 uiinimum sizes proposed; ^ih of an inch between the knots of the meshes 

 by 2 ; i an inch by 3 ; Jths of an iiicii by 2 ; 1 inch by 5, 1 J inches by 

 1 ; 1^ inches in rivers and nnllns by 1. 



255. Should the sale of the fry offish he prohrhited ? is answered 



by ten ; seven are in favor of it, three see 



Ought tl.o s.lo of tbo fry of oj.jcctions. They consider such might lend 



lisli to be iii-oliibited i" •> . •' , n ,■ i i • i 



to oppression, and small lisli, wliicli arc not 



fry, might be considered as such. This rule might be modified thus, 



that no small fish are to be sold during the breeding months, to be 



decided in each district; if the young are thus destroyed, the supjdy 



during the rest of the year can hardly be expected to materially increase. 



25t5. Respecting fence seasons in the hilly districts during two 



months of the monsoon, when fish are as- 



rcuce-montli3. ,. ,, , ,. ,,, ■ c 



ceudiutr to breed or returniiiij to the rivers ot 



I he plains, they appear to be generally approved of where thej' can be 

 carried out. All weirs and fixed engines of every description should be 

 |)rohibitcd at these periods if any are now permitted. 



257. The Assistant Secretarij to the Chief Commissioner, Central 



Provinces (August 22nd, 1872) observes of 



Oiiiiiion of the Chief Com- ^],3 ,.p,,ii(,s leceivcd from his districts to the 



inissioucr of the Ceutiiil rro- , . ' , . , i i i ,, m r i 



j.jiiygg ([uestions which were circulated : — ihe lol- 



lowing facts are very clearly In'onglit into 

 view : — (1) that in these Provinces there are more than 80,000 persons 

 who gain a livelihood, either in whole or in part, from fishing ; (2) that 

 from GO to 75 per cent, of the population consume fish as an article 

 iif diet; (3) that no restrictions whatever exist, either as to the time 

 or ir.uae of fishing, or to the size or age of the fish cauglit, and that 

 nmch iiidisorimiuate and wanton destruction of fish takes place, not 

 only by netting and trapping, but also by the very reprehensible prac- 

 tice of drugging and poisoning pools; (4) that notwithstnnding all 

 this, the markets are generally not fully sujiplied ; (5) that every 

 where the price of fish per seer is very much below the price of second 

 class bazar mutton. In some districts it is alleged that there has been 

 a decrease in the number of fish, but of this there is no very satis- 

 factory )>roof. In the districts of Jabnlpur and Scoiii it is said fish 

 decreased very perceptibly owing to the drought of 18G8-01), but that 

 the}- are now again on the increase. The facts elicited by the jnescnt 

 encpiiries, seem to the Chief Commissioner to indicate very clearly the 

 necessity for some regulation of the fisheries in these provinces, and 

 1 am now to confine mj'self to an expression of the Chief Commissioner's 

 ojiinion as to the restrictions which should be imposed. The practice 

 of jioisoning and drugging ])ools should certainly bo put a stop to, 

 and it is jnobable that no very great opjiosition would be encountered 

 in attempting to appoint a " close season" during which the fish might 

 breed in security. The object of a restriction of this nature would be 

 obvious to all, and such a restriction could also be enforced with com- 

 paratively small difficulty. Theoretically, a regulation of the size of 



