CCXV1 



is coloured. The following is the draft Fishery Act proposed by Mr. 

 H. S. Thomas in 1870: 



Whereas it is expedient to provide for the improvement of the 

 fisheries in the Madras Presidency, it is hereby enacted as follows : 



PRELIMINARY. 



1. Short Title. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the 

 Madras Fishery Act, 1870. 



2. Application of Act. This Act shall apply to all places subject 

 to the authority of the Madras Government, provided that it shall be 

 lawful for the Governor in Council, by notification published in the 

 Fort St. George Gazette, to exempt any place from the operation of 

 this Act. 



3. Commencement of Act. This Act shall come into operation 

 on the day of one thousand eight hundred and 

 seventy 



4. Definition of terms. In this Act, unless there is something- 

 inconsistent in the context, the words and expressions hereinafter 

 mentioned, shall have respectively the meanings hereby assigned to them ; 

 that is to say 



" Tidal waters" shall include the sea, and all rivers, creeks, streams, 



canals, and other water as far as the tide flows and re-flows. 

 " Inland waters" shall mean all waters that are not tidal waters. 

 " Dams" shall mean all weirs, anicuts, and other fixed obstructions 



used for the purpose of damming up running water. 

 " Fishing weir" shall include any artificial structure fixed across 



the whole or any part of a river for the purpose of catching or 



facilitating the catching of fish. 

 " Fixed engine" shall include stake nets, anchored nets, basket 



traps and all fixed implements or engines for catching or for 



facilitating the catching of fish. 



5. Penalty on mixing poisonous substances in waters. Every person 

 who has poisonous substances in his possession, or who causes or know- 

 ingly permits to flow, or puts or knowingly permits to be put into any 

 waters containing fish, or into any tributaries thereof, any liquid or 

 solid matter to such an extent as to cause the waters to stupefy or kill 

 fish, shall incur the following penalties ; that is to say 



1. Upon the first conviction a penalty not exceeding fifty rupees. 

 II. Upon the second conviction a penalty not exceeding one 

 hundred rupees, and a further penalty not exceeding twenty 

 rupees for every day during which such offence is continued. 

 III. Upon a third or any subsequent conviction a penalty not 

 exceeding two hundred rupees, and a further penalty not 

 exceeding two hundred rupees a day for every day on which 

 such offence is repeated or continued, commencing from the 

 date of third conviction. 



6. But no person shall be subject to the foregoing penalties if he 

 satisfy the Court before whom he is tried that the poisonous substances 

 in his possession were intended for some legal purpose. 



7. And no person shall be subject to the foregoing penalties if he 

 prove to the satisfaction of the Court before whom he is tried that he has 



