350 SPORT IN EUROPE 



II.— FISHING 



Switzerland has more than fifty indigenous species of fish, but 

 these are not equally distributed in all the lakes and rivers, some 

 being met with only in the Rhine and its tributaries, others only 

 in the lake and river of Ticino. And only about ten of these fifty 

 kinds are of any interest to the sportsman angling for pleasure and 

 not for profit. As the majority of Swiss rivers form lakes, the fish 

 found in the rivers also occur as a rule in the lakes of the same 

 basin. An exception to this rule is, however, found in the Rhine 

 above the Falls of Schaffhausen, from which the salmon is absent. 

 As regards the Rhone and the Lake of Geneva (Leman), the 

 following remarks must be held to apply to that portion situated 

 in Switzerland, that is to say, above the falls of the Rhone 

 (Bellegarde). There is fishing in all the rivers and lakes, and the 

 variations in method concern rather the professional. Amateurs 

 employ as a rule the towing-line, the float, or the gorge-bait. 



The fishing is conducted subject to the federal law of 1888, which, 

 in the first place, prohibits all set lines, as well as any stop-net 

 hindering the free movements of the fish more than half-way across 

 the stream. The prohibition is further extended to embrace all 

 manner of poisonous or explosive materials designed to stupefy the 

 fish, as well as spring traps, harpoons, fire-arms, or anything 

 of the kind able to wound or kill the fish. Certain kinds of nets 

 are also specified as forbidden, and there is a clause against the 

 establishment of new stationary fisheries. 



As with the shooting, however, the different cantons legislate 



