FISHING INDUSTRY OF KRIAN AND KURAU, PERAK. 117 



issued, with the usual story about being very poor — baniak 

 miskin, &c, — and that it was very hard lines, &c. I could only 

 explain to them that Mr. CREAGH had taken a whole year to 

 decide about this matter, and that it must, therefore, have been 

 well thought out, and that paragraph 2 was so clear that every 

 one taking fish by any other means than blats was to pay 60 

 cents half-yearly, that they undoubtedly must take out licenses 

 for line fishing (panching ikan ). 



Now, it is ridiculous to suppose that there are only nine- 

 teen people line fishing on all this coast, and the infer- 

 ence is that just as many people fish as before, and that the 

 order is simply ignored. The Malays say, with truth, that it 

 is hard that they cannot go out and catch a fish for their din- 

 ners without taking out a license; but how is one to draw 

 the line between such cases and those of the people who go 

 out three or four in a boat, say, daily, and who all day long 

 keep three or four lines over the side and take perhaps a pikul 

 of the best fish, Selangin or Sinahong, &c. ? The license only 

 comes to 10 cents per month per man, and thesale of one catty of 

 this fish about pays for it. Besides, the chances are that the man 

 who only goes out, honestly enough perhaps, with the inten- 

 tion of catching a fish for his dinner, is not likely to resist the 

 temptation of catching as many as he can if he finds them 

 biting well. There are, I know, a great many men always em- 

 ployed in this way, and they sell their fish out at sea to the 

 jerumal or blat men or the Penang boats, and make a good 

 living out of it. 



The Malays and Chinese have both conjectured that the 

 alleged scarcity is caused by too many people fishing. If 

 so, to repeal this light tax would act as a further incentive to 

 every man, woman and child to renew their efforts to make 

 matters worse; whereas a little judicious raiding by the Police 

 now and then, leading to the occasional fining of one of the 

 offenders, will, I have no doubt, stop a good deal of it, to the 

 improvement of the fishery for those who invest capital in it 

 and make a regular business of it, and to the increase of the 

 revenue. I do not see any reason why the trade of the re- 

 gular professional fishermen, Chinese and Malays, who pay 



