clxxxiv 



liave alliuk'd to (para. 350). If niimuroiis fishei'inuii find emplo3'ment 

 in capturing small iish, it stands to reason that it cannot be only for the 

 purpose of stocking ponds with, but must be for aale as food, in fact, a 

 wasteful destruction of fry!. Tiie Collector of ilooghly replies that 

 breeding-fish and very young ones are destroyed in his district to a con- 

 siderable extent in paddy-fields and swamps in the rainy season by means 

 of ghoonee or wicker traps, ara, one of a dilferent shape, harr, a weir 

 for closing openings in the low tanks round paddy-fields, in front of 

 these traps are placed : Jcoom-jalee, a sort of small net, as well as by 

 ordinary nets and angling. They are also sometimes baled out of the 

 water in pots, caught in ordinary sheets — dliootees worn by the people — 

 in fact, anyhow; the fry are very numerous, and the people very skilful j 

 the smallest size mesh of nets employed is about ^'uth of au inch square, 

 but it would be impossible to regulate sucli, but if it were, would suggest 

 half an inch. " Fry are sold at the beginning of the rains for supplying 

 tanks. Many tanks quite or nearly dry up in February. The iisii not 

 previously cauglit by ordinary casting-nets or the rod are taken by tiie 

 hand, 60 or 70 people going into the water together. lu June fresh 

 fry is purchased and tlirown in. It would be bad, therefore, to prohibit 

 the sale altogether. No organization can prevent the consumption of 

 fry in the rains when the whole country is covered with water, and 

 the water is swarming with fish." 



355. The Officiating Commissioner of the Cooch Behar Dei'is-ion 



ob.serves — " considering that the subject of 

 oflTuro^.'BroSir" °''''''°" Pis'^'culture is a new one, on which informa- 



tio'i has for the first time been called for, I 

 think the reports of district officers contain all the information that 

 could be reasonably expected to be obtained ; if enquiries are prosecuted 

 and district officers' attention directed to the subject, more valuable 

 information may hereafter bo gained from them." The Deputy Commis- 

 sioner of Barjeeling reports tliat "breeding and very young fish are 

 destroyed to a great extent in this district. Pish with eggs in India 

 as in England is considered a delicacy. They are caught between 

 Choitro and Bhadro in the Terai, and from March to May in the hills, 

 by means of nets, bamboo cages, and by turning off water." The 

 smallest sized mesh used is not much larger than that of mosquito 

 curtains ; in the Terai it is said to be the size of a grain of rice ; in the 

 hills it is larger; interference would occasion much dissatisfaction. " It 

 would entail a great deal of enquiry, with its attendant corruption and 

 extortion. Natives consulted deprecate any interference. What is required 

 is to conserve the fish in particular places, and to teach the people that 

 it is for their own interest to allow the young fish to escape." [How 

 would It be possible to adequately preserve fish in certain pools in rivers, 

 when standing weirs are permitted to exist above and below these spots ? 

 weirs also that have neither close times nor gaps, and in which the 

 interstices are so minute as even to prohibit the passage of fry. It 

 would end in failure, and the lesson to be taught to the native would be 

 the folly of permitting certain individuals to obstruct the rivers for their 

 own greed, and to the general decrease of the supply of foodj. 

 The same objection exists against prohibiting the sale of the fry of 

 fish in the bazars. The Dejiuiy Commissioner of Julpigoree replies 



