83 



The most important fish in this respect is the " Harder " and 

 the '■ Bokkom Harder." It has been alleged by some fisher- 

 men that the Bokkom is a small but distinct kind of Harder, 

 and is not merely the young of the ordinary Harder. A 

 Bokkom of seven inches in length is considered a fair size, and 

 one of 9^ or lo inches a large one. Harders are from 12 to 17 

 inches in length. After careful examination of both kinds, it 

 appears certain that they are the same fish (Mugil capito). 

 and not different species, or even varieties. In the haul in 

 the river not far from its mouth, 1,000 Bokkoms were caught 

 of 7 to 9 inches in length ; five miles from the mouth 120 Bok- 

 koms were procured of 7 to C)\ inches in length, and nine miles 

 from the mouth, in fresh water, 40 were procured of 7 to 9 

 inches. In a haul from the seashore, outside of the river, 4,000 

 Harders were procured of 12 to 17 inches in length ; most of 

 these were mature fish, chiefly spent females, the rest being 

 males and a few Bokkoms. One female of 17 inches was in 

 full roe. It will be seen from the figures already given of the 

 catches of Bokkoms and Harders from Paternoster to Berg 

 River mouth that the proportion of the first to the second in 

 sea fishing is usually very unequal — the number of Bokkoms 

 being, on an average about seven times the number of Harders. 



Undoubtedly, the Harders caught in the river are mostly 

 Bokkoms, that is, immature Harders, but the total number 

 of these is very much less than that of those caught in the sea 

 at the various fishing stations on the coast. If, therefore, 

 there is any serious diminution in the supply of the Harder 

 generally, due to the catching of immature forms, it is to be 

 attributed more to the operations of the sea fishermen than the 

 river fishermen. It may be said that the latter cause greater 

 damage, as they capture smaller Bokkoms than the sea fisher- 

 men. If, however, the fish has not spawned once at least, 

 equal damage is caused by the capture of a large and of a 

 small form. 



The question of the scaring of fish has been raised by some 

 of the fishermen at the Berg River. It is stated that the use 

 of seine nets scares the fish in the river, disturbing them in 

 their feeding or spawning ground. More definite information 

 as to the possibility of scaring fish is afforded in the dispute 

 between the native and the Italian fishermen. On the west 

 ■coast the latter are said to drive the fish into the nets by 

 various devices, such as splashing of oars and rattling of tins 

 placed in the water. The effect of this, the native fishermen 

 allege, is not only to drive the fish into the nets, but to frighten 

 them off to sea, so that they will not readily approach the shore, 

 where they can be procured by the ordinarv shore nets used 



[C.P. 6-'i4.] 



