85 



There is no river here comparable to the Berg River, but 

 rather a long broad lagoon or harbour of a very considerable 

 extent, usually filled with sea-water, the fresh water part of the 

 river being relatively of a very limited extent. The Harder 

 is not the fish of chief importance here, but the White Stump- 

 nose {Sargns holubi), and the White Steenbras {Pagcllus 

 lithognathus), the former especially. Next in the order of 

 importance are the Harder, the Kabeljaauw, Streepje {Box 

 salpa), Elft [Temnodoii saltator), etc. 



The same complaints of increasing scarcity of fish are raised 

 here by a certain section of the community, and the cause is 

 said to be the operations of the netters, as they catch large 

 quantities of immature fish. It is of special interest as bearing 

 directly on the Berg River difiiculty, that no complaints are 

 made of the capture of immature Harders, and that the nets 

 in use are well over the present legal size by about half an mch, 

 the mesh being about if inches, measured from knot to knot 

 diagonally across the square, instead of the legal i^ inches. 

 The absence of any complaints with regard to this fish is not 

 due to its less abundance, but to the small forms not being 

 captured, as was proved by a series of experimental hauls. If 

 it be found desirable to check the capture of small Harders, 

 this would seem to indicate that the most effective method 

 of doing so is by increasing the legal size of mesh of net. 



There seems to be a greater variety of Harders here than at 

 the Berg River, where only the Springer {Mugil constanticB) 

 and the ordinary Harder {M. capito) were found. The fisher- 

 men distinguished them by various names, but much reliance 

 cannot be placed on their distinctions, especially as they did 

 not agree among themselves. From their description, the fish 

 they know as the Springer is not the Springer of the Berg River, 

 as they describe it as having a sharp snout. They state that 

 the several kinds of Springers and Harders are as follows : — 

 (i) Dikkop-Springers, Dikkop-Harders, or Springer-Har- 

 ders, characterised by their flat heads. They remain 

 in the river, chiefly in the fresh-water portion, and 

 seldom appear near the mouth except in a freshet. 

 (2) The Streep-Springer, characterised by a series of black 

 stripes along the sides. Some fishermen say there are 

 two kinds, a larger and a smaller. The Springer (both 

 I and 2) are seldom caught in the seine nets, as they leap 

 over them when surrounded. In summer, however, 

 when they become fatter, they are not so active, and 

 a few may be caught. On one occasion 120 Dikkop- 

 Springers were caught in one cast of the net, and tliis 

 was considered a record. 

 rC.P. 6— '14.] 



