r;i4 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [148] 



in exceptional cases. Summer fisheries may become necessary, owing 

 to sickness among- the fish, or to accommodate an ohl customer, who 

 pays a higher price, which Mill, to some extent at least, compensate for 

 the loss in weight. Full compensation cannot be made, as during sum- 

 mer the fish are in their best growth, and as their increase in weight 

 up to autumn does not occasion any special expense. The regular fish 

 eries will, therefore, always occur in autumn, when no further increase 

 in weight is to be looked for. Summer lisheries must be carried on 

 very early in the morning, and if the pond is large they should com- 

 mence during the night, so that they can be brought to a close before 

 the heat of the day. They generally commence at midnight, when the 

 water has cooled ofl". In summer fisheries the tubs should be filled 

 with i)articuhuly fresh -water — if possible, spring or well water. If 

 night fisheries become necessary suflicient light should be furnished by 

 means of torches, for, in sjnte of all precautions, losses (especially by 

 thieving) can hardly be avoided, i)articularly in large ])onds. These 

 losses will be greater in large ponds than in small ones, and in the stock 

 pond fisheries many pike and especially perch-ifike are always lost. 

 The fisheries in small ponds will, as a general rule, pass off without 

 any considerable loss. Under all circumstances, however, night fish- 

 eries should only be resorted to in extreme cases. 



The same applies to winter fisheries, which should be carried on only 

 in cases of urgent necessity. Unless there is sickness amoi-g the iisli 

 these w'ill but rarely occur on well-regulated pond farms. Even on such 

 farms winter fisheries may, liowever, become necessary, if the pond 

 serves industrial i)uri)oses, which Avould suffer from suuimer fisheries. 

 Winter fisheries are generally carried on about noon; and it will be 

 necessary to removes all the ice from the fish-pit. As in winter fisheries 

 it is impossible to avoid injuries to tlie fish, they should be sold as soon 

 as possible. 



VI. — Fishing Apparatus. 



1. The screen, or standitig-jwf, which is placed before the fish. In large 



Fig,ZO. 



ponds, where the fisheries occu])y two to four days, it is preferable to 

 iish in deep water, so that the lish are not covered with n)U(l, or, in warm 

 weather, become languid. The fish are driven by men in boats from the 



