cHx 



(lipse fish nro saiil, dmiiiii;' latter j'oars, to liavo bpcomo scarcn, but 

 it is atitriliiitcil to tlio uurioval oC the ilains. fit is a very retnark- 

 jil)lo circumstance tliat a reason is always found to account lor a 

 decrease of fish, and tliat reason is rarely put dowi\ ns inan ; it is too 

 little or too much rain ; but lisliing'-wcirs totally impeding any passage 

 to spawning-grounds, capturing breeding-fisli, or destroying the fry are 

 omitted from the category.] During tlie rains numerous small fish are 

 caught in the fields and gools. " I do not think it would be advisable 

 as regards the Turai to imjiosc any restrictions, and for the following 

 reasons. The tract is excessively narrow (14 miles), and (he fish found 

 in it of little value, the result of any conservancy would bo trifling; 

 pf 14 miles length of rivers existing l)ctw(^en the bill where fish ascend to 

 breed, and the plains to which they desceu<l in tiic cold season, ought to be 

 permitted to he poacbcd by fixed weirs, it is difficult to understand why 

 (ish should be protected anywhere. Here is their road, — is such to be 

 open or closed? — should all narrow highways be blocked ?J the waters are 

 insignificant; the removal of the earthen dams has, I believe, enabled the 

 fish to pass to and fro, and any fishing in the Turai rivulets can have 

 little efTect on them." He continues that small fish are (be chief object 

 of (he fisherman's labour, and were catching them inohibited, perhaps the 

 agriculturists would migrate. 



331. t\\>i Commissioner of Bennres — Replied (in ISGD) "that fish 



are taken at all times of the year, inesiiective 



OiMmouB ofEmoppanOmcmls ^^ j,,^ spawning season, which must scriouslv 



111 the Bennres Division. „ , ,i ■ • j, t '""^h oli iuumj 



allect then- increase. In answer (o the 

 questions now circulated, the Commissioner (May 20th, 1872) reiwrted 

 the sup]ily of fisb may be said to be unlimited throughout large portions 

 of the district, owing to extensive j/iils ; considers the rainy season as 

 jiractically a close one, wdiilst regulating the minimum size of (he mesh 

 of the nets, to be efljjctually carried out, would lead to the obvious evils 

 of interference by untrustworthy subordinates, but the sale of the fry 

 of fish might be stopped by municipalities in the bazars. The 

 Magistrate of Qoruclqmr (February 28th) observed on the destruction 

 and waste of fish, — " It is snfiieient to remark that (bo natives catcli 

 fish all the year round, at all times, and in all i)laces, without any 

 regard to the spawning season and the mixture of the fry, to show that 

 great destruction must be committed. Their greediness also in siiaring 

 nothing, however small, which can contribute towards a meal is an 

 ctpially strong evidence of waste. It is even said that the mallahs 

 and keipats dig the spawn of fish out of the banks of rivers (see 

 paragraph 166, p. xcii), and after preparing it in a certain manner, either 

 consume it themselves, or oder it for sale. Small auxiliary waters are 

 the chief scene of this destruction, and the chief agent is a dam called 

 chitvan, which is stretched across a stream, and catches all the fish 

 however small, which may descend, while at the same time it entiiely 

 intcrrujits their ascent. I have inspected two of these dams constructed 

 in the Rohan Nttddi at Domingarh, and have carefully examined their 

 construction and operation. The dam cliilwan resembles a screen 

 made of common reed called snrput ; (be reeds are so close too-cther 

 that the smallest fry can hardly get through, and (he dam is further 

 plaslered at its foot with mud and strengthened with mattin"- chaiaie 



