XXXVI 



simply because it would not be of any avail. In the various Collec- 

 torates the following are the returns : In Khandeish, Nasik, Sholapur, 

 and Belgaum, fish are reported to be so trapped during the rains. In 

 Ahmenabad they are in two talookas, not so in one. In Dharwar 

 they are in five, not so in five others. In Ahmednuggur, Satara, and 

 Puna, they are asserted not to be trapped, but the Assistant Collector 

 of the last district reports the use of basket traps, so it may be 

 considered doubtful whether they are not employed to take breeding 

 fish should opportunities occur. The other modes in which these fish 

 are destroyed in the inland waters of the Bombay Presidency will come 

 under consideration with the implements employed in capturing fish. 



67. Are the fry killed to any great extent when they are first 



moving about in the shallow water ? The 

 ti*rrir destr yed to a majority of Indian fresh-water ^ fishes breed 



chiefly during the rains, at which time the 



.adults deposit their eggs at the sides of rivers and tanks where the 

 water is shallow, or in small channels or water-courses. The delicate 

 fry can only inhabit such localities, due to two principal causes, the 

 first is for the purpose of procuring food, and secondly, to prevent 

 being carried away by a strong current. Now are these young fish 

 thus situated protected or destroyed ? Every Collector who has answered 

 this question (except of Kaladgi) reports that they are destroyed to a 

 very great extent during the rains. If we examine the returns from 

 the Kaladgi Collector ate, we find that nets are stated to be employed 

 for fishing, having meshes the minimum size of which only equals that 

 of a grain of wheat : it consequently follows that fry must also be des- 

 troyed in Kaladgi, because there is no mature Indian fresh-water fish 

 that requires such a small mesh for the purpose of its capture. 



68. What are the various modes resorted to for Capturing fish ? 



is a question upon which very full answers 



! 8ize have been ed - The y y be divided into 



netting, trapping, damming, poisoning, &c 

 As regards nets, the first subject that presents itself, is, not their size and 

 form, but the minimum size of the mesh employed for the capture of 

 fish. It is clearly manifest that if a very small one is freely used, very 

 small fish must be extensively captured. The following returns have 

 been given of the minimum size of the meshes of the nets employed, 

 measured between knot and knot : 



