Show FISHING IN THE JORDAN WR wit have been requested to reply to the following inquiries editor deseret news several fishing parties have been driven away from the banks of tae forda e engaged in au angling kling by ning land contiguous to the tream stream s I 1 would like to uch such s land proprietors had the legal right to act as they did aid Is not the stream public property and it so of what use would it lt be to the public providing the contiguous land were all occupied and owned if the landowners have the right to keep the public away from the river would it not give the proprietors of the land the sole use ot of the lae stream tor for fishing purposes will you kindly inform me and the dear flu public bublic what are the rig rights 4 s of the latter in the premises in order to give 91 ive a comprehensive answer to our correspondent it ft will be necessary to state the general principles of the common law which relate to this subject as by those principled the matter must be determined there are na n statutory pro vi sinos either congressional or territorial gover governing niu it iu in england watercourses water courses pe technically divided into two lasses classes c navigable and A river is navigable only when its waters rise and fall with the tide and no farther up its course than the point at which its waters cease to be affected by the tide all streams which do not flow directly into tide water are england being a comparatively ively small island has no long rivers 1 and all the streams on the island soon oon s find their way into the ocean the limit of tide water thus became a natural convenient and just line for t separating the rights of the general public from those of private parties and for ages the law has bas provided that the gena general ral public has a right to the huseas a highway or fishing grounds of all watercourses water courses affected by the tide and as far up their channels as they are so affected the owners of the soil along the banks have no private rights beyond the actual margin of the water where a watercourse course is not affected by the tide 1 it t is private property it it be practicably navigable for the purposes of commerce the public has an easement to te use its waters as a highway but this is the only use the pub lie may make of it the owners of the he soil along the banks of any watercourse orae I 1 i 1 e one not affected by the tide also own the soil under the stream I 1 from each side to its Jf centre the iule rule of the common law is thus expressed in angell agell on watercourses Water courses chapter I 1 when the land on OB one side of a stream is owned by one person and the land on the opposite side by another each owns to the middle or what is called the thread of et the stream in the same work relative to fishing the following rule is laid down the riparian proprietor and he be alone is authorized to take fish from any part of the stream included in his hip territorial limits such is the common law of england and it has prevailed in this country ever since the earliest colonial times the jordan is a meandered river that I 1 is I 1 it I 1 is made by authority of laws law a boundary to the legal subdivisions of land on its banks and those subdivisions were so platted before patents tor for them issued to settlers argell on watercourses Water courses se sec c 11 says A watercourse is considered the safest boundary of real estate as it is a natural boundary and the invariable construction cons traction in a country his been as it has been for centuries in england that whenever land or a mill site is sold and conveyed as being bounded by a watercourse the water course asque its ad ilium li i e the bed to the centre of the stream is included the same authority says see sec 14 gra grants ats by the government of the united states instates are construed by the common law rule this assertion is jc in part confirmed by the following section of bf the revised united states see sec all navigable rivers within the territory occupied by the public lauds lands shall reain refi nain and be deemed public highways and in all cues cases where the opposite banks of any streams not navigable belong to different persons the stream and the bed thereof shall become common to both this statutory provision embodies the common taw rule but modifies fies it by making opposite land owners proprietors prie tors in common of the bed of the stream instead of ea each chaWning owning to the centre the modification however applies only to lands Wis disposed posed of s since nee the enactment of the provi provision slon 1796 which lie in the more recently y settled portions ot of the union in respect to fishi fishing fig th the only effect of would be to give we tae owners of the banks a right to fish anywhere in the stream opposite their land without regard to its centre the whole breadth of the stream beins being common fishing ground as between the owners ot of its banks in massachusetts riparian owners only han have the right to fish in the stream joining adjoining their lauds lands after some leading and ably argued cases in ia new york state the same rule has been established in the connecticut river above tide water riparian owners only may catch nub fish though the public has an easement to use the stream as a highway for all kinds ot of craft in illinois the coutts counts have held that the owners of land in that state bounded by the mississippi river own to the centre of the stream in indiana in respect to the ohio river the courts have held that land owners own that portion of the river bed lying between high and tow low water marcs sharks only and in pennsylvania the courts have tie held id that the public may fish in certain certai a large rivers in the state whose waters are not affected by the tide lide 66 angell on an watercourses Water courses in treating ot oi what rivers the public has a right to use cites cases aud and principles which lead to the conclusion that a stream large enough to admit of navigation for practical useful or commercial purposes may be so used by the public but says they are called public drivers Irl vers not dot in reference to the property properly ot of the river for that is in the individuals who ho own the the land but in reference only to public use 11 the jordan is a stream capable of being navigated and hence bence under the common law rule and under the ex press provisions of section 24 2476 6 of the united states revised statutes statute I the public may use it as a highway 1 but the public have no right to enter upon or make any use whatever of the land along the stream owned by private parties and the overwhelming weight of authority is in favor of the pro proposition 1 ost that the public have no ri right at t to catch dah in those portions of the stream which lie between tracts of land owned by private part parties les the public may however fish in ia the stream at places where baere the land on either side of it is still public domain private owner ownership ip of one bank would not bar the from fishing opposite it it the other bank still belonged to the government and the entire width of the stream would be the common property of the person who owned one bank and of the united states or the public owning the other the fact that ithac public funds have been expended in stocking the jordan with imported fish does not give eive the public the right to enter upon or make any use se of its banks which are owned b by Y I 1 private parties and by parity of reasoning the public would not even to catch fish originally paid for by public money have the right to fish in portions of the stream lying between banks owned by private parties A massachusetts decision lays down the doctrine that the fish are owned by the owners of the bed of the stream we have dealt solely with the legal aspects of the matter presented by our oar correspondent and have retrained refrained from commenting upon apon any moral phase it may have |