ndian fisheries legislationsThe need for fisheries legislation was emphasized as long back as in 1873 when the attention of the then Government of India was drawn towards widespread slaughter of fish, fry and fingerlings and the urgency to adopt legislative measures to conserve the fisheries resources. At the time, the Government of India enacted the Indian Fisheries Act, which came into being in 1897.The Act highlighted the following: Use of destructive methods of fishing such as dynamiting or other substances in inland and coastal waters (up to one marine league) was prohibited. Similarly, poisoning of water with noxious materials was also prohibited. Provincial governments were empowered to frame rules in selected waters for protection of fish with previous notification, restricting the creation and use of fixed engines (dams, weirs, bar pattas etc.) for catching fish ; to put a limit on mesh size, size of fish and catch, and to ban the fishing in certain seasons and certain places for a period of 2 years (declaration of closed season and sanctuaries