C>32 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



V. — Protective Legislation. 

 It appears to me of great interest and significance to follow, for a few mo- 

 ments, the course of legislation in the matter of fish, in England, Scotland and 

 Wales, without troubling about the rest of Europe. In fact, my feiling is that, 

 by doing so the objective value of this paper may perchance be increased. 

 I must express my great indebtedness to the Bombay Branch of the Royal 

 Asiatic Society for having lent me the necessary books of reference. It may 

 surprise some members present — as it did me— to hear that a penalty for 

 taking salmon from "the Nativity of our Lady unto St. Martins day" was fixed 

 as early as the 13th year of Edward I. reign. Thereafter I find that — 



(1) The use of large nets fastened to stakes, anchors or boats across 



rivers and estuaries (the very thing that is done so extensively in the 

 Konkan to-day} was prohibited by 2 Henry VI., 1423, as being " a 

 cause of as great and more destruction of the brood and fry of fish 

 as be the weais, kydels, or any other engines." Such nets were 

 therefore only permitted to be pulled by hand in the 15th century 

 throughout, as far as I can ascertain, the United Kingdom. 



(2) A very elaborate Act was issued by Queen Elizabeth, called "an Act 



for the preservation of spawn and fry of fish " which applied " to 

 England, V\ ales, Berwick, and the marches thereof." It forbade 

 the taking of salmon and trout out of season, regulated the length 

 at which fish might be killed, the size of the mesh and;of each net, 

 the kind of net that might be used, with suitable peualties. 



(3) The earliest mention of an Act to protect those fihb.es which were 



recognised to go into estuaries to spawn (besides salmon) was passed 

 in James I, 1605. It prohibited the setting up of any new wear 

 along the seashore or in any haven, harbour, or creek, or within 5 

 miles of the mouth of any cteek, the use of any draw or drag net 

 tinder 3" mesh within the same limits. 



(4) With the same objects in view, George I. passed an Act in 1714 



increasing, however, the size of the mesh to 3^" and forbidding the 

 use of one net behind the other even though of legal mesh — (we 

 have seen that there are unlimited rows of nets in the Kolaba 

 Creeks, without moreover any restriction as to size of mesh). 



There were repeated amendments of these Acts all through 

 the following reigns, for instance. 



(5) The Salmon Fishery Act of ltf61, Vic. C. IX., amended the laws relat- 



ing to the salmon fisheries in England only, and prohibited all 

 poisoning of waters, fishing with lights and spears, using fish roe 

 as bait, using a net with a mesh of less than 2" from knot to knot, 

 placing fixed engines in a river, a fishing wear witl out a frt e gap, 

 the taking of unseasonable salmon the young ol salmon, the wilful 

 disturbing of any spawning bed (such as the Kcnkan rice fields) and 

 any attempt to catch salmon when spawning. This act also fixed 



