108 FISHING INDUSTRY OF KRIAN AND KURAU, PERAK. 



men make and mend their nets, cut their supply of firewood, 

 &c. 



They say that the Ikan kurau and Ikan tambrai have 

 got scarce. It is a big fish, which, salted, fetches eight 

 cents per catty, and in the wet season 12 cents. Ikan selan- 

 gin and Ikan sinahong are also getting scarce. I suggested 

 that perhaps the cause of this was that they caught all the 

 voung ones, but was told that this was not the case. The 

 parent fish are only, as a rule, caught in deep waters in the 

 out-shore blats and jerumals. They do not come into the shal- 

 low waters, where pukat lengkong, &c. are worked, and the 

 young which accompany the big fish can go in and out of 

 these blats without being caught. 



The people complain of the heavy taxes imposed on 

 their industry. They state that in the old days, under the 

 Sultan of Perak, the first tax imposed was one of Si 2 per an- 

 num on each pukat lengkong, paid to the farmer. After two 

 or three years this was found to be too heavy and was reduc- 

 ed to 88. The jerumals, blats, pukat hanyuts and other 

 contrivances for taking fish were all free. No other payments 

 whatever were imposed. The Opium Farmer at Kuala Kurau 

 paid about Sioo per annum to the Sultan, and imported and 

 sold as much opium as he liked. He cooked his own opium. 

 There were, however, but few fishermen there then. They 

 now complain that they have to pay one-tenth of the value 

 of their fish to the farmer, pay 810 per annum for every 

 fishing stake, whether large or small, out-shore or in-shore, 

 and that each person using any other means of catching 

 fish must pay for a personal license of Si. 20 per annum. 

 Thus the six men manning a pukat lengkong each pay 

 Si. 20 per annum, total §7.20 per annum, and the two men 

 working a pukat hanyut pay 82.40 between them. The 

 jerumal and blat men, besides having to pay Sio per an- 

 num for their blat licenses, also pay 81.20 per annum each 

 for a personal license. A blat ox jerumal, requiring, say, six 

 men, will thus cost §7.20 per annum extra. This was levied 

 by mistake by the clerk misunderstanding the rule, and will 

 be refunded to them. Besides this they have to pay 25' cents 



