CXXIX 



Further extracts are not required to demonstrate liow brocdingf fisli niid 

 tlieir fry are ruthlessly destroyed in Oudli ; and it may be questiouablo, 

 whether wantonly poisoning fish, and destroying them in a manner that 

 renders them uneatable, or else dangerous to health if employed as food, 

 or wliether indiscriminate destruction, as damming waters in order to 

 kill all the fish in them, are not proceedings that should bo prohibited, 

 when it is shown that the fish supply is not sufiicient for the wants of 

 the people. The same also applies to weirs and trapping breeding fish 

 in irrigated fields. 



275. In answer to iho cn(\\ury aliortt pro/ii6i(hij ///e sale of tJ/e/r// 



of fmh in ihe bazar, the objections are that 

 .Sliould ilie snlo of tlie fry of (1,^ Polioc would interfere, and make such a 

 IS oprou le rneaus of extortion, especially as they could 



not discriminate between mature small fish, and the immature of the 

 larger sorts. This may be obviated by prohibiting the sale of fish that 

 wiil not easily pass through the meshes of the net of a regidated size, 

 leaving it to local committees to pass bye-laws for the preservation of 

 the more valuable kinds. 



276. The Commissioner and Bqmiy Commissioner of Faizabad 



consider that any interference should be eon- 



lM.i7,M:a(l Division. Opinions f,„p,| ^^ ^1,^ co„trol of perennial lakes and 



of the huropoan omcinls. , , . i , •, <| 



second class rivers and streams, as it would 



not be of any use to legislate for jhils and pools which dry up, or such 

 largo rivers as the Gauges and Ghogra, as they may take care of 

 themselves. 



277. The Officiating Secretary to ihe " OITiciating Chief Commis- 



sioner" in Oudh (May 14th, 1872) observes. 

 Opinions of the OfRciniing <t ^j,g general tendency of the answers, how- 



Cliinf ConimiRstoner una l-inan- ^ , 1 i_i 'i_ t ai p \ • n • 



oi„l Co.nmissioner, &c. ever, go to show that if the fish in this 



province have not increased, neither have 

 they decreased ; and as far, theiefore, as Oudh is concerned, the Officiating 

 Chief Commissioner would de]irecate any legislative interference with 

 the capture and sale of fish. Such interference, it seems to Sir C. Cowper, 

 can only be justifiable when it can be demonstrated that, unless the 

 the Legislature step in, the existence of that important article of diet 

 will cease altogether." As regards whether objections exist to prohibiting 

 the sale of immature and small fish in the bazars? it is observed 

 "that such a measure would be obnoxious to sellers and consumers, and 

 at juescnt seems quite uncalled for." " There are no difficulties to the 

 introduction of the measure" of regulating the size of the mesh of nets 

 " if it be thought desirable." " Nothing can be more easy than to 

 increase the size of the meshes, and to prohibit the sale of fisli below a 

 certain specific size in the bazar, though it would not be so easy to 

 distinguish between full-grown little fish and the fry of larger fish." 

 The Financial Commissioner (September 18th, 1868), in answer 

 to the enquiry whether any wanton destruction of fish take."? 

 place in Oudh, and if any protective measures are necessary? re|ilied hy 

 giving (he opinions of several of the civil officers that such does take 

 place, and couchules thus : — " my own opinion is, that such measures, 

 though not positively necessary, are at least veiy desirable." The 

 Secretary to the Chief Commissioner (September 22nd, 1868) was directed 



t 



