ESTUARY FISHING IN WESTERN INDIA. 621 



questioned. The little that is actually known suffices to show this. The life 

 history of such well known and valuable edible fish as the Salmon and Sea- 

 trout in Europe, is, thanks to the minute enquiry of such men as Dr. Frank 

 Buckland and others, a matter of common knowledge amongst pisciculturists. 



Day — that wonderful authority on Indian fish — devoted his time and inex- 

 haustible energies more, as an ichthyologist, to the matter of a careful 

 identification and geographical distribution of the species, than to a study of 

 their habits which was not within the province of his finest work. His 

 'Report on the Fresh Water Fisheries of the Indian Empire" published in 

 1873, however, contains a masterful appeal, on ample data, in favour of 

 fish legislation, submitted under the orders of the Secretary of State for India 

 to the Madras Government. 



Thomas' fascinating work " The Rod in India " undoubtedly contains — 

 when we look to the fundamental character of the work, which was intended 

 mainly as a guide to anglers — a very considerable amount of accurate informa- 

 tion. The copy of his official report written in 1870 and quoted in Chapter 

 XXV shows how earnestly he strove to impress the importance of guarding 

 the fishing industry. 



Dr. G-unther's " Introduction to the Study of Fishes " published in 1880 

 contains a purely scientific nomenclature. 



/. — The prima facie case. 



Before entering into specific instances of the harm done, and before indicating 

 the precise species which appear to me to have suffered, it is not only desirable, 

 but strictly relevant, to consider the subject from a broader standpoint. Is 

 it likely that the ignorant " Koli" and " Agri" fishermen on the Bombay Coast, 

 if not elsewhere, have done harm ? Do these poor ignorant people consider 

 the life history of fish, and having done so, is there any indication of their 

 having combined in the cause of preservation ? Ihat such consideration and 

 combination is absolutely necessary, I shall presently show. It must be 

 evident to members of this scientific society that very little intelligence and 

 forethought can have been brought to bear by a class of men who have not 

 only been handicapped by gross ignorance for generations, but by a desire to 

 make the most out of the creeks to which they unfortunately turn their 

 undivided attention during the rains, for the reason that at this time of the 

 year sea-fishing is all but impossible. In other words, therefore, unless i here 

 have been natural obstacles, of which we are not aware, the chance, prima 

 facie, of barm having been done is as great here as it has been found to be 

 in other parts of the world, where the fishing, for sporting as well as for 

 industrial purposes, is, as we shall presently find, often protected by a special 

 and elaborate legislature. 



One has only to wander amongst the Konkan Creeks to learn from the older 

 residents that the decreasa of the fidh supply— of some species more partic- 

 ularly—is getting more aad more pronounced. The universal nature of 

 this outcry may be considered enough to warrant a more detailed examination 



