cxcvn 



present assumed deterioration of these fislieries ; the rules are not regu- 

 larly carried out: thus, atnotigst the untaxed nets at Thyetmyo are 

 recorded sorts 400 ouhits lonp;, &c., which it is impossiUle cau be employ- 

 ed simply to take fish for home consumption. Again, helow Prome I 

 examined a boat in which two men had been fishing for home consump- 

 tion, who had as many try of fish in it as they could cany, perhaps 

 ISOlhs. weight. In fact, the philanthropic plans allowed are most grossly 

 Mlnised, and these free fisheries and unlimited fishing ought to be subject 

 to rc<;ulations. 



372. Are breeiiing-fisli or fri/ destroyed ? I cannot see how two 



opinions can exist upon this subject ; every 

 I!ree.ling.fi.h nn,l fry gene- reporter (except General Fytche) 'agrees that 



nilly destroyed. 1 >■ ' i , ■ / 



they are, and my own observation (see para- 

 [rrapli 374) led to the same result. Fixed traps and engines, weirs com- 

 pletely barring streams, damming up and lading out waters, nets with 

 meshes so fine that scarcely more than water can pass, and the interstices 

 (if traps still more minute, are freely used: even poisoning the waters is 

 carried on, as will be delailcd. 



373. The Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of British Burma, 



„.. , ., ^, .-„ General Fytche, reported (AngustSrd, 1808) — 



Opinion of tlie Clnef Com- ,, » , :, , i t i* r ai « oi :«r 



• • 11 I r 1 r 11 " T have the honor, bv direction ot the Cliiei 



missioner tlmt. fisli tire cnreuiliy ^ uavt, uiic uvuui, "^ u.. v • , e 



preserved througliout British Commissioner, to acknowledge the receipt of 

 I'urnift- yours No. 300G, dated July IGth, and in 



reply to state that there is a tax upon nets and fisheries in British 

 Murraa, that fish ate carefully preserved, and that no wanton destruction 

 lakes place within the province." 



374. Having been directed, in 18G9, to proceed to Burma and inves- 



tigate into the state of its fisheries, the fol- 

 Personnl opinion tlint a lowing arc some of the conclusions I came to, 



wnstefiil destrnction of fisli oc- i i i r 1 1 „„..,, „t;„n on «-« 



,1 1 .. ij -i- 1. o deduced from personal observation, as to 



lurs tlirougliout British Burma. u^inn->-u iium |,>..cu.... ^ ,■ r p \ 



whetlier a " wasteful destruction ot fish 

 occurs in the province, and I considered that it did, and to a great 

 extent. This was being effected by two ways — fixed engines and small 

 meshed nets. Fixed engines were of two main descriptions : (1) large 

 weirs, " Tsays," or bunds crossing whole rivers, and with the interstices 

 lietween the pieces of bamboo of which they were formed, or of those 

 in the eruives or other moveable traps, so fine that only water could pass 

 Ihrou^h. Some of these, viz., bunding, I shall allude to further on (para- 

 L,rraph 384) . No regulation whatever existed ; streams were simply let out, 

 and the native fishermen permitted to cajiture everything they were able, 

 in any way they pleased. Weirs had been left standing for years, not 

 only taking every fish ascending or descending, but impeding naviga- 

 tion, &c. Every villager who liked might fix a weir where he wished, 

 and at each creek within high-water mark, these weirs were placed so 

 that fish passed over these bamboo fences to their best feeding-grounds 

 as the flood-tide made, but as it ebbed they were left floundering in the 

 nu<l due to this weir standing as an insuperable obstacle to their return- 

 ng to the river. The same process was permitted where large tracts of 

 ands were yearly inundated from the river; fish passed into these places, 

 but weirs were fixed to prevent even the smallest fry ever obtaining 

 m exit into the river, the bamboo weir being too fine in its textur.f 



in 



