48 THE FISHERIES. 



The license- duty upon nets is proposed to be re^ 

 gulated by their efficiency and by their length. The 

 Select Committee of the House of Commons, in 1849, 

 recommended that a power should be given to the 

 Commissioners to regulate the length of draught-nets 

 in rivers, according to the breadth of each river; 

 and we are clearly of opinion that such a regulation 

 is desirable, and has been properly introduced into 

 the Bill. Large draught-nets are frequently used, 

 particularly at the mouths of narrow rivers, in such 

 a manner as to form a most destructive monopoly : 

 we know of nets of this description more than a 

 quarter of a mile in length, which stretch across the 

 whole mouth, and are most destructive and prejudi- 

 cial to the fishery at large. Parties using those 

 powerful engines profess to fish on the common right 

 amongst poor persons, wlio are not able to provide 

 such expensive engines. A draught-net of this de- 

 scription is worth £60 or £70 ; the party using it 

 fishes where the right of fishing is common to all, 

 but engrosses and monopolizes to himself almost the 

 whole fishery of the locality, to the detriment of 

 those really poor persons who have an equal right 

 to fish in the same locality, but whose right is swept 

 away, or swallowed up, by those greedy and devour- 

 ing engines. We think, at the entrance of narrow 

 rivers, no net should be allowed of greater length 

 than two hundred yards; which regulation would, 

 in a great measure, prevent the injurious practice of 

 stretching draught-nets across the mouth, and would 



