MADRAS
FISHERIES

BUREAU

BULLETIN NO. I

^l^ Zk 73

MADRAS FISHERIES BUREAU.

PAPERS FROM 1899

RELATING CHIEFLY TO THE

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MADRAS

FISHERIES BUREAU.

VOLUME I -BULLETIN No. \.

MADRAS:
PRINTED BY TfiE SUPERINTENDENT, GOVERNMENT PRESS.

[Price, \ rupee 14 annas.] 19 I 5. [2 shillings 9 pence.]

^ij-^S

PREFACE.

T3ULLETIN No. I is an anachronism, being first by
designation only and not by date. When Bidletins
became a necessity for the record of important enquiries,
it was intended to gather together a few of the earUer
papers showing the origin of w^hat was, at first, a mere
investigation into the existing fishery industry of the
Presidency started in view to obtain data for assisting the
development of the indigenous industry. For various
reasons, however, the issue of No. I was delayed while
several contemporaneous Bulletins were issued with later
numbers, and as the work of investigation developed
No. I fell into oblivion. But since Government now
desire its issue and since administrative and industrial
changes are imminent, the belated Bulletin has been
compiled, and advantage has been taken of the delay to
make it, not a mere record of origin but, in a sense, a
history of the development of the investigation into a
Bureau or Department. Hence the Bulletin consists
almost solely of original papers in whole or in extract,
showing from 1905 to 191 5 the changes and develop-
ment of ideas, the proposals made from time to time,
and the orders passed thereon. It is hoped that this
conspectus of the past will provide useful help for the
future.

It will be seen from the papers that the local enquiry
of 1905-06 largely gave way to enquiry by experiment
in 1907 and later years, and that the single aniateur
investigator of 1905 was strengthened, and, on main

IV P R E F A C fi .

lines of enquiry and operation, advantageously replaced
by expert specialists from 1907 and 1908.

For it was soon found that while the local enquiry
readily yielded a mass of fairly obvious facts relative to
indigenous methods and conditions, yet that a far deeper
and more lengthy investigation was needed to yield
answers to the questions why such methods prevailed ;
what were the conditions, whether of nature or of society,
which limited or compelled these methods ; what
practical improvements in existing methods could be
devised and inculcated as sure and certain ; how such
improvements could be introduced and popularised ;
what developments, hitherto undreamed of, — piscicul-
tural, industrial, commercial, scientific, economic and
social — were both desirable and feasible.

Nothing but such continuous industrial experiment
as put the investigator into the position of the fisherman
and curer, taught him the natural, economic, and social
difficulties of their business, and led him by superior
knowledge and power of research into the paths of
practical improvement, could be of real worth ; it is only
the intimate knowledge gained by continuous practice
under the conditions of the country that could produce
suggestions of permanent value. This will, in a measure,
be evident from the papers read as a series, which not
only display the changes in idea and method which have
characterized the work of the department but the mis-
takes which were necessarily made by inexpert enquirers
when investigating an industry of which the conditions
and limitations imposed by nature and by social and
economic history were absolutely untested.

The papers are, except for the correction of a few
surface errors, printed as they were originally written ;
they are mostly extracts and not entire papers, since

PREFACE. V

much of the original matter was of ephemeral or
collateral interest.

Bulletin No. IX, now mostly in the press, will
contain extracts from the annual reports made to Gov-
ernment up to the current year ; these will show the
operations actually undertaken and the progress made in
translating ideas and proposals into fact. The final
paper in that Bulletin will contain suggestions based
on the experience of the past ten years.

^th September 1915. F. A. NICHOLSON.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Extract from an official Note of 1899 on the desirability of
developing the Agricultural Department by adding a
Fishery branch, etc. ... ... ... ... ... i — 5

Extract from a scheme, dated 19th January 1905, for the

development of fisheries ... ... ... ... 6-7

Madras Government Order, dated 29th May 1905, placing
Sir F. A. Nicholson on temporary duty from ist July
1905 to investigate the fishing industry in the Madras
Presidency ... ... ... ... ... ■•• 8

Fisheries Investigation Report for the quarter ending 31st

December 1905 ... ... ... ... ... ••• 9 — 5*^

Madras Government Order of 30th October 1906 and
Board's Proceedings thereon, granting certain conces-
sions to fish-curers ... ... ... ... ... 51 — 57

Proposals for the establishment of an experimental P'ishery
Station on the West Coast, and Madras Government
Order No. 733 of ist April 1907, sanctioning the same. 58—60

Proposals for the creation of a Fishery Bureau, with extracts
from the Madras Government Order No. 734 of ist
April 1907, approving the same and appointing Sir
F. A. Nicholson as Honorary Adviser for Fisheries,
and Government Order of 3rd July 1907 changing the
designation to Honorary Director ... ... ... 61 — 67

Exh-acts from despatches of the Government of India and
the Secretary of State, dated 29th August 1907 and 4th
October 1907, respectively, regarding the creation of the
post of Piscicultural Expert for the Madras Fishery
Department and appointing Mr. H. C. Wilson to it.
from 4th November 1907 ... ... •■• ••• 68-69

Further suggestions by the Honorary Director in connection
with Fisheries work and the intended operations of the
Indian Fisheries Company, 1-ondon, on the West Coast. 70 — 81

Proposals by the Honorary Director for the establishment
of an Experimental Fishery Station at Ennore near
Madras, and Madras Government Order, dated 12th
June 1908 thereon, approving the same ... ... 82 — 139

Extracts from a letter, dated 13th July 1908, to the Madras
Government offering suggestions for the development
of the sardine trade of the West Coast, and from the
Government Order thereon ... ... ... ... 140 — 152

Extracts from letters, dated 12th August 1908 and i8th
October 1909, to the Madras Government submitting
proposals for the establishment of an Experimental
Fishery Station at Cannanore, including a fertilizer
factory, etc., with extract from the Government Order
thereon, dated i8th December 1909 ... ... ... 153 — 158

Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Proposals with Government Order thereon, dated 29th May
191 1, for the assignment on favourable terms of land
in Malabar and South Canara required for fish-oil and
manure factories ... ... ... ... ... ... 159-160

Madras Government Order, dated 8th November 1909, on
creation of the post of Marine Assistant and the
appointment of Mr. James Hornell, f.l.s,, to the post
from 3rd July 1909 ... ... ... ... ... i6t

Proposals for the conduct of experiments in oyster culture in
the Pulicat Lake, and Madras Government Order
thereon, dated 23rd July 1910 ... ... ... ... 162 — 168

The Honorary Director's review of Mr. Hornell's Report on
Marine Fish-farming for India, and Madras Govern-
ment Order thereon, dated 21st August 1 911 ... ... 169 — 177

Proposals for the establishment of an Experimental Marine
Fish-farm near Tuticorin, and Madras Government
Order, dated 2nd May 1912, sanctioning the same ... 178-179

Letter, dated 31st May 191 1, to the Madras Government sub-
mitting proposals for enlarging the scope and usefulness
of the proposed new Marine Aquarium, Madras ... 180 — 186

Report, dated i6th January 191 2, of the Aquarium Committee
on the proposals for the projected New Aquarium for
Madras, and the Madras Government Order, dated 13th
March 1913, approving the same ... ... ... 187 — 1S9

Proposals, with reasons, for working the experimental
station in all branches as an industrial concern, and
Madras Government Order thereon, dated 20th February
1913, sanctioning the proposals ... ... ...190 — 199

Inspection Note, dated 26th February 1913, of the Sunkesula

Fish-farm near Kurnool ... ... ... ... 200 — 205

Proposals for the prohibition of the use of basket traps and
other fixed engines in certain waters, and Madras
Government Orders thereon, dated 2nd July 1914 and
15th May 1915 ... ... ... ... ... ... 206 — 208

A Note of 1909 on the Marine Fisheries of the Madras

Presidency ... ... ... ... ... ... 209 — 226

A list of Tamil names offish of the Madras Presidency ... 227 — 237

MADRAS FISHERIES BUREAU.

BULLETIN No. L

EXTRACT FROM AN OFFICIAL NOTE OF 1 899 ON THE

DESIRABILITY OF DEVELOPING THE

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. *

Fisheries. — No bureau of the proposed department will exceed
this in importance. The development of our fisheries is now
absolutely esi^eiitial in connection, whether direct or indirect, with
our food-supply : when we despair of food independent of climate for
a rapidly-increasing population, of industries for non-agriculturists, of
manure for deteriorating soils, we may thank God that we have yet
got the fisheries to develop. This all important subject has too long
been neglected ; the sea yields its harvests in enormous quantities
wholly irrespective of droughts and seasonal catastrophes, and the
food, being highly nitrogenous and concentrated, is of extreme value.
Hardly less important are the bye-products, viz., manure, oil, etc.
In most countries, e.g., Italy and Germany, this subject in its entirety
is confided to a bureau of the Agricultural Department : while, in
practically every country, that branch of it which deals with piscicul-
ture {aquicullure, to use a French term) is handled by this department,
as in France, Austria, etc. In this Presidency, where it has been
recognized by Government that it will primarily be treated not as a
source of revenue, but as a means of increasing the food-supply, the
manurial resources, and the petty industries of the country, it is
obviously the Agricultural Department which should deal with it.

The subject is so vast and so important that it will require years
of absolutely continuous study, experiment, stimulus, and assistance
before it can be set on a sound basis, but general lines of work may
be indicated. It may, however, first be pointed out how this subject
emphasizes the necessity for a department which shall make such
matters, whether agriculture or ar^uiculture, its sole and continuous
business ; nowhere is the uselessness of individual or spasmodic effort,
the waste of time, brains, knowledge and labour better exemplified than
by this subject. From before 1870 and almost continuously after it,
Mr. H. S. Thomas with Dr. Day ceased not to urge the importance
of the fisheries of India, mainly in connection with the food-supply f ;
the works and scattered papers of these officers are conclusive and

*■ This extract has been cut down and slightly corrected from the original,
t See Mr. Thomas' Memorandum to the Famine Commission of 1878 — 8c on
Fisheries in connection with food-supiily.

were accepted as such by the Government of Madras betwten 1872
and 18S8 ; Mr. Thomas drafted two if not three P'isheries Bills and
supported them with his well-known enthusiasm. But there was no
department to be influenced by his enthusiastic labours or to carry on
his work, and now, save for an "Indian Fisheries Act " (1897), we
are just where we were when Mr. Thomas left the country, exct^pt
that we have lost many years of time and his experience and
knowledge. Had there then been an Agricultural Department with
fisheries as one of its permanent Bureaux, this great subject could not
have dropped almost into oblivion as it has, save for a few fish-
curing yards, in the absence of practical interest and continuous
policy.

Sea Fisheries. — These are already of some importance, but are
even less developed than local agriculture ; they have had neither
attention nor capital devoted to them, and, as Mr. Thomas says, bear
about the same relation to British fisheries, as a catamaran does to a
steam trawler. For instance there is no deep sea fishing ; the boats
are usually of the catamaran or canoe class, and night fishing is not
general ; the boats usually start in the morning and return in the
evening and the practice of staying out for weeks is impossible. Yet
it is certain that the Indian seas swarm with valuable fish , the hauls
obtained even by the coast fishermen show this. In the Madras
coast line of about 1,750 miles (inclusive of Travancore and Cochin)
there must be fishing grounds of above 30,000 square miles or
20,000,000 acres, the fish life of which in tons is incalculable. At one
cwt. per acre per annum the produce would give 1,000,000 tons per
annum or about the same as that — including shell fish — now brought
annually into Great Britain. When we remember that Great Britain is
principally a meat-eating country, that it imports other edibles to the
annual amount of ;^i 60,000,000 and that its manurial as well as its
food-supply depends but moderately upon its fisheries, it may he
assumed that in this Presidency, where 90 per cent, of the population
will eat meat and fish but are unable to obtain such diet in sufficient
quantity, a supply of 1,000,000 tons would easily be consumed. The
enormous importance of even a million tons of fish will be seen by
the following facts : assuming that one-half of the above is not
actually edible, the remaining half million tons will give about two
ounces of highly nutrient food per diem to 25,000,000 people for a
year, while the remainder as oftal, bones, non-edible fish, etc., would
yield valuable manure sufficient, of its class, for probably 5,000,000
acres. To these considerations may be added the additional employ-
ment given to myriads of the fishing class and to those employed in
the connected industries of boat-building, net-making, curing, manure-
making, oil-extracting and the like, while there would be a large
addition to the demand for salt and to the carrying and other trades
of the country.

This is not the place to indicate the methods of developing the
vast possibilities of this branch, which will demand the building of
large fishing-smacks (such as the dhonies and pattimars of the coasl)-
prohablywiih salt 7vater wells, as in some English fisheries, to enable boats
to keep the sea for days together and yet to bring back their catches aVve,
the employment of capital, and a considerable amount of assistance

3

and organization ; these details will obviously require the continuous
attention of the fisheries Bureau. It may be suggested, however,
that the action of the Irish P'ishery Board in the Congested Districts,
which will be extended to the whole of Ireland by the Agricultural
Department newly (icSgg) constituted, will form a convenient example
for study by the Madras Department, which will seek to stimulate and
assist private effort, whether by individual capitalists or by associa-
tions, under proper regulations for the quality and wholesomeness of
the resulting food-supply, and the safety of the Salt revenue.
Trobably it will be found advisable to develop this branch in direct
connection with the bonded fish-curing yards as centres, or conversely
to establish such yards at any centre where the fishing industry is
likely under such stimulus to develop.

The Congested Districts Board has provided technical instruction,
e.g., by bringing Scotch fishermen, coopers, boats, etc., to the Irish
coasts to teach new fishing, boating and curing methods, has started
curing stations, advanced loans for boats, nets and other apparatus,
has induced the starting of fisheries wholly new as to time and place —
e.g., a spring mackerel fishery at Arran, etc., — encouraged the cooper-
age, net-making and other industries connected with fishing, and has
also done much to open out markets for the fish thus brought to
market- the results, though they have occasionally caused slight loss
to the Board, as sometimes happens in first efforts, have been highly
successful fcr the fishermen and for the industry, though efforts are of
recent date. Trade schools have been started in which boys and girls
learn net- making and mending, and in other ways the industry is being
encouraged. A scientific survey of the fishing banks and deep-sea
fishing grounds round the coasts is now beginning, in which it is
expected to obtain a proper knowledge of the habits, time and places
of spawning, migration, food-supply, etc., of the fish, as has been
thoroughly done long ago by the Scottish Fisheries Board. It is
believed that the Madras Government has now initiated some enquiry
in this direction, but a survey to be of use must be thorough, and
carried out by competent men with time and means at their disposal
and without a dozen other matters on their hands. The harvest of
the sea is well worth the expenditure of a few thousands of rupees
and is a necessity of this time.

Estuary and River Fisheries. — On this complicated question I
need only refer to the existing files on the subject : this branch is
extremely important since these fisheries already supply large
quantities of fi=h, and are free from many of the difficulties attending
deep-sea fishing, But the present supply is trifling compared with
that which a proper system of mere conservatiGU would develop,
altogether apart from the productiveness of these waters, under a
system of culture and special protection as in the rest of the civilized
world, where there are close times, and hatcheries which annually
put out hundreds of millions of fry and are yet only at the beginning
of their work. But the subject is complicated owing to the habits of
the fish and customs of the country, the nature of the rivers and the
irrigational use made of them ; the provision of fish passes in the
anikats — as in the Cauvery, Kistna, etc. — is only one of the diffi-
culties. Mr. Thomas has, however, dealt with the several difficulties

I-A

4

and points out that success means a great addition to the food-
supply brought to the doors of the people in the tanks and channels.

Inland Water Fisheries. — Under this head which, however, by its
title covers much of the river fisheries, are included a totally
different and very simple class of fishery, viz., that of backwaters and
lagoons, reservoirs, tanks and ponds, devoted wholly or in part to
deliberate food production ; to aquiculture in fact. This system, in
vogue in ancient Egypt and extensively practised at this day in
China where the pressure of the inland millions demands more
nitrogenous food than the soil can supply, is now recognised in
western countries, and is believed to give a far greater equivalent of
food per acre than a similar area of soil. Some such system is
beconie a necessity in inland India where there are already lakhs of
acres of comparatively unproductive waters, besides possibilities for
additions to the productive waters. For instance, there are vast
reaches of permanent water behind many of the anikats, as in the
Bhavani above the anikat at the town of that name ; there are
hundreds of square miles of shallow backwater as at Pulicat, Ennore,
etc., and of " rivers" such as the now sewery Cooum and the Adyar :
there are lakes and tanks, such as the Red Hills tank and a vast tank
on the Kurnool canal, which do not dry up during the year ; there
are myriads of large irrigation wells in which the owner might keep
a few fish for his own supply.

There are many low-lying and even swampy places by the side of
rivers, channels, and streams, or at the lower end of an irrigation area,
which are, by their position, useless as irrigation tanks, and into which
flood-surplus or drainage waters could be turned with case from the
fact of their lying low; these would, if properly excavated, retain
water the whole year through. Many a tank might be so deepened as
to retain water throughout the hot season sufficient to keep a stock of
fish alive, and in many private tanks, especially near towns, it would
probably pay to retain the whole water as a stock pond, cultivating
the hitheito irrigated ayacut as dry land or by means of wells ; in
Bengal the practice of keeping stock ponds, fed by duly purchased
irrigation water, is found to be a paying business : it is even probable
that pools fed from wells might be used with advantage as breeding
grounds and stock ponds. Mr, Thomas gives an instance from his
own experience (Indian) which should be pul)lished : a pond of 2 or 3
acres was under clearance, and was stocked by him at a total expense
of Rs. 2 with selected fish-fry, care being taken to exclude those of
ti\e predatory class ; no food, except a few snails at the time of stock-
ing, was supplied and 18 months' rest was given. From that time
" more than 4,000 lbs. of fish were annually taken out of the pond
" without making any impression on it." This was the result of care-
ful selection, non-predatory fish l)eing alone stocked. The experience
of other countries is similar. Even the ordinary tanks of the country
might be made, with care to breed more fish than is now the case.

A perusal of the detailed papers and consideration of the facts
mentioned in them and in the above sketch show not only the enor-
mous and pressing importance of t^he fisheries question, but also that
it can only be dealt with by a permanent department, which, by reason
of its connection with the food-supply and agricultural interests,

should be a branch of the Department of Agriculture. It i? so vast
and at the same time so complicated, and deals with suclV ignorant
masses of people, and yet requires the intelligent acceptance of such
new ideas and methods, that only the most continuous, untiring, and
tactful efforts of experts can bring about success ; no useful results
can arise from the intermittent efforts of languid general interested-
ness ; men must take it up whose sole business it will be under the
general direction of a permanent department. Probably there are
officers in the various services, Marine or other, who are capable by
past study and experience, of taking up the question of sea-fisheries,
and it may be that there are ichthyologists, budding or mature, who
will add knowledge and enthusiasm to such experience of the country
and people as will enable them at once to begin work at the develop-
ment of inland fisheries : this can be ascertained if a Fishery Bureau
is organized. In all cases it would seem that the bureau should as-
sociate with it an Advisory Board composed of scientific and practical
experts such as men of the stamp of Dr. Thurston, the Superintendent
of Chank and Pearl Fisheries, men engaged in the fish-oil and manure
trade, heads of fishing classes such as the hereditary chief of the
Tuticorin fishermen, etc. The bureau, even though not worked for
revenue, could easily be made to pay all expenses, and it will be re-
membered that considerable sum — above a lakh — is already derived
from tank and river fisheries in this Presidency, the proceeds of which
ought to be e.xpended in developing this all-important industry and
food-supply. The proceeds of fisheries are at present handed over
to Local Funds, havine been given to them in 1864 when Local
Funds were merely items of miscellaneous improvements under the
Collector : there is absolutely no reason why these fish-rents should
now go to Local Boards and merely swell their resources without
return to the fisheries. If this source of income is continued to them,
they should be compelled to spend it in developing local fisheries.

6

EXTRACT FROM A SCHEME FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
OF FISHERIES, IQTH JANUARY 1905.

* * *

9, Though at least 75 per cent, of the Madras people will eat fish
if they can get it and though such food is most nutrient and, when
fresh or properly prepared most wholesome, >et, as a fact, the internal
fish supply of the country is of the scantiest and most insufficient
character, while its quality, often semi-putrid, causes it to be often
unwholesome and possibly the cause of more than one disease. Again
while the fields are infertile or less fertile than they should be for
want of manure, one great source of such manure, viz., the sea fish-
eries, is left almost unworked. Now to remedy the above defects we
need, in India, to work in two opposite directions ; inland we require
to protect fish, to hinder reckless destruction, to add largely to the
productiveness of existing waters, and to develop modes of stocking
waters at present unused ; for marine fisheries we need to develop in
every way the modes of entrapping the immense but almost unused
wealth of the sea and of placing the increased catches in good condi-
tion upon the inland markets. If reports are true, and they are
confirmed by casual observation, the inland sources of fresh-water fish,
scanty in most places as a food-supply, are in process of exhaustion
and destruction by combined recklessness and ignorance, while, on
the other hand, the illimitable resources of the sea are exploited in
the most primitive of fashions ; as has been rightly said, the apparatus
and methods of the fisherfolk bear just the relation to Western
methods and, it may be added, to the existing, and still more to the
future, needs of this country that the catamaran bears to the steam
trawler. Inland or on the backwaters, save perhaps on the Nilgiris,
there is not only no attempt at pisciculture or even at conservation,
but the only principle adopted throughout is to catch and destroy
everything that swims from the fry weighing 20 to the ounce upwards ;
wilful destruction by poison and explosives is said to be common,
while in the dry weather the river-pools and the tanks are netted clear
of every sort of fish that can be got into the nets. As for methods of
checking such blind destruction, such carelessness of the future, they
are not even in contemplation, while developments now common to
civilized countries such as the artificial propagation of fish in
hatcheries and the restocking therewith of inland waters, are absolute-
ly unknown. As for the marine fisheries the fishermen are ignorant
and poor, they scarcely venture to pass 24 hours at sea, since their
boats are generally small and primitive and they have no means of
preserving their catches ; the drying and salting of the fish is crude
and the product unsatisfactory. It is true that the fish-curing yards
under the Salt Department are doing good and increasing work, but
these hardly tend to increase the quantity of fish caught or to develop
the ability and methods of the fishermen in catching the fish and
bringing them alive to the curing yards, nor are new methods taught
of curing the catches such as are found necessary even in temperate

)6
/

climates. I allude, for instance, to the development of fishing boats
capable of staying at sea for days together and provided with wells for
retaining the catches alive indefinitely, the provision of trawl nets to
be used with such boats for securing better catches of better fish from
greater depths, the methods of drying, smoking, and packing fish for
inland transit, and so forth.

20. Finally it is suggested that each successive famine or scarcity
or threat thereof only accentuates the necessity — the urgent necessity
— for additional supplies of food otherwise than from the uncertain
fields ; each successive year increases the normal pre?sure upon a
naturally poor and hard-pressed soil and therefore the need for more
food and more manure ab extra ; each successive year the fish in
inland waters tend to disappear with the greater inroads and demands
made upon them. Happily the sea is almost untouched and by a
proper development of marine fisheries alone we can add to the pro-
duce of our fields on land the almost inexhaustible harvests of an area
which, within only 30 miles from the Madras shores, includes 30
million acres of productive water.

■J5- * *

8

Order— NO. 487, Revenue, dated 29TH May 1905.

APPOINTMENT OF A TEMPORARY FISHERIES

OFFICER.

Under the sanction of the Government of India,
His Excellency the Governor in Council is pleased to
depute Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c. i.e., to investigate the
fishery industry, both inland and marine, in the Madras
Presidency.

FISHERIES INVESTIGATION REPORT FOR THE QUARTER
ENDING THE 31ST DECEMBER I905.

The first few days of October were spent in arranging
papers, information, etc., and on the 19th idem I left
for a tour on the West Coast, which lasted till Decem-
ber 14th ; my Assistant, after the close of the Special
Tests examination at which he appeared in compliance
with Government orders, investigated the fisheries at
and near Madras. This report will deal almost solely
,with the West Coast, since the East Coast will be taken
up from January.

2. The places visited were Calicut, Badagara,
„, . . , Tellicherry, Cannanore, Hosdruo",

r ln.ces vtsitecl. -' *^

Kasaragod, Manjeshwar, Mangalore,
Cochin, and Tanur. A mass of information has been
obtained reo-ardins; fishino" and curinor methods,
apparatus, customs, the relation of labour to capital, of
fishermen to curers and of curers to the trade, the fish-
curing yards, the character of the ports and harbours ;
regarding, in short, the economic and industrial sides of
the industry : enquiries have also been begun on the
seasons of fishing for various fish, the best general
conditions (wind, current, etc.) for fishing, the spawning
periods, the appearance or absence of shoals, the
maturity or otherwise of fish caught, and so forth. The
whole information is now being ledgered under the
proper heads from my note-books. A series of detailed
questions (copy appended), based partly on the
experience of this and previous tours, has also been
printed for distribution to persons likely to be interested
or to aid in making similar enquiries : the questions are
intended as general guides and not as hard and fast
questions.

3. The obtaining of correct information is neither

easy nor speedy ; the language
inrSi'.io"!"'"'""- difficulty itself is great, since not only

are the fishermen's dialect and
technical vocabulary hard to follow even by one who
knows the language well, but it may be on the West
Coast either Malayalam, Canarese, Tulu, or Mahratti,
while translators are not always either accurate or
intelligent. The fishermen, moreover, though willing

lO

and communicative, are ignorant and often unable to
put explanations or descriptions into clear words, while
even in the facts they are often quite inaccurate from
ignorance or from loose habits of observation or narra-
tion ; e.g., they may allege that boats fish at 12 or more
miles from shore, while enquiry shows that the huts on
the beach are visible from the boat which is on the sea
level ; it has been alleged (Palk's Straits on the East
Coast) that fish were caught at 15 to 18 fathoms when
the maximum depth of that sea is 8 or 9 fathoms. The
safest and most fruitful method is to sit patiently with
them in their boats, or on the beach, observing, and
asking questions casually and infrequently so as not to
worry or frighten them ; but this is necessarily a lengthy
if accurate method. However, during the many scores
of hours spent with the fishermen at sea, or on the beach,
or in the curing yards or with curers and merchants, it
is believed that not only has good information been
obtained but that a good deal of suggestive information
has also been imparted especially in matters relating to
the catching and preservation of fish in other countries.

4. The scientific part of the enquiry such as the
^ . ,.. . . identification and correct namino- of

Scientific enquiries. . ^ . "^ ^

the various fish m the several
languages, the examination of their habitat and of their
food supplies, the ascertainment of their spawning
grounds and of the character of their ova, and other
matters of scientific observation will be begun (it can, of
course, only be bfg^/7/)sL(ter the next south-west monsoon
when a second tour will be made there with my
Assistant ; meanwhile the questions above alluded to
will probably result in a further mass of information.
Much attention will necessarily be paid to the West
Coast where the trade and industry are so much more
vigorous than on the East Coast and capital more ready
for investment.

5. Several matters come prominently into view in
such a tour : they will merely be adverted to here, and
will be dealt with at length in the final report.

6. The first is the weakness of the exploitation of
General weakness of the sca hithcrto made evcn on the

exploitation of the sea West Coast which, as gauged by the
with causes. fish-curing yards, yields above thrice

the fish caught on the eastern side of the Presidency

n

though the latter has a sea coast four times as long aii
that of Malabar and South Canara. The area between
Cape Comorin on the south and the northern boundary
of South Canara is about 17,000 square sea miles (of
2,ooo yards to the linear mile) within the 100 fathom
limit, and above 6,000 square miles within the 30 fathom
limit : this includes the waters which wash Travancore
and Cochin which are, of course, open to fishing. Only
the fringe of this area is worked and that only in a small
way ; little or nothing beyond the 10 fathom limit is
touched save in the South Canara waters by a few com-
paratively large boats which come from the Bombay
Presidency. Some of the main reasons are the small-
ness and inability of the boats, which, except for a few
Bombay boats, are merely canoes (dug-outs), to keep
the sea for more than a few hours ; the consequent
waste of time in the daily journeys to and fro when the
boats go out beyond the 3-mile limit ; the consequent
disinclination to go much beyond that limit ; the
numerical deficiency in boats and men ; the large num-
ber of men necessarily employed per canoe or net and
the consequent inefficiency of labour [e.g., two crews of
seven men each in two boats to work one quite moderate
sized dip net (odam) as compared with less than that
number in the big European boats with their large fleets
of nets] ; the numerous causes, advanced or valid, for
not going out to fish, such as the state of the moon,
wind, or currents, the presence of the monsoon, the
non-appearance, inshore, of shoals, the festivals or fasts,
the heavy and well-paid demand for labour and boats in
loading and unloading the steamers and shipping at the
larger ports. These and other reasons will be dealt
with below and more completely in my final report.
7. The boats are merely dug-outs or shells of various
Description of boats si^cs, sometimes rtat-bottomed, hold-
and results of smaiiness ing from 2 to 8 men and costing up to
°^^'°''^'- Rs. 500; the largest may be" about

32 feet long, 3 wide, and 2| deep : there is no room in
the boat for any but the most restricted movement, nor
is it possible to fit them with any sort of mechanical
gear ; all work must be done and power applied by
manual dexterity acting in a very limited space on a
very crank platform. Each boat is usually fitted with a
simple sail, but in Tanur the large fiat-bottomed boat

12

seldom has sails but, when the wind is favourable,
adopts the crude method of fastening a couple of oars
upright with three or four of the boatmen's garments
as sails. The result is that the nets in use are neces-
sarily of limited capacity ; limited by the small carrying
power of the boats and by the manual power of the men
acting on these awkward platforms, while only one set
of nets can be taken out at a time so that if men are
fishins: for one class of fish and shoals of different sized
fish appear, they are often unable to take them ; more-
over, since it passes men's endurance to spend more than
a few hours at a time daily in such craft, the duration and
distance of the voyages are limited. Yet again, the
small size and capacity of the boats forbids any attempt
to keep fish alive by wells or water chests, or to salt the
fish down in the boat even if cheap salt were available
which is not the case ; hence fish have often been dead
for several hours before reaching shore, and deep-sea
catches are frequently tainted and seldom really fresh,
so that fish cannot be taken far inland, while the portion
which goes to the curing yards, often after considerable
further delay on the beach or in preparation for the
curing yard, is often tainted before the curing process
begins, a fact necessarily detrimental both to the whole-
someness and market value of the product. Conversely,
the want of knowledge how to keep fish alive and
fresh in wells or chests and the inability to obtain cheap
salt for the proper salting down of the fish at sea and
the ignorance of the methods or the absence of the
practice of preserving fish wet in pickle, tend to keep
the boats small and the voyages short. There are in
practice the germs of the carrier system by which special
boats bargain at sea with the fishing boats and bring
the catches somewhat sooner to shore, but this only takes
the form of small canoes of neither speed nor capacity,
usually chartered or owned by small fish dealers with
a little ready cash : they seldom go out above a mile
or two.

8. A regrettable result of the smallness of the boats
is that shoals are obviously missed, as

The failure to dis- . , . , , ,-'

cover shoals, possibly HI this year, because the boats cannot
due to smallness of nrQ out to sea to look for them ; the men

boats. ^ . , 1 1 r

wait on or near shore and hope tor
shoals : if shoals are not seen it is concluded that they have

13

The
large

not come, whereas they may merely be out a little further.
The steamer in which I returned from Mangalore passed,
said the Captain, just north of that port and at lo or 12
miles from land, throuo-h shoals which extended "as far
as the eye could see," and I personally saw smaller
shoals at 5 or 6 miles out ; yet none came inshore or
were taken by the fisherman at that time. With large
boats able to keep the sea, it would be possible to re-
connoitre for shoals, to follow them when found, and
either to salt them on board (see paragraph 15) and take
them to shore at intervals, or to send them in daily by
carrier boats (paragraph 14), or to keep the larger fish
alive in wells (paragraph 13).

9. The large boat question is intimately bound up
with the future of the industry on

"boatr"'' '"' modern _ and _ necessary lines : by

" large " boat is here meant a good-
sized boat of a few tons, decked if possible, and able to
keep the sea for some days together ; it is not intended to
suggest necessarily the big smacks of from 30 to 50 tons
found in England and elsewhere, but rather those found
in the Adriatic and Mediterranean, or boats of or improv-
ed from the Ratnagiri pattern which latter are common
in South Canara in the cold weather and some of which
keep the sea for some da.ys when fishing, while all have,
necessarily, to make the 300-mile voyage from Ratnagiri
and those parts. It is only with such boats that a crew
can do proper work ; it is absurd to see seven men crowd-
ed in a small, crank canoe working a small net (or rather a
pair of canoes with fourteen men) when the same seven
men could work a big smack and thus use the mechanical
aids and employ the powerful nets which are demanded
for the proper exploitation of the sea : it is only such boats
that can stay at sea for several days together, or in which
it is possible to use live wells, salt, or preservative
processes.

10. Now the reasons advanced aQainst buildine such

1 ^ . . o

boats are not many ; it is not custom-
Reasons advanced for tU c u „ ^ i ,

not building larger boats, ^ly ; the fishermen are not used to

stay at sea ; such boats are costly ;
the fish cannot be kept from putrefaction. These are
the only reasons advanced : there is no fear of the sea or
of sudden storms ; it is one great advantage of our coasts
that we have regular, known, and predictable weather

^4

for each month in the year and for several zones of the
sea, and that there are few surprises outside the well
known periods and localities of cyclonic storms.

11. Of the above objections the first two may be

lightly passed over : custom will

Reasons discussed. • -^ i i j i •

give way, as it has already done in
the case of new-fashioned nets, before advantage and
profit ; and we have, in fact, the Ratnagiri boats coming-
in larger numbers further south each year (so enquiry
seemed to show) which are excellent object lessons both
as to size and habit of staying at sea : moreo\er the
coastal trade is carried on in a variety of craft of all
sizes the crews of w^hich are well accustomed to the
deep sea and long voyages.

12. The third reason is good in so far as we hold to

the idea of the independent
Provision of capital for fisherman each with his own boat,

larger ooacs. • r i • i • i •

but, in tact, the industry is tendmg
to develop, as in western countries, towards the
disappearance of the independent boatman and the entry
of the capitalist-employer : at Tellicherry, one of the
best fishing and dried-fish centres, two curers control
two-thirds of the numerous boats : on the East Coast
there are Marakayars and others who have the men and
the industry in their hands. However, it is open to
Government, as in Ireland and elsewhere, to advance
funds or even, as in Japan, to give grants-in-aid either to
individuals or to small syndicates of fishermen for the
purchase of larger boats, the security being the boats
themselves which can be easily and cheaply insured
either bv Government itself throuQ-h a verv small
increase in the annuity of repayment, or externally. As
a matter of fact the Ratnagiri men appear to have found
means to purchase their boats. This matter will be
fully discussed in the final report.

13. The fourth objection is interesting and weighty ;

it would be absurd to build boats

Methods of obviatinsT the ^ , .1 • c >.• ^ *.„U^

fourth difficulty, viz, pt.tre- to keep the sea if tne catches are
faction of catches, by deep- simply to putrcfy. Now there are

sea^^boats. ice. and live ^^^^ ^^^^^ mCthods of preserving

catches from taint— ice or refrigera-
tion (cold storage), live wells or receptacles, daily
carriers to and from the fishing fleet, and salt. For the
present, refrigeration in the fishing boats may be put

15

out of the question. Live wells or receptacles, on the
contrary, are easy and practicable if the boats are of
good size : they were habitual in parts of England as a
modern development from the old sorts notably in the
Grimsby smacks and in Dutch boats, in which a
compartment is built in the middle of the boat by trans-
verse bulkheads, and the sides of the compartment
pierced so that the sea freely courses through it ; in this
well cod and other large fish are kept alive for weeks
and even transferred, at the end of the voyage, to
fioatine chests in the harbour where the fish live till
wanted. Ice and steam in loo-ton boats have now
mostly driven these smacks out of use. Boats could
readily be built on these coasts with such receptacles ;
it is possible also to keep fish alive for some days in
mere chests of sea-water, frequently renewed by hand.
The practice is r\ot wholly unknown since the Minicoy
islanders keep live bait in vast quantities in large fine-
meshed receptacles in their lagoons. It might even be
possible to keep fish alive for a time in coir-rope bags
or strong nets outside the boats if wooden receptacles
are too cumbrous. But with fair-sized boats live wells
are readily possible.

14. The carrier is a swift boat, steam or motor,

which visits the fishing fleet daily
The carrier method of and takes away the catches;

obviating putrelaction of r 1 1 • 1111 • 1 1

catches. preterably it should be provided

with enough ice to keep its cargo
fresh for a few hours : ice, it is said, can be made even
in tropical India at Rs. 14 to Rs. 20 per ton by the
Linde machines. A lo-knot carrier can visit even an
extended line of fishing boats in a few hours daily, so
that catches, recent or kept alive in wells, could be
brought fresh to shore ; catches salted at sea on the
boats could also be brought by the carrier. But the
carrier is a product of organized capital and enterprise,
and is used in conjunction with an organized fleet of
boats belonging to a syndicate or large owner ; hence
for the present its consideration is premature, though
the French sardine canner at Mahe is investing in a
patrol boat obviously for some such purpose. When
capital takes to the industry the carrier will be a
necessary item and will materially help to make the
seakeeping boat possible.

i6

15. The question of salt and salting or salt packing

in barrels at sea is, however, an
The possibility of permit- immediate and practical one; bio^

ting large boats to take 1 1 1 • • 1

cheap salt to sea. boats and cheap salt are intimately

connected : as Major Alcock (" A
Naturalist in the Indian Seas") says of the fishing near
Puri, and as Dr. Day said many years before him, if
the Salt rules can be modified great results will
follow. The West Coast fishermen cheerfully and
volinitarily acknowledges the great benefit of cheap salt
in the curing yards and the efiect it has had not
only on the curing but on the catching of fish by the
increase caused in the demand for good dried fish. But
cheap salt cannot under present rules be issued to boats
proceeding to sea, and while, on the one hand, it would,
at present, be useless to issue such salt (except to Ratna-
eiri boats) since the boats are too small to remain at sea,
on the other hand, since it is obvious that even the
biggest boats, if without wells, could not, for want of
such salt, keep their catches from putrefying, the inability
to get cheap salt for use at sea is a reason militating
against the building of big boats: conversely and perhaps
more correctly, a rule granting the issue of cheap salt
would directly, tend towards the building of large boats
or would, at least, remove what is now a valid objection.
It is suggested that there be made in the Salt Depart-
ment a rule granting the privilege of cheap salt to boats
proceeding to sea, under such conditions as to size of
boats, duration of voyage, the due accounting for the
issues, etc , as may be found necessary. Probably the
Salt Department could frame a rule that salt might be
issued in moderate quantities to respectable boat-owners ;
the minimum amount of salt required for a given weight
of fresh fish is now fairly well known, viz., i to 5, 6, 7 or
8 according to the size of the fish, the weather method
of salting, etc., and the fishermen would have to account
to the curing yard officers, who would issue the salt and
inspect and weigh the takes, for the amount issued ; so
much salt issued, so much salted fish, balance of salt so
much. The risk to the revenue appears slight, especially
in comparison with the probable benefit to the industry ;
the fishermen will not, in general, run the risk of spoil-
ing their whole catches, of being prosecuted, and of
losing the privilege, for the sake of concealing and selling

17

a little salt short-used upon the fish. As elsewhere
pointed out, in places such as 7"ellicherry many boats
are controlled by one or two well-to-do traders or curers,
and much of the industry is in the hands of respectable
persons : these men would not run the risk of petty
smuggling- and would doubtless be ready to deposit
security against unaccounted-for salt.

It is crue that the rule would not at first work much
benefit except, indeed, to the Ratnagiri boats : except
those boats there are no existing craft which could utilize
this rule, and it is not asserted that large boats
will be built solely by reason of such privilege. But
the existence of such a rule would remove one
serious objection, and would fjrm one direct incentive
to the building and use of deep-sea boats : the rule
must precede the boats, for boats would not be built
on the mere chance of the privilege being thereafter
granted, while, on the other hand, the existence of such
privilege would turn men's thoughts to the use of bigger
craft. Moreover the grant of this privilege will certainly
attract the Ratnagiri boats in larger numbers, which will
force the local men to follow suit.

1 6. Then the boats are not only small but they are

not numerous. The actual number
Numerical weakness of is not vet ascertained, but exceot at a

boats and population. . ^ ^

lew busy centres they are compara-
tively few as seen on the beach or when with them out
at sea : during a day-light sea journey between lo a.m.
and 6 p.m. from Mangalore to Cannanore, always within
5 or 6 miles of land, only one small lot of boats was seen
many, of course, go out at night and return in the fore-
noon, but day fishing is equally general especially during
the period of moonlight nights as at the time of the
voyage. In fact the fishing population itself is so feeble
in number that the exploitation is necessarily weak.
The census of 1901, s.v. "occupations" gives for
Malabar and South Canara only 109,760 persons under
the heads of fishermen, fish-curers and fish-dealers, and
this includes not only 63, ^20 non-working dependants of
both sexes but all persons employed on inland fisheries.
Hence only 46,440 are engaged in the above three
branches of the business, and of these only 23,545 (21,590
males and 1,955 females) are entered as actual workers
in fish-catching and fish-curing. After deducting those

i8

engaged In curing it is not possible to put down more
than 20,000 persons (men and boys) as engaged in the
actual catching of fish (the actual fishermen are seldom
curers), and as the average crew of a canoe is perhaps
4 (2 for small and 6 to 8 for large ones), there cannot iDe
more and there are probably less than 5,000 canoes on
these coasts, to which must be added one or two hundred
Bombay boats for about three months in the year.
Hence, in round figures, there is only about one boat
(canoe) per square sea-mile within the 30-fathom limit
and only one per 3 square miles within the loo-fathom
limit.

17. Again, while the number of boats and men

engaged in fishing is comparatively

Weak efficiency of gj^-^^jj ^^^| ^y^Q " boatS Weak, the
boats and crews. rr • i • i i

erhciency, compared with the apparent
abundance of fish, is also small since everything is done
by manual labour with small nets easily avoided by fish,
and since much of the labour is fruitlessly expended in
rowino- to and from the fishing grounds. A pair of
boats with total crews of 14 men. is required to work a
very moderate sized dip-net (odam) which averages
very moderate takes. Now the crew of a modern
British steam trawler with its gigantic net sweeping the
sea, or a steam drifter with a fieet of nets miles in
length, has but 11 or 12 men including the engine room
hands, and there can be no comparison in the respective
catchino- power of these boats. Hence the number of
boats and men is no gauge of efficiency in catching
when compared with other countries.

18. It will be objected that the use of large deep-sea

boats and the expenditure of capital
Probably abundance ^^^^ enterprise thercon presupposes

or otherwise of hsh m , ^ } ' . .

West Coast waters. that the sea contams nsh m quantities

which would be remunerative to such
enterprise, and that as yet little is known as to the
abundance or otherwise of fish life in the deeper waters
between, say, 10 and 100 fathoms. The objection is
reasonable, but though proof is slight probabilities are
strono- ; the fishermen express no doubt on the matter ;
the boats which go a few miles out, e.g., the Ratnagirl
boats, get large catches of good fish ; the inshore catches
of deep-sea fish are considerable which presupposes
abundance of such fish in the deeper waters, available to

19

more powerful appliances ; tropical seas in general
abound in marine life and the many thousands of square
miles within the lOO-fathom limit on the West Coast,
appear to be no exception ; the numerous rivers bring
down annually large quantities of food suitable for fish
life ; the varieties of fish are very numerous, and the
waters swarm with predaceous tribes which argue
abundance of other fauna : laroe shoals are seen out ai
sea at periods when they are deficient inshore ; the
catches of fish even with the primitive appliances
available are larger per fisherman than those on the
Irish Coast with better boats and oear. It is true that
some Western scientists (see Johnstone's " British
Fisheries" 1905, page 196) declare or consider that
plankton or fish food is less abundant in tropical waters
owing to the greater prevalence of denitrifying bacteria,
and if such fish food is less abundant it is probable that
fish may also be less. But the suggestion is theoretical
and there are no actual data at all events for Indian
waters : the probabilities seem the other way. Indian
capital, however, is remarkably shy of investment in
probabilities, and the matter of quantitative experiment
and proof by trawling, etc., as well as of experiments in
salting at sea and of more rapid and better transport to
and curing on shore, will be placed separately before
Government if Government signify that they are
prepared to undertake considerable expense in such
experiments, e.g., in fitting the '' Margarita " (probably
not very suitable) with a trawl, in engaging an expert
trawler, curer, and so forth.

19. The actual catches of the West Coast are not

known, but on an average of five

Amouut of catches years endiuQ; 1903, 40,000 tons offish

estimated and com- ■^ , p '. ' . i r

pared. wcre brought to the curmg yards or

that coast, in which, however, are
included the heavy catches of the comparatively large
Ratnagiri boats from the Bombay Presidency. There is
considerable local trade in fresh fish within a 10 or 12
mile limit from the shore ; the fishermen's families are
also provided from the catches, and in most years a
good deal of small fish (sardines, prawns, etc.) is simply
dried on the beach without going to the yards. The
fresh fish trade does not absorb so much fish as might
be supposed : 1 1,000 tons will give 100 lb. per annum

2 -A

20

to each man, woman and child of a quarter million
people which is probably the outside daily number
served with fresh fish on this coast. Assuming- the
total catches as 60,000 tons, each boat catches 12 tons
per annum or about i cwt. per working- day taken as
240 for the year after allowing for holidays, monsoon
and adverse weather, and other obstacles to fishing.
If the area within 30 fathoms from somewhat south of
Cochin to somewhat north of Coondapoor be taken as
4,800 square miles of 825 acres or, say, 4,000,000
acres, then the catches amount to i ton per 66 acres
or 34 lb. per acre ; if the area, easily fishable, within
TOO fathoms be considered, then the catches average i
ton per 200 acres or 1 1 lb. per acre per annum. These
catches are small in the aggregate, but it is to be noted
that the average amount of fish landed on the Irish
Coast in the three years 1902, 1903 and 1904 was 39,000
tons exclusive of a moderate amount of shell-fish ; this
was caught by about 21,000 men and boys (about 600 of
the latter) in Irish boats phis those in English and
Scotch boats who may have landed their catches on the
Irish Coast. Hence the average catch per fisherman in
Irish waters was below 2 tons, although at least half
the Irish boats and gear w^ere much superior to Mala-
bar boats, and a dozen steam trawlers and many decked
smacks are amongst the Irish fleet. But on our West
Coast 20,000 men and boys caught 60,000 tons, i.e.,
3 tons apiece and considering the primitive nature ot
the apparatus used, the entire absence of powerful
vessels, machinery and nets, and the fact that all boats
and gear are worked solely by manual labour not very
effectively applied, this quantitative result shows that
the local waters abound in catchable fish. Moreover,
however imperfect the figures tentativ^ely adopted may
be, it seems clear that the labour of one man on the sea
is more productive than the sam(i labour on shore ;
each fisherman produces by his labour, with the addi-
tion of boats and gear which cost very moderate amounts
annually per fisherman, about 3 tons of highly valuable
food : on an average of years a man's labour on the soil
of this Presidency with the aid of cattle, ploughs,
manures, etc., does not produce any such equivalent of
food except, perhaps, under very favourable circum-
stances. It is clear, then, that since fish are so abundant

51

as to yield, even to primitive methods, catches large in
comparison with those of Irish fishing- and yet small
compared with the catches (lo tons per head) of English
and Scotch boats and with the estimates of marine
productivity per acre made by commissions such as that
of 1863, there is a strong probability of very much
larofer catches with better means and orQanization.
Hence the desideratum now is more men and more
efficiently employed labour and better apparatus in
view to much orreater returns and a still laro-er utiliza-
tion of the harvests of the sea.""'

20. The weakness of the exploitation of the sea for
,, , .i„^, „f the Presidency o-enerally, on both

General weakness or / & / '

exploitation of the coasts, may here be adverted to. It
Presidency seas. -^ ge^ei-ally understood that marine

fishing on the West Coast is far more active and pro-
ductive than on the East Coast, a belief founded partly
on the small quantities brought to the curing yards of
the East Coast, partly on the small size of the boats
(usually catamarans) there employed, partly on observa-
tion ; the 30 and 100 fathom limits are also far narrower
than on the West Coast. The total sea-coast line
{exclusive of sinuosities and indentations) is 1,600 geo-
graphical miles inclusive of Travancore and Cochin,
or 1,420 exclusive: by the census of 1901, there were
402,353 persons (or not much above i per cent, of the
total population) interested in fishing, curing, or dealing,
of whom, however, 204,126 were non-working depend-
ants, leaving 198,227 workers ; this includes all inland
and estuarine fishermen, persons partly agriculturists,
and all those classed as fish-dealers very many of whom
are the wives of the fishermen who hawk the fish in the
streets and villages, the numerous petty fish sellers, and
the runners who take the fresh fish inland. Out of
these 198,227 no less than 46,440 or nearly one-fourth
are found in the two districts of Malabar and South
Canara with a sea frontage of only 240 miles out of
1,420 or one-sixth. But this one-fourth provides three-
fourths of the whole amount of fish brought to the
fish-curing yards of the Presidency, of which there are
47 on the West Coast as against 89 on the East, or,

* Later investigations show that, including the vast quantities of sardines
which are beacli dried for manure, the weight of fish taken in a good year on the
West Coast is far larger than is suggested in this paragraph.

22

conversely, three-fourths of the fishing trade deal with
only one-fourth of the fish. Hence, unless there is a
relatively enormous fresh fish trade on the East Co?.st,
which is unlikely except at Madras and a few large
centres, the exploitation of the sea on the East Coast is
trivial and the amount per head insignificant as com-
pared with West Coast catches. More especially is
this the case when compared with the Japanese fishing
population, which is said to number over 900,000 fami-
lies or II per cent, of the 8,182,000 households in the
Empire, though, of course, the coast line is very much
longer in Japan. This point will be closely examined
in the East Coast tour about to begin. The above
remarks are, at present, wholly in the rough and sus-
ceptible of large correction in detail, though probably
correct in the main ; the final report will deal more
exactly with this very important point.

21. Again, curing operations are both primitive,

undiversified, and slow yet incom-

Character of curing i^^^^ Sun-drying, with or without

operations. i . J fs'

salt, IS, with small and occasional
exceptions, the only curing method found ; fish are
gutted, rough-salted in troughs for a night, washed
(sometimes) in sea-water, and then exposed on the open
sand to the direct rays of the sun for two or three days
till fairly dry ; such is the simple and regular process.
If the fish have been brought to the curing-yard fresh
and wholly untainted, if enough salt has been used
sufficiently promptly, if the subsequent washing has
been effective and the sun bright, the resulting product
is fair though probably unacceptable in appearance and
odour to western markets. But if the fish when brought
in is, as is often the case, by no means fresh or free
from taint, if the salting is insufficient or not thoroughly
penetrative of the tissues, if, as is often the case, the
subsequent washing in fresh sea-water is dispensed with,
if the drying yard is shady or the drying process slow,
then the resulting product is distinctly unpleasant and
probably unwholesome ; maggots are not uncommon,
the putrefactive odour strong, colour and appearance
poor and even repulsive. In many cases, moreover, the
smaller classes of fish are simply sun-dried on the beach
without salt and with or without gutting ; these are
very malodorous and more fit for manure than for food

5

A

though they are sent inland, e.g., from Tanur, for food.
It is said, in South Canara, that the locally salted and
- dried fish does not keep well during the monsoon but
gets soft and unpleasant, so that considerable quantities
of dried fish from the Persian Gulf which keeps better
are imported ; the reason for this difference is not at
present known.

2 2. The exceptions to the above method are at

present trivial ; one is the method

of cuHn?'°"'' '""'"'' practised by Ratnagiri men at

Malpe for treating large fish. A
second is the preparation of so-called "tamarind fish " at
Cochin for the Colombo market ; this method resembles
that of pickling herring " wet " in barrels, viz., the
placing of the fish (mackerel as a rule) in alternate
layers with salt in hogsheads of 60 to 65 gallons
capacity which are locally and well made : a small
quantity of " guraka (or 'kudum') puli " (Malabar
tamarind) which gives the name to the product, is
added, and the barrel after settling for a few days is then
partially drained through a spigot hole, filled to the top
from a barrel of similar age, and the whole headed
up. This product must not be confounded with the
"tamarind-fish" (pada) known to Europeans, and also
prepared on the West Coast : this is a mere domestic
product and consists of seer preserved in various con-
diments in jars. A third exception is the enterprise ot
a French resident at Mahe who tins sardines : this
manufacturer keeps his processes jealously secret, but is
apparently succeeding since he has applied for a petrol
or alcohol license in order to use a motor boat in his
industry : at present he is the solitary canner on the
Coast, and his products are, as compared with those of
Europe, remarkably cheap: merchants of other places
are anxious to ascertain the processes of canning which
I have explained to them : full details will be found in
my final reports.*

These exceptions, then, are of little importance, and
there is a singular lack of all processes and of all
knowledge of processes other than the common method ;
smoking, pickling wet in salt, canning, mealing with or
without subsequent compression, and so forth, are

* A Government cannery is now (1914) in successful operation.

24

practically unknown, though most of them could be
readily carried out without expensive plant, and a food
product, superior in quality, wholesomeness, and keep-
ing power, could be distributed widely throughout this
and other countries.

23. An account of the curing process will display its

weak points and indicate the open-
Detailed account of • ^. r^ •_„ „ ^ ^■- -t^i r 1

present curing methods. i^Rs for improvements.- The fish

belonging to each curer are gutted
(and, unless sardines or mackerel, split, and scored with
deep cuts if the flesh is thick) with fair rapidity but
with little or often no shelter from the sun, which is
usually high. The gutted fish are then placed in
baskets, washed in the sea, and conveyed to the curing
yard ; frequently the baskets are delayed until a con-
siderable consignment is ready for entry. The baskets
are then weighed and passed in with the order for salt
in the j^roportion usually of i to 7 for large and i to 8
for small fish ; after the salt has been issued out of
store the fish are taken to the carer's shed and placed
in a trough which is usually a small canoe or of that
shape : a rough layer of the fish is then laid in the
bottom of the canoe and sprinkled with its modicum of
salt followed by successive layers and portions of salt
till the whole is used up ; the salt is in coarse crystals
and not in powder. This may take place any time in
the day, but usually at or after noon as the boats seldom
come to shore before 10 a.m. Assuming it to be Monday
afternoon, the fish, remain in the salting trough till
about 8 A.M. on Tuesday when they are taken out for
drying ; in the best yards they are then washed in clean
sea- water from the dirty brine and foul matter adhering
to them, but this is not generally done on the West
Coast. The fish are then placed in the open sun, either
on the sand or on mats, and left till sunset when they
are gathered up and covered with mats ; on Wednesday
morning they are again spread out in the sun and, if
small fish, are sent out of the yard in the afternoon ; if
large, they are again heaped for the night, further dried
on Thursday and issued on that afternoon ; it is usual to
expose fish intended for export, to further drying for

* The excessive exposure, careless treatment, and undue handling which the
fish undergo from the moment of capture till they reach the gutter, should also
have been mentioned.

25

several days outside the yard. On the average, fish
which weigh 50 lb. fresh, weigh 30 lb. when sent out
of the yard, i.e., their weight is diminished by 40 per.
cent. ; small fish show a somewhat larger and large fish
somewhat smaller dryage.

24. It will be seen that there are several radical
faults in the process. In the first
J{^%^^''" " P^ace, the fish should as far as possi-
ble be sheltered from the sun especi-
ally in the gutting process before transmission to the
yard ; at present this is but slightly the case. Secondly,
transmission to the salting shed should be rapid whereas
it is often dilatory ; sometimes the delay is due to an
attempt to sell it first as fresh fish ; sometimes it has to
wait the making up of the fisherman's consignment ;
I have seen it waiting for hours in heaps and baskets.
Thirdly, the salting is imperfect; the amount used (12^
to 14 per cent.) is small as compared w-ith that used
in countries wdiich are colder and in more advanced
processes such as the "tamarind-fish " of Cochin or the
Ratnagiri method at Malpe ; the salt being in coarse
crystals instead of powder cannot be thoroughly rubbed
into the tissues and penetrates slowdy; the shape of the
canoe permits the brine to drain away from the fish
unless, which seldom happens, the canoe is full of fish,
so that the top layers, at all events do not soak in brine
but are left comparatively dry and therefore more open
to putrefaction ; only the bottom layers are well oft being
better protected from the air, while by the weight of
the upper layers the salt is forced into the tissues and
the strong brine floatino^ at the bottom of the canoe
soaks into them ; the duration of salting, from 1 2 to 20
hours at the utmost, is insufficient for the salt thoroughly
to penetrate the flesh especially when the fish is thick
and firm and the salt very coarse and the entry into the
yard late. Fourthly, the fish when taken out of the
brine is foul with various matters and washing is very
necessary ; this is frequently omitted from sheer dis-
inclination to take the trouble to fetch the sea-water ;
the dried product is consequently dirty and dis-
coloured while the foul matter tends to more ready
decomposition. Fifthly, drying is slow, discontinuous and
imperfect so that the putrefactive process is continuous
alniost throughout. The danger and even progress of

^6

putrefaction does not cease till the fish is stone-dry ;

hence, in a tropical climate where decomposition is

extremely rapid and persistent, desiccation should be as

rapid, continuous, and complete as possible. Now, as

at present conducted, it is not rapid ; the sun may be

powerful but its effect is discounted by the atmosphere

which is always moist to some and often to a large

degree ; the fiercer heat only obtains between, say,

lo A.M. and 4 p.m., and is moderate during the other

hours of daylight ; at best, the temperature of the rays,

say, from lOo" to 145"^ F. according to the season and

the time of the day, is insufficient to rapidly dry a very

watery article such as fish direct and undrained from

the salting trough. Moreover the heat is seriously

discontinuous, since from 6 p.m. to 7 or 8 a.m., the sun

is not available ; consequently, since the putrefactive

process continues so long as the fish is moist (for the

salt at best merely delays putrefaction when once the

fish is removed from the salting trough) this process

continues during the first day, proceeds during the long

night, and is only stopped when the article is thoroughly

dry, i.e., not till the end of the second or third day of

drying. In fact, since fish contains from 75 to 80 per

cent, by weight of water in its tissues and has lost only

40 per cent, on leaving the yard, it is clear that the

putrefactive process must have been acting, though

perhaps slightly, throughout the curing operations, and

must continue subsequently if no further precautions are

taken ; probably no amount of mere sun-drying affords

such desiccation as is a complete precaution in the tropics.

25. In my final reports * existing methods will be

detailed which enable salting to be

Improvements suggested carried out more quickly and effect-
or possible. .1 1 1 ^"^ 1 .

ively and subsequent desiccation
more thoroughly but there is no reason why the present
practice should not, at an early date, be quickened as well
as varied. The drying grounds might be made more
effective if formed into barbecues and it vvould not be
difficult to combine solar and artificial heat so that drying
might be not only more rapid but even, and continuous
through the night. The several smoking processes not
only smoke and flavour, but rapidly dry and preserve fish,

* Bulletin III (Preservation and cure of fish) deals more fully with fish curing ;
a revised edition is now (1915) under preparation.

'17

wood smoke, containing- creasote, etc., being consider-
ably anticeptic ; the critical stage, in fact, is practically
passed, at least temporarily, as soon as the fish is fairly
in the smoke kiln ; for such smoking, paddy husk and
various woods are fairly cheap and abundant, and on the
sandy shores casuarina (and other fuel timbers) can be
readily grown, as at Mangalore for the pottery kilns and
other purposes. The wet process in which the fish is
kept continuously in salt in closed barrels until consumed,
at once removes the fish from danoer for a time sufficient
to permit of transport and leisurely sale : indeed the
"tamarind-fish" is said to keep good for many months
if not indefinitely. As for canning, which the French
manufacturer has begun, danger of putrefaction ceases
from the moment the fish are placed in the boiling oil or
under steam or in the chloride of calcium bath. The
method of reduction of the fish to meal with rapid artifi-
cial desiccation and with or without subsequent compres-
sion into hard cakes, may be too expensive and elaborate
for present adoption, but cod-fish meal is a regular item
on the American market and dried fish, powdered and
compressed, formed, it is believed, the basis of the
Japanese war ration,

26. Just as the catching process is primitive, insuffici-

ently effective, restricted in area,
Catching and curing a ^j^j slow in communications, so the

like need modernishing. , • 1 • i

subsequent curmg process which,
in a tropical country of vast distances and in the absence
of rapid internal communications refrigeration, and orga-
nisation, must supply the inland trade, is primitive, slow,
ineffective and undiversified, and it should be modernised
and improved by the aid of science, knowledge and
capital, if the product is to be thoroughly wholesome
and widely marketable. Even in non-tropical countries
and regions every effect that can be devised is made to
secure rapidity, the culmination perhaps being reached
in the cannino- factories of British Columbia where 20
minutes suffice to pass salmon from the wharf through
the cleaning, cutting up, and tinning rooms to the steam
bath.

27. Among the complaints made by curers are several

which bear materially on the curing
Complaints by curers— of fish. The first is the rule that

no fish can be brought into the yard

2^

after lO p.m. It not infrequently happens that shoals
appear suddenly and continue within catching distance
for many hours ; in such cases, if the rule is strictly
observed, it is useless to catch fish much after sun-set
since they cannot be cleaned and brought to the yard
before lo p.m. ; consequently, the fishermen lose oppor-
tunities of large profits. Several cases were mentioned
to me in which the rule worked hardship, one very serious
instance, in 1904, being a case where it is said that fish
worth Rs. 8,000 were brought to the yard after 10 p.m.
and being refused were irretrievably lost. Such cases
may not be common but are both possible and, from the
manner in A'hich shoals of sardines and mackerel appear,
probable ; and it is reported that one chief source or cause
of " mamuls " (bribes, presents, or illegal gains) is the
necessity of getting valuable catches into the yard after
regulation hours. It may not be possible, even at the
largest yards, to provide duplicate establishments during
the shoaling seasons, but several curers expressed their
willingness to pay " overtime " on necessary occasions.
A rule which would make the hard-and-fast 10 p.m. rule
more elastic and legitimize payments for overtime, would
ipso facto do away with this source of " mamuls. "

28. Another complaint was that the curers were not

allowed to take the fish from the

fi,f,1„ ■ttL'a'r.J^sairiri: saWng trough to the sea for the

purpose of cleaning it from the foul
brine and matter which cover it ; at Tellicherry the
curers employed labour to bring sea water to the yard,
but the washing thus effected is not nearly so thorough
as v/hen the fish are taken in baskets and swunof- for a
few moments in the open sea. In many other yards the
processof washing is wholly omitted although, as pointed
out by the Tellicherry people, the absence of washing
makes a difference of perhaps 10 per cent, in the value
of the product. The curers ask for some rule by
which they would be permitted to carry the fish to
the sea, usually not many yards distant, and wash it
there.

29. A third complaint is in Malabar only, viz., that
, , ^ f . the salt is sold to them at the rate

(3) Dearness ot curing- ^ -^ , ^ ^ ,

yard salt in Malabar ks oi Ke. I per maund and tor not less
compared with South th-^n ono anna (2! seers) at a time,

Canara. i--ii -o i

w^hereas their neiehbours in South

29

Canara get it at As. 6-8 per maund and can buy even
a single seer at the price of two pies. To take one
instance of the result of this difterence ; if a man in
South Canara has 32 seers of mackerel which require
four seers of salt (at the usual rate of i to 8), he obtains
exactly those four seers at a cost of eight pies ; if how-
ever a Malabar man has the same quantity of fish he
must buy at least five seers at a cost of two annas and
he is then tempted to smuggle the surplus seer. This
difference in price acts as a considerable handicap upon
the Malabar curer and the rule might, I consider, be
modified. The history of the As. 6-8 rate in South
Canara is sfiven bv Dr. Thurston in his Bulletin, but
I am not aware that any pledge has been given that
this rate should not be raised, and it would seem more
equitable if the rates were equalised in both districts, as
for instance, by making the price As. 10 per maund, i.e.,
one seer for three pies.

30. One source of delay, especially when delay is

most to be avoided, viz., on the
Suggested general use of occasion of heavy catchcs of sardi-

gauged baskets. 11/1

nes and mackerel (the latter a
notoriously putrescible fish), can be lessened by the
general adoption of gauged (r or \\ maund) baskets.
When such baskets are not used every consignment has
to be weighed on entry into the yard since the baskets
are irregular in size and the salt required therefore
varies ; this causes delay to the curers and trouble to
the yard officer ; if, however, each basket w^as so made
as to hold just i or i^ maunds of small fish they could
be passed rapidly into the yard by mere counting. Not
only so but the fishermen themselves would then sell
their catches to the curers by baskets instead of by-
count ; at Tanur these baskets are actually (very
recently) in use, and sitting on the beach I noticed that
the sales to the curers were made simply by the basket ;
there was neither counting nor weighing so that much
time and handling at a critical period were saved. Prob-
ably baskets are only useful for small fish, but these are
iust the shoalinof fishes which cause rushes at the vards.

■J ^ "^ -^

31. The time element, or the speed with which fish
., r , , , r can be secured ao-ainst taint, in the

Necessity for vet lack of . 1 -i r 1

rapidity of operation in trOpiCS, wlllle OnC OI the mOSt

tropical climate. important is, at the same time, one

30

of the most difficult to deal with. Here where the
great heat demands extreme rapidity we are con-
fronted and baffled at once by the slowness of every
kind of operation from catching to curing, and by the
absence or prohibitive dearness of all sorts of preserv-
atives and preservative processes, such as, live wells or
chests, salt, refrigeration, etc. The large fishing boat
with well, salt, ice or cold storage, the speedy steam or
motor carrier from the fishing boats to shore, the rapidity
of manipulation, transport, etc., on shore, necessary
even in a temperate climate or cold weather, are precisely
the aids which are lacking in this tropical and backward
country, yet are essential, at least in some degree, if the
industry is to be developed as a great source of food
and wealth. There are, on the West Coast, just the
germs of some such development, the comparatively
large Ratnagiri boats buy a little bazaar salt and partly
cure their catches at sea, small canoe carriers belono--
ing to dealers, go out, buy from the fishermen at sea
and bring to shore, the canning of sardines has at least
begun, and merchants have enquired as to methods and
possibilities both as regards canning and other curing
processes. But there are no signs of organised, clear-
sighted, resourceful effort on modern lines ; power is
not employed ; speed is hardly thought of, cheap salt as
supplied to the curing yards is not available in the boats
for the instant commencement of curino- ; refrio-eration is
undreamed of though not impossible, at least on shore,
since ice can be made even in the tropics, at from Rs. 15
to Rs. 20 per ton according to the size of the machine ;
live wells are not attempted, the boats being small,
though even in the Minicoys fish fry, intended for live
bait, are abundantly stored, till wanted, in fine-meshed
receptacles of large size moored in the lagoons.
Improvement, however, needs Icnowledge, enterprise,
capital. Knowledge, first, and of this there is at
present almost a total lack ; no process save the
ancient method of sun-drying seems even to be
dreamed of, Enterpj-ise next, and this seems lacking
in the development of the fishing industry as an organis-
ed business, from the obtaining of the raw material to
the finishirg of a superior product, though abundant
enterprise in other lines is shown on the West Coast by
European, Hindu, Mahomedan and Jew. Capital, and

31

waters
merits

this is certainly available in several centres both on the
West and East Coasts, but is not applied for lack perhaps
of knowledge. It is hoped that at least one result of this
investigation will be to stimulate and facilitate new and
more rapid processes, not only by supplying in my final
reports full working details of apparatus and processes
from the fishinq- boat to the marketino- of the o-oods,
together with estimates of cost, but by indicating the
places where the knowledge and plant necessary can be
obtained or bought by practical men.

32. So far as I have been able to see, the coast in

general, save for slight exceptions,
Fitness of West Coast jg admirably adapted physically for

iters for modern develop- , , ^ , ^ ^ ^ ■'

;nts. modern developments. 1 he bot-

tom appears to slope gradually to
the 30-fathom limit, thence more steeply too 10 fathoms,
after which there is a precipitous fall. But within this
lOO-fathom limit, which may also be taken as the trawl-
ing limit, there are perhaps 17,000 square miles in a
strip of sea averaging perhaps 40 miles in breadth,
nearly the whole of which has a smooth, undulating
bottom, usually of sand, mud, or ooze ; there seems little
to hinder a trawling net especially of the otter pattern.
The weather again is far better than in British waters ;
for 8 months, October to May, there is seldom anything
but fine weather ; the general direction and force of the
wind are known, and it is possible for months together
to count with certainty on good weather and on parti-
cular winds ; for months together boats may go regularly
to sea in the early morning with a strong landbreeze and
return in the afternoon with the seabrceze without fear
of either calm or storm. It is this regularity and certainty
of weather which contracts so strongly and so favourably
with the uncertainties, with the bewildering, violent, and
dangerous changes of British or other Western weather,
while the climate is, so far as the workers are con-
cerned, far more favourable than that of the winter in
the North Sea or on the New-foundland bank or even
in British waters ; even the sea is generally calm as
contrasted with the Atlantic, the Bay of Biscay, the
Adriatic, or the North Sea. Without the above advant-
ages, indeed, it would be impossible to risk even short
deep-sea voyages in the crank canoes which are practi-
cally the only boats in use. Hence for fishing other

32

than trawling, boats ordinarily sea-worthy could readily
venture and stay out far beyond the lOO-fathom limit to
which the trawlers would be restricted. Even in the
south-west monsoon there are many weeks in which
fishing is not only possible but practised, especially where
mudbanks are found as near Cochin, and though waves
may at such times be high yet the weather is seldom
stormy. As regards ports and harbours, the coast is
not well provided for really large craft, since where har-
bours or backwaters exist there is usually a shallow bar ;
but during the fair season, large fishing smacks could,
like the coasting boats (pattamars), lie out in the open
with perfect safety, while in the monsoon such boats
would lie up in harbours such as Cochin, Mangalore,
etc., venturing out whenever the sea is practicable ;
where there are mudbanks there is less difficulty. On
the whole, I consider, that these West Coast waters are
admirably adapted physically for the development of
fishing.

33. One circumstance indeed seems unfortunate ; the

shore and bottom of sand, mud,

Apparent and regrettable q^q^ ^ appear tO CaSUal iuspCCtion
absence of seaweed. . 11 ■■ • 1 c .11

smgularly devoid ot vegetable
growth so important biologically, as shelters and
sources of fish food, as well as economically ; so far as I
have seen, there is, speaking generally and in the absence
of submarine investigation by dredging, etc., no such
valuable growths in these seas except in the compara-
tively restricted area of reefs and rocks. In Japan the
seaweed industry, besides its vast biological importance,
yields products worth some 60 lakhs per annum exclu-
sive of the large amount consumed by the 900,000
families of fishermen ; food, vegetable isinglass, iodine,
manure are largely obtained from Japanese algse. The
subject is of such importance th.it it will be closely
examined herealter.

34. Again, while the south-west monsoon does not

wholly stop fishing, it forms practi-
Close season afioraed ^^^|| ^ ^j^,.^ season of four montlis

by south west monsoon ; . , t i i i-

durmg which hsh are but slightly dis-
turbed by man. The importance of this is obvious ; for
instance, the sardine and mackerel — the great shoaling
fishes of the West Coast — spawn in June and July, i.e., at
the beeinnino- of the monsoon ; according to the fishermen

33

men they are full of ripe roe and milt in those months,
are found empty in succeeding" months, and have grown
fat by the lime the shcals appear in November. Hence,
so far as man is concerned, fish and their young are but
slightly disturbed during several very important months.

35, But the great enemies of fish in these seas are

not man but the variety and enormous
prfcTaS-us ^L'^""^^'^' number of predaceous fish ; to take

but one instance, the number of sharks
of all sizes from 18 inches up to a recently recorded
monster of 28 feet is incredible and their appetite insati-
able ; with them breeding seems continuous, and with
from 4 to 8 at a birth the breed is necessarily vasrly
numerous ; few catches are devoid of sharks of small size,
and larger ones are commonly taken. The predatory
efforts of man are at present puny besides the ravages of
this tribe alone ; fortunately they are of considerable
food and industrial value as the flesh is largely dried
and eaten, while the dried fins are exported to the
Straits and China in large quantities, the value being in
the case of the best " white " fins as much as Rs. 30 to
40 per maund of 30 lbs. It may be found necessary to
wage special war against these predatory tribes just as
in the West it is now being found necessary to wage
war ao-ainst the destructive door-fishes of those waters.

36. It is curious that while the hilsa {^Clupea ilisha)
Possibility of trans- ^^ found abundantly on the East Coast

planting the hilsa to from Tanjore to Calcutta and con-
west Coast waters. ^j^^^^ to attempt the asccnt of the

Madras rivers notwithstanding the barriers of the anicuts,
it is not even known on the West Coast where there
are numerous rivers absolutely open to their ascent and
probably better supplied with water ; on the other hand,
the sardines [Clupea longiceps and Chipca fiinbriata)
though so abundant on the West Coast do not seem to
shoal so largely on the East Coast though they appear
in some quantity and seasonal regularity on the coasts
of Vizagapatam and Ganjam districts. It will be an
interesting problem in pisciculture whether the hilsa can
be successfully transplanted to the West Coast,* as the
shad {Clitpea sapidissima) and the bass were transferred

* One attempt has been made with slight success by Mr H. C. Wilson, Fiscicul-
turai expert in the Fisheries Depa,rtment ; other attempts will shortly follow.

3

34

from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; it is believed that hiisi
once hatched in a river return there or to the neigh-
bourhood to spawn, so that successful transplantation to
one or two rivers might populate all of them and the
neighbouring sea, as the transplanted shad and bass have
populated the Pacific coast.

'})']. The relations of capital to labour are very various

Capital and labour: with curious but readily intelligible

instances of their reia- effccts on the industry. In places,

e.g., Tellicherry, it may be found that
the great bulk of fishermen are under the control of the
curers who either own the boats or have control over
the owners under the advance system ; the curers may
be considerable capitalists, and in one curing yard two
persons owned or controlled about two-thirds of the
boats. In such cases the fishermen are usually bound
to bring direct to the curers the whole of their catches
and cannot sell them to others, so that the curers are
sure of a continuous supply of fish, large or small accord-
ing to the chances of the sea ; they do not require to
go to the beach and chafi"er with the fishermen or com-
pete with other buyers. Here we have capital directly
employing labour and the labourers are practically bound
to the capitalist. In other places, e.g., Tanur, the contrary
may be the case ; here most fishermen own their boats ;
they may indeed be somewhat in debt to money-lenders
but they are seldom, if ever, under the control of the
curers or dealers, and they sell their catches on the
beach to the highest bidder ; conversely the curers have
no certainty of supply of fish but are obliged to buy in
open market ; this independence of the fishermen and
this freedom of sale is an attractive feature and conso-
nant with our ideas of independence and the open
market. But the results, even on the existing fish trade,
of these two systems (there are other systems and rela-
tions which will be mentioned in the final report) are
remarkable. Tellicherry dried fish is the best on the
market ; it is not unpleasant to smell or taste, it bears
a good price, and is exported in immense quantities
to Ceylon where bad fish is refused ; Tanur dried fish
is malodorous and poor in quality and goes wholly to
inland markets. One cause appears on enquiry ; at
Tellicherry and the neighbourhood the fish is not
detained on the blazing beach while the fishermen are

35

waiting for the highest bids ; it goes direct to the curers
and to the curing yard ; in Tanur, on the other hand,
there is, to my own knowledge, frequently considerable
delay caused by the usual and lengthy higgling which,
at high noon, adds to any existing suspicion of taint ;
fish once tainted, of course retains the taint and the
product is of low quality and, probably as unwhole-
some as it is malodorous ; anyhow, it is not found
good enough for Ceylon but only for dumping in our
own villages. Moreover when prices asked are too
high, curers frequently decline to buy at all, so that
the fishermen have to do the best thev can with their
catches, and large quantities are simply dried on the
beach. Again, at Tellicherry all fish is dried for either
two or three days in the curing yard and is then dried
privately for several days more outside ; the curers
being men of substance and able to lock up part of their
capital, for some days or weeks, produce a thoroughly
cured and dried article which bears a good price and
finds a good foreign market. In Tanur the very first
"grievance " stated by the curers was that the retention
in the yards is unduly long, and curers wanted the fish
to be issued in one or at most two days. Now the
reason for this extraordinary request is based upon the
necessities of the independent system ; the curers being
small men of no capital are obliged, in order to buy
further supplies of fresh fish, to recoup themselves in
funds by selling their " cured " goods as soon as
possible, while by selling them half-dried they think they
obtain an advantage in weight since the goods are st'll
damp ; consequently these hastily cured and badly dried
goods are sold off with all speed to the inland traders.
It will be seen then that the independence of the small
owner at Tanur is not necessarily to the benefit either
of the fishermen or of the curers or of the industry ; the
curers not being sure of a continuous supply of fish will
not put capital into the business ; the result of want of
capital and of petty business is an inferior article of
food and trade ; and not only does such inferior article
fetch a small price and return smaller profits both to
curers and fishermen, but the demand for fish is curtailed
and the fishermen's business is cramped. Perhaps tliP
fishermen come off best at Tanur being independent,
but the industry and therefore the general public suffer.

3-A

36

These interesting and important questions will be more
fully investigated and reported on.

2,8. But when the development of fisheries elsewhere

Probable development ^^ viewed historically and its

of West Coast fishing in- economic coiiditions considered

dustrv, viz., from the „^r 11 ■- • ^1 ^

independent fisherman and caretully, it IS Seen that progress
small boat to the capitalist has been and, in the present form

and labourer. „r ' •^• ^' . 1 r ^^

01 Civilisation, must be, from the
independent fisherman with a single small boat and petty
local trade to the capitalist-employer with his Beet of
large boats and his wages-paid crews ; and it will be so
in this country, the more so that the actual sea-faring
fishing population is, in India, born and not made ; if
not a caste, it carries on a business into which only
certain castes or races will enter, and it will dy itself
never provide the essentials of development, namely,
knowledge, enterprise and capital. These people are all
poor, ignorant and personally wanting both in the capital
and in the business capacity and initiative necessary for
a real exploitation of the harvest of the sea ; the boats,
gear, curing houses, trade organisation necessary to give
proper efficiency to the men and development to the
industry, can only be provided by large capital and
business brains ; if the seas are to be worked properly,
if cheap and good food and manure are to be distributed
over the country, then large, well-found boats possibly
aided by power, modern gear, swift carriers, cheap
preservatives, clean, rapid and varying curing processes,
concentration and economical methods, utilisation of by-
products, carefully arranged transport, organised business
ramifications, must take the place of the present
primitive haphazard methods ; the independent boatman
with his catamaran or canoe, the petty individual
curer with his pinch of capital and half a dozen
baskets of fish, the small market dealer or buyer, the
fresh-fish runner, will, if they do not altogether dis-
appear, take a new and perhaps individually inferior
place as the employes of capital. In this country the
difficulty or shock of transition will be slight ; the
indigenous industry is not that still to be found in England
and Scotland where some of the finest men of the
kingdom, thrifty, shrewd, fairly educated, hardened in
fibre and highly skilled by toil and danger, owning their
own somewhat costly smacks and gear, independent

beyond most men both by reason of status and occupation,
are rapidly giving way to the Company and the Syndicate.
The Madras fisherman, though in a way skilful and
fairly hard-working, cannot compare with his British
confrere in status, fibre, or position, and any change in
his status will scarcely be felt by himself and not at all,
except in the way of progress, by the industry or by the
country. The process has already begun in Tellicherry
and other places, and the coast railway now open to
Cannanore, and shortly to reach Mangalore, supplies
cheap and rapid communication which is one of the
essentials, but hitherto a missing factor, of the organi-
zation of the industry ; the railways have largely made
Grimsby and other great fishing centres with their
splendid tieets and organised fishing industry, and the
Madras Railway will be the making of the West Coast
fishing and curing yards when capital and business enter-
prise have joined with it en triplice.

39. A very gieat industry is now opening to enter-
prise. The primary opportunity for such an opening
was given by the grant in the fish-curing yards of cheap
salt at a cost, includino- cost of manufacture and carri-
age, of only As. 6-8 in South Canara, and Re. i in
Malabar per maund of 82 lb. The opening of these
yards and the consequent lifting, in no small degree, of
the orrave burden of the salt tax, is primarily due to
Dr. Day whose report of 1873 insisted on the necessity
for providing cheap salt to the curers if both the fisher-
men who catch and the trade which cures and distributes,
were to find a market, and if the public were to be pro-
vided with cheap and wholesome food. His proposal
that enclosures for curing might be provided in which
salt should be supplied at rates just remunerative to
Government was accepted, notwithstanding the objec-
tions which were imagined, and these enclosures are the
present fish-curing yards. I do not think that the debt
of the Presidency to Dr. Day for his advocacy of this
reform has been fully recognized, though obvious to
observers of present activities. If a rule regarding the
use of cheap salt in boats, as suggested in paragraph 15
supra, can be devised, another step will have been taken
towards the development of the whole trade.

To this reform has now been added an improvement
in communications such as Dr. Day could hardly have

38

imagined, and with these and with refrigerative and pre-
servative methods introduced, cheapened and improved
by modern science, there is opened up an early possi-
biHty of new, wholesome and cheap food supplies for the
million and of vast markets for the industry. As was
originally said of Novo Scotia forty years ago, fish could
be had for a song, and money could have been made in
piles by any one with a knowledge of curing, had there
been any means of communicating with the great mar-
kets of the world. Such an opportunity appears to me
to be opening up for the Indian fish trade especially on
the West Coast.

40. These are few and of slight industrial import-
ance. Fish oils, for instance, seem

by-products; oils. • 11 t 1

practically to have disappeared
from the export market though I find it asserted in books
that as much as 150,000 cwt. of sardine oils were occa-
sionally exported in a single year from Cochin alone,
besides other oils such as " shark " and '' Malabar " oils,
while the average annual exports of all animal oils from
the whole Presidency in the three years ending 1904-
.1905 was only 7,270 gallons, most of which went to
Turkey in Asia. The reason for this disappearance is
under enquiry, but it is possible that former enquiries
did not sufficiently distinguish between vegetable and
fish oils and that the exports of the latter, though con-
siderable, were unintentionally exaggerated. If the
former figures were correct it can only be said that a
great industry and trade have been lost and should be
recovered, since the fish, always irregular in appearance
even in those days, are probably just as abundant as
then, while better plant and organization should secure
more continuous supplies and modern knowledge should
manufacture a better article. Probably the malodorous,
badly prepared product could not compete with the
better class of oils of other countries, while mineral oils
are known to have ousted much of it from use ; even on
the West Coast itself, mineral oil is already mixed with
fish oils for caulkino- and smearing boats, and an ao^ent
for thick Rangoon oil has recently been preaching its
superiority to the boatmen. The fish oils, as seen, are
disgusting in odour and wretched in appearance ; the
only method which I could find in actual use for the
preparation of the shark and sardine oil was the exposure

39

of the shark liver, or refuse sardines and their offal, to
decomposition in pots or vessels ; three pots of shark
liver yield one pot of oil ; the resulting oil is skimmed
off, while the decomposed (sardine) " scrap " is used as
manure for tobacco and cocoanut trees, and provides a
smell which in sickening and penetrative capacity sur-
passes all that I have known in a wide experience of
smells. The business should be worth revival ; if oil
were properly prepared, not only should it find a good
market but the " scrap " will then form a valuable manure
especially in conjunction with the offal and bones which
are now thrown away and in many places render the
shore and sea margin noisome with decaying matter.*
On the Bombay and Sind coasts it appears that various
classes of very large sharks, saw-fish, and oil-bearing
skates are extensively caught for the sake of their oil
which, curiously enough, is or was classed in trade as
" Malabar " oil ; the vast abundance of sharks, though of
small size, on the West Coast should prove a great
source of fish oil. In passing, it may be noted that no
use is made of crocodile oil though the Indian crocodile
is said to yield large quantities, and is greatly in evidence
as a devourer of fish and otherwise in the West Coast
backwaters. Similarly the porpoise is seldom caught, at
least intentionally, though very abundant ; I saw three
only, which had been taken in so flimsy a net as a
mackerel net ; the porpoise had struck this in their career,
entangled themselves at first, and then in a flurry had
absolutely tied themselves up in it. The flesh of the
porpoise is eaten though not readily, but oil is not
extracted and the use and value of the hide are unknown.
41. Manure is only prepared, as stated above, in the

crudest of ways, and vast quantities
of oft'al (guts and heads) are thrown
away ; it is difficult to utilize stuft" which, though bulking
large in the aggregate, is of no great quantity daily, and
is spread over a long line of coast ; the fishermen not
being agriculturists seldom apply it themselves and the
ryots do not often go to the trouble of fetching it away.
Manure as an article of regular manufacture awaits the

* The method of boiling the fish, removing the oil by skimming and pressing
and the drying of the " scrap " as manure (fish guano) was introduced in 190S
with the result that in IQ14 there were 211 small private factories stretched in a
chain along the coasts of Malabar and 3outh Canara, in which this improved
process is carried out.

4o

concentration of fish in definite centres of large catching
and curing business. The sardine manure business is
an exception, but is intermittent ; when catches are so
abundant that they cannot be sold fresh or cured in the
yards, they are simply rough-dried on the beach all along
the coast and are then sent, if the distance is not too
great, to a Calicut firm which further dries and deals
with the stuff; there is no continuous regular manu-
facture from fish refuse, such as offal, "scrap" from
which oil has been extracted, fish bones, etc., simply be-
cause there is and at present can be no concentration of
catchino- and curing. When sardines and mackerel are
superabundant and too distant to pay for despatch to
Calicut, they are, it is said, often left to rot uselessly on
the beach.

42. A singular economy was noticed in the use of
Use found for cat-fish cat-fish (Arius) heads which, in

heads and entrails. several places, after the fish have

been split and headed for curing, are sold to the local
toddyshop keepers, who cook them with condiments and
supply them with toddy to customers ; presumably the
strongly spiced article gives thirst or zest, like anchovies
for claret or caviare for vodka.

A peculiarity in food was also noticed, viz., in the
use of cat-fish entrails as food by the poorer classes ;
these were being sold at one pie per basket and were to
be boiled with salt and chillies. No other entrails
appear to be so used and the reason for this selection is
unknown. The mere fact, however, and the price, and
the class of people purchasing these entrails, are indica-
tive either of great poverty or of gastronomic indifference,
especially in a region where fish is so abundant and
cheap. Possibly, however, the livers, forming a con-
siderable part of the entrails, are very nutritious ; in the
Shetlands cods' heads boiled with the livers in the mouth,
boned, spiced, and minced, form the well-known and very
nutritious and tasty " stap " ; cod liver oil is thus (it is
said) made actually enjoyable.

43. The trade in isinglass in the shape of " fish-
maws " (air-bladders of cat-fish, etc.), and shark-fins, is
brisk as usual ; beche-de-mer is not found on this coast.

41

APPENDIX.

QUESTIONS.

I. — General Characteristics of Locality.

(jeneral nature of locality, e.g., open sea, estuary, backwater, etc.,
general fishing area of the locality with general boundaries (distance,
North, South, East and West, or between rocks, or other natural
marks or boundaries, etc.) ; general character of water at various
seasons, e.g., clear or muddy (as in Cannanore) ; source and character
of the " mud " if ascertainable \N.B. — The mud or scum is often of
a non-mineral character and may be really a source of fish food] •
fully. saline or brackish (as near the mouth of great rivers, estuaries
and backwaters) ; temperature at various depths at time of visit
(need not be answered except by Mr. Ramanan); depths up to
twenty miles from land (need not be answered, will be ascertained
from Admiralty charts) ; nature of bottom, e.g., rocky, sandy, muddy
or shelly, etc. ; whether smooth, undulating, or precipitous, whether
bare, or full of weeds and herbage (see Admiralty charts, enquire of
fishermen, Port officers, etc.) ; direction of winds, and currents
prevailing at various seasons ; whether generally smooth or rough,
periods of {a) monsoon, {l>) cyclones ; seasons, and whether the
seasons of high wind and sea and of smooth water are fairly regular
and known ; whether liable to sudden storms not connected with
the regular monsoons, if so, whether frequently or only occasionally
or rarely, average number of days in the year when fishing is usual •
whether a port or harbour exists in the locality, if so, whether
accessible to boats {a) up to the size of Phonies, (/;) up to the size ot
ordinary canoes at all times and tides ; whether there is a bar, if so
depth of water at lowest and highest tides ; whether there are other
places of sale anchorage in case of sudden storm in the locality. If
the locality is an estuary or backwater, what is its area, general depths,
distance to which tidal influence extends, connection or connections
with sea ; whether it materially differs in size or salinity of water
at various periods of the year, e.g., at monsoon time when river-fed.

II. — Fishing Population.

Its number, caste or races, intelligence, education, ignorance
and backwardness, etc.

The regularity or otherwise of employment whether arisino- from
seasons or other causes ; the ordinary number of working days in the
year. Subsidiary employment in the fishing and non-fishing seasons
respectively ; such as the carrying of fish inland, boat-makincr,
barrel and box-making for fish, making of new nets, includino-
preparation of cordage, twine, and thread for the same ; the collection
of barks or fruits for barking the nets and lines ; the curing of fish
whether by themselves or by their immediate relatives, wives, children
etc. ; the drying of fish for manure and its supply either direct to
agriculturists or to merchants for the wholesale manure trade •
employment in the transport trade, such as, on passenger or o-oods
boats on the backwaters, loading and unloading of steamers and

42

pattamais; any outside employment such as agricultural labour,
etc. ; the employment of the women and children of the fishermen,
whether in the fishing or allied industries, e.g., curing, or in separate
industries.

Any special mortality whether by accidents at sea or whether by
any special diseases ; general condition of hygiene and health ;
average age, as per census, compared with the general population.

Their general economic condition, whether well-to-do or poor ;
whether they suffer in time of general famine and, if so, how ;
indebtedness, possession of property, whether lands or houses, or
boats and nets, etc. ^^'hat proportion own boats including catamarans,
canoes and dhonies ; how they obtained these boats, e.g., whether by
saving and purchase, or whether by advances ; if by advances, on
what terms ; how they work when they do not possess boats of their
own ; what are their modes of hiring or leasing boats includmg
systems of sharing the catches ; what are the usual shares {a) to
boat or net-owners or master-fishermen, (/-) to the individuals of the
crew ; where fishermen do not own cr hire the boats, under what
condition do they fish, e.g., as paid labourers ; if so, how are they paid,
whether by shares or by money payment and if so, at what rates.

Who are the usual persons who lend the boats or advance
money to the fishermen ; are they master fishermen such as
"Jati Thalavans ", " VJarakayars," etc., or are they fish-curers
and fish merchants and traders, or are they ordinary money lenders ;
what are the position and influence over the fishermen, of such
persons ; what is the rate of interest paid on money lent to fishermen ;
how are the accounts settled between the lenders and the fishermen ,
are advances given for other purposes than boats, nets and maintenance
during non-fishing seasons and if so, for what ; are the fishermen
generally in debt and if so, under the greater or less control of the
above class of creditors. [JV.B. — The questions as to "Boats ' should
include boats, nets and all fishing gear.]

How many fishing boats are there in the locality ; how many
large, how many small ; how many are owned by or under the control
of the ticket-holders of the fish curing yard and regularly, bring fish
to such ticket-holders ? Have the number increased in the last ten
years; is boat-building going on; [N.B. — The words "large" and
"small " have different meanings in different localities ; in one place
" large " will mean dhonies and "small" will be canoes or cata-
marans ; in other places where only canoes are used, " large "
will mean large canoes costing Rs. 200 and upwards, and " small "
will be those costing less ; hence persons answering the question
should state the local meaning.] State for each ticket-holder the
number of (a) large {l>) small boats owned by him or under his control.
(One object of this last question is to ascertain who locally controls
the fishing, e.g., in one large yard it was found that two Moplah
ticket-holders owned or directly controlled under the advance system
46 and 52 boats respectively, which was more than all the other
Moplahs and Mukkavans together.)

The possibility of Government loans to fishermen, for the purchase
of boats, etc.; whether it would be acceptable to the fishermen,
whether it would meet with opposition from those who usually
advance money ; whether there would be risks of Government losing

43

the money by the accidental destruction of boats, nets, etc. ; for how
long such loans should be granted, and for what period (dependent
on the life of boats and nets).

The length of time or periods usually spent by lishermen at sea,
whether in days or hours, by day or by night ; reasons why they do
not spend longer periods at sea, e.g., size of boats, accommodation
in boats, the impossibility of keeping their catches fresh in the boats,
the effect of custom and habit and domesticity in compelling their
daily return ; whether this class of the population is accustomed to
long journeys and absence from home in dhonies and pattamars or
whether such vessels are manned by other classes ; whether these
same classes would object to absence of a week or more at sea in big
fishing boats or vessels ; do these classes supply lascars to ocean-
going ships or steamers ? Length of time ordinarily spent in the
actual daily journevs to and from the fishing grounds especially when
fishing is more than three miles from land.

Do fishermen from other localities in this Presidency or from
other Presidencies or countries frequent this locality ; if so, in what
months; are such persons increasing or decreasing in number; is
their presence objected to by local fishermen ; if not why not ; are
there operations, methods^ fishing grounds, hours of fishing, boats,
nets, etc., the same as those of local men ? if not, how do they difter ?
Why do such persons leave their own homes and come to thtse
localities ? do they come of their own accord or are they induced by
local merchants, curers, etc., e.g., by advances. Do they salt these
goods in the same fashion as local men or differently : if differently,
what is the difference ? Do they take away their salted goods or are
they bound to give over their catches to local merchants. How many
local merchants or curers give advances to such foreign fishermen.
How many such fishermen have come on their own account without
any advances : how do these dispose of their catches.

Have the fishermen any grievances or hardships for which they
ask consideration ; if so, what are they, and what is your opinion ?

HI. — Deep-sea Fishing.

Note. — For the purpose of these ([uestions, deep-sea fishing means fishing beyond
a distance of about half a mile or a little more from the shore so as to exclude .ill
nets used from the shore such as the " Karai-valai " of Pamban and other nets
which are used in small canoes or by wading close to shore. Half a mile is given
as the limit, because the boats which fish beyond half a mile also fisl- up to lo or
12 miles, such as the catamarat:s of the East and South Coasts, the canoes (dug-
outs) of the West Coast, etc.

Ill-shore will mean all fishing from or close to the shore, within about half a
mile.

This note is necessary, because, in ordinary parlance, deep-sea fishing means
fishing beyond, at least the three miles territorial limit.

Boats. — Si'ze (length, breadth and depth), tonnage, rig, cost,
duration, timber used, decked and undecked, accommodation, ability
to keep the sea in roughish weather, nimiber of crew, whether any
small boat provision, seasons when used, usual fishing grounds and
their distance from shore ; the number and classes of nets and lines
usually taken out on one occasion ; duration of voyages ; gear, if any,
for supplementing, or in substitution of, manual labour. How are
large boats of lo tons and upwards (dhonies, pattamars, etc.) moored,

&

44

and where, during the chief monsoon on each coast ? Are they hauled
up on the beach ; and if 50, how ? or, are they moored off-shore ; or,
are they brought into harbours or backwaters ?

Nets. — Name, description with illustration, material, size (length,
breadth and depth), cost, modes of manufacturing (e.g., whether made
by fishermen or families or by machinery, whether in small pieces
joined together or large pieces), barking (including material, bark,
fruits, resins such as catechu, etc., used for barking, number of bark-
ings required and so forth), size of mesh (including the several sizes
of meshes used in a single net, as for instance in the " Odam " or
Mari) and the thickness of cordage used for various classes of fish ;
for what fish each class of net and size of mesh are usually used ;
mode of using each net — e.g., whether by one boat or two, whether by
simply dipping in the sea and raising as the " Odam " or by
perpendicular suspension with flotes (and weights), such as the
Tattu-vala and Ayiburlei ; whether they reach to the bottonij or are
used in midwater or near the surface ; in what way are the fish caught
in the net, e.g., whether by enmeshing, where head, gills, or body up
to che pectoral or dorsal fins are caught in the mesh (as in the Tattu-
vala and Ayiburlei), or by simple enclosure (as in the " Odam ") or
by enclosure in the bag (as in the " Kolli ") ; whether the net are
stationary nets or are dragged along in the sea ; whether any method
of frightening the fish into the net, such as the " Tattu-vala " of the
West Coast is used, or of attracting them by light or torches or other
means ; any objections raised by fisherman to the use of any nets •
whether fishermen usually own or have at their disposal, nets of
several classes, or whether each own only one sort of net ; how long
the several nets usually last if properly cared for ; whether the nets
are ever lost or destroyed by accident at sea ; how long the various
classes of nets have been known and used in the locality, whether
from time immemorial or only recently (within a few years, as for
instance, in certain localities on the West Coast) ; if recently, where
did they come from ? What reason is given by the fishermen for the
adoption of new forms of net (e.g., greater success of such nets, greater
demand for fish, etc.). Have the local fishermen ever tried any sorts
of nets other than those they now use ? if so, with what result ? and
why do they not now use them ? Are the fish caught in the nets
usually alive or dead when the nets are taken up ? {No/e. — ^In the
" drift net " or " gill nets " in which fish are caught by the gills in
the meshes, the fish are usually dead from suffocation, especially where
the nets are down for several hours without being examined, as in the
stationary nets put down in the evening and examined in the morning
at Mangalore ; this bears importantly on the question of their fresh-
ness when brought to shore.)

Hooks and lines. — Class of line used, whether the long line with
many hooks suspended horizontally, such as the " Beppu " of 300 or
600 fathoms with hooks at each fathom or the ordinary hand lines ;
number of lines or hooks ordinarily carried by a boat ; their material.
How preserved against spoiling by the sea water, e.g., soaking or
boiling in oil, barking, etc. Size for various fish; mode of use,
whether anchored or moving ; maximum length of lines and maximum
depth at which they are used ; what bait is used ; whether any floats
to regulate the depth of the hooks are used ; what fishes are generally

45

caught by hook and line ; and has the long line, if used, been long
known in the locality ; if not since when ? Is it commonly used by
all fishermen, or only by a few ? In what months and in what
localities and depths are hook and line (especially the long line)
generally used ? Do boats using the long line employ their enforced
leisure while the long line is in the water, by fishing with hand line
from the boat ; if not, why not ?

Bait. — Class of baits used for the various classes of fish ; how and
where procured and cost ; any difficulties in getting baits ; whether
surface bait is used to attract sardines (as in Europe) ; or ground bait ;
whether the fish caught by the long line are usually alive when taken
up or whether they are dead ; whether shell-fish, e.g., mussels, whelks,
coackles, etc., are used as bait ; if not, why not ?

Preservation of Fish. — How are fish kept good until brought to
shore, e.g., when several days caught, as in some Ratnagiri boats, or
whole night or day, as in other boats ; are the fish when brought to
shore fresh enough to be sold as fresh fish or are they somewhat
tending towards tainting or tainted especially in the hot weather ; if
at all tainted, what is done with such fish ? Is any special method
adopted at sea to keep fish untainted or ahve, e.g., sprinkling with
(bazaar) salt, if dead, or keeping the fish alive in a coir bag or net
towed overboard, or in a receptacle or partition of the boat containing
sea water, or in a separate covered small boat containing sea water ;
are fish ever brought alive to shore, by making use of such receptacles,
bags, etc. ; has any such method ever been tried (until ice was
adopted, in England, etc., this was the habitual method used).
Whether boats are employed to run backwards and forwards between
shore and fishing ground to take catches to shore as quickly as
possible and as soon as possible after catching ; whether fish-pur-
chasers, curers, traders, etc., send out boats to purchase fresh fish
direct from the fishermen while still at sea, as on the West Coast.

IV. — In-shore Fishing.

The above questions with the necessary exceptions and changes
apply to in-shore fishing.

V. — Estuary and Backwater Fishing.
Similar questions.

VI. — Produce and Production of Fish.

Complete list in the Vernacular (both vernacular and Roman
characters; spelling and transliteration to h^very carefully done),
English and Latin, when possible, of all fish caught in the locality as
ascertained and identified by careful enquiry or actually seen. Any
duplicate names to be also given, since fish even in the saftie language
are frequently known by more than one name, sometimes according
to locality, age of fish, etc., conversely, different fish having the same
name or generic name to be carefully distinguished, e.g., there are
said to be 14 or more kinds offish all classed as " Yeta " (cat-fish)
of one kind or another, as " Bengadi yeta," " Kalli yeta," " Valia yeta,"
and " Thuri yeta," etc. Description of such fish regarding any matters

46

not found in the text-books. Abundance or rarity to be expressly
noted with seasons of such abundance or rarity.

The usual dates from observation and enquiry (a) of containing
milt or roe {/>) of spawning as judged (i) by the months in which the
ova are found ripe, (2) by the months in which the fish are found
empty (e.g., sardines and mackerel on the West Coast are full of roe
in June and July and empty and fat in October and November) ;
localities of spawning if ascertainable, e.g., whether open sea or in-
shore, whether the ova are pelagic or demersal, adhesive or separate ;
general number cf eggs in the fish, i.e., whether only a few dozen of
large eggs or many thousands of minute eggs ; time occupied between
spawning and hatching (probably this is not yet ascertainable until
experiment can be undertaken) ; any peculiarities of spawning or
hatching as in the cat-fish ; chief food of the fry ; chief enemies of
spawn and fry.

Chief seasons at which the respective fish usually appear or are in
greatest abundance ; any cause for appearance or non-appearance of
fish at such seasons or localities, e.g., appearance of ooze or fish food
in the waters, currents, or winds or changes of temperature ; in the
case of predaceous fish, whether they are following smaller fishes
(e.g., observe contents of stomach) ; any observation tending to show
the direction from which they come, e.g., from open sea to in-shore
direct, or from northward or southward ; whether statistics or evidence
indicate any diminution or increase of catches, whether of particular
species, or of fish in general, on an average of years, e.g., quinquennia
or decades. Is there reason to suspect that shoals visit the coastal
waters every year but are missed by being at some distance from land,
e.g., more than 5 or 7 miles out ? Are fishermen prevented, e.g., by
the small size of their boats, from going out to sea to search for the
missing shoals ? Do they usually do anything more than wait near
the shore (within 3 or 4 miles) in hopes of shoals appearing ?

What are the chief spots or grounds where fish are most abundant ;
what are the chief characteristics of such places ; any assignable
reasons for habitually small catches in various localities as on the
East Coast generally ; for instance, want of demand or market or
means of transport, want of proper boats and appliances, absence of
fish in the sea, shallowness or m.uddiness of water, and so forth.

Quantities caught in the locality as judged {a) from the estimated
quantities used locally or sent inland, {b) by statistics from fish-curing
yards, {c) by estimate of quantities taken as manure (e.g., quantities
sent to large merchants like Peirce Leslie & Co., areas of gardens to
which it is sent, etc.).

The maturity or otherwise of fish caught, especially in in-shore
fisheries, whether fry and immature fish of the chief food species are
largely caught, and, if so, of what sizes ; and in what months or
seasons and in what sort of nets (e.g., the " Karai-valai of Palk's
Straits). {Note. — The fry and young of fish which grow to a good
size must not be confounded with small fish of species which never
grow large.) What are the causes of immature catches, e.g., smallness
of mesh ; whether the catching of such immature fish and fish fry is
intentional or otherwise ; whether the fishermen could be induced to
return to sea, fry or very immature fish caught alive and uninjured, in
nets such as the " Odam."

47

Have any new European methods of catching fish been attempted,
such as steam-trawh'ng ; if so, when- and with what results, and what
reasons are assigned for the result ? Whether any methods of piscicul-
ture are known or practised, i.e., the hatching or breeding of fish by
(a) natural, {l>) artificial means ; for instance, are mature fish conveyed
or enticed into enclosures in estuaries or backwaters and kept there
to spawn (natural pisciculture) ; or are fish anywhere caught and the
eggs taken from them, fertilised and artificially hatched (artificial
reproduction) ; or are eggs collected from places of deposit and placed
in localities favourable for hatching ; are any methods practised of
catching and fencing in young fish or fry (whether of fish or of shell-
fish such as prawns, oysters, lobsters, etc.) and keeping them until
they mature. {JV.B. — All questions relating to fish are intended to
include all classes of shell-fish, e.g., lobsters, oysters, crabs, cuttlefishes
and so forth.) Are oysters, mussels, or other shell-fish transplanted,
when young, to favourable localities ? Is there any native demand
for shell-fish ; if so, of what class principally ? Is the demand for
food or for other purposes such as bait? ^Vhat special modes or
implements of catching and keeping alive to the market are adopted
for crabs, lobsters, etc. ?

VII. — Distribution.

Modes of disposal of the fish when brought to shore by fishermen,
whether by auction, by private bargaining, by transfer to merchants,
curers or persons from whom advances have been received ; whether
the fishermen take or send by relatives their fish to the fish-market or
whether they make arrangements for sending it inland by partners,
relatives or coolies ; what persons generally conduct the fresh fish
trade, whether on the sea beach, or in the fish-market, or by hawking
it in the streets, or by carrying it to inland villages ?

What is the condition of the fish when brought to shore generally ;
is it alive or dead, firm and rigid or flaccid ; is it becoming or has it
frequently become decomposed or tainted ; note specially its condition
in the hot months. Is any difference in freshness observable between
fish which are always alive when taken into the boat, e.g., those caught
in " Odam " or other dip-nets or by hand line, and those which are
frequently dead when taken into boats, e.g., those caught and suffo-
cated in gill-nets, especially those which are down for long periods
(as in the nets which remain set all night at Mangalore), and fish
caught on the long line which are frequently found to be dead when
taken up ? Distinguish also between fish caught by boats which go
out in the morning and come back in the afternoon and fish caught
by boat such as (Ratnagiri) boats which go out in the afternoon and
come back in the morning ; in what condition is the fish which is
brought in by those Ratnagiri, etc., boats which stay a week or more at
sea ; how is such fish kept from being tainted ; is such fish classed as
fresh fish or is it only fit for salting ; if salted at sea, how much salt is
used. What is the general condition of " fresh " fish which has been
taken ten miles or more inland ? Is it fresh or slightly tainted or bad
especially in the hot weather : does it find a ready sale, whatever its,
condition ? Have you heard or have you any practical suggestions for
improving the fresh fish trade on its present lines ?

48

Are there any regular markefs for fresh fish in the locality ; if so,
who are the sellers, whether fishermen or persons who have pur-
chased from the fishermen, or fishermen's relatives ; to what caste or
nationality do they belong ; are there any steps taken to keep the fish
good after having been brought to the market, e.g., use of salt water
baths, nets to keep off flies, and so forth. Do the municipality, if
any, levy any stall-tax ; do they provide aids for keeping stalls clean
and fish sweet or do they enforce penalties if the stalls are not kept
clean ? What fish are generally most abundant at such markets ?
What fish are most in demand for consumption ? Are fresh fish sold
by weight or by number or in what way ; are the eggs or roe of fish
sold separately from the fish, e.g., roe of seer, hilsa, etc., eggs of cat-
fish and so forth ; if so, at what prices ; whether fresh fish is sold always
for ready money or whether accounts are kept ; how many persons
daily sell fish at the market ; if stalls are rented, how many are there
so rented ; any suggestions made by the fi«;h-sellers for the improve-
ment of the business. What is done by the fish-sellers with any fish
that are unsold during the day ? Give the prices obtained by {a)
fishermen on the beach, (/-') at the market for fresh fish, both at ordi-
nary times and on occasions either of great abundance or rarity.
What is the ordinary difference in price of fresh fish {a) on the beach,
{b) at the market, [c) at ten miles inland. Is there a ready sale for
all fresh fish taken inland at the prices demanded ? What is the
ordinary difference in price in the locality of {a) fresh fish bought by
the curers, {b) offish cured at the fish-curing yard, e.g., if fresh fish
be bought by the curers for Rs. lo, what will be the selling price of
the same after being cured ?

Give all information procurable about the inland fresh fish trade,
e.g., persons conducting it, distance to which it is carried fresh, prices
charged as the distance increases, mode of selling the fish taken to a
distant village and so forth.

Curing. — How many ticket-holders are there at the fish-curing
yard ; what are their castes or nationalities and how many of each ;
in what relation do they stand to fishermen, e.g., are they relatives
(wives, brothers, etc.), or persons who advance money or lend boats
to the actual fishermen, or are they simply purchasers of fish ; how
many of the ticket-holders are big men and either own several boats
or control the catches of several fishermen ; in what way do they
obtain control over the catches of the fishermen, e.g., whether by
advance or by leasing boats to fishermen or by employment of coolies
in their own boats ; is most of the fish .caught brought to the fish-
curing yard, or only such as cannot be sold fresh ?

Describe the methods of cleaning and gutting {a) large fish, {b)
small ones ; what is done with the guts, heads, etc., e.g., whether they
are left on the beach or thrown into the water, or taken away for
manure or as food for poor classes, use in toddy-shops, etc. ; for what
trees or crops are they considered the best manure ?

What method of curing is adopted in the yard or by private
persons outside the yard ; is the fish frequently tainted when it comes
for being cured ; are maggots observed in the fish either when brought
in the yard or in the process of curing. In the curing processes are
the fish washed in fresh sea-water after saving and before drying ; if
so, is the sea-water brought into the fish-curing yard or are the fish

A9

taken down to the sea ; if not so washed, why not ; do washed fish
fetch better prices or keep better than unwashed fish ? {Note. — This
does not refer to the usual washing in the sea after gutting and before
being taken to the fish-curing yard, but to washing in sea-water after
the fish has been lying in salt in the yard ; it is [e.g., in Tellicherry]
an important but seldom used part of the curing process).

What is the direct destination of the fish cured in the yard
{a) large, {b) small ; what is the general value of cured fish as compared
with fresh fish, e.g., if fresh fish be bought for Rs. lo, what will be the
value of the same fish when cured ; how is cured fish sold, by number
or by weight, give instances ; where cured cat-fish or seer, for instance,
are of various sizes, how are they sold ; in what way are dried fish
packed for export by {a) sea, {b) land, e.g., in date-mats, baskets,
bundles, etc., how long will properly cured fish keep in good condition ;
will it keep good during the south-west monsoon on the West Coast;
if not, why not ; does foreign (e.g., Persian Gulf) salt-fish keep good
during monsoon ; if so, why ? Has the cured fish trade (o) import,
{b) export, increased or decreased in the locality of late years ; if so,
since when, and to what extent, and what are the causes ; are there
more or fewer merchants engaged in the trade ; is more fish being
cured in the fish-curing yard than ten to twenty years ago, if so what
are the causes ? has it been found necessary to open subsidiary yards in
the immediate locality (as at M^lpe) in consequence of the increase ;
has any been closed and if so, \\\\y ?

Are any other modes of drying and curing fish known locally
besides the ordinary salting and drying of the fish-curing yard, e.g.,
wet salting in barrels or jars, drying and smoking, canning (tinning),
preservation in vinegar in barrels or jars with or without condiments,
etc. If smoking is known, what woods or other material (e.g., paddy
husk) is found to give a de sirable flavour ? Do any of the curers or
merchants know of the above methods; are they inclined to try them ?
if not, why not ? what objections or difficulties do they raise ? What
are the prices at which barrels of difterent sizes and of ordinary wood
such as mangoe are or can be made ? if made in large quanties could
they be made cheaply ; could stoneware glazed jars be made locally,
and if so, at what prices for various sizes ? What is the price in the
bazaar of English stonewai e glazed jars of various sizes ?

State any grievances of any nature which the curers may bring to
your notice ; give your opinion on such grievances, whether for, or
against ; also any suggestions by curers or yourself for any improve-
ments, whether in the processes of curing or in the fish-curing rules.
What is the latest time at which the yard may be kept open ; do you
know, either personally or by information, of cases during the last
three years in which loss has been caused to fishermen or curers by
the rigid closure of the yard at the regulation hour ; how is such diffi-
culty got over, licitly or illicitly; can you make any sui^gestions in
the matter, such as payment of fees for overtime to the yard officers,
or extra establishment at laige yards in the busy season, etc. ? Can
you suggest any method by which duty-free salt, at the price of such
salt in the fish-curing yards, could be supplied to large boats so as to
enable them to keep at sea for several days and to salt their fish ou
board ? e.g., by requiring all such boats to show their catches at the
fiiSh-curing yard and to account for the salt expended by showing a

50

proportionate weight of salt fish. If such fishing were under the
control of a few big men would it be less difficult to frame such rules
than in the case of small fishermen ?

Have any capitalists, European or Native, shown any inclination
to take up the fishing and curing industries ; what difficulties have
been alleged as preventing or hindering or as having actually hindered
or crushed such enterprise ? Do any people deal in fish for manurial
purposes ? if so, how are they supplied with the necessary fish, e.g., do
the fishermen dry on the sand any surplus fish and send it to the
merchants from time to time, or do they take fresh fish to the
merchants ; what are the chief fish used for manure ?

Other Products. — Is fish-oil manufactured in the locality, if so,
what oils ? What are the processes of manufacturing it including {a)
the extraction of the crude oil, (/;) any purifying pn cesses. If various
processes are used (e.g., extraction by boiling, by pressure, by mere
exposure in masses to putrefaction), state them. What proportion of
{a) crude oil, (/') refined oil is obtained from a given quantity of fish
or fish liver, e.g., for one pot of crude shark or sardine oil, how many
pots of shark liver or sardines are required and how much refined oil
is obtained from one pot of crude oil ? What is the character of the
product, is it fit for the export market or is it only used for caulking
boats, etc. ? Is any fish-oil used medicinally, if so, what ; if the trade
does not now exist, did it formerly exist in the locality; has it in-
creased or decreased ; give reasons in either case. Is any decrease or
ce3sation of the fish-oil trade due to decrease or cessation of the trade
demand or to decrease or cessation of the supply by manufacturers :
In either case, give reasons for the same. Is the decrease or cessa-
tion apparently permanent or only temporary ? What trade is carried
on in fish-maws (air bladder and sounds), shark fins, beche-demer and
other miscellaneous produce of the sea, as sponges, window-pane
oyster, turtle and other shells, etc. ; what quantity is exported annually
and to what places ? Shark fins are divided in the trade into
'' black " and " white", the latter being several times more valuable
than the former : are these respectively the fins of different fish ? if
not, what causes the distinction between white and black ? Is it
anything in the method of curing or what ? Can you suggest any
improvement in the curing of the " fish maws " so as to improve their
selling value? Does sea weed abound in the locality and, if so, is
any use made of it, either as manure or for the extraction of iodine or
otherwise? Is any sea weed considered as edible and used for food
either locally or exported ? Do you recognize among the sea weeds
any species useful economically ?

51

Order of the Government of Madras, No. 1083,
Revenue, dated 30TH October 1906.

■ In paragraphs 15, 27, 28 and 29 of his letter No. 26,
dated 5th February 1906, Sir Frederick Nicholson made
the following suggestions with the object of promoting
the development of the tish-curing industry : —

(i) that duty-free salt should be allowed to be
taken to sea in hshing boats for curing purposes ;

(2) that the hours during which night work is
allowed in fish-curing yards be extended ;

(3) that facilities should be provided for curers cleans-
ing their salt fish in the sea at or near curing yards ; and

(4) that the issue price of salt in the yards of the
Malabar district should be reduced to As. 10 a maund.

2. These suggestions having been referred to the
Board of Revenue for remarks, the Board recommends
that the first and second concessions may be granted
subject to certain conditions and that, as regards the
third proposal, the matter should be left to the discretion
of local officers on the understanding that the practice
will be permitted wherever it can be done with safety.
In reference to the fourth proposal, the Board points
out that the grant of the concession would involve a
considerable loss of revenue.

3. The Government approve of the Board's recom-
mendations in regard to the first three concessions
subject to the following remarks : —

{a) Concession No. (i). — The Government con-
sider with reference to condition 4 of the conditions
suggested by the Board that the difference between the
issue price and the cost and duty value of the salt should
not be recovered except when the deficiency exceeds
10 per cent, of the quantity originally issued.

[b) Concession iVo. (2). — The Government do not
consider that overtime fees need be paid or collected in
a ivance.

* 4, As regards concession No. (4), the Government
are of opinion that though there may be some immediate
loss of revenue, there is a fair prospect of this being
made good before long by the increase in the issues of
salt which may be expected to result from the reduction
in the price of the salt used for curing. They accord-
ingly sanction the reduction of the price to As. 10 a
maund as recommended by Sir Frederick Nicholson.

4-A

52

Resolution of the Board of Revenue, No. 7/87-R.,
Salt, dated 8th January 1907.

Communicated to Deputy and Assistant Commis-
sioners and Officers in charge of Coast Circles for
information and guidance.

2. Duty-free salt for curing fish at sea should be
issued only to respectable boat-owners and the following
instructions should be followed : —

(i) A list of persons to whom the concession is
granted should be kept in the fish-curing yard and
separate accounts in Forms F.C. 3 and F.C. 3-A.
maintained for them. The transactions should also be
exhibited separately in F.C. 6 and F.C. 7.

(2) Salt should be issued in reasonable quantities
on payment by the boat-owner of the value thereof and
on execution of an agreement in the form appended to
these Proceedings.

(3) The boat-owner should be directed to bring
all fish cured at sea together with the balance of salt not
used for curing direct to the fish-curing yard for weigh-
ment, immediately on return of the boat to land. The
balance should be kept separately in the yard and
re-issued to the boat-owner free of cost and after weio-h-
ment. An entry to this effect should be made in the
remarks column of F.C. 3-A.

(4) In such cases the quantity of raw fish should,
for the purpose of entry in F\C. 3, be calculated on the
weight of the cured fish after allowing for the usual
dryage.

(5) The officer in charge of the fish-curing yard
should fix the proportion of salt required for curing fish,
separately for large and small kinds, and this rate should
be checked by the Inspector and entered in condition 6
of the agreement.

(6) No recovery need be made from the boat-owner
when the deficiency in the quantity of salt is 10 per cent,
or less, but when it exceeds 10 per cent, the difference
between the cost price and duty, and the issue price
should be recovered from him. In clear cases of fraud
double duty should be levied on the quantity of salt
issued.

(7) The establishment at the fish-curing yard
should examine boats frequently before leaving for and.
on return from the fishing grounds.

53

3- Night work may be allowed in fish-curing yards
after the prescribed hour on written applications from the
curers, provided that the minimum quantity of salt applied
for by them at one time be not less than 5 maunds.
Overtime fees should be collected from the curers in
advance, but should be recovered from them rateably
according to the quantity of fish cuied before it is

removed from the yard. A uni-

feesf.r fomi rate'"' for Sub-Inspectors,

each hour. Petty ofiiccrs and peons has been

* Sub-Inspectors 60 prescribed for cacli hour of Overtime

Peon's"'^''"' ' o work. The fees collected should

be entered in F.C. 4 and credited
in the nearest treasury as in the case oi ordinary fish-
curing receipts. The amount should be drawn on
monthly bills paid in full to the officers concerned after
sanction by the Assistant Commissioner.

4. In cases where fishermen desire to take the fish
to the sea at or near fish-curing yards for the purpose
of cleaning it, they should be permitted to do so
under such departmental supervision as the Assistant
Commissioner may consider necessary.

APPENDIX.

Form of Agreement.

This indenture made the day of

191 BETWEEN The Right Honourable THE Secretary of State

FOR India in Council (hereinafter referred to as the " Secretary of

State, " of the one part and of

(hereinafter referred to as " the boat-owner ") of the other part

whereas the boat-owner is the owner of boat number

at the port of in the

District of in the Presidency of Madras

and the nets belonging to such boat the measurements and particu-
lars whereof are set out in the schedule hereto annexed and whereas
the boat-owner has applied to the officer in charge for the time being
of the Salt Department at fish-curing yard for the

issue to him the boat-owner of salt for the purpose of curing fish
caught at sea before such fish is landed at aforesaid

and has requested that such salt may be issued to him duty free
and whereas the said application has received the sanction of the

54

Inspector, Salt, Abkari and Customs Department, Circle,

upon the terms and conditions hereinafter contained witnesseth as
follows : —

(i) The officer for the time being in charge of the Salt Depart-
ment at fish-curing yard will from time to time supply
the boat-owner with such amount of salt as the boat-owner may
require on any trip for the purpose of every fishing trip taken by such
boat-owner for which salt the boat-owner shall duly execute a proper
receipt in the form laid down from time to time by the Deputy Com-
missioner, Salt, Abkari and Customs Department, Division.

(2) The boat-owner undertakes to use the salt so supplied to
him for the sole purpose of curing fish whilst at sea and not for any
otner purposes,

(3) The boat-owner shall bring all fish so cured at sea together
with the balance of any salt that may not have been used for curing
during any trip immediately on return of the said boat to land and
direct to the fish-curing yard at for weighment.

(4) The unused salt shall be weighed and taken over by officers
appointed for such purpose by the Secretary of State.

(5) The boat-owner shall pay for all salt issued to him for
curing fish at the rate in force for the time being at the said fish-
curing yard.

(6) The amount of salt used for curing fish shall be taken at
the rate of maunds of salt for maunds of salted
fish and this proportion is subject to revision. In case of any
deficiency between the n mount of salt originally issued and the
amount returned exceeding 10 per cent, of what the amount of
deficiency should be calculated at the rate aforesaid the boat-owner
shall forthwith pay the Government of Madras for the deficiency in
excess over such 10 per cent, the difference between the cost and duty
value of salt in force for the time being at the said port, and the issue
price of salt.

(7) The Secretary of State and his officers and servants shall
at all times have full power and liberty to examine the said boat and
nets before leaving for and on return from the fishing grounds.

(8) In case of breach of condition 2 hereof or in any case of
fraud as to which the decision of the Deputy Commissioner of Salt,
Abkari and Customs Department, Division, shall be
final the boat-owner shall pay double the duty for the time being
leviable on the quantity of salt issued.

And this indenture also witnesseth that in consideration of
the premises the boat-owner doth hereby assign to the Secretary of
State his successors and assigns the boat and nets respectively referred
to in the said schedule by way of as security for the payment of any
amount for which the boat-owner may be or become at any time or
times hereafter liable to pay to the Secretary of State under the con-
ditions hereinbefore mentioned and that if default shall be made in
the payment of any such sums so payable by the boat-owner the
Secretary of State or any officer of his duly authorized in this behalf
shall be entitled to sell the said boat and nets or any portion thereof
and apply the proceeds thereof towards the payment of moneys due
to the Secretary of State hereunder and the surplus if any shall be
handed over to the boat-owner.

55

Provided also that it shall be lawful for the Secretary of State
hereto to forthwith put an end to this agreement on giving to the
boat-owner notice in writing signed by any officer of Government on
his behalf of his intention so to do and that the boat-owner may put
an end to this agreement on giving the officer in charge of the Salt
Department at fish-curing yard six weeks' notice of

such intention.

In witness whereof the Deputy Commissioner,

Salt, Abkari and Customs Department, Division on

behalf of the Secretary of State and .... the boat-owner
have hereunto set their respective hands the day and year first above
written.

The Schedule above referred to.

Signed by the above named \
in the presence of j

Signed by the above named 1
in the presence of J

Th'S concession has not yet been availed of by the fishermen, as
there no large sea-going boats have yet been built, and the Ratnagiri
(Bombay) boats are less numerous in Malabar and South Canara than
before owing partly to liberal Bombay rules.

56

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k c.i e., I.C.S., Officer

on Special Duty, Fisheries Investigation.
Dated — Madras, the 28th February 1907.

In paragraphs 186 to 195 of my report on Japanese
fisheries 1 have suggested the early establishment of an
experimental station, probably on the West Coast.

2. As will be seen by paragraphs 216 — 224 of the
report and by the letters of this date. I do not propose
to start this experimental station at once, for the simple
reason that I have neither men nor plant, and that while
I could obtain and put up the plant in a year, I could
not get trained men in anything like that time, except
by introducing foreign experts at very great expense, a
plan which I do not advocate.

3. My object in entering the proposal was (i) to
make with some degree of completeness the more
obvious suggestions which arise out of my Japanese
studies, (2) to place definite aims and objects of action
before us, so that knowing our objects, we may at once
begin to make the necessary provision in trained experts,
staff, etc. Without such statement of objects the matter
would have been left nebulous ; I wished to reduce
nebulosity to definite form and not only to show what
action should be taken, but the necessary steps preli-
minary to that action. Without experiment, no clear
progress ; without experts, no useful experiment ; without
directive agency, no definite or controlled experiment ;
without experts or experimental stations, no useful
department : progress, experimental stations, the provi-
sion of experts, the formation of at least the nucleus of
a departnient, are all interdependent and I have there-
fore both in the report (paragraphs 186 — 224) and in
these several covering letters, made my proposals under
all the above heads.

4. In the present letter I propose simply that
Government will be pleased to lay down in their ensuing
order the necessity for an experimental station with the
objects and aims mentioned in paragraphs 186 to 194 of
my report, and for immediately working up towards its
establishment. Should Government accept the general
idea I would suggest the West Coast, as the more
advanced and busy coastal area, for the first station .
Tellicherry as the location, for the following reasons :
{a) it is a central point on the West Coast ; {b) there are

5;

a number of merchants, European and Indian, who do
business there in fishery products partly for inland, partly
for foreign (Ceylon, Straits, China, etc.) trade ; (c) it is
well frequented by various classes of fish (c/) its pro-
ducts are already favourably known, as processes are
said to be more careful ; in other words, there are the
germs of industrial and trade progress there ; (e^ there
is a French manufacturer of Mahe who makes very fair
and cheap canned goods (fish) at his factory just inside
British territory near Tellicherry, and it may be advisable
to try and enlist his services as instructor in that branch
of curing ; (f) it is well adapted for observing the facts
and conditions not merely of the trade and industry, but
of marine fish life.

5. As regards point (e) I have dealt more fully with
this suggested enlistment of the French canner in my
letter No. 88 {e) of this date relating to the training of
our future experts.

58

I

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Officer

on Special Duty, Fisheries Investigation.
Dated — ^Madras, the 28th February 1907.

In paragraphs 196 to 212 of my report on Japanese
fisheries I have suggested certain fresh-water piscicul-
tural methods by carp hatcheries, etc.

2. As mentioned in my No. 88 {c) of this date on
the future estabHshment of experimental stations, I do
not propose the immediate starting of large hatcheries ;
I have not the experts to put in charge, nor would it be
well to embark without more experimental and therefore
precise knowledge, on larger work.

3. But my assistant Mr. V. V. Ramanan is, as I have
elsewhere several times said, already an experimenter
and observer in Natural History, and I propose during
this year not only that he shall thoroughly examine the
proposed sites of hatcheries, viz., near Nellore and
Kurnool, and the waters to be stocked, but shall begin
experiments in Madras in small culture ponds where he
will breed various classes of carp, observe their habits
as regards spawning, their food, rates of growth, and in
fact the whole life-history of various sorts of fish. At
present we have no exact knowledge — essential for
hatchery work— of important matters of reproduction
such as the time of year, whether only once in a year or
repeatedly, the place or conditions of spawning, or even
the character of the eggs (floating, demersal, adhesive,
etc.) ; of the best and at the same time the cheapest
food available, and of the possibility of good profit by
the deliberate breeding and feeding of fish in stock
ponds ; of the fish which will give the best market profit,
food, weight, etc., being considered. These and many
other points I propose to examine by observation in
experimental ponds.

4. For carrying on these experiments on the larger
and more continuous scale I shall of course require
trained men, and it is for this reason that I have pro-
posed the training of a student at the Fishery Institute,
Japan, in the cultural branch. I also want men as
itinerant instructors who will go about the country
suggesting and assisting the utilization of small village
waters (paragraphs 202, 206 — 209, 225 — 227) ; these will

59

require training either in Japan or in the hatcheries when
once established in this country, or at the proposed
Madras experimental ponds.

5. What I now ask Government in this letter is that,
if so pleased, they will sanction the general idea of carp,
etc., hatcheries and the proposed utilization of inland
waters, and the acquisition on lease of some location in
Madras where my Assistant can (reside and) conduct
his important experiments ; he is now engaged, inter
alia, in searching for some such place, and I vvill report
further on receipt of the general order now sought.
The experimental station at Coimbatore can doubtless
be carried out by the authorities of the Agricultural
station there.

Order— No. 733, Revenue, dated ist April 1907.

With his letter of the 28th February IQ07, which
was disposed of in G.O. Mis. No. 664, Revenue, dated
20th March, Sir Frederick Nicholson submitted his
report on fisheries in Japan. In this report Sir Frederick
Nicholson has given the result of a ten weeks' tour in
Japan last year and has brought together a large amount
of information regarding the progress of fishery work
and its modern methods of development, especially by
Government institutions, in that country.

2. In the letters read above Sir Frederick Nicholson
summarizes the proposals, which appear also in para-
graphs 186 — 212 and 216 — 224 of the report on fisheries
in Japan, for giving practical effect to the results of his
enquiry. These proposals are as follow : —

(i) The establishment of an experimental Fishery
Station on the West Coast preferably at Tellicherry
with the objects and aims mentioned in paragraphs 186
to 194 of the report ;

(2) the establishment of carp and other fresh-
water fish-hatcheries in suitable localities and as a
preliminary measure thereto, the employment of
M.R.Ry. V. V. Ramanan to examine the proposed sites
of the hatcheries and the inland waters to be stocked as
well as to conduct experiments in Madras in small
culture ponds in breeding carp and other fish and
observing facts connected with their life-history ; and

6o

(3) the deputation of three students to Japan to
learn the methods of catching and curing fish there
followed so as to provide the expert staff required to
carry on the work connected with the Fishery station
and inland hatcheries mentioned above.

3. The Government approve generally of the first
two proposals and sanction the leasing of a house in
Madras for such period as Sir Frederick Nicholson
considers necessary to enable M.R.Ry. V. V. Ramanan
to conduct experiments in fish culture, the necessary
details being submitted for approval of Government.
Sir Frederick Nicholson will doubtless make further
enquiries in his forthcoming tour in Europe, America
and Japan regarding the plant required for the Fishery
station and will submit detailed proposals and estimates.

4. With regard to the proposal to send students to
Japan, the Government fear that the students would be
unable to obtain in the short time at their disposal
sufficient knowledge of the Japanese language to enable
them to profit by the instruction given. Sir Frederick
Nicholson recognizes this difficulty and the Government,
after careful consideration, are of opinion that it would
not be wise, without further information, to send
students to Japan, and that if possible they should be
sent at any rate in the first instance to England or
America.'"' Sir Frederick Nicholson will accordingly be
requested to make further enquiries during his coming-
tour as to whether the desired training cannot be
obtained in those countries.

* The idea of sending students to Japan was abandoned ; the chief reasons
were the language and other difficulties, and— mainly— the fact that in November
1907 Mr. H. C. Wilaon was appointed as PiscicuUural expert, and in 1908
Mr. James Hornell, f.l.s., was also brought in as Marine Biologist and Assistant
and Superintendent of the Pearl and Chank Fisheries. With these experts in
the department and with the several experimental stations, fish farms, hatcheries,
etc., in operation it was felt that students could be trained within the Presidency.

6i

II

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Officer

on Special Duty, Fisheries Investigation.
Dated- — Madras, the 2Sth February 1907.

I have the honour to lay before Government the
necessity for hiitiating a small Bureau of Fisheries for
Madras. I purposely do not call it a department con-
sidering that it should, for some years at least, be an
appanage of Agriculture ; it should, for the present,
consist of a small but permanent and efficient staff under
the control, presently, of the Agricultural Department.

2. That every civilized country possesses a Fisheries
Department or Bureau, besides other fishery organiza-
tions ; that such departments have worked great benefits
to the industry, trade, and people ; that the industry of
third importance in the country demands the special
attention of its Government ; that when such industry is
in a primitive condition, without capital, initiative, or
knowledge other than traditional, some considerable
stimulation and assistance ab extra are essential to pro-
gress, are mere truisms, but not the less cogent as
general arQuments in favour of at least a bureau for
Madras. In a country so advanced, progressive, and
individualistic as the United States of America the
Federal and State Departments have worked vast
improvements by their researches, hatcheries, transplant-
ations, legislation, protection ; in a depressed country
like Ireland, the new department, following up the
work of the Congested Districts Board, is doing very
great stimulative and productive work.

3. But it is Japan which teaches the power of a well-
organized department upon an industry in a position
of some original similarity to our own, in stimulating
development in every branch — whether of catching,
preserving, or cultivating — of an industry conducted, as
in India, on primitive lines ; in developing associated
work and sound trade methods and processes through
laws worked by its administrative officers ; in establish-
ing numerous experimental stations w^here new methods
are both tried, demonstrated, and pushed ; in giving
popular instruction not merely in regular fishery schools,
but through these stations and their itinerant experts
and by frequent exhibitions ; in sending abroad men foi

62

study in fishing ports and vessels, factories, exhibitions,
etc., in every branch of fisheries ; in importing experts
and in advertising Japanese goods in foreign markets by
Hberal subventions for displays at exhibitions under the
guidance of experts, by the issue of printed information,
and so forth. What Japan has done and Ireland is
attempting — I mention these two countries because ot
the nature of the problems faced by their departments —
Madras can and should do.

4. I was originally deputed to study and report on
Madras conditions and to make suggestions ; I intended
to have dealt with the matter this summer in a oeneral
survey which should form the basis for proposing a
department and .^taff. But while on the one hand my
visit to Japan and America has delayed my consolidated
report by the best part of a year, as expected in my letter
proposing to visit Japan, it has on the other hand enabled
or rather obliged me to anticipate that report especially
when considered with the contents of my West Coast
report and those about to be presented in reports on the
East Coast. For we now know that the lead of Japan in
the institution of experiment is the correct one, espe-
cially in a country where private action waits on Govern-
ment demonstration ; we require institutions where we
can investigate new implements and new methods, and
can display and teach them. Hence in my Japanese
report I have proposed, and in covering letters have
urged, the early establishment of an experimental station,
and of experiments on inland hatcheries for carp, etc.,
and these, at least the former, must develop in number
as the East Coast is examined and new problems are
taken up such as many sorts of culture, the transport of
fresh fish, etc. For t-he proper and continuous control
of such a station or stations and hatcheries, for the wise
selection and direction of experiments and the co-ordi-
nation and display of results, a directive and expert of^cer
and staff are required. Experiment is essential to
progress; for the due conduct of experiment, a proper
stafT is necessary.

5. This however is only one point ; the examination
of Madras fishery conditions shows that there is increas-
ing work for an indefinite period such as cannot possibly
be done offhand by a single officer, without sufficient

63

status and with an office not sufficient even for clerical
work. Japan began internal work with a strong Com-
mission simply for local enquiry ; this went on for some
years till the necessity for a department became apparent
if (^nly to take up the Commission's work systematically ;
it is so in Madras. The mere survey of our coastal seas
and estuaries is a huge task ; I do not mean the mere
gaining of a general knowledge of fisheries and their
conditions, though this is vast enough, since the charac-
ter of the sea, the class of men occupied, the conditions
under which they work, differ every few miles ; I mean
rather the accurate examination of the seas and shores,
the suitability of areas such as the Pulicat lake and
other backwaters for special cultures such as oysters and
other shell fish, the character of comparatively enclosed
seas such as Palk Straits which are believed to be a
great fish nursery (Herdmann), the quantitative testing
of the waters to, say, the lOO fathom limit, by methods
such as trawling (part of the work of experimental
station), etc. The survey of inland waters in view to the
possible development of fisheries is a labour of the
greatest difficulty owing to their too temporary charac-
ter and to the vested interests under which they are
already utilized.

6. I need hardly point out that in several other direc-
tions a department is essential both for action and
guidance ; administratively to deal ^AMth the problems that
emerge from practice, especially as it develops, such as
the study of the eftect of developed fishing on the fish
and fisheries especially in almost closed areas like Palk's
Straits, and such protective or other action as might
become advisable ; the regulation, if necessary, of classes
of nets and meshes or of fishino- methods or of fishino-
seasons ; the protection and advancement of the fishing
classes as by stimulating co-operative effort alongside of
company enterprise, by establishing financial assistance,
by providing instruction in the use of improved methods
and plant, by deciding or allaying fishery disputes, by
the inspection of food and manure stuffs in view to the
supply of wholesome and warrantable goods ; the push-
ing ol trade interests as by stimulating the exhibition of
the best goods in exhibitions in India and abroad, by
the award of prizes for new or improved methods and
goods or apparatus, by the collection and distribution of

64

information, by obtaining and improving railway
connections and transport facilities, and so forth.

Cultural such as the establishment of hatcheries
marine — if necessary — and inland, the cultivation of the
pearl oyster and the artificial stimulation of pearl growth,
the cultivation of many classes of shell fish especially of
the edible oyster, mussels, clams, etc., in our shallow
backwaters if only for export, dried, to the Far East, the
propagation of the chank which, by the statistics, seems
to be falling off in numbers and size, the artificial growth
of sponges, and so forth, all of which, except the chank,
are actualities in other waters, chiefly Japanese, and all
are promising possibilities here.

Scientific as in the observation of the bionomics of
fish, their habits, age and size at maturity, seasons and
places of spawning, food, conditions and seasons of their
approach to land, the reasons which determine such
approach whether food, temperature, winds, currents,
etc., the causes of their putting out to sea whether
natural or due to human action (such as the use of
clamorous methods of capture, the frequency of steamers
with noisy proi)ellers, etc.), and many other scientific
questions of practical utility.

Statistical, for at present we know little of the amount
of catches, their respective values at the beach and in the
market, the resi)ective shares of the fisherman, middle-
man, money-lender, fishmonger, the distance at which
caught, and the amount caught per boat and man, facts
of immense importance in judging of the increase or
decrease of fish in our waters ; the number, size, cost,
etc., of the boats employed, and the conditions and wages
of employment, facts essential if we wish to gauge the
growth and modes of growth of a trade ; the quantities,
values and destinations of various kinds of cured fish,
etc.

Industrial as in the development of those by-indus-
tries which tend to the profit and enlargement of the
trade, such as the improvement of the material, net-
making methods, the barking of nets, the making of
barrels and jars for pickling, the preparation of manures
and fish oils, the utilization of sea and fresh water shells,
and so forth.

7. While it is not pretended that these functions
would be otherwise than of slow development we are

65

bound to recognise that these are necessary functions,
that they should be begun, and will have to be developed ;
that an immediate nucleus should be formed is my pre-
sent claim, in view even of the modest proposals which
have arisen on my Japanese studies. Japan in fact
already performs all these functions and more.

8. There is a further and immediate reason for form-
ing at once an embryonic Bureau, and that is the
necessity for recognizing my office and giving it a proper
status. The term of appointment of my assistant and
two clerks expires on the 30th June, so that the present
is a fitting time for discussing the question. If the work
Is to go on, the office must be continued, and, if
continued, it must (a) be given a status, (d) enlarged.

9. Poi7i^ (d). — The establishment of an assistant and
two clerks was a purely tentative and guess work
arrangement ; the assistant was to help in my tours, the
clerks to do the clerical and account work. But as the
work took shape, the staff proved insuf^cient ; several
series of questions have been scattered broadcast, and
the tabulation of the answers is a heavy business : the
enormous mass of statistics from the fish-curing yards
has been under tabulation, but is too much for the office
even if there were no other duties ; I have had to send
out the clerks on independent tours of enquiry both
to Increase my store of facts and to accustom them to
observational work. The F.C.ii monthly returns from
the fish-curing yards number annually between 1,500
and 1,800 ; in many cases and seasons, they are crammed
with figures relating to the places, periods, depths, dis-
tances at sea, quantities, stomach contents, prices (fresh
and cured) of the catches of a great variety of fishes ;
these had been accumulating for some years, and are
regularly coming in. If these could be tabulatedj we
should at once have — assuming their correctness, and in
the main facts this may be assumed — a large body of
necessary information as to the seasons and classes of
fish, their movements, places of capture, weights caught
and prices obtained. Tabulation has been accordingly
attempted but the task requires a staff of tabulators of
moderate attainments and pay, who will do nothing but
tabulate ; for individual fish, such as seer, I have obtained
some information but the work is only begun.

5

66

10. I would therefore make the following proposals,
viz., that Government should create a small bureau of
fisheries, consisting of a Director, with a subordinate
staff which should for the present consist of an assistant,
two sub-assistants, four clerks and four peons. In
my letter No. 88 (e) of this date, I have proposed ihat
three students should be sent to study at the Imperial
Fisheries Institute in Japan (see also paragraphs 216,
etc., of my Japanese report) ; these men will form the
earlier experts of the proposed bureau, but except so
far as provided from my present office, they need
not be brought at present on to the strength of the
establishment.

11. The work in the immediate future will he^a)
experimental, (d) observational, (c) compilatory, and
(d) clerical. In the first three sections my assistant will
be engaged as mentioned in my letter stating my pro-
gramme for this year ; he will experiment in the fresh-
water hatcheries, he will go on tours of observation and
enquiry, and he will compile all the matter available on
fresh water fisheries ; as the work develops he will take
up other duties including those of supervision of all
cultural operations and of instruction and suggestion to
the public.

Order— No. 734, Revenue, dated ist April 1907.

I. The Government accept generally Sir F. Nichol-
son's proposals as to the formation of a fishery bureau.
They consider that the appointments he suggests are
suitable and may be permanently created with effect from
1st April 1907, the pay of the assistant being fixed at
Rs. 175 — 5 — 200 per mensem. The Government of
India will accordingly be moved to sanction the creation
from that date of the following appointments : —

One Assistant on a salary of Rs. 175-5-200 per
mensem.

Two Sub-Assistants on a salary of Rs. 50-5-75
each per mensem.

One Clerk and Typist on a salary of Rs. 30 per
mensem,

^7

Three Clerks on a salary of Rs. 20 each per
mensem.

Four Peons on a salary of Rs. 8 each per mensem.
2. His Excellency the Governor in Council has no
doubt that it is highly desirable that Sir F. Nicholson
should continue to direct the work of the Fishery
Bureau. In order to afibrd him a more definite status
in connection with this work, the Government propose
that he siiould be styled Honorary Adviser for Fisheries
to the Government of Madras. The Government of
India will be moved to sanction the continuance of Sir
F. Nicholson's deputation for a further period of two
years from ist July 1907.

Order— No. 1682, Revenue, dated 3RD July 1907.

As the direction of the lines and the methods of
investigation will continue to rest with Sir F. Nicholson
during the two years of his prospective du'ection of
fishery work, the Government consider that he should
be styled "Honorary Director" instead of " Honorary
Adviser."

5 -A

68

Despatch — from the Government of India, Finance Depart-
ment (Salaries, Establishments, etc., — Minor
Department.)

To — His Majesty's Secretary of State for India.

Dated — Simla, the 29th August 1907.

In continuation of the letter No, 41-12, dated the
30th May 1907, from our Secretary in the Department
of Commerce and Industry, to the Under Secretary of
State for India, we have the honour to forward a copy
of a letter No. 1653, dated the ist July 1907, from the
Government of Madras, regarding the appointment of a
Piscicultural Expert under Sir F. A. Nicholson, at pre-
sent engaged in the investigation of the fishery industry
of the Madras Presidency.

2. In view of the importance of the subject, the
Government of Madras, at the instance of Sir F. A.
Nicholson, have recommended in lieu of the assistant on
Rs. 175-5-200 a month, the employment of a European
expert with practical cultural experience who would be
engaged, in the study of the inland waters of the Presi-
dency, in experiments regarding the culture of carp and
other fresh- water fish, and in the training of Indian
students in pisciculture. They further propose, should
the post be sanctioned, to appoint to it, on a five years'
agreement, Mr. H. C. Wilson, who is engaged in an
examination of the rivers and streams of the Nilo-iris
and who possesses the requisite qualifications. The pay
suggested is Rs. 500-50-750 per mensem, with travelling
and leave allowances under the rules applicable to
of^cers of corresponding rank in Government service,
but without exchange compensation allowance.

3. We recommend the proposal of the Madras
Government for your sanction.

Despatch — from His Majesty's Secrecaiy of State for India.
To — His Excellency the Right Honourable the Governor-
General of India in Council.
Dated — India Office, London, the 4th October 1907.

I have considered in Council the letter from Your
Excellency's Government, dated 29th August 1907, No.
332 (Finance), recommending that a European piscicul-
tural expert be appointed to assist Sir F. A. Nicholson
in the investigation of the fishery industry of Madras

69

Presidency, and proposing that the appointment be
offered to Mr. H. C. Wilson on a five years' agreement
at the pay of Rs. 500-50-750 per mensem, with travell-
ing and leave allowances under the rules applicable to
officers of corresponding rank in Government service,
but without exchange compensation allowance.
2. I sanction these proposals.

Order— No. 3035, Revenue, dated iith December 1907 .

The Right Honourable the Secretary of State for
India having sanctioned the creation of the appointment
of a Piscicultural Expert to assist Sir F. A. Nicholson in
the investigation of the fishery industry in the Madras
Presidency, for a term of five years on a salary of
Rs. 500-50-750 per mensem with the travelling and leave
allowances ordinarily admissible under the Civil Service
Regulations and without exchange compensation allow-
ance, and Mr. H. C. Wilson having been selected for
the appointment wMth effect from 4th November 1907,
Mr. Wilson will be directed to work under the orders of
the Collector of the Nilgiris with head-quarters at
Ootacamund until Sir F. A. Nicholson's return to
India,*

* On the expiry of the above 5 years' conlract Mr. Wilson's appointment was,
in 1 913, made permanent, and pensionable, with improved pay and other condi-
tions. Mr. Wilson is therefore the permanent Piscicultural Expert in the Madras
Fisheries Department.

70

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S.,
Honorary Director of Fisheries to the Government
of Madras.

Dated — the 31st December 1907.

It will be observed that I have not carried out the
programme sketched in my letter No. 88 (<5), dated 28th
February 1907, viz., of visiting Canada and Japan with
the view ol" arranging for the trainmg of students in the
latter country. I had in June taken my passage thither
but gave it up for considerations to be presently stated.

2. New ideas and suggestions. — In criticizing my
Japanese report, Government objected to a Japanese
training for Indian students on the score of the language
difficulty, and desired me to ascertain whether similar
training could not be obtained in Great Britain or
America. On personal enquiry from officials and others,
both in England and America, I found that there is
nothing anywhere to correspond in any way with the
general and technical training provided by Government
in Japan ; the circumstances of all other countries are so
entirely different that no such training institution,
whether Government or private, is necessary or even
desirable ; catching including the whole art of sailing a
ship and using the nets with the skill and knowledge
bred of long practice, is only learnt by long apprentice-
ship at sea to the various branches ot the art ; niring
in all methods is learnt solely in the curing yards and
factories, and there is no technological school for its
scientific study ; pisciailUtre is on a somewhat different
footing since in America there is a great deal of piscicul-
ture carried out by various Government agencies ; so
also in Great Britain, but solely by private persons and
for the culture only of trout.

3. The question then arose as to the training of
Indians in the three branches ; would the above circum-
stances compel or render desirable a Japanese training
notwithstanding the language difficulty ?

4. As regards catching, here I must at once admit that
the idea of my Japanese note, viz., to send students to
the Japan Fishery Institute for training in this branch,
was wholly an error ; apart from the language difficulty,
there is the impossibility of transforming delicate Indian
College students into sailing masters and deep-sea fisher-
men. In every country, Japan not excepted, deep-sea

71

fishing- is carried out by men whose sole business it is
and who pass their Hves in it from boyhood to old age ;
they are invariably robust, hardy, seafaring men whose
lives are one long toil amidst great hardships, climatic
and otherwise, and dangers. In Great Britain and
America the fishermen, other than the inshore men, not
only go habitually with their lives in their hands, but
endure incredible hardships ; for much of the year, the
mere work and discomfort of stormy weather is most
serious, but a considerable part of the best catching-
season (autumn to spring) is so rigorous that none but
the most hardy can stand the exposure ; it is common
for decks and rigging to be a mass of ice with the
thermometer far below freezing point, and icy seas con-
tinually breaking over the boats ; only the hardiest men
born in the climate and inured to hardship can survive.
In Japan the same is the experience (see my note,
paragraph 7) ; the storms are most serious and severe ;
except in the extreme south the cold in winter is intense,
while the boats are far less suited to the exposure
than the staunch British and American smacks or
steamboats ; the Japanese can only stand it, when they
do, by their extraordinary powers of endurance and
resistance to exposure, as shown, for example, in the
late war.

5. But if in Great Britain, America or Japan a man
intends to become an experienced sailing master and
deep-sea fisherman, he 7nust go through a long course
of these risks and hardships, entering the service while
young and gradually working up to the higher posts
of master and skipper. The young men who, in Japan,
attend the Institute are of this sturdy fishermen class,
and the training in the Institute is merely supplementary
to ordinary practice ; just as in England, etc., young men
of the artisan class attend technical institutes to o-ain a
more complete and scientific grounding in the principles
of their art. The catchino- of sea fish cannot be taueht
on dry land ; the only school is at sea ; hence, in Japan
the fishermen class, compulsorily educated as all Japanese
are, go for a while to a training Institute and are
educated in the principles of their art, very largely at
sea, while those who are to take a higher place, extend
their sea training to long deep-sea voyages to Korea,
Saghalien, Siberia, etc., like ordinary fishermen.

72

6. Now in India it is out of the question to send
boys or men of the fishermen class for training abroad ;
they are among the most ignorant, prejudiced, and
boorish of the lower castes, though individually fine men
and well versed in their ancient methods ; a few minutes
with men on the Madras beach will show this. On the
other hand, In addition to the caste difficulty, the
educated men of our schools and colleges are delicate,
wholly unused to and disliking manual labour, quite
unfit for continuous exposure to storms and wintry cold
at sea, the very last men in the world to send for deep-
sea training in European or Japanese waters ; a week of
British or Japanese work, except in fair weather, would,
literally, kill them. I should have foreseen this, but it
came home to me in observing the men and conditions
of British deep-sea life and hearing of them at first hand
from competent observers. Under these circumstances,
I abandoned, as impracticable, the idea of training-
Indian students abroad as future deep-sea ftshing
experts.

7. Moreover, except possibly for one experimental
trawler-drifter, I hope to work from the bottom, by very
gradually improving local and indigenous boats and
methods, so that we shall not at once want highly trained
deep-sea experts, capable of taking a trawling fieet to
sea, so much has a body of local fishermen working and
gradually developing under the suggestions and help of
one thorough expert, aided by crews or instructors drawn
from more advanced localities which I have in mind.
Ireland taught me this amongst other lessons, and I shall
shortly propose adaptations of Irish methods ; in north-
west Ireland they obtain Scottish Superintendents, and
work a class of newly introduced large sea boats by
local crews who are stiffened and taught by one or two
instructors (superior fishermen) drawn either from Scot-
land or from more advanced part (Arklow) of Ireland, or
even by special crews brouglit from such parts. Here I
shall propose an European expert to be stationed in
Madras itself, who will inter alia assist local men to
understand and work improved (Ratnagiri) boats with
the aid of (Ratnagiri) men who may be permanently
engaged for the purpose ; in Bombay last week I found
that they are accustomed to work large fishing boats, up
to 30 tons, at more than 30 miles from siiore.

8. There Is, however, no reason why young men
properly selected as to physique, temperament, and other
qualifications should not be trained in Indian waters as
deep-sea fishing experts ; lads or young men can easily
serve as apprentices on sea-going boats, for there are no
such hardships here as in European or Japanese seas ;
climate and weather are favourable throughout the
fishing seasons, and the risks are slight. For this pur-
pose graduates are not necessary, but merely strong,
intelligent lads ready to take up a sea-going life of a
simple, easy, and near-home character, and to learn the
methods of handling new classes of boats and nets and of
handlino- the fish cauo-ht.

My detailed proposals will be sent in shortly. I now
merely explain my reason for not going to Japan, my
change of views, and my general suggestions.

9. In another letter dealing with the Indian Fisheries
Company at Cochin and its work, I am showing that both
in the catching and curing branches this Company's
operations will provide a large experimental station
where the very experiments which we contemplate will
be carried out on a o-reat scale and Indians will be trained
in all sea-going and preserving methods as well as in
matters not covered by our present programme, such as
the preparation of fish oil and fish manure. This is
another reason for o-oino- slow in sendino- Indians abroad
for trainino' in fish catchino-.

10. Then as regards curing. I have mentioned just
above that the Indian Fisheries Company will conduct
operations not only in the catching but in the curing
branch ; the object is to send large quantities of whole-
some fish up-country and this can only be done at a
cheap rate by various curing and canning processes.
We should not, however, rely wholly on this Company's
efforts in curing any more than in catching, and I still
propose to open an experimental station ; not on the
West-Coast however, but in Madras for reasons to be
given below. For the teaching of canning and special
methods of treating fish I propose to obtain an expert of
the foreman or rising foreman grade from one of the
English firms whose works I have visited, and to attempt
a thorough development of this industry. But ordinary
curing is not a mysterious art ; it exists already on our
coasts, and what is needed are improvements and

74

developments which are either simple matters of speed,
cleanliness, and common sense, or are reforms and
advances resulting from applied science, or are introduc-
tions of simple methods elsewhere in vogue, such as
smoking and wet pickling, the use of vinegar (as in
Bombay), etc. I am now personally able and ready to
direct the conduct of experiment in these improvements ;
one or two Sub-Asssistants selected for particular
qualifications will be needed and a few indigenous curers
of the better and more intelligent sort ; with this
material good progress may be expected. It has been sug-
gested to me by Lord Amp thill that skilled Japanese
instructors mio-ht be obtained at a moderate cost for our
technical work, and it is quite possible that in the curing
department this might become advisable ; the point will
be hereafter discussed with other details in a separate
report on the experimental station.

1 1 . The experimental station. — As elsewhere noted,
the Indian Fisheries Company is starting large works,
partly of an experimental nature, at Cochin on the West
Coast, and its operations will extend to other places
than Cochin ; these operations are intended to and, it is
hoped, will cover experiments in all the items included
under catchingr and curino;. The conditions of the West
Coast from Cochin to Mangalore are all similar both in
the nature and depth of the sea, the breadth of the
comparatively shallow (trawlable) area, the classes and
seasons of fish produced, the classes of persons engaged,
the implements used, and the communications available.
Hence, experiments in Cochin will be as instructive to
the whole West Coast as experiments at Tellicherry, and
since the experiments have actually begun and should,
by reason of abundance of funds and experts, be more
rapidly and thoroughly conducted than any which
Government could at once undertake, I consider that
the proposed Government experimental station at
Tellicherry should be transferred to the East Coast.

The locality which I would now propose is Madras,
or the neiohbourhood not further north than Ennore or
south than the y\dayar. Apart from tne reasons given
above for transfer from Tellicherry, Madras is indicated
as the best site for a station ; it will probably be the
head-quarters of the Fisheries administration ; scientific
talent and assistance — engineering, mechanical, chemical.

75

etc. — can always be drawn upon ; the results of successful
experiments will be noticed by competent observers and
readily disseminated by the press or otherwise ; the city is
a centre of industrial and business enterprise and capital
which will be able to adopt and push successful fishery
and curing methods ; there is a harbour in which any
experimental vessels, such as steam trawlers, can shelter ;
hardy and expert fishermen are numerous, and the local
agencies for placing fish on the market are experienced
and probably eager to adopt ascertained improvements,
especially in methods of bringing fish fresh and expediting
its transit ; the local market for fresh fish is unlimited,
while, as the head-quarters of two main railways, experi-
ments in the consignment of fresh fish to Bangalore and
other distant markets can readily be undertaken ; as a
city where custom is less binding than in the districts,
the market for new products such as pickled or smoked
fish, could be tested and the taste for such goods diffused.
I, therefore, suggest Madras, and will shortly examine
the neighbourhood in view to finding a good site ; it is
possible, however, that a sub-station for canning will
have to be started in a locality where sardine are more
abundant.

12. The objects to be kept in view are those men-
tioned in my Japanese note, paragraphs i86 to 194. In
the matter of catching ; it is a question for discussion
whether Government will plunge direct into large enter-
prise such as that of fitting out a trawler-drifter for a
quantitative exploration of the waters outside of Madras
and for the introduction at once of the most modcn
methods in view to assist private enterprise to undertake
such methods. On the one hand, we know nothing of
the possible productivity of those waters, nor is it pro-
bable, at present, that private enterprise will risk capital
in a commercial venture upon modern lines without some
idea of the chances of success. On the other hand, is it
not better not to attempt too much or take too large
strides at first ? will it not be well to work slowly upwards
throuoh the small sailino- boat and indiorenous fishermen
by steady evolution rather than to attempt or even sug-
gest a revolution in fishery methods by even the experi-
mental introduction of the latest western apparatus?
It is all very well for progressive, wealthy, highly
educated nationalities as in Canda, ' New Zealand, the

76

Cape, etc., to start a neiv industry by importing and
working steam trawlers ; there is no reason why an
up-to-date nationaUty should not begin at once in the
newest fashion. But in Madras we have a vast existino-
industry worked for centuries in the most primitive
fashion by a large population of ignorant but industrious
men, and we cannot ignore them and their interests,
welfare, and industrial conditions ; we cannot jump at
once from the catamarc.n to the steam trawler any more
than we can from the mamoty to the steam plough. Just
as a steam plough to be successful would involve the
upset of the small peasant and require the introduction
of the capitalist landlord or farmer, so the immediate
introduction of the modern steam trawler— if, indeed,
it were possible — would mean a revolution of the fishery
system by bringing on the capitalist and reducing the
fisherman to a paid hand. This may come, but, if so, it
should be only by a gradual industrial evolution, and
Government should not force it on even by suggestion.
Even in progressive Japan no such attempt is being
made (see my report), and in Ireland the method is
purely gradual and evolutionary.

As mentioned above, I propose rather to engage one
or two Bombay boats with their crews complete who will
work the waters near Madras, not at present exploited by
the catamarans, and who will teach local men the use of
sailine boats and new methods. Details will follow ; at
present I merely indicate my preference for slow evolu-
tionary methods and the particular line based on Irish
methods which I hope to take.

13. But preservation will be the chief object of
immediate experimental work, viz., proper preservation on
board and for fresh fish as far as the market, and for cured
fish throughout the curing process ; untainted, wholesome
fish will be the aim rather than a larger supply of the
present quantities. Better preservation by the proper
methods of handling on boari will, however, increase
the catches which are now limited not merely by the
smallncss of the boats, but by the inability of ignorance to
delay the access of taint ; better conditions of cleanliness,
the keeping of the fish alive, the gutting and cleaning of
it on board, the use of certain innocuous preservatives,
etc., would greatly improve the keeping power of the
produce, so that catching will automatically increase with

n

the development of proper preservation on the boats.
After that the supply of wholesome food depends entire-
ly on methods of preservation, and the unanimous
opinion of all experts at home with whom I discussed
tropical difficulties, was that preservation — preservative
methods — are the crux of the problem. I have accord-
ingly studied this question with some minuteness and
have decided upon a variety of definite experiments for
the station both in ordinary and in special preservative
methods ; ordinary, embracing the more varied use of salt
as in pickling, the use of smoke, vinegar, etc., better
methods of drying, etc., together with a small refrigerat-
ing plant chiefly for lowering the working temperature
in certain cases ; special, in the application of certain
simple and innocuous preservatives and methods which,
though not novel to science or always to fish curing, are
novel in general application because in western countries
they are unnecessary by reason of climate, of the universal-
ity of cheap ice and refrigeration, of the general use of
canning, and of the larger use of cheap salt, smoke, etc. ;
in India they are, of course, entirely novel by reason of the
general ignorance of any preservatives other than salt
and solar heat, and, in a few places, of vinegar or other
weak acid such as tamarind juice and peppers.

14. The appoijitmcnt of a Director and Superintend-
ent.— After observing the work, methods, and staff of
the Congested Districts Board, Ireland, and comparing
those of Japan, I feel the necessity for a proper directing
and supervising as well as technical staft.

15. Omitting at present the technical men, we need,
in the first place, a Commissioner or Director who
should be an officer of wide administrative experience,
accustomed to Indian needs, habits, social conditions,
prejudices, conflicting interests, etc., but possessing also
a good knowledge of fishery work and results throughout
the world ; this officer would be the arbiter agendi, to
control and sanction the general policy and lines of
action in all the branches of fishery work, marine and
inland, to co-ordinate, regulate, criticize work, to pro-
mulgate successes, to negotiate with other departments,
railways, business firms, etc. : he should not, however,
interfere with details. The Commissioner for Agri-
culture in the Board would probably be the most
suitable authority, if possessing fishery knowledge.

78

1 6. Secondly, we need two Directors (or Superintend-
ents or Deputy or Assistant Directors) one for marine
and one for inland waters ; these must be fishery experts
who will deal with and supervise the details of work,
will conduct the necessary enquiries, will translate into
definite methods and experiments the policy and lines of
action sanctioned by the Commissioner, and will super-
vise the staff. Government have already appointed
Mr. Wilson as Piscicultural Expert, but I take it that
this designation hardly expresses his full duties, since he
will necessarily be occupied in biological, economic, and
local investigations as a necessary preliminary to, or con-
comitant of, piscicultural work, and in such conserva-
tional w^ork as enquiries may show to be possible. For
the present then, I take it that Mr. Wilson will be the
Deputy Director for freshwater work.

17. For directing marine work there will be more
difficulty in obtaining a really competent officer ; except
perhaps, in Japan, it is very difficult to find an all-round
man acquainted on the economic or industrial side with
the fishino- business in its several branches of catchino-
curing, and distribution ; in Great Britain this highly-
developed business is so split up that one man seldom
combines a knowledge of various branches ; e.g., even in
the catching branch, the drifting skipper cannot trawl
and knows nothino- of lono- llnlno- ; the curino- trade agfain
Is separate from the catching branch and, except in cer-
tain items, separate in the various classes of curing ; the
salesman again is not necessarily an expert In anything
except the distribution of the lish. Again, there Is a
sharp line between the scientific and the industrial lines,
and while scientific men can somewhat easily be obtained,
they are usually more scientific than industrial, and for
our present Indian purposes we want men who are, in
the first place. Industrial experts, yet, In the second
place, have such a knowledge of the science — biological,
chemical, hygienic, etc. — which underlies practice, that
they are not mere rule-of-thumb men who know and can
teach only what they have learned empirically.

18. A concrete case will show the difficulty ; in Ireland
the Congested Districts Board has worked its fisheries
in a most prudent and enlightened way for sixteen years
with Scotch Superintendents and Instructors In several
branches. Yet, when In 1907 the Board required a Chief

79

Superintendent for their fishery operations, there was not
a man in the department who could be put in, and candi-
dates had to be invited by advertisement ; the candidate
selected is said to be exceptionally well qualified (" very
few have the general knowledge of so many different
branches of the fish trade that he has " says a notice in
the " Fish Trades Gazette "), having been cooper, fishery
clerk, salesman, and manager to a trading Company, etc.,
and it is hoped that he will fill the position. The fact is
that the post is a most difficult one to fill requiring not
only much varied yet highly accurate knowledge, but
many other qualities. In Ireland the Congested Districts
Board enjoys the extraordinary good fortune of having
the Rev. W. S. Green, c.b., as its adviser and practical
head, an ofificer who, a born fisherman, is deeply versed
in both science and practice, can skipper a steam trawler
on a three months' voyage, take his place in the labora-
tory, organize and direct the whole series of difficult
operations involved in developing a backward or even
non-existent industry from the building of the boats, sup-
plying the crews with such boats on reasonable terms,
and teaching the crews, down to marketing the fresh or
cured fish, and so forth. Hence the personal qualifica-
tions of the Superintendent are less material in Ireland
than they will be in Madras where, since a Commissioner
in the Board cannot possibly have the unusual qualifica-
tions of Mr. Green, it will be necessary to try and obtain
such qualifications in the marine Superintendent. The
difficulty will be more clearly brought out when I discuss
my plans for immediate work, based as they will partly
be on proved Irish methods. I hope, however, that by
advertisement we may obtain a man who will unite com-
parative youth with large experience, wide and accurate
knowledge, scientific and industrial, with an open and
adaptive mind, thoroughly up to date in modern methods
yet ready to go slow in applying his knowledge to a
backward and poor community.*

19. The mere industrial experts — such as foremen
canners, curers, etc. — will be mentioned in my detailed
letter on the experimental station and its needs.

* By a fortunate concurrence of circumstances the services of Mr. James Hornell,
F.L.S., became available in the middle of 1908, and he was appointed as Marine
Assistant temporarily in 190S, and more permanently in I909, when he also became
Superintendent of Pearl and Chank fisheries,

8o

Letter — from Sir F.A.Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary
Director of Fisheries to the Government of Madras.
Dated — the 31st December 1907.

In my letter No. 230, dated the 31st December 1907,
I have n\entioned the " Indian Fisheries Company" of
London ; this is ah'eady a going concern, at' present in
the Syndicate and experimental stage, in actual operation
on the West Coast. I have frequently interviewed the
London firm which is the active centre of this concern,
and is a very pushing and prosperous firm, the head of
which is connected with enterprise all over the world ;
their declared intention is the development of the fish
trade in all branches, for Indian needs first, and, failing
an Indian demand, for export purposes. They have
begun with an obvious article and opening, viz., the pur-
chase of dried oil sardines for export as manure, but this
is merely a beginning ; it is intended to revive the fish oil
industry and to push on Indian trade in oil and manure
for which experts and plant have already been sent out ;
to develop deep sea catching methods by the most
modern plant, which, I understand, is under order; the fresh
fish trade is expressly mentioned as an attractive develop-
ment, and the head of the firm when out here at the
beginning of the year sounded the railway authorities on
the subject of refrigerating cars, rates, etc.; the canning
and cured fish business which they have in view will, to
my mind, probably precede the fresh fish trade. It is
intended, if experiments and first attempts are successful,
to develop the syndicate into a company with a large
capital, and to push the business in all branches. I
may add that during my voyage home I became
acquainted with a Calcutta merchant interested in an
Indian business for which fish oil is especially necessary,
and on hearing of his needs, running into many
hundreds of tons annually, I placed him in communica-
tion with the Indian Fisheries Company, and am
told that the result will probably be a large immediate
business.

2. I mention this enterprise because it will explain
why I am not now keen on a large Government develop-
ment, in the way of experiment, on the West Coast ; if
this firm carries out its intentions — of which I have no
doubt, as the beginnings have, I believe, been very

8i

lucrative — the whole work of an experimental station on
the larorest scale will be carried out in thorough business
fashion, with abundant funds, the best experts, and
complete continuity ; Government intervention would
therefore be unnecessary ; the company will ascertain for
Government and for the public whether trawling, purse-
netting, etc., are possible ; whether, as I believe, the
shoals of fish can be found and followed well out at sea
when they fail to visit the shore ; whether the West
Coast is as prolific over its average breadth of, say, 40
miles of shallow sea, i.e., within the lOO-fathom limit, as
it is within the five-mile area at present worked ; whether
fish can be brought to shore and placed on the market in
good and wholesome condition, and so forth. I regret
that it is not a Swadeshi business, but it fulfils my
prediction (Japanese note, paragraph 231) that European
enterprise will take the cream of the business if Indians
hesitate, and the enterprise will undoubtedly be carried
out in a way which should induce imitation. There will,
however, be plenty of room for less highly developed
operations; one or two steamers cannot work 15,000
square miles of sea, and there will be plenty of room for
small sailing smacks worked by independent fishermen
or groups.

Moreover, the Company's vessels and works will not
only provide object lessons, but will necessarily train
men in all branches of deep-sea fishing, and in the subse-
quent handling of fish, whether fresh or preserved in
various w'ays, and fish products. For though Europeans
will at first supei'vise in all branches, whether as skippers,
engineers, curing masters, foremen, etc., the mass of
work-people will necessarily be Indian, and as intelligent
experience grows and competition requires the cutting
down of expenses, Indians will gradually be trained to
take up all but the very topmost places, and will thus
provide that body of industrial experts which it is the
aim of Government to provide in this as in other
industries.*

* This Company did not, after all, materialise in the manner expected ; the
Company devoted its attention only to tish oil and fish guano, and is now (1915)
represented by a single oil and guano factory at Cochin. Its failure to develop
as expected reacted unfavourably on the Fisheries Department which, as shown in
the text, awaited that development, and, partly in the interests of the Company,
temporarily abandoned operations on the West Coast.

Similar disappointments in the matter of fish-curing and fish-canning were
experienced on two other occasions, and materially affected departmental work.

6

82

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Hono-
rary Director of Fisheries to the Government
of Madras.

Dated — the 5 th May 190S.

I have the honour to make proposals for a Marine
Fishery Experimental station. They involve, however,
decisions on large questions of policy and cover much of
the ground of a general report ; hence a considerable
degree of detail. The objects of the proposed station
are to ascertain facts, especially the proper methods of
catching and placing on the market a greater abundance
of marine products at once wholesome, cheap, and
acceptable, and to disseminate such facts by teaching and
by demonstration both on the spot, in other yards, and
in the markets; in all operations it will be especially
sought to enlist public interest and, where possible, actual
co-operation, as will presently be shown. This letter is
an expansion, based on fuller and more detailed knowl-
edge, of paragraphs 186 to 194 of my note on Japa-
nese Fisheries. It is not concerned with freshwater
fisheries.

The work will involve the expenditure of time,
money, and labour, sometimes perhaps unsuccessfully
or unremuneratively, and an investment in plant which
may subsequently be found unsuitable or too expensive
for general adoption ; this is necessarily the case in
pioneer movements such as Government is undertaking.
But I have proposed nothing which is not in successful
practice elsewhere in the same industry or for similar
purposes, and should, in some cases, success be attained
by methods or with plant seemingly too costly for
ordinary individual use, it will be sought not only to
minimize expense by studying how to simplify plant and
methods, but also to render improved plant possible by
stimulating co-operation or Joint enterprise, and by the
extension to fishermen and curers of the loans systems
at present confined to agriculturists.
2. The points for decision are —

[a] the lines on which experimental development
shall proceed (paragraphs 3 to 45) ;

{b) the position of the station (paragraph 46) ;

{c) the classes of experiment proposed and
character of the plant necessary (para-
graphs 47 to 68) ;

83

(d) the required staff (paragraphs 69 to 72) ; and

(e) the approximate cost (paragraphs y^ and 74).
In paragraph 75 I have abstracted my several

proposals.

THE LINES ON WHICH EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

SHALL PROCEED.

3. Two points will be steadily kept in view in the
present attempt to develop Madras marine fisheries.
The first is that the scene and scope of our work will
chiefly be in the deep sea, i.e., in the area outside of
the three-mile or even the five-mile limit ; I do not
propose to interfere, except in matters of detail, with
that inshore area, but to create a deep-sea fishery
anywhere outside of that limit.

The second and most important is that it is the
food of the masses which is our chief concern, the food
of those vastly preponderating numbers (75 to 90 per
cent, of the population) who will always eat animal food
if they can get it, but can in no case afford more than
2 annas or so per pound even for good, solid nutriment,
and even less for ordinary fish or flesh ; I am less
concerned with the 4 to 6 anna folk who live in definite
centres such as Madras and who should be provided for by
ordinary trade organizations (of which there are begin-
nings in Madras and Calicut) operating with modern
plant for the supply of good fresh fish. The latter will
not be neglected, but the prime necessity, the first and
chief object of investigation and effort, will be the supply
in large quantities of cheap food preserved in a variety
of ways and of undeniable wholesomeness to the masses
in the interior ; cheap and good fish food and cheap and
o-ood fish manure for the million. Hence it is the sailino^
boat and the curing yard rather than the steam trawler
and the refrigerating car which will primarily engage
attention.

There is a vague popular idea that development
means "steam trawlers"; that there is an illimitable sea
harvest waiting outside only needing to be gathered in
by modern plant ; that the one necessity is to sweep in
the greatest possible quantity of fish and throw it upon
an avid market, and that this can be done by starting
steam trawlers, the first being, of course, a Government
experiment the success of which is to herald the modern

6-A

84

steam fleet. As already mentioned in my Japanese note
and elsewhere, my own idea of Madras needs and
methods is, on the contrary, that we do not at present
need or want steam, save for particular cases ; that to
jump from the catamaran to the steamer is impossible
and unwise if possible, and that our true method is to
proceed by the ordinary and historical process of slow
development ; revolutionary methods, here as elsewhere,
are a mistake. We want to develop, gi^adatini et pari
passu, the fisher folk, the fishing industry, and the fish-
ing trade by methods which will not necessarily reduce
the fisher folk to hired labourers under capitalists
(European or other) ; which will gradually catch more
fish and bring such fish in a proper condition to market ;
which will gradually create a demand for a better article
than that now produced and consumed ; and which will
gradually develop an indigenous organization able to
place that article cheaply and through ordinary trade
lines on the inland market. We cannot do this with a
rush ; if steamers caught large masses of fish it is a
question if it could be done with profit except for the
foreign manure trade ; it is still more doubtful if it could
be placed as safe edible goods on the inland market at a
price which the Indian in general can pay. The whole
process of catching, preserving, and distributing must
evolve together and with equal steps. Even Japan has
proceeded to develop its fishing industry on these lines,
though it is not hampered by a tropical climate which
is the grand difiliculty in India and which militates
strongly against the sudden introduction of methods
found useful and necessary in Europe.

Yet while endeavouring to evolve rather than to
revolutionize, it will not be forgotten that even such
progress necessarily implies new expenses and new
methods such, for instance, as that of combination among
fishermen, curers, and small capitalists ; so far from
meaning adherence to individualism it probably requires
combination either co-operatively {en miUiialitd) or joint
stock. For some of the developments will require the
use of capital — not necessarily large — as for improved
boats and nets, drying and salting plant, smoke houses,
etc. Mechanical and other appliances are not ruled out
but actually demanded by a developing industry, so that
the experimental station will not exclude but include such

^5

developments, aiming, however, always at simplicity
and ag-ain simplicity.

By enlisting public and private co-operation it is
sought not merely to lighten the burden of experimenting
and to diffuse results but so to stimulate practical public
interest that the station may be the active agent in
forming a general Fishery Society such as that described
in paragraphs 14 to 18 of my Japanese note ; there must
be some visible action and results, some point d appui
on which to base a society for practical work in the
present condition of public opinion on such a matter as
the catching, curing, and eating of fish in which the
most progressive intellects and intelligence of the
country are, of course, uninterested. I consider it better
to attempt the formation of societies and associations
after the achievement of sume practical success rather
than to start a mere academic debating society. The
same argument applies in still stronger fashion, to the
foundation of the still more practical business societies
and Chambers described in paragraphs 104 to 122 of my
Japanese note. The station will be made not merely a
place of experiment but a centre for the instruction and
stimulation of public and private enterprise.

4. In paragraphs 5 to 45 I proceed, under this head,
to indicate the probable lines of immediate policy and of
immediate practical action, especially at the experimental
station, by showing —

(i) that steam, especially steam trawlers, are a
very recent Western development, necessitated or made
possible by the conditions of the Western fish trade such
as the depletion of the home waters leading to distant
voyages in rough and wintry seas, a strong effective
demand, high prices, an elaborate organization, a
wealthy distributing trade, rapid communications on
land, cheap coal and ice, etc. ;

(2) that even in the West the sailer holds its otvn
where fishing grounds are comparatively near at hand,
and coal comparatively dear ;

(3) that in Madras Presidency waters the condi-
tions demanding or permitting steam for actual catching-
do not in general exist, and that sailers will fill the need ;
steam or power boats in catching are only needed for
special purposes such as the supply of high-priced goods
and, possibly, fish for canning ;

86

(4) that improved sailers to supplement the present
fishing boats are, however, an essential in the develop-
ment of Madras fisheries, since the catamaran and

dup--out are inshore boats which thouorfi costing much

• 111

m time and labour are too weak and comfortless to

exploit any but the margins of our coastal fishing-
grounds and cannot fulfil the essential condition of pre-
serving the fish from taint in transit to shore from any
but short distances ;

(5) that larger boats would readily exploit the
fishing grounds (within 100 fathoms), seeing that these
grounds lie alongside the 1,650 miles of coast (exclusive
of indentations) in a comparatively narrow belt nowhere
exceeding 60 or 70 miles of easy sea and averaging less
than 20 on the East Coast and less than 40 on the West
Coast, and that such boats would render possible modern
methods such as the proper treatment and cleaning of
the fish at sea, the use of preservative methods, the
keeping of fish alive in live wells to shore, and so forth,
by which the dangers at present existing from tainted
goods may be largely obviated ;

(6) that the swift carrier is, if not an essential, a
most powerful instrument in the production and placing
on the market of sound edible goods at moderate price ;

(7) that the use of preservatives and preservative
methods is essential not only to development but to
public health ; with an indication of the methods,
including canning, which arc at present open ;

(8) that these reform,s, if successful, will
develop —

[a] the high class markets of the interior,
(/;) the cheap markets of the people, while
removing serious hygienic dangers ;

(9) that these reforms being comparatively simple
and cheap, can and will be carried out by indigenous
action both in the industry and in the distributing trade,
Indian firms and individuals being already engaged in
the trade, anxious for developments, and ready both to
co-operate with Government in experimenting and to
adopt the developments proved by experiment ;

(10) that by developing on these lines the existing
large fisher population will be as little as possible dis-
turbed either in social or industrial status and will be
brought into the line of progress by gradual steps ;

87

(ii) that marine cultural operations are not at
present advisable except in the matter of shell-fish,
especially oysters, in the various backwaters ;

(12) that with one small exception restrictive rules
are not at present suggested or needed, but that close
observation is necessary over a series of years on both
coasts (a) -to ascertain for the fishermen the character of
the deeper waters and the movements of fish especially
of shoalers, and (/;) to ascertain spawning places and
seasons in view to decide whether any restrictive rules
may become necessary ; this observation to be carried
out at sea, at experimental stations, and at fish-curing
yards.

5. Steam is of recent introduction in EtLrope and
generally unnecessary at present in Madras Toaters. — Even
in Great Britain steam is of the most recent introduction;
prior to 1880 the whole of the then vast and highly
organized industry was conducted by sailing craft which
in turn had steadily evolved by gradual development ;
sixty years ago in Scotland most of the boats were small
and open ; they were then enlarged and decked, and
these in turn some 25 years ago began to give place to
the steamer. It was the enormous effective demand for
high class fresh fish caused by rapid communication on a
vast network of railways, coupled with immense enter-
prise, large capital, thorough organization, abundance of
cheap ice, etc., which led at first to the development of
large sailing craft working the most approved and deadly
implement such as the 50-foot beam trawl, the drift net
miles in length, the long lines with 7,000 hooks, and by
consequence, to such comparative depletion of the nearer
waters and to such competition that the fishermen were
forced to go further and further afield ; cheap coal and
ice and a rise in the prices of fish then made steamers
and long voyages possible, and to-day the steam fishing
boat capable of and habituated to voyages of a thousand
miles and able to weather the storms of any sea, are
leading features of the British industry. But even in
England steam is by no means universal ; wherever the
fishing grounds are comparatively near and coal compa-
ratively dear, the sailer holds its own ; the Brixham,
Ramsgate, and other Channel or near- home trawlers are
all sailers, as are the French luo Qrers which one meets off
Ushant, the Scilly Isles, etc., and so in many other places ;

88

it is a question of profit, and the lugger with few working-
expenses can very well compete with the steamer when
the grounds lie near home ; Ramsgate smacks fish the
nearer portions of the North Sea, say within lOO miles
of port, as well as the Channel, and Brixham trawlers
for much of the year fish the grounds between Portland
and the Lizard within 30 miles of land. So in America
the finest boats, e.g., those on the Newfoundland banks,
are all sailers ; in Japan steam has hardly been in-
troduced at all even for boats which go over to Korea
and the Siberian coasts (r/. paragraph 94 of my Japanese
note) ; it is the sailer, and very often the comparatively
small boat, which brings in the immense sea harvest of
Japan. It is a mistake therefore both historical and in-
dustrial, to consider the steamer as the immediate
sequence of the small boat, or even to think of it as a
necessity at all, except when the fishing grounds are
distant and seas dangerous, speed obligatory, and prices

high.

• 1
6. Now on the Madras coasts we have no smgle

circumstance which, in general, favours or renders

necessary the steamer as a catcher ; economic and social

expediency as well as industrial history indicate the

sailer, and that not a big one, as the next stage of

development.

First, Madras (the Presidency) is in the catamaran
stage industrially, both as regards boats, implements,
men, wealth, knowledge, enterprise, and the distributing
trade ;

Secondly, its fishermen cannot afford steamers or
even big sailers ;

Thirdly, prices, except, perhaps, in special cases, will
not yield a profit after deducting the cost of coal, ice,
machinery, the wages of expert crews and engineers, the
interest on capital, the heavy depreciation on the
steamers, etc.;

Fourthly, the independent fishermen would become
mere labourers on the advent of the rich company or
capitalist ;

Fifthly, the fishing grounds are at the very doors of
the fishermen and nowhere else, while the grounds
themselves are comparatively restricted in breadth ;

Sixthly, the weather and sea render steam generally
unnecessary ;

89

Seventhly, there are few harbours for the accom-
modation and repair of steamers ;

Eighthly, steam in boats for catching is more
important for trawlers than for other classes of boat
(drifters and liners) as they require great power to
drag immense nets at fair speed irrespective of wind
and current ; in Madras waters it is probable that
bottom fish, which alone the trawler can catch, are in
the great minority as compared with mid-water and
surface fish.

As regards the sixth point it is to be remembered
that not only is the climate warm so that exposure in
good sailing boats causes little hardship, but that the
weather is certain in an extraordinary degree, the winds
and currents are well known and steady, varying
according to season with the greatest regularity, the
zones and periods of cyclonic storms are fixed and almost
immutable while the signs and directions of their
approach are well known, and the stormy monsoon
seasons are, roundly speaking, regular in date and
duration. So comparatively regular is the weather that
for long periods together the fisherman can count on
absolutely fine and equable weather, on going out with
a land breeze in the mornino" and returnino- with the sea
breeze in the evening. In a word the weather and sea
conditions are as different from those of Great Britain,
Japan, etc., as can well be imagined and are wholly
favourable for sailing fishing craft.

7. Larger boats are, however, essential. — While, how-
ever, I see no present reason for the steamer as against
the sailer as a catcher, I see very strong reasons for
improved sailers, not indeed to replace but to supplement
by deep sea work the inshore catamaran or canoe. I
will mention briefly and broadly the present characteris-
tics of coast fishing. On the east coast the catamaran
or a variant as at Vizagapatam, is the general boat, as
it is readily taken through the surf, is quite unsinkable,
and when landed is taken apart and carried piecemeal
up the beach ; the masula or surf boat is solely used for
shore seining. The catamaran, alone, in pairs, or in
groups, uses various nets and lines, but is hampered by
its small accommodation for men, nets, lines and fish, its
absence of depth and capacity, its comparatively poor
sailing and hauling powers, and the impossibility of

go

staying out many hours owing to exposure and inability
to take a food supply ; obviously also it is impossible to
deal with the fish either by proper storage, or by the
use of salt or ice. In certain parts, as at Masulipatam,
excellent fishing "dinghies " built of teak are in use, and
in Palk's Straits, especially near Point Calimere, boats
of considerable size are in use as carriers } the Kilakarai
and other pearling boats of the Manaar Straits are also
well known. The Masulipatam dinghy can and does
carry a respectable length of light cotton drift net which
may aggregate half a mile in nominal or one-third in
short length ; this, though exceptional, helps to prove
the case for the general use of proper boats. On the
extreme south, as at Tuticorin, the Ceylon boats, usually
outriggers and splendid sailers, regularly come over in
the cold weather for seer, but so far have found no
imitators. On the West Coast the canoe or dug-out is
universal ; this very narrow and crank boat being chiefly
a row-boat requires a large crew and gives poor accom-
modation for nets and little room even to men ; its
sailing power is slight and sails often non-existent ;
obviously such boats are badly unsuitable tor real deep
sea work. The exception on this coast is a notable one.
viz., the so-called Ratnagiri boats, comparatively large
(6 to lo tons) sailing boats from the Bombay Coast,
which come down for the cold weather sea fishing ; these
regularly come as far south as Tellicherry, but so far
have met with no local imitators, though they are good
sea boats and sailers, make the long voyage from the
Bombay Coast, and could stay out at sea for days
together, if properly provided.

8. These inefficient boats do the whole fishing of our
coasts ; some fish by night, some by day, but in few cases
does the stay at sea exceed 9 or 10 hours and the dis-
tance from land 5 or 6 miles for the following reasons : —

(a) food and water cannot conveniently be taken,
especially on the catamaran ;

(/;) the exposure and confinement in catamaran and
dug-out cannot long be borne ;

(c) much of the work has to be done by rowing or
paddling ;

(c/) in this climate fish can nowhere and at no
season remain in grood condition for more than a verv
few hours after death ; and

91

(e) no cheap or simple methods are known or, at
least, practised for the proper treatment or preservation
of the fish from taint.

9. The results of this universal useof small boats are —
(a) the non-exploitation except in a small degree

of any but inshore waters, i.e., waters within 5 miles of
land, with at the same time an undue loss of time in
going to and from the fishing grounds, and an undue
cost in labour ;

(d) the use only of comparatively small and weak
catching apparatus, whether nets or lines ;

(r) a considerable amount of actual taint or, at
best, several hours of progress towards that condition,
except where fish are caught in the shore seine or close
inshore.

10. TusuffLcient exploitation of the fishing grounds,
etc, — The fishing grounds of the Madras Presidency
coast are yjeculiar ; on both coasts the sea-bed shelves
fairly gradually from the shore to about the loo-fathom
line which lies at from 10 to 70 miles from land ; from
about that line it falls very precipitously, viz., to 1,000
fathoms and more within a very few miles ; e.g., near
Madras the depths at 10, 20, 30 and 40 miles out are
about 25, TOO, 800 and 1,900 fathoms respectively; out-
side Cochin the depths at 10, 30. 35 and 50 miles are 15,
50, 120 and 1,000 respectively. Of the fish capacity of
the deep sea beyond 100 fathoms we know nothing, and
it may be neglected at present as a practical fishing
ground, though kept under observation as a source of
fish, till the waters within 100 fathoms, which I designate
as the fishing grounds, are properly exploited ; I use this
depth as a convenient limit since it is practically the
limit of trawling though by no means of drifting or lining.

11. These fishing grounds, then, vary in width from
10 to 70 miles, the average on the East Coast being just
19 miles or half that of ttie West Coast where the belt
averages 38 miles ; roughly, the 1,200 miles of belt from
Puri to Cape Comorin embraces an area of about 23,000
square miles, and the belt of 450 miles from Cape
Comorin to Kundapur comprises about 17,000 square
miles ; altogether there are about 40,000 square nautical
miles of good fishing ground, nearly the whole of which
presents few obstacles to any class of fishing, whether
trawling, drifting, seining, or lining. The mere fact that

92

this comparatively regular and easily-fished belt lies for
the whole distance absolutely alongside of the coast, so
that its outside verge may be reached in a few hours from
any point on the coast, and that this whole coast line is
studded with fishing villages, itself shows that steam
catchers which usually connote distant fishing grounds,
stormy seas, and the need of powerful apparatus, are
generally unnecessary and that sailers are primarily
indicated. Yet this narrow accessible belt of equable
sea is but slightly exploited ; the cubical contents of the
regularly fished 5-mile belt, having an ordinary maximum
depth of 10 fathoms and an average depth all over of 5
fathoms, when compared with the cubical contents of the
lOO-fathom belt, are probably not 1/40 on the East Coast
and 1/70 on the West Coast.

12. Now it is true that the whole belt is probably
not so prolific in fish life as the inshore 5 miles, into
which the fish come in shoals whether for spawning or
feeding or driven by the shoals of predaceous fish ; it is
known that the inshore waters absolutely teem with
immature fish wiiich are daily caught by millions in the
inshore seines. Yet there is evidence enough to show
that the outer parts of the belt abound in fish life ; the
boats that go out more than 5 or 6 miles, whether the
Ratnagiri boats off Mangalore, the Bombay boats which
I have met 40 miles outside of Bombay, the results of
occasional excursions up to 10 or 12 miles by catamarans,
the evidence of steamer captains and others, including
myself, that on the West Coast vast shoals of sardine
and mackerel are frequently seen 10 and more miles out
at sea when the inshore fishermen are lamenting
the total absence of fish, show that lish are probably
abundant anywhere up to the lOO-fathom limit. But the
catamaran and canoe cannot go out to seek such fish or
remain out to follow them, and for this reason therefore
larger boats are absolutely necessary if fishing is to be
developed, and if the inshore waters are to be less
destructively exploited than at present.

13. Owing moreover, to the sniallness of the boats
and their poor sailing capacity a vast amount of time is
spent in the incessant voyages to and from the grounds ;
I have seen men on the West Coast labouring 'with the
oars for several hours to get home, or hoisting their own
cloths on oars as sails to their mastless boats, while the

93

sailing speed even of catamarans is poor ; almost half the
time is spent in going- to and fro when the distance
exceeds 3 or 4 miles. Moreover, a boat of 40 to 50 tons
does not require a crew of more than 10 or 12, whereas
two large and two small catamarans or two medium
canoes will require the larger of these numbers ; a crew
of 3 or 4 men, aided by simple mechanical contrivances
(capstans, etc.), will manage a boat and nets far more
powerful and productive than several canoes or large
catamarans on which manual labour is cramped by the
character of the boats and no mechanical appliances are
even possible.

14. But larger boats can work better nets — trawls
included — bodi as being more powerful and as admitting
the freer use of labour and the application of mechanical
appliances ; the largest fleet of drift nets I have seen is
that of the Masulipatam boats, but in this case length is
only obtained at the sacrifice of depth. A fleet or set of
herring or mackerel drift nets in England or Scotland
will be between i and 2 miles long and to yards deep
and is worked by a single siiler ; a Masulipatam boat
takes nets one-third of a mile long when shot and 4 to 5
yards deep. Moreover, canoes and catamarans are too
small to take more than one set of nets, and on the
West Coast it frequently happens that on going out with
one class of net the fishing is found to require a different
sort, and the whole voyage to and fro must again be
made to fetch them. The only drag net known in these
waters is the Madras Coast "thuri," a trawl-shaped bag
net towed by two catamarans just like a similar but
larger net in the Mediterranean ; this however is not a
ground net but mid-water and has little catching power ;
only a large boat can use a real trawl. So also in the
case of long lines, though size is here less essential so
far as mere catching is concerned ; these long lines are
occasionally found on the West Coast and have as many
as 400 hooks, but these are small and light and used in
shallow water compared with the heavy 7,000 hook lines
seven miles long of the British boats (sail or steam)
which will fish up to 360 fathoms for cod, halibut, etc.
Hence large sailing boats are imperative —
{a) to take crews safely and comfortably into the
further waters of the fishing grounds and to allow them
to stay there following and catching the shoals ;

94

(^b) to allow of the use of better and more powerful
nets and lines ;

[c) to save time, to lessen the number of hands
and increase their freedom of action, and to permit of the
use of mechanical appliances to save labour and increase
efficiency.

15. But there is a fourtii and absolutely important
reason, viz., the proper preservation of the fish without
taint from catch to shore ; it is probably the inability of
a primitive industry to solve this difficulty that has
largely prevented the development of the boats and
therefore of the industry. The difficulty is great enough
even in temperate or cold latitudes such as Great Britain
and Norway, where, moreover, coal and ice are cheap ; in a
tropical climate where a few hours bring taint, where coal
and ice are excessively dear, where salt has hitherto been
very expensive, and where scientific ignorance in those per-
sons who catch and deal in fish is — ^with few exceptions —
complete, the difficulty has been insurmountable ; if we
cannot obtain cheap preservation, it is of little use
hoping to develop a direct food harvest of fish, though
we may turn it into manure and indirectly, therefore, into
food. Even as regards Scotch pickled herrings com-
plaints have recently been made in the European market,
that fish have sometimes been of bad quality from having
been put too late into salt, and that the boats should
either return daily to port or be provided, like the Dutch
and other foreign boats, with the necessary apparatus
for complete curing on board. If this is liable to be
the case even from brief delays in a temperate climate,
what would be thought of our fish seldom put into cure
until not only has freshness departed but taint has
approached or arrived. On submitting the conditions
to experts in Great Britain, America and Germany,
whether officials or trade experts, there was but one
opinion, viz., that the question of preservation is the
crux of the whole problem in Madras. It is this,
then, that will have to be primarily dealt with in the
experimental station.

16. Fortunately, the problem is not insoluble ; by
simple means accessible to all without expense, taint
may be deferred ; by other means it may be j.revented.
But the larger boat is for this purpose almost a sine
qua non. By a third method taint may be obviated, viz.,

95

by the acceleration of transit to shore. The matter
divides into two main branches —

{a) the preservation of fish from taint from the
moment of catching to the shore ;

(/;) its further preservation from the shore (i) to
contiguous markets as fresh fish, (2) to inland markets
either as fresh or cured fish.

17. Point {a". — Taking first the third method —
acceleration of transit to shore. This is a method of
modern invention, viz., the collection of fish from boats
at sea by a swift carrier boat which then makes its
way direct to shore. This method has the great
advantage that boats at sea, perhaps in the midst of
making large catches, need not waste time and labour
in individually running to port with a few boxes
of fish ; the carrier can easily take the fish of a score of
boats. Further, and this is here the point, much time is
saved —

(t) because the catches can often be taken away
by a carrier as soon as ca^ight instead of waiting till the
fish i no- boat finds it worth while to q-q home ;

(2) because the carrier is faster than the fishing
boats.

This latter is specially the case when, as is now
possible even in India, the carrier may be driven by
steam or motor. The method, however, is only inci-
pient in this Presidency ; there are traces, as at Muttu-
pet, where large boats go out to collect the catches of
catamarans, but this seems rather to be clone after the
catches have come to shore ; on the West Coast fish
buyers send out to buy mackerel, etc., from the boats ;
this seemed to be merely an atternpt to be first in the
market. The French sardine canner at Mahe is said to
have bought or intended to buy a motor boat to get his
sardines speedily from the boats — mostly inshore — ,
but at Bombay it appears to be the rule for swift sailing
carriers to collect the catches of boats often 20 to 30
miles out at sea and to brino- them straight to market.
This method will greatly improve Madras practice ;
boats have often got good catches several hours before
they can start back, so that the early catches have
frequently passed the rigor stage before reaching shore ;
the carrier would save this. Moreover, the carrier can
add preservative improvements :

96

(i) she may carry a little Ice if ice is accessible as
at Madras and Calicut, for there would be little wastage
in the case of a mere carrier on a short voyage ;

(2) she can be kept perfectly clean and even
sterilized by the use of the disinfectants invariably used
on fish carriers and fishing boats in Great Britain, and
without which, as Billingsgate and Grimsby owners
assured me, they would ran. great risks in summer ;

(3) her crew can gut and clean the catches (if not
already gutted) on board during the return voyage , if
ice is not taken ;

(4) the carrier may be fitted up with live chests
or wells in which to bring fish alive to the shore and
thus obviate all question of taint.

The experimental station will deal with the carrier
question by practical experiment.

18. Now carriers require organization either amongst
the fishermen, which is unusual, or among the buyers,
and considerable local markets or the demands of a
factory are usually presupposed when carriers are used ;
they will be needed at Madras and other large centres
either of population or communication. But when car-
riers are not established and boats work independently
there are other means of preserving fish from taint as
far as the shore —

(i) Absolute cleanliness. — There is no fault to find
with the catamaran here ; it is washed incessantly by the
sea, and it is at once hauled up in pieces on the shore
and exposed to thorough disinfection by insolation in a
tropical sun. The dug-out is occasionally washed but
nev^er disinfected, and often fairly reeks with " an ancient
and fishlike smell " ; this should be counteracted by
thorough washing and the frequent use of a cheap
disinfectant, e.g., Pearson's.

(2) The gutting and cleaning of the fish on the
boat. — For this and all following methods the neel for
larsfer boats is obvious, since elbow room and storage
room are necessary. At Billingsgate, Grimsby, Lowes-
toft, etc , practically the whole of the fish, except
herrings, coming to market have been gutted and
thoroughly cleaned in the fishing boats ; herrings are
the exception as they are too numerous and bulky,
and gutting is not practised at all for bloaters. All
other fish are gutted for the simple reason that the

97

intestines, usually full of partly decomposed matter, are
necessarily the first to break down and putrefy, thus
starting the process in the tissues at an unnecessarily
early hour ; the prudent fisherman has learnt this by
experience and minimizes his risks. I have seen hun-
dreds of boats unloaded in this Presidency and have
never yet seen gutted fish arrive ; gutting is not practised,
probably because there is really no elbow room on the
catamaran or canoe ; nay, I have never seen the so-
called fresh fish arrive gutted at the markets. Yet if
gutting is necessary in temperate and cold regions it is,
a fortiori, essential in tropical climates where fish often
arrives on shore in a tainted state. Gutting at sea
would have the additional advantao-es that the o-uts
would serve as attractive food and bait in the sea and
that the nuisance of their decomposition on the sea-
shore and backyards would be avoided. All large and
valuable fish at least should thus be treated ; some
authorities recommend blooding them also. Apart from
questions of curing, it is also well to w'ash the interior
of fish intended to be sold fresh w'ith salt water to which
a little simple preservative has been added.

(3) The proper treatment of fish when cauoht and
cleaned. — At present fish are thrown in a mass into the
bottom of the canoe or into a coir net on the floor of the
catamaran, and left slowly to struggle to death, the
process often taking hours since the death agony is
prolonged by accidental splashes of salt water. It is
notorious that fish w^hich struggle to death decompose
much more rapidly than those caught and instantly
killed, and it is recommended that the Western practice
of knocking valuable fish on the head at once should,
even on humanitarian grounds, be followed. Moreover,
fish should be stored in an orderly manner and not
thrown into a heap in the bottom of the boat where they
are repeatedly trodden upon and exposed to the full
glare of the sun as is the case in the canoes. In brief,
boats should be cleaned and occasionally disinfected,
and most of the fish should be killed, gutted, cleaned,
washed with preservative (e.g., sea water with a little
borax), protected from inconsiderate bruising, and
kept out of the sun if it is desired to protect them
from an unnecessarily early approach of taint between
catch and shore. The practice and inculcation of

7

98

these precautions will be studied at the experimental
station.

There is also, for cured fish, a plan of some promise,
viz., a modification of the cod banks system of a mother-
boat with her swarm of dories (small open boats) which
do most of the actual fishino- and brino- the catches to
her to be cleaned and salted down. A large boat
provided with proper curing arrangements on board,
might easily stay well out at sea for weeks together
receiving continually the catches from the ordinary
smaller boats and treating them on the spot. This,
however, will only be necessary should there be a
development of real deep sea fishing at some distance
from land.

19. But one obvious improvement in preventing taint
is in preventing death ; in other words the use of the
live well, live chest, or live car is to be strongly urged
on practical men. It is astonishing that nowhere in
India^so far as I can ascertain — is this simple and
natural precaution found ; in Great Britain, Holland,
Scandinavia, Germany, etc., it is still common notwith-
standing the present rapidity of communication and
universal use of cheap ice. The welled smacks of
Grimsby, etc., that is, smacks built with a compartment
amidships open by auger holes to the sea, in which live
cod, etc., were placed and brought alive to land, were
very common till a few years ago, as also the live chests
in the harbour in which the live cod were placed till
needed for market ; these have now partly died out but
are still well known, and I have inspected at Grimsby
large steam liners provided with these compartments
which had just brought thousands of live cod to the
wharf from the fishing grounds hundreds of miles distant
and hundreds of fathoms deep ; in America and Grimsby
I saw live cars in use, i.e., chests shaped like canoes but
covered in and bored with holes, into which the fish were
placed and towed behind the fishing boat ; in Norway
the cod are not only brought in this same way to shore
but are put into market tanks whence they are sold to
purchasers ; on the Danube steamers may be seen towing
a chain of live cars ; in Japan I have seen them made of
bamboo and torpedo shaped so as to be towed readily
through the water. Where live wells or cars are not
used it is often the practice to have on the boats closed

99

compartments, chests, or barrels of sea water constantly
renewed by a pump or aerated by a simple air pum.p.
In this country the only trace of such is in the fine meshed
rattan baskets in which Maldive islanders keep their bait
in the lagoons ; not even in Bombay is the practice
found so far as my enquiries tell me ; the very idea
seemed inconceivable when propounded and queries
addressed to Bombay authorities have received only a
negative answer.

20. Many boats are powerful enough to tow light
bamboo live cages behind them or at least to keep these
fish alive in such cages till they actually turn homeward
when, if necessary, the cages could be taken on the boat.
The West Coast canoes are generally manned by six to
eight men who readily row the boat home ; the drag of
a light torpedo shaped car behind them would not add
seriously to the effort, while the advantages of live fish
would be enormous ; the Ratnagiri boats could certainly
do so ; even the larger catamarans, having considerable
sailing power, could do the same, The matter of the
live well, chest, or car is of such vast importance that
their use, whether on board the proposed new sailers
or in connection with existinof boats, will be closelv and
continuously worked at in the experimental stations ; also
the cognate one of storing surplus fish alive in chests
near shore since catches, e.g., of pomfret, are often made
in excess of a demand commensurate with their value,
and chests would equalize demand and supply and
consequently prices.

21. Ice or refrio-eration has net been entered as a
preservative for boats actuall)/ engaged in fishing ; in
existing boats there is of course no possibility of using
it, and even on improved boats its storage would be
wasteful and its prime cost prohibitive, except in the case
of special boats deliberately worked for high priced
markets only.

Artificial ice in Eno-land costs — includino- all charees
such as depreciation, superintendence, etc. — about
^0-7-6 per ton to make on the large scale ; wastage is
comparatively small owing to climate and the most
approved modes of handling (e.g., rapid breaking by
machinery, and its transfer by a long shoot and archi-
medean screw direct from the factory into the ice hold
of the boats) ; to the fishermen it costs from 10 shillings

lOO

to 12 shillings per ton. In Madras the cost of produc-
tion— including all charges — is between Rs. 14 and
Rs. 20 per ton according to the large or small size of the
machine, factory wastage is large owing to climate, and
ice supplied in small quantities to boats at some distance
from the factory and kept in the necessarily inferior
storage of comparatively small boats, would largely be
wasted. Hence even if supplied at 80 lb. per rupee or
Rs. 28 per ton, the cost would represent at least ^ anna
pjer lb. of fish cooled, even on normal catches, and more
on short catches. While the small or special trade which
intends to sell only prirae fish at 2^ to 5 annas per lb.
either in Madras or up-nountry, could afford this outlay
which would simply fall on the consumer, it would be out
of the question in tiie general trade in which the rise of 3
pies per lb. would be prohibitive, so that the catamaran
men would out-sell and crush such an enterprise. More-
over ice is only available, and at dear rates, in Madras
and Calicut, and it is unlikely that other centres will start
large factories at any early date. Ice for fishing boats
may, for the present, be put aside.

But for carriers there is less difficulty ; the carrier's
sole duty is to collect fish as rapidly as possible in
voyages of short duration ; it would be fitted solely for
the purpose with a proper ice room and could almost
always be sure of collecting enough to utilize her ice ;
there would be little wastas^e as her ice room would be
always at a low temperature so that there would be little
daily loss. The quality of fish (gutted on the fishing
boats) would be superior and condition perfectly sound,
so that it could be sold in Madras or sent up-country
with the practical certainty of good prices ; the up-
country market is at present small because consumers
will not risk buying at high prices fish which frequently
turns out soft and uneatable. Even moderately priced
fish may, if the carriers are of good size with good
storage rooms, be placed in ice as the bulk of the cost
will be paid by the high priced fish, and that charged to
the second class will be small. Hence the supply of ice
to carriers will be a matter of early experiment.

22. Point (d) of parailraph 16. — The question of
preserving fish after reaching shore is of the greatest
importance but presents less difficulty than the former
question, in that facilities for storing, handling, and

lOI

general manipulation are far easier. The problem is
two-fold, viz., {a) the preservation offish in a fresh state,
{b) its proper curing. The arrival of the fish on shore
free from taint is postulated.

23. {a) Fish to be sold fresh. — Where the market is
of moderate size and close at hand, there is no difficulty
worth consideration ; it is the fault of the consumers if
they buy tainted fish. But there are the cases ( i ) of very
large seaside markets such as Madras, (2) of inland
markets ; in the first case the local supply is insufficient
and fish is brought from afar, as for instance from
Pulicat to Madras, a distance at present requiring at
least 5 hours of canal and road journey ; in the second
case the fish is necessarily transported to a varying
distance ; 10 or 12 miles from the coast is almost the
ordinary road limit, at which distance the fish, as at
present brought to shore, sold, roughly packed — without
ice, of course — and carried by coolies (occasionally by
jutka), is usually high if not' putrid ; if sent by rail to
large stations such as the Nilgiris, Bangalore, Salem,
Trichinopoly, it is packed in ice if sent from Madras or
Calicut, or without ice from other fishing ports ; for such
goods high prices are paid often with unsatisfactory
results ; even in Bombay I hear that fish packed in ice
and sent from northern ports during the monsoon is
largely condemned by the Bombay market inspectors.
As for fresh fish packed without ice and sent some hours
journey by rail in an ordinary van, it has no claim
whatever to be called " fresh" on arrival. To make iced
fresh fish an article of regular trade requires above all
things organization ; the present individual, haphazard
methods are useless ; the organization must begin at the
very beginning and organize (i) the catching, collection
and transport of fish to shore in such a way that it
shall enstire the fish being alive or absolutely sound
on arrival ; (2) it must organize so that the fish shall be
brought direct by carrier to the market or to the place
where ice or proper preservative methods are available,
and not collected by slow land transport from distant
fishing villages ; for up-country trade such place must
also be a railway station whence the packed goods can
immediately be despatched ; (3) it must organize agents
at up-country stations in such wise that the collective
orders shall always be fairly constant, so that the

I02

railways may, as they then will, provide not only special
refrigerating cars, but favourable rates ; (4) it must
organize so that the supply of ice, packing, etc., shall be
as abundant and cheap as the climate will permit, for
ice even at 4 pies per lb. (^3-2-6 per ton) for an Indian
fish trade is absurd. At present no proper organization
exists, though there are iDeginnings ; conditions (i) and
(2) are however not observed, (3) so partially that the
railways can give no special facilities, and (4) only
partially, viz., in the case of one or two firms which can
command ice.

The experimental station cannot deal completely with
this problem which is a trade question, save by hammer-
ing at the proper treatment of fish up to shore, by
instituting — as is desirable for other purposes — a tem-
porary carrier, by illustrating in a small refrigerating plant
the possibilities of cold storage as when the supply of
fish on hand exceeds the demand, and by co-operating
with and stimulating business firms. "^^^

24. But iced fresh fish must, for many years, be a
luxury confined to the well-to-do ; the fresh fish trade/i?;-
the nmltiiude, i.e., preserved without ice, may however,
be somewhat, perhaps largely, developed ; if fish are
alive or quite fresh at shore as the new methods may
ensure, they may be despatched further inland than 10
or 12 miles ; given also certain preservative precautions
and they may be sent still further ; an enlargement of
the fresh fish belt from 10 miles to 20 or 30 would
enormously increase the population reached. This
introduces the question of preservatives which, apart
from ice, has been only alluded to, but must now be fully
considered.

25. Absolute soundness is a primary necessity
whether the fish are to be sold fresh or cured or canned.
This is not properly observed in this Presidency espe-
cially in cured fish, for the reason that not only are fish
often tainted or on the verge of taint when brought to
shore but they are then hawked about for sale as fresh
fish, and only those which cannot be so sold are sent for

* A method of freezing fish, as invented by Mr, J. R. Henderson of London
who has ])ermilted the free use of the invention in India, is now (1915) being
tried in the experimental station at Beypore : fish treated by this method can be
safely transported M'ithout ice and in ordinary packing for at least a 24-hour
j curacy.

I03

"cure"; except in the cases when there are large
surpluses of fish, as when sardines and mackerel are
caught in masses, or when well-to-do curers — as at
Tellicherry — control fishermen for the sole purpose of
curing, it is the general rule that fish brought to the
curing yards, public or domestic, are already tainted.
Even where fish are caught purposely for curing, as at
Tellicherry, the delays and poor treatment often cause
incipient taint ; fish caught in the morning and not
brought to the yard till 4 p.m. are necessarily in that way.
But fish once tainted cannot be restored to soundness ;
decay may be arrested or, what is hygienically dangerous,
disguised or concealed, but its pristine soundness and
ivholcsoiueness are gone, since the alkaloidal poisons
(ptomaines) and toxins resulting from the action of
putrefactive bacteria in animal tissues, are not necessarily
destroyed by icing or curing or canning even when the
bacteria themselves are destroyed ; still less when they
are merely arrested in progress. But bacterial action is
not only more speedy and the resulting poisons formed
more readily in the less compact tissues of fish than in
those of other animals, but — experto crede — the poisons
are peculiarly deadly, simulating the symptoms of
cholera and other bowel diseases ; other diseases of the
digestive and intestinal apparatus are caused by the
use of putrid fish, and one great authority claims that
leprosy is the direct result. When we note that much of
the " fresh " fish sold outside city markets and practically
the whole of the salt and dried ("cured ") fish is tainted
either thoroughly or partially, often to a degree
insupportable to European stomachs, it becomes abso-
lutely necessary to deal with the subject at the source,
and not to disguise or merely arrest but to prevent even
the access of taint. At present everything is against
success ; the climate which gives only hours of soundness
when a cold climate gives days ; dearness of all preserva-
tives such as ice and salt ; dearness of steam or motor
fuel ; absolute ignorance by fishermen and curers ;
carelessness, possibly preference, by consumers. Hence
very careful and prolonged experiments will be needed
to ascertain methods which will be complete, cheap,
wholesome, and acceptable to the public.

26. In Europe the necessity for preservatives is
admitted notwithstanding its climate, abundant ice, and

104

rapid communications ; witness the enormous number of
patent specialities usually of boric compounds and salt,
such as Arcticanus, Keeps' Preservative, Glacialin.
Preservitas, Sal preservare, Preservalin, Berlinite,
Magdeburg salt, boro-glyceride, etc., etc. ; the wide
advertisements and large sales of these show how greatly
they are used, and it has been stated that "practically
every person in the United Kingdom who has passed the
suckling stage consumes daily more or less food con-
taining chemical preservatives " (Thresh and Porter).
Here in India the case for the moderate and skilled use
of preservatives is much stronger for the obvious reasons
above stated ; we have to decide between, on the one
hand, the continuance of a very scanty supply of food
not only unnecessarily scanty but often so tainted as to be
very deleterious to health, and, on the other hand, the
moderate use of simple and innocuous preservatives ;
with preservatives we can render wholesome the existing
supply and immensely develop that supply ; without
preservatives we must to a very great extent continue as
we are.

That is the choice laid before us in this tropical climate
and in the absence of refrigeration, viz., either to refuse
a great increase to our food supply and favour the con-
tinuance of a small, septic, dangerous, and often toxic
supply, or to accept the moderate use of preservatives and
antiseptics which are known to be absolutely innocuous
in the small and occasional quantities which consumers
offish might possibly t3k<e,\ possibly, but not necessarily,
since the preservatives tend to disappear, and sometimes
wholly disappear, in the processes of curing, washing,
cooking, etc. The Parliamentary Departmental Com-
mittee on Food Preservatives in 1901 deliberately
recorded the following verdict : —

" We have come to the conclusion that as reo^ards
the trade in fresh and cured meat,yf.sV/, butter, margarine,
and other food substances in the consumption of which
but small (juantities of the antiseptic are taken into the
system, there exists no sufficient reason for interfering
to prevent the use of boron preservatives."

It will be observed that butter and margarine are
included, in which substances the preservatives are
intermixed and consequently taken in their entirety into
the system, whereas they are used chieliy as a mere

antiseptic wash or external application in the case of
fish, and are therefore usually removed, wholly or partly,
in cooking, etc., prior to consumption. Briefly the
choice lies between dansferous toxins and innocuous
antiseptics ; between abundance of wholesome protected
food, and a poor supply of deteriorating or deteriorated
products.

Hence one of the main objects of experiment is the
due use of recognized and harmless preservatives and
preservative methods merely as supplementary to the
older ones of salt and sun, starting with the improve-
ment of the old and proceeding to the introduction of
new methods.

27. As regards fresh fish not much can be done
without ice after the fish have come to shore, but with
the precautions already mentioned of gutting, cleaning,
washing with salt and borax, and very light salting,
much can be done on board, to which may be added a
sterilization process of recent development mentioned in
the proposals below and which will, in my own experi-
ence, keep fish fresh and wholesome, without the
slightest taint or fly-blow, for weeks in an English
summer.

28. Cured fish.— Vi\i\. as regards the up-country and
export trade it is cured fish on which we must rely ; this
must for years be the stand by for popular consumption
and to this the main portion of our experiments will be
devoted. Hence (i) the present conditions and methods
and (2) improved methods must be considered.

The present methods in brief are —

(i) the drying of small fish on the sand without
gutting or salt ; the very crudest of processes, in which
the proportion of sand wilfully or accidentally mixed
with the product is outrageous, averaging at present
(Dr. Lehmann) -^'^ per cent, (and rising to my own
knowledge to 44 per cent.) of the total as against 6 or 8
per cent, a few years ago ; the huge excess now found
compared with previous years shows that the adultera-
tion is deliberate or at least avoidable, and the Indian
Fisheries Company is greatly hampered by the adultera-
tion which tends to choke the nascent industry in fish
fertilizer and oil ;

(2) the salting and sun-drying of fish of all sizes
from sardines to shark ;

io6

(3) the salting without sun- drying of fish, espe-
cially large ones, in which the process is varied by
stacking the fish in rectangular heaps above ground so
as to squeeze out much of the moisture, or by piling it
in pits or troughs below ground with a similar object.
No other processes are general though there are signifi-
cant variants, chiefiy domestic or for a special trade ;
valuable as showing that other methods are available
and approved of. Such are the pickled mackerel of
Cochin in which mackerel are packed in barrels with
salt and Malabar tamarind (guraka puli) ; the result is a
hard black product which is consumed only in Ceylon,
for which it is specially prepared. Another is the dry-
ing of bonito fiesh, a practice of the Laccadives only,
the product of which is in hard brown strips, capable of
keeping for a long while ; this largely corresponds with a
Japanese method. A third excellent method is domestic
only, viz., the well-known "tamarind fish" now little
known to the public, but capable of much development.
A fourth has still greater possibilities and has been
found in two or three places chiefiy on the East Coast
but only for special markets ; this is the use of tunnei'ic
with salt, the former condiment having apparently great
preservative power ; turmeric is cheap and universally
liked by Indian consumers, and if, on experiment, its
preservative powers realize expectations, a good and
absolutely wholesome article, acceptable to popular
tastes, will have been discovered. Here the list of
Madras methods ends, though In Bombay market I
discovered excellent goods, in which pepper was one
of the preservative condiments ; the recipe will be
ascertained hereafter as the product was excellent in
appearance and smell, and firm to the touch.

29. As indicated in my West Coast report, the
general curing methods leave almost everything to be
desired, and East Coast practices are In some ways
worse —

(1) the fish are often tainted on reaching the

yard ;

(2) the amount of salt used Is insuf^cient ;

(3) the fish are left too short a time In salt ;

(4) the goods are dried on the ground whether
with or without mats, so that the under side for the time
beino- obtains neither sun nor air ; as is well known,

the side nearest the ground invariably taints rapidly,
notwithstanding" occasional turning ;

(5) the fish lie in the full blaze of a tropical sun so
that the outside is toasted while the inside, especially
when the flesh is thick, remains moist just because the
outside is toasted, a condition in the highest degree
favourable for bacterial growth and ravages ; it is known
that the dryage of large fish is insufficient since the fish-
curing yards for large and small fish together show a
dryage of only 40 per cent. (50,000 tons wet into 30,000
dry, in round figures), so that large fish do not lose
above 30 per cent., while they contain, when green, 75
to 80 per cent, of water ; the result is a steady continu-
ance of putrefaction even after the so-called "cure",
since bacterial action is only stopped by a considerable
degree of dryness. The toasted product is neither firm
nor sweet, and much of it would be thrown into the
manure tanks in any Western market.

T^o. The remedies which will be experimented on
are —

( 1 ) the use of more salt such as is given even in
Western climates ;

(2) a longer stay in the salt ;

(3) the use of pressure in stacks (and other
methods) for the removal of moisture preparatory to, or
without, sun-drying ;

(4) the use, as is invariable in the West, of rough
frames (flakes) two or three feet high, carrying trays of
coarse wire nettinq- or bamboo trellis work on which the
fish lie so as to dry equally on both sides ; or scaffolds
on which the fish are hung ;

(5) protection from the direct rays of the sun, as
in the West where screens are provided so as to avoid
toasting ;

(6) a greater degree of dryage.

The use of more salt and a longer stay in salt will
permit of sloiv air-drying, a matter of much importance
in order that the product may be dried throughout.
Pressure is, in the West (as in the Ratnagiri methods at
Malpe), an invariable adjunct to drying in the case of
large fish, but there are other simple physical methods
for quickly getting rid of the superfluous extra-cellular
water lying amongst the tissues before applying the slow
process of pressure in stacks which is efficacious rather

io8

in expressing- the intra -cellular moisture extracted from
the t'ssue cells by the salt. A small amount of other
preservatives may be applied with the salt to increase
its antiseptic and plasmolysing effect. Artificial drying
by very simple and cheap methods such as I have seen
in operation will also be tried.

31. It will be noticed that in this Presidency (practi-
cally in India generally) there is in use no such method of
curing as the smoking, wet pickling, mealing, and canning
of Western countries. The preference universally given
to diying, with or without salting, is easily explicable —

(i) Complete drying is one of the best as well as
simplest and handiest modes of preserving animal pro-
ducts ; l)acteria cannot act in the absence ot moisture and
the powerful sun is always at hand to dry without cost ;
salt is used both as an antiseptic and to hasten the
dryage of the tissues ;

(2) in drying a smaller amount of salt is needed
than in wet methods, a matter of chief importance where
salt is very expensive ;

(3 ) the nutritive value is retained by simple drying
whereas much is lost in heavily salted goods through
the extraction by the salt of nutritive fluids from the
cells ; it is true, however, that extreme drying reduces
digestibility and, consequently, its nutrient quality ;

(4J by the great reduction in weight, transport
difficulties and charges are reduced to a minimum, a
most important point where communications are or have
been defective and journeys lengthy ;

(5) no packing is required beyond simple matting,
and this again lessens cost as well as weight and bulk
for transport ;

(6) no expensive machinery, plant or stock, is
required as in the making of barrels, etc. ;

(7) the result is that sun-dried fish is probably
the cheapest of all preserved goods.

These advantages are still of great importance though
not so much as 20 years ago when transport facilities
were far less and salt extravagantly dear. Hence the
experimental station will lend its chief eftbrts in curing
to the sui)ply of the goods to which the public has
become accustomed, but improved, cured through, and
absolutely wholesome in character, such as the dried
salt cod of America, Norway and England.

I09

32. Smoking has the advantages — -

(i) that it is antiseptic and even disinfectant;

(2) that it begins to operate immediately, so that
the o-Qods are practically free from the access of taint as
soon as they are placed in the smoke ;

(3) no preservative other than salt and the
constituents of the smoke are needed ;

(4) the constituents of the smoke are not only
innocuous but even hygienic ;

(5) the flavour of properly smoked fish is acceptable
and agreeable to judge by the practical universality of
the process elsewhere than in India, where it is almost
unknown.

For these reasons I intend to make full experiments
in smoking ; experiments w^hich will need the trial of
various methods, duration of smoking, classes of fish,
woods, markets, etc,

2,'}^. Wet pickling is the placing of fresh fish, especially
herrings and mackerel, alternated with layers of salt, in
barrels ; the natural moisture of the fish forms with the
salt a very strong brine or pickling liquor in which the
fish stand ; after some day the barrel is filled full, headed
up, and sold ; the fish if strongly salted in tight barrels
will keep for months.

The main advantage of pickled fish is that the fish
as soon as gutted is neatly packed with abundance of
salt in a closed barrel ; hence the air is almost excluded
from the outset, and since it is never removed from the
salt or even from its place in the barrel, it is not only
retained continuously under the influence of the preser-
vative but is not exposed to the taints of the open air
as is the case with sun-dried fish. This hv2'ienic
advantage is an immense one ; properly pickled fish has
absolutely no trace of taint of smell, but is firm and good ;
hence the immense demand for it in Russia, Germany,
and Italy. The method is practically unknown in this
Presidency (except as regards the pickled mackerel in
Cochin for Colombo) and probably in India, chiefly, no
doubt because of certain disadvantages, but in the attempt
to provide wholesome food this method cannot be
neglected and will therefore be a matter of experiment.
The disadvantages are —

(i) that whereas in dried salt fish the quantity of
salt used is small, say one-fifth of the weight of the fish,

no

and much of that is lost by failure to dissolve and by
efflorescence in drying, that used in pickling fish is far
larger, viz., one-third or two-fifths of the weight of fish,
and practically the whole of this remains with the fish in
the barrel and passes to the purchaser and may partly be
recovered from the brine ; hence the Salt Revenue
authorities may object to granting cheap salt in the fish-
curing yards, and it may be necessary to use excised salt
which is perhaps possible at present rates ;

(2) that some of the nutriment contained in the
tissue cells is extracted by the salt and passes into the
brine where it is lost to the consumer ;

(3) that a given weight of fresh fish placed in pickle
weighs with the salt and barrel two or three times as
much as the same weight when properly dried, so that
transport charges are heavy ;

(4) that the barrel is difficult to make and an
addition to the cost.

Nevertheless it appears probable that there will be a
market among the better-ofl" classes for these goods, and
an export trade with Ceylon and China is a possibility to
be reckoned with.

It will be necessary in this connection to experiment
not only on the methods and material most suitable, viz.,
the best classes of fish, the quantity of salt, etc., but
on the woods available for barrel staves and on the
industry of coopering, for which a master-cooper will be
necessary.

34. Mealing or shredding is a process not much
known but of which much may be hoped. In the
United States, especially at Gloucester, Mass., I have
seen shredded salt cod which is a very admirable
production, being perfectly sound, moderately salt,
thoroughly dry, and palatable ; this is only akin to
mealed fish, however, which is a dry coarse powder with
a pleasant if somewhat strong smell, and is produced
largely in Norway and Germany ; at Geestemund the
fish meal which I saw was thoroughly edible, though
sold for trout food. The advantages are —

(i) that if the fish when taken from the salt is at
once deprived, mechanically or otherwise, of the bulk of
its more tangible or extra-cellular moisture, it can be
rapidly shredded or ground, and in that state will dry
not only thoroughly but with far greater rapidity than

1 1 1

when solid ; hence it can be put beyond the attacks of
bacteria — which require a certain degree of moisture —
before the setting in of taint ;

(2) that since all large bones and inedible portions
are removed while small ones are ground up with the
meal, the product is purely food of a very nutritious and
building-up character, and though costly, weight for
weight, as compared with country salt fish, it will be less
costly in reality since the article purchased will be
wholly edible and wholesome and not consist largely of
inedible matter (bones, skin, etc.) and of useless or
ptomaine-laden moisture ; after all, the Geestemund
product, consisting of haddock and other edible fish not
marketable simply because undersized, is sold at one
anna per pound ;

(3) it can be compressed into small packages so
that its transport \vill be cheap, especially considering
that it will be all food and not bones and skin and
moisture ;

(4) it will keep well.

Hence fish mealing will form the subject of early
experiment, and shredded shark or dog fish may become
as popular in Madras as pounded shark in Japan.

35. Canning is naturally one of the first items for
experiment since —

(i) the process, properly conducted and checked,
provides a thoroughly sterilised food completely protect-
ed from the possibility of further taint while in the can
all bacteria present in the fish when placed in the can
are destroyed by a heat above 212"^ F., and their further
access prevented by hermetical closure ;

(2) the product can be varied in scores of ways
to suit public requirements ; the containing fluids and
sauces, the oils and condiments used, can be modified at
pleasure ;

(3) the product can be exported, and Indian cheap
labour and tastefulness would have a fair chance of
success ; the Japanese are believed to be succeeding
even in American markets.

The disadvantaoes are —
(i) the cost of the plant ;

(2) the necessity for delicate, rapid, and absolutely
honest handling it safe goods are to be secured ;
(3^ the final cost of the product';

I 12

(4) only certain fish such as sardines, mackerel,
seer, etc., seem suitable for canning and chese are not
always or everywhere available.

To this it is replied that there is a large market for
canned goods of moderate price even in India and
Ceylon ; especially in large towns, and that this market
may be extended to other Eastern countries and
Australia ; that a French canner in Mahe is making a
success of the business and hopes to develop it, probably
by extending the area and accelerating the speed of his
buying operations ; that his goods are cheap and evi-
dently acceptable to the public, though little advertised ;
that there must be room for several canning houses ;
and that it is the very object of experimental stations to
ascertain what fish may readily and acceptably be
canned, and the markets available. Canning is therefore
entered as an experiment to be tried forthwith ; it was
the very first object of experiment in Japan.

36. Miscellaneous methods such as pickling in vine-
gar, treatment with turmeric, etc. are practically un-
known though very valuable ; there are traces of these
methods in a few places, as when some toddy or tamarind
is used or turmeric and salt applied to slices of fish ;
probably one of the best and safest methods of preserva-
tion will be found in the use of the above condiments,
which are cheap, common, indigenous, and acceptable to
the people. They will be matters of pure experiment,
that is, there is little or no Western experience to guide
attempts, and the acceptability of the products is
uncertain though probable.

TyJ. Argument is hardly necessary to show that if the
above experiments are successfully carried out, viz., ex-
periments in the best methods of bringing fish fresh to
shore and of putting it cheaply on the market in various
forms and free from taint, there will be a vast develop-
ment of both the high price and low price markets, with
a corresponding development and variety of industry and
trade ; it is the i7npossihi/ity\-\\i\\Q\:to of putting fish fresh
on any but a coast market or of putting properly cured
fish on any market, that has not merely hindered but
absolutely debarred the rise of a fish industry and
trade, of its correlated industries, and of an enlarged
food supply for the public ; success in keeping fish fresh
or in preserving it from taint will mean success in the

'13

market, if it is found simultaneously possible to keep
down the cost. Preservation is the crux of the whole
problem, and the experimental station will attack this
problem in every possible way and with all the aid that
modern applied science can give.

38. But cheapness and acceptability are also essentials
and must be studied no less carefully than soundness;
any expert can produce first class salted fish dried or
wet, or tins of good sardines, or excellent smoked seer,
bonito, etc., but if the product is beyond the purse or
not to the taste of the public there will be failure. The
first duty, then, of the experimental station will be to
find out successful methods, and then by a process of
elimination and simplification to minimize the plant and
all the items of cost till the Ijwest possible cost is
attained. The goods can then be put on the market
and their public acceptability ascertained ; it may be
that putridity or, say, high flavour, is preferred by many,
just as the Burmese love ngapi, but, per contra, it is
certain that many are deterred from using the present
product just because of its character ; it may also take
a long time for the public to acquire the taste for smoked
or pickled goods, or for canned goods to command confi-
dence. Hence the work of the experimental station does
not stop with creating the article, but time and money
must be spent in creating or ascertaining a demand. It
is of little use starting a station if this additional duty is
not accepted.

39. But it is not proposed that the station shall work
alone in these matters, especially in those relating to the
distributing trade. It has been my endeavour always
to awaken the interest and enlist the support of those
already connected wqth the trade, and while, with few
exceptions, such persons desire to await the result of
experiments by Government whether in catching or cur-
ing, all avow a willingness to adopt and push results if
successful, an attitude quite intelligible from their point
of view ; as one Indian firm said " It is not a question of
sentiment with us or of assisting industrial progress ; it
is just a matter of rupees." Precisely the same was said
to me by a London firm, with this radical difference, that
the British firm at once started out to experiment, to
spend money, thought, energy, and men on ascertaining
facts and possibilities in view to getting the cream of the

8

114

business. Hence development in general waits on
successful demonstration in the Experimental Station,
and this may be accepted as customary, and is in fact
the raison detre of the Station. But there are excep-
tions ; there are Indian firms and influential persons who
will work with the Government in enquiring, in experi-
menting, and in pushing likely business, in working and
utilizing the advantages of larger boats, in experiment-
ing on live-wells and '' cars " (live chests, canoe shaped,
towed behind boats), in developing the use of carrier
boats, in substituting power for manual labour where
speed is essential, and in carrying out methods of preser-
vation.

To mention concrete cases ; it has been tenta-
tively arranged that if Government find one or two
improved sailing boats for catching, a firm will pro-
vide its own crew of expert fishermen as a busi-
ness venture and that the live-well or live " car " system
shall be tried in various ways. Further, it is admitted
that for the fresh fish trade, whether on the Madras
market or for iced fish sent up-country ( a business now
carried on casually and imperfectly), a carrier bringing
all the fish from lo or 15 miles on either side of Madras
direct to the Madras harbour with the markets, ice
factories and railways on the spot, will give infinitely
better results than the present system of collecting fish
by jutka or runner from the various kuppams (fishing
hamlets) from Pulicat to Covelong to which the catama-
rans bring their catches : hence if a carrier be provided
it will probably be run by a business firm who would
doubtless buy it if successful. Again, small power boats
on the canal will bring in fish from Pulicat, etc., faster and
in better condition than at present, and enquiries have
been made from me as to the feasibility of the practice
and the initial and running cost. A very influential
Indian gentleman directly connected with the industry
has, on my suggestion, been experimenting in delaying
taint by gutting and cleaning the fish at sea and packing
them with certain precautions as to ventilation with the
result that even in this weather he finds the access of
taint to be delayed by many hours this result is of the
highest practical value and is exactly in accordance with
expectations. He is also desirous of falling in with my
proposal to v/ork larger boats (like the Bombay boats)

115

on this coast with the objects which I have enumerated
above. Details for co-operative work will of course be
separately reported to Government for consideration
since expenditure will be necessary ; the subject is simply
mentioned here to show that the policy of co-operation
is possible and advisable, and will, if Government
approve, be a leading role of the experimental station,
especially in matters where public taste is a primary
consideration.

40. This was largely the case in Japan ; in one of the
earliest stations the canning industry was developed,
neighbouring firms or persons were shown the products,
and the expert was, it would seem, lent to a private
firm which has now engaged him as manager for a large
canning business equal to 2,000,000 cans per annum.
Boats of a new class are built at or for the stations, and
manned by or lent to groups of fishermen ; I found
at one station that all the station boats were away with
station instructors but local (independent) crews at
Korea, etc., while the fishery schoo.ls take the lads and
train them in boats and in a school factory in all
branches of progress ; in one place the committee of
a Fishery Chamber desired permission to go to
sea on board the improved fishing boat of the experi-
mental station in order to acquire a practical knowledge
of its working (paragraph 120 of my not^) \ si sic in
Indis ! A somewhat similar method is found under the
Congested Districts Board operations in Donegal where
the Board builds or obtains large fishing boats for given
groups of fishermen and works them on the share system,
the fishermen, with one or two Board instructors,
operating the boat and selling their catches ; in this case,
however, the shares coming to the Board are credited to
the fishing syndicate who thus gradually pay for and
obtain the boat ; here also apprentices are trained both to
the catching, curing, coopering, and boat building busi-
ness ; in one place they have advanced capital to a boat
building firm of good standing in order to develop its
business in particular direction. It will be the effort of
the experimental station to enlist public interest and
co-operative effort in every form whether by public
fishing associations, by business co-operation and assist-
ance, by inviting inspection and by suggestion, by
itinerant schools or demonstrational lectures, by leaflets

8-A

ii6

and pamphlets, and by the school and apprentice
system.

41. The methods above outlined are intended to
assist proo'ress without undue disturbance to existino-
classes and systems, to introduce progress gradually, to
evolve rather than to revolutionize, to work through
and develop existing agencies rather than introduce
outside enterprise.

42. Culture. — No attempts at culture will at first be
made except in the direction of oysters and other shell
fish. Marine pisciculture can only be undertaken by
a highly developed department with a large organiza-
tion and with full scientific knowledge ; its results are of
doubtful utility and its methods expensive ; the system
belongs to a later — the conservational — staee of deve-
lopment ; hence it is passed over for the present WMth
the exception mentioned. Oyster culture, however, is
extremely easy and profitable and the results ascertain-
able ; it is carried on in shallow water by the simplest
of natural methods and is concerned only with immobile
subjects which can be easily protected and handled,
differing absolutely from the free swimming swarms of
cod, etc., which are the subjects of the usual marine
hatcheries and which are turned out in their most
helpless age simply to form, in most cases, ready food
for larger fish. The oyster remains where he is, his
enemies can, to a great extent, be kept away, and when
the harvest is ripe it can be reaped in full ; it is eminently
an industry suitable for the ordinary backwater fisher-
men when instructed. It is true that Indians do not
generally eat oysters so that there would be but a small
home market, but there is an absolutely unlimited
demand for dried oysters and shell fish in China to
which Japan sends large quantities, and there is an
assurance of easy and vast production by culture in our
backwaters and in parts of the coast such as the
mangrove areas of Guntur and Kistna ; the oysters of
Pulicat and Covelong are well known, and in the
backwaters of the West Coast from Ouilon to Hosdrug
they abound, together with vast numbers of other shell
fish; As. 4 per 100 is a fyncy price for excellent Ouilon
oysters ; the best in the country are said to come from
the coasts near Chinna Ganjam, Nizampatam, etc., in the
Guntur district. From the casual inspection hitherto

117

possible of backwaters near Madras it is clear that
oyster spat abounds ; oysters can be dredged up any-
where, and bricks, etc., from the bottom or edges are
covered with young oysters otten several generations
deep. Pulicat, Erinore and Covelong lie close to Madras,
and with Ennore as the site of the experimental station
cultural operations can easily be supervised ; we have
shallow water easily demarcated and protected, clutched,
sown, conserved ; the first operations may be at Ennore,
for though the oysters might not be desirable for food
owing to contamination from the Madras section of the
canal, the character and method of operations can be
supervised and studied for future guidance. I propose
then presently to start an oyster laying ground close to
the proposed station at Ennore.

43. Inspection boat. — The provision of a boat for
inspection, experiment, and research is necessary, if we
are to learn anything about deep-sea conditions and the
habits of fish, especially migratory, and be able, there-
fore, to indicate probable developments in catching.
For instance ; on the West Coast the inshore fishermen
are troubled and the development of the canning, the
fish fertilizer and fish oil industries hampered, by the
eccentricities of fish movements inshore ; sardines and
mackerel appear, disappear, or fail to appear in the most
bewildering manner ; in 1906 the mackerel catches
reported by the fish-curing yards were only trifling as
against a huge average for the previous 8 years ; this
year again there is said to be a failure ; the same
happens with sardines ; in a year or two there will
probably be overwhelming catches. Yet in cveiy year it
is believed — as is probable — that the fish are there but
not inshore ; I have myself seen a large sardine shoal 7
or 8 miles out but not a fishino" boat in sio;ht and not a
sardine caught in that locality at that period ; captains of
steamers report vast shoals " as far as the eye can see "
10 miles out, when the inshore fishermen arc starving
for want of catches. Hence an inspection boat is
necessary to live on the sea at shoaling time, and to
ascertain the existence, movements, etc., of shoals, so as
to direct and stimulate deep-sea work. Again, these
fish are caught in shoals in the extreme south of the
East Coast, and in the coasts north of Masulipatam ;
they never visit the central coast line. Presumably the

11

s

shoals are there but do not come Inshore, and the use
of a good inspection boat is necessary to ascertain facts
and suggest effort. So, again, little is known of the
possibilities of deep-sea fishing in East Coast waters
during the south-west monsoon period, the best fishing
season with catamarans being the short season
from January to May inclusive ; a power boat could
investigate this question. Again, a boat is wanted for
experimental trawling and dredging ; the question
whether trawling can possibly pay, e.g., whether there
are bottom fish in any paying quantity, is absolutely
unanswerable at present, and trials round the coast are
essential ; it is far easier, especially for experimental
purposes, to do this with a power boat than with a
sailer which must be of some size to traw), and is largely
dependent on wind and tide. I am informed that
the Ceylon Pearl Fishery Company has recently con-
ducted experimental trawling operations from Ceylon
to Madras and near Cape Camorin, and that valuable
information has been obtained ; information as to
results is at present inaccessible, as a private company
is naturally secretive where competition is possible ;
hence Government operations, conducted solely for
public information, are all the more necessary ; I hope,
however, shortly to be favoured by the company with
a report as I have applied for the same. Again, it is
necessary to ascertain the productive capacity of the
sea outside the loo-fathom limits and the possibility
of remunerative drift net fishing ; a vast number of our
fishes are surface or mid-water swimmers, especially
shoalers, and for catching these with drift or purse nets
the depth of the sea is, of course, immaterial, ?/the fish
are there. Similarly we want to know something of the
fish food (plankton) capacity of our waters and this can
only be tested at sea. Dredging again is necessary,
for we know nothing of the shell bearing capacity of our
sea beds, and there are possibilities in shell, especially
as I note that pearl shell is being exhausted in the
Thursday Island regions and culture is spoken of as a
necessity. Finally, the inspection boat is required for
experimental use as a carrier ; I do not propose to have
a separate boat for such use, for a carrier is needed
chieliy in the fresh fish or canning business, and these
demand trade organizations which Government can

119

hardly undertake ; our duty consists in demonstrating
the utility of, perhaps the necessity for, the practice, and
this can be done by experimental work with such boats
as may be available.

I shall therefore eventually have to propose a power
boat as a necessary part of our equipment, the boat being"
attached to the station but sent on rovino- commissions.

44. It will be seen that all proposals are directed to
increasing the catches, to improving the quantity as well
as the quality of the sea harvest, and that no word has
been said regarding restrictions. My reason is this ;
that, probably, much less than one-twentieth part even
of our limited grounds, is fully worked, and that efforts
are consequently to be directed not indeed to increasing-
inshore catches, but to exploiting the real deep-sea
grounds ; those, for instance, beyond 10 or 15 fa,thoms ;
it is not yet the time for restrictivOn, nor is enough known
either of the exact nature of the catches inshore (i.e.,
within the 3-mile limit where restrictive rules would, if
anywhere, chiefly be possible) or of the habits of the fish,
to lay down even the simplest restrictive rule ; that must
be the work of a department, and one branch of the
Experimental station's work will be observational, viz.,
to ascertain by a zoological scientist the character and
seasons of inshore seine catches — which are known to be
fearfully destructive of very immature fish life- — and,
generally, the habits of the fish. Hence I propose to
attach a zoological assistant to stations (and elsewhere)
in order that we may obtain facts for subsequent action
if necessary.

45. But in one matter restriction is desirable, viz.,
that the new classes of sailers or power boats other than
carriers shall fish outside the 3-mile limit. The principle
which I have urged throughout is that of non-inter-
ference with existing catching methods ; merely the
introduction of superior and more powerful boats and
methods to supplement, not to oust, the catamaran and
canoe, by going into areas and depths where the latter
are useless or impossible. The inshore waters are very
sufficiently fished by shore seines, by nets and hooks
and lines of many sorts ; I desire merely the exploitation
of deep-sea areas ; the raiso7i deti'-e of new boats and
methods is deep-sea fishing. I would therefore prescribe
a rule which my own boats will observe, that the new

120

boats shall fish solely outside of the 3-mIle limit which
is pretty well known. The rule will, for want of such
boats, probably be inoperative for years to come and is
merely laid down, at present, as a principle of policy.

Position of the F'irst Station.

46. Having laid down the general lines of policy it
remains to consider the position of the first station.
This was originally intended to be Tellicherry, but I
would now propose the Madras neighbourhood, viz.,
Ennore. My reasons have already been stated to
Government, viz. —

" As elsewhere noted, the Indian Fisheries
Company is starting large works,* partly of an experi-
mental nature, at Cochin on the West Coast, and its
operations will extend to other places than Cochin ;
these operations are intended to and, it is hoped, will
cover experiments in all the items included under
catchinof and curino-. The conditions of the West Coast
from Cochin to Mangalore are all similar both in the
nature and depth of ihe sea, the breadth of the compara-
tively shallow (trawlable) area, the classes and seasons
of fish produced, the classes of persons engaged, the
implements used, and the communications available.
Hence, experiments in Cochin will be as instructive to
the whole West Coast as experiments at Tellicherry,
and since the experiments have actually begun and
should, by reason of abundance of funds and experts,
be more rapidly and thoroughly conducted than any
which Government could at once undertake, I consider
that the proposed Government experimental station at
Tellicherry should be transferred to the East Coast.

" The locality which I would now propose is
Madras, or the neighbourhood not further north than
Ennore or south than the Adayar. Apart from the
reasons given above for transfer from Tellicherry, Madras
is indicated as the best site for a station ; it will probably
be the head-quarters of the Fisheries administration ;
scientific talent and assistance — engineering, mechanical,
chemical, etc., can always be drawn upon ; the results of
successful experiments will be noticed by competent

* These were subsciiuently confined to a factory producing oil and " fish
guan.j" from the oil-sardine i^Clupea longiceps) of the coast.

121

observers and readily disseminated by the press or other-
wise ; the city is a centre of industrial and business enter-
prise and capital which will be able to adopt and push
successful fishery and curing methods ; there is a harbour
in which any experimental vessels, such as steam trawlers,
can shelter ; hardy and expert fishermen are numerous,
and the local agencies for placing fish on the market are
experienced and eager to adopt ascertained improve-
ments, especially in methods of bringing fish fresh and
expediting its transit ; the local market for fresh fish is
unlimited, while, as the head-quarters of two main rail-
ways, experiments in the consignment of fresh fish to
Bangalore and other distant markets can readily be
undertaken ; as a city where custom is less binding than
in the districts, the market for new products such as
pickled or smoked fish, could be tested and the taste for
such goods diffused. I, therefore, suggest Madras ; it
is possible, however, that a sub-station for canning will
have to be started in a locality where sardine are more
abundant."

I think it quite clear from the sketch given above
that, in view to co-operative eftort, publicity, etc.,
Madras is the place indicated for first effort. At Ennore
the Public Works bungalow with 5-I acres of compound
is admirably situated ; it lies within a few hundred yards
of the bar ; the sea is within 100 yards on one side and
the backwater within 10 yards on the other, while a
large and powerful kuppam (fishing hamlet) is within
200 yards ; Ennore itself is within half an hour of
Madras by rail and 10 or 12 miles by road, and is fre-
quented by fish merchants from Madras and fishermen
from Pulicat, etc. ; the canal also runs from Pulicat and
the north to Madras via the backwater, affording oppor-
tunity for small oil launches ; possibly also for live
''cars," save that near Madras it is too filthy for safety,
so that Ennore is the effective terminus. Ennore fulfils
the requirements mentioned earlier in this paragraph,
and as the Public Works bungalow is to be abandoned
as such, I have proposed it to Government and ic has
been transferred to the fisheries department as the site
for the experimental station."^*

* Ennore was soon abandoned as unsuitable ; the proximity of the great
Madras market for fish prevented the station from buying fish which moreover,
was only captured in moderate quantity. The opea beach with its heavy surf also
orohibited the use of boats other than catamarans.

122

The Classes of Experiment and Plant proposed.

47. The plant for which I ask sanction for the experi-
mental station is as follows : —

(i) Two sailing boats, about 15 tons each, com-
plete with gear and stores, live chests, and live cars ;

(2) Sets of various nets and lines;

(3) A 16-foot 2 horse-power petrol or paraffin
dinghy for use on the canal and backwaters, especially
Pulicat lake ;

(4) Drying plant (inexpensive) including a manual
power centrifugal, drying room variously heated (exhaust
stoves, etc.), fan, etc. ;

(5) Salting and drying plant including salting tubs
and cisterns, scaffolds and platforms ;

(6) Preserving and sterilizing plant including
preservatives in common use (salt at fish-curing yard
rates), a " Universal Sterilizer," electrolyzing plant,
smoke shed, pickling barrels, etc. ;

(7) A 3^ horse-power oil-engine for the electro-
lyzer and other purposes, and wind mill for pumping
sea-water ;

(8) An inspection boat which may be used as a
carrier, fitted with (kerosine) engines, power winch, etc.,
for trawling, net and warp rooms, salt hold, ice room,
nets and dredges ;

(9) Set of pearl button tools ;

(10) Shedding necessary for the above plant;

(11) Small laboratory for zoological and chemical
work accommodated in the existing building ;

(12) Small reference library and museum, similarly
accommodated ; the library already contains about 400
volumes mostly of my own, which will be donated to the
Fishery Bureau ;

[(13) A small refrigerating plant, probably Linde's
ammonia system ;

(14) A canning plant.

Nos. 13 and 14 will be separately applied for
hereafter.*]

48. Boats. — Two boats of about 15 tons each (ton-

length X breadth X depth -n i 11 r

nage = -^ -^ ) will be needed; one lor

* Both since obtained ; the canning plant has successfully operated since
January 1912, and a new and much improved "sanitary can" (solderless) plant
has now (191 5) been erected.

123

lending as mentioned in paragraph 39, one for direct
use and local inspection in the ahsence of a power boat ;
teak-built at Masulipatam or similar yards, upon work-
inor drawinos to be bouQ^ht in Great Britain ; cost about
Rs. 100 per ton for the boat fully rigged but without
nets or stores. The size is somewhat above that of the
" Ratnagiri " boats which come to Mangalore, but is
smaller than that of many of the Bombay fishing boats
in order to provide for gutting, etc., operations on board,
for live-well work, and for the use of heavy nets. Boats
would anchor outside the surf in the fair weather
season ; in the north-east monsoon they would lie up
in a harbour, e.g., Madras, Krishnapatam, etc.

The working drawings can be obtained from various
builders at Brixham and other South Coast ports, the
Thames, Scotland, and Arklow in Ireland. The smaller
class of Brixham or Ramsgate trawler, the Thames
bawley boat, the Scotch *' Zulu" drifter, will be conveni-
ent types on which to work. The cost of the drawings
is not known, but will be arranged by correspondence
now going forward.

A firm (Messrs. Parangasami) at Masulipatam can
readily build the necessary boats from working draw-
ings ; this firm builds excellent and staunch boats, up to
250 tons, of teak throughout, a 5 5 -ton boat costing
between Rs. 5,000 and 6,000 ; these are of country
fashion, but the firm can build to any specification if
the drawings are provided, and will include fitting for
power. The Bombay boat builders are excellent, and I
may here mention a iio-foot teak yacht, fitted with a
pair of Gardner oil-engines and twin screws, recently
built by an Indian builder in Bombay which is giving
every satisfaction to its owner.

A second-hand boat can be obtained for immediate
use while the others are buildincr.

49. Crews. — One crew will be needed of about six
or eight men ; the other will be provided by the firm
co-operating with me ; the monthly cost will be small
and should to some extent be balanced b^^ catches,
which, however, will be partly utilized in the station,

50. Nets mid lines. — I do not at present propose to
use any but those made in the Presidency ; it will be
enough at first to train the crews to the use of the new
boats with ordinary nets. Such for instance will be the

124

long' drift (gill) nets of Masulipatam, somewhat enlarged
from those in use inthe dinghies of that fishing port
so as to suit the bigger boat and greater depths ;
the common " thiiri " or bag net towed behind a boat
(usually two catamarans) will be utilized and will
gradually promote the use of the trawl ; the horizontal
lines with numerous hooks so common in Great Britain
and found occasionally on a small scale on our West
Coast, will be introduced for the capture of the dog fish
and others. Several nets will be required of different
mesh and for loan. The price cannot be given, but will
be within a few hundred rupees.

51. Live wells and cars. — No attempt will be made
at first to obtain boats with live wells biLilt into them ;
chests or barrels with a small pump will be used until
it is clear whether the live system can or cannot be
successfully practised ; moreover, live well boats are not
quite so handy as ordinary boats. Live cars, for towing
behind the boat during catching, will of course be tried ;
the expenses cannot be estimated but will be trifling.

Dead fish will be gutted, cleaned, and antiseptically
treated on board the boats; see paragraph 18 supra.

52. Carrier. — As stated in paragraph 43 snpra I do
not propose to buy a separate carrier ; till the inspection
boat is available one of the sailers can be used to collect
fish from catamarans outside of Madras with the aid
either of ice or preservative methods, or a steam launch
may bs hired for a time, or the " Margarita" if available,
may be brought up.

53. Curino. — In this paragraph I deal only with
fish other than small sun dried fish. Beofinning-, as
usual, with simple and known processes, I propose to
open a small salting and drying yard in which the
existing methods of the West and East Coasts, viz.,
salting — in tubs, pits, cisterns, stacks, etc. — and solar
drying will be carried out with the modifications which
observation in other countries and science suggest ;
with fish brought to the yard untainted and skilfully and
rapidly treated within the yard I can produce a really
good article ; whether that will be acceptable to the
public is a question to be thereafter answered. In this
manufacture cleanliness, thoroughness, rapidity, and
wholesomeness are principal desiderata, the last being,
in general, the result of the first three ; the first goes

125

without saying ; the second connotes proper salting, the
thorough entry of the salt into all the tissues, and
thorough drying ; the third is apparently inconsistent
with the second and yet it is essential, and it is here
that new methods come in. When fish have been
thoroughly salted and washed they are laden with extra-
cellular water, and when placed as at present in the
open sun, not only is considerable time consumed in
drying it off, but the process toasts the outside hard and
leaves the inner tissues damp and a most favourable
nidus for bacteria. But this extraneous moisture can be
mechanically removed in ten minutes, viz., by centrifugal
action ; I intend to use small maiutal power centrifugals *
such as are used in the United Provinces in small suo-ar
mills, so as to dry off a few seers of fish at a time before
submitting them to heat. The product will then be
ready for completing by heat the cellular drying begun
by the salt, and I intend to dry without that direct
baking in the sun which is now practised, and to
introduce the obvious methods, found everywhere except
in India, of drvino- not on the o-round but on scaffolds,
wire netting trays (Hakes), etc., so as to secure desicca-
tion on both sides simultaneously. Moreover there are
simple and cheap methods of heating and drying the air
and of increasing the rapidity of the air currents which
would take too long to describe here, but which will be
detailed in a pamphlet now under preparation ; by these
various methods I can secure a far more rapid yet far
more thorough drying than the primitive and mistaken
method now adopted. The methods are based on actual
practice in other countries as regards fruits, vegetables,
etc., methods practised by the simplest and most ignorant
farmers with the smallest of expenditure, and perfectly
suited and open even to Indian curers, many of whom
are well-to-do and intellioent ; I have also seen some of
them in use in English cod-salting yards, and in Maine,
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, etc., certain artificial drying
developments are successfully practised. For these
experiments little capital and expenditure will be
required, but shedding and some manual machinery will
be needed.

54. In this matter of drying one further step will be
taken as an experiment based on the dryers which I saw

* Found to be impracticable and unnecessary.

126

in operation in Japan and elsewhere for fish ; I allude
to artificial drying. In paragraphs 40, 65 and 70 of my
Japanese note I have alluded to special dryers, and
wherever there is an engine artificial heat may usefully
be employed by utilizing its exhaust, or, where fuel is
cheap, by a simple dryer such as I have seen used for
drying wet coftee, etc., or, more elaborately, in cotton
mills. In Japan both methods were seen, the furnace
in the second method burning any combustible rubbish ;
this artificial heat method is specially useful for final
drying or when the aii is specially moist as on the West
Coast where thorough solar drying of thick tissues is
often difficult, While the processes of paragraph 53
will be chiefly relied on these latter may be tried and I
propose to build a couple of small cheap dryers utilizing
the exhaust from any engine I may have and cheap fuel
including the waste parts of fish. A small Haylock
dryer costs ^30 but will supply 5,000 cubic feet per
minute of air at I20''-F. and would thoroughly and
rapidly dry fish that a considerable yard would
imperfectly dry.*

55. A combination of the special methods adopted by
the Ratnagiri men at Malpe and by curers at Adiram-
patnam, etc., with those in vogue in England, Scotland,
America and Norway is most promising ; in this method
salting for weeks instead of for one night is adopted, the
fish being kept in heaps during the processes. In Indian
practice this salting and pressing in heaps, finishes the
process and the fish is then sold off ; in the Western
processes it is only the beginning or concomitant of
slow, careful, and thorough open air drying, the result
being an excellent and wholesome product. When the
weather is unpropitious artifical drying of a very simple
character is adopted, viz., the fish are hung in 'ines or
placed in trays in a tall building of little cost and coke
stoves introduced at the bottom ; a draught is created
by louvre ventilators at the top and air openings below.
The western methods will be experimented upon, but no
expenditure of any importance will be necessary.

56. In the matter of small fish sundried without salt,
nothing at present will be done except to inculcate the
drying on mats or low platforms of open bamboo work
instead of on the sand, in view to minimize the admixture

* Not yet tried, exhaust steam not being available. Store dryers are in use.

127

of sand which, whether accidental or wilful, is spoiling
a potential trade and will lead to fishery companies
catching their own sardines and mackerel instead of
buying- the stuff which now frequently contains — accord-
ing to Dr. Lehmann and a Fishery Company — above
one-third of sand. The platform system would accelerate
and improve drying and give no excuse for sand.

57. But omitting minor experiments as in the use
of wood charcoal, etc., other processes will at once be
tried, notably smoking, various methods of pickling, and
canning. For smoking no apparatus beyond a cheap
building will be required ; the fish after a brief period
in salt will be placed in the smoke house and issued after a
few hours or days according to the product required.
The experiments will take the direction of the woods
or substances (e.g., paddy husk) found best for the
purpose, the fish best adopted for smoking, the duration
of the smoking, the time that the products will keep good,
and the acceptability of the goods ; Rs. 1,000 will cover
the cost of building and first experiments,

The use and properties of turmeric and the accepta-
bility of the product will specially be investigated and
for this trifling expenditure will be needed.

The wet pickling of fish is a most interesting and
promising process, and will be attempted at first with
small barrels bought in the market of which I recently
saw several cartloads, apparently from Government
stores. Here the investig^ation will be directed to the
class of fish best suited, the quantity of salt needed, the
duration of salting before sale, the time during which
the product will keep good, and its acceptability ; in
case of success a curer-cooper from Scotland may be
required but not this year ; these men from whom the
Scottish Board of Fisheries draws its Inspectors are
necessarily experts both in pickling and in coopering,
the two industries being inseparable twins. The
purchase of barrels and the building of a small open
shed will be the only expenditure necessary on plant.

58. Canning. — I shall deal with this in a separate
letter as it involves special plant, special men, and a
locality where there are more cannable fish than at
Madras ; there are special facts as to existing or coming
canners which require special consideration. I do not
propose the process, therefore, for the Ennore station.

128

The cost of a manual plant such as I saw in operation
in Japan, both at Government institutions and in small
installations, is small according to my American price
lists, and I am in correspondence with British firms for
further quotations which will be duly reported. But for
running a cannery a special European expert, probably
of the class of factory foreman, is required, since bad
canned goods are very bad and dangerous.*

59. Preservatives — Salt. — Though the quantity of
salt required may not be great it should be issued, for
compaiative purposes, at fish-curing yard rates, and the
usual petty officers attached to the station with the
proviso that such officers' duties shall not be confined to
the issue of salt, biit that they shall be under my orders
and made both to learn and to supervise the new methods
in order that they may on the one hand not be idle and
on the other that they mj.y qualify thereafter to teach in
the ordinary fish-curing yards.

60. Other pi eservatxves. — I propose to use certain
well-known patent and other preservatives in small
additions to salt according to the practice in other
countries, guided by the rules laid down in the instruc-
tions issued with the preservatives, and by the authori-
tative suggestions of the Departmental Committee on
Food preservatives. I have given reasons in paragraphs
25 and 26 siLy^ra for the necessity of using these innocuous
preservatives which are based on boron compounds ;
these salts or acids are used in very small quantities, are
partly volatilized by warmth, and almost, if not entirely,
disappear in the processes of curing, washing, and
cooking. As shown above, it is a choice between food
rendered safe and wholesome by slight addition of
preservatives innocuous in themselves except in large
doses continuously repeated over a long period — a
condition absolutely the reverse of that of the occasional
consumer of small quantities of fish — , and food thrown
as now on the market in a putrid or semi-putrid
state, in which condition it is not merely repulsive but
dangferous not so much from its bacterial contents
but from the poisonous results of bacterial action.
Foreign fresh herring are borated and so are many of

* Established at Calicut aad very successful. A Europeaa expert wa,s not
fo-.;nd to be necessary.

129

both fresh and salted products on the European market.
I propose to choose the former method, not, however,
as the less of two evils, for the moderate use of pre-
servatives is harmless, but as positively beneficial in
permitting- the supply of pure wholesome food not other-
wise attainable, and to use slight admixtures of recognized
British preservatives, with salt as a main preservative ;
they will be used with a light solution of salt as a wash
to keep off taint when at sea, and with salt in processes
demanding only a light salting ; with heavy salting they
are not required.

6i. In studying this subject in England and Europe
I found various processes in existence of which one is
believed to have a large future in the food industry,
viz., the new Hislaire process discovered in Belgium and
patented for England by the " Universal Sterilization
Company " ; the system has high testimonials from
bacteriologists. According to this process meat, fish,
eggs, milk, etc., can be sterilized by thirty minutes
exposure to a vapour in a closed chamber, the vapour
being produced by pastilles of a secret formula. The
goods are absolutely indistinguishable in appearance,
taste, digestibility, and apparent wholesomeness from
untreated eoods, eesfs three month'^ old and meat several
weeks old being perfectly good, and eaten habitually
without the slightest ill effect. Several experiments in
fish were conducted by myself in July ; suffice it here to
say that while in each case the control fish went bad
in 24 to 2>^ hours, none of the treated fish, including
ungutted herring, went actually bad for weeks, while
several plaice were hanging up dry but tm^ai/ifed when
I left in November. I propose to try this method ; the
expense of a sterilizer and tabloids will be about ^25
delivered in Madras.*

62. A process in which the sterilizing agent is
electrolysed sea-water presents the greatest promise and
has the extreme advantage that absolutely no chemical,
or substance is added to the sea-water as a preserva-
tive, and when the energized water has done its work
it reverts, ipso facto, but somewhat weakened, to its
original condition of plain sea-water. The process will

* Not found successful in the experimental station unless slight brining
preceded exposure to the vapour.

I30

be fully explained in my pamphlet but, in brief, consists
in breaking up by electricity the chloride of magnesium
and some of the chloride of sodium contained in sea-
water into hypochlorites which, in contact with organic
matter, rapidly oxidize it ; the free chlorine also acts
antiseptically. The electrolysed fluid is absolutely
innocuous in any shape and is handed over in quantities
gratis to the poor in Poplar for personal and domestic
sanitary purposes by the Sanitary and Medical officer
(Dr. Alexander) who manufactures it for the municipal
corporation ; its effect on the most putrid substances is
extraordinary. The process has not been applied in
England to food products, since ice, salt, and borates,
etc., are cheap and efficient, but my proposal to do so
excited much interest ; in France, however, where the
process was discovered or first applied, the fluid (Hermi-
tine) is largely used to sterilize meat and fish stalls and
the goods in them, and is said to be most successful. A
single fair experiment only was conducted in England
but resulted in the perfect keeping of beefsteak for many
days ; the fish experiments were quite erroneously
conducted, viz., by a mere momentary dipping in a weak
dilution, but even so were partially successful.*

I propose to obtain an experimental plant costing
^loo ; power is in addition required to work this, viz., a
small oil-engine and dynamo, but the engine is desirable
on other grounds such as fan driving, pumping, relriger-
ating, etc., while its exhaust will be valuable for heating.
Hence, I allow for the electrolysing plant and dynamo
^150, all told ; the engine will be separately estimated
for.

63. Refrige7'ation.— \ propose to add a small (Linde
ammonia) plant similar to one in a Japanese fishery
station, and costing complete with storage chamber
about ^300 without the engine, but this may if necessary
. stand over till next year ; its main use would be to
conduct operations as they would be in a regular fresh
fish business so as to ascertain its conditions, difficulties,
best methods and results ; it would always be saleable

* Tried with some degree of success at Ennore with fluid obtained from the
Buckingham Mills by courtesy of Messrs. Binny & Co., but not followed upon
the West Coast for want of plant.

131

if not further required. A secondary use would be to
keep fish sound while waiting for treatment, so as to
avoid loss by taint and unnecessary purchases from the
fishermen. I can obtain this at a moment's notice when
required.

64. Mealing plant. — Regular experiment in this
process may stand over for the present, though, if
opportunity offers, simple methods will be tried with
inexpensive plant. I am in correspondence with a
London firm regarding the process and plant found
necessary in Europe, etc. I make no estimate at
present.

65. Oyster culture. — For the current year operations
will be confined to observation and the selection of a site
or sites and their acquirement, and expenditure is hardly
expected unless for obtaining and protecting the areas ;
if time permits, cleaning operations may be begun and
spat'collectors placed in position."*

66. Pearl button plant. — I have not as yet procured
this plant, but am corresponding in view to obtaining it.
It is not generally known that pearl shell, a by-product
of the pearl fisheries, is exported from Ceylon in enor-
mous quantities every year ; in 1906 the export was
13,800 cwt., of which Germany took more than half,
Japan about 1,150 cwt. and Great Britain only 922 cwt. ;
in ten months of 1907 the exports were 10,575 cwt., of
which Germany took 7,002. These are for common pearl
button-making, and of course only perfect shells are worth
sending ; allowing for breakages and useless portions
possibly half of the weight of the shell sent is actually
utilised for button-makino-, so that freight and other
charges are paid on a mass of useless material. The
shells are sent in bag-s or wooden cases ; if sent in baQ-s
the packing cost is less than if in cases, but breakage is
considerable. But it actually pays to send pearl oyster
shell to, say, Germany and the United States of America,
to pay cost of packing, freight, breakage, agency charges,
etc., and to work them up by expensive labour into cheap
pearl buttons which are again sent out here for sale.

* There is now a successful though experimental oyster farm at Pulicat,
established and run by Mr. James Horoell, Marine Biologist and Assistant in the
department.

9- A

132

This is one of the absurdities or scandals of Indian
industry ; there is Httle enterprise, knowledge, or capital
needed to start this business in India (or Ceylon) and
to save all the intermediate costs while promoting a
new industry which ought not merely to supply India,
but Europe, with buttons. In the case of India a supply
of shell, when our own supplies are exhausted, could be
brought over to Tuticorin, Pamban, etc., by native craft
at minimum cost especially by Kilakarai boats returning
from pearl fishing, and it is to be noted that whereas only
perfect shell can be sent to Europe, there are millions of
less perfect or partly broken shells which are perfectly
available for working up on the spot.

Hence I propose to get a set of tools this year, to
set up an experimental plant at Ennore in order to train
a few workmen, and then to transplant the business to
Tuticorin or Pamban, unless, which is probable, some
indigenous firm buys the plant from us and takes over
the enterprise which is one of a very simple mechanical
nature. I place the maximum cost at Rs. i,ooo.

The methods are well known and simple and I do
not think that the importation of an expert is necessary ;
success can be obtained by expenditure on experiment
until experience has taught the precise methods for the
class of shell. But, if necessary, I shall arrange to send
a man to Europe to learn the business or, possibly, I can
obtain a Bengal man who has been taught in Japan.*

67. Inspection boat. — This it will be remembered
(see paragraph 43) is to serve for inspection, experimental
fishing (trawling, etc.), simple research, and carrier work.
The " Margarita" is not a very satisfactory paddle boat,
is hardly suitable, and seldom available just when
required, as the pearl oyster work detains her in the
fair weather ; e.g. I applied for her this March and could
not have her, while in January and February she is
usually needed for inspections ; moreover she is large and
costly to run, and not well suited for trawling or drifting
experiments. The " Irene " would, if fitted with auxiliary
power, have suited me very well, being well built and
comfortable ; two years ago I enquired througli the Port

* Hitherto button manufacture has, for various reasons, mainly the
unsuitability of our shells, been found impracticable.

133

officer of Tuticorin as to the cost of fitting her with
kerosine engines, but the need for her was not then clear
and the matter dropjoed ; 1 now hear to my great regret
that she has been sold out of the service. Eventually
therefore I hope that Government will provide a some-
what bigger boat than the " Irene" fitted with auxiliary
power (probably kerosine engines) and with all the
necessary appliances for experimental fishing and the
preserving of fish, such as trawls and other nets,
dredges, fish hold, ice room, net and warp rooms and the
usual mechanical aids to hauling heavy nets and lines,
together with accommodation for the experimenter or
observer. As she will be a good power boat she could,
if not required after serving her early ]3urposes, be sold
at a good price. A boat for our purposes does not
require to be very large or of great strength ; ours are
fair weather seas and all operations would be in fair
weather ; we are not liable to sudden storms and our
ranee of work would never be more than a few miles
from shore ; hence steamers such as are required in
Great Britain where voyages, e.g. by the "Huxley"
research boat, are undertaken as far as Iceland and even
the White Sea, and where the most violent weather may
be experienced at any time, are not needed ; on the other
hand, tropical conditions require certain protection and
comfort, and if trawling and other netting experiments
are to be carried out the boat must be staunch and
strong ; for use as an experimental carrier she must have
a speed, of, say, 7 or 8 knots. I enquired of many firms
in Great Britain on my recent visit and also consulted
the Irish and Scottish official authorities, and if Govern-
ment choose to incur the expense, a very useful full
riooed boat with a " Dan " or other kerosine enorine as
auxiliary, and suitable for all fishery work, could be
obtained fully fitted for about ^2,000. For reference
and as an illustration only of general type, I enclose
drawings and a description of such a boat (" Ibis III ")
and copy of a letter from Messrs. Linton Hope & Co.,
the well-known naval architects and marine engineers ;
first class trawler and fishing boat builders in Grimsby,
North Shields, Glasgow, etc., has also given rough
estimates and will be prepared to quote on demand.

134

From information obtained out here from Mr, Scovell
and others it would, if such a vessel is sanctioned, be
well to purchase the design and drawing from a British
firm and have the boat built in Bombay or other port,
the engine and special fittings being supplied by the
sam.e firm that supplies the drawing ; this would be a
cheaper plan and would avoid the great cost of bringing
such a boat out,

68. I shall be glad if Government will pass specific
orders on this question, viz., whether they will be
prepared, on application, to provide a boat somewhat
similar to, but smaller and less highly fitted than " Ibis
III," to cost ready for sea not more than Rs. 30,000 deli-
vered at a port in this Presidency, including the cost
of nets, lines, any special industrial apparatus, and
appliances for scientific observation.

Staff.

69. Working estabHshments . — One additional reason
for simple beginnings is that at present we have no
expert staff and must work with what we can find. It
will be seen from paragraphs 47 to 66 that there is
nothing — except as regards canning, excluded for the
present — which cannot be carried out by the intelligent
direction and supervision of men available in the
country.

As regards boats ; the fishermen of the coast unlike
the men whom the Irish Congested Districts Board are
endeavouring to turn into deep sea fishermen, are
thoroughly acquainted with, and live on, the sea and many
of them are already expert sailors accustomed to sail
coasters from our ports to Ceylon and elsewhere, or
smaller boats such as the Muttupet and Pamban dhonies,
the Masulipatam dinghies, etc. ; m.any of them are ready
to man large boats if provided. Hence I can easily
get serangs and crews of fishermen to handle these
boats which though larger will be of simple rig to which
the coast sailors are accustomed. Similarly these men
will handle nets of their own customary patterns, the
only difterence being that they will be used further out
at sea and will be heavier and longer ; these are but
slight modifications and the winches on these boats will

i35

more than countervail any extra weight. The long Hnes
are, on this coast, a noveky but are perfectly simple in
use and a couple of men will be sent over to the West
'Coast to learn their use as well as other catching methods,
and British modifications will then be added. As
mentioned in paragraph 68, I hope to get men trained at
Calcutta in trawlino- methods. As for the ofuttino- and
cleaning operations on board they will be only those
which are carried out on land with the antiseptic
additions suggested by knowledge. The live-well, chest,
or car, will be purely novelties but so simple that a child
can learn and practise their use ; they will not even need
inculcation or instruction as they will commend them-
selves at a glance.

I propose then after obtaining the necessary boats to
appoint a boat crew whom I will select from Madras
boat and fishermen with a serano- accustomed to the class
of boat ; the crew of the second boat will, of course, be
selected (and paid) by the co-operating firm of whom I
have spoken. For the petrol or paraffin dinghy one
engine hand will be needed who can be obtained in
Madras.

JO. As regards cirring ; this is a current industry, as
regards salting and drying, all round our coasts, and it
will be easy to draw two or three men from, say, Adiram-
patam (where there Is more varied curing than elsewhere)
to start operations. These will be instructed, with local
men, in the ideas and methods which it is sought to
introduce, and a couple of the more intelligent will be
taken with a Sub-assistant next November or December
to learn West Coast methods, especially at Malpe where
the Ratnao'iri men work.

Similar men will be selected to carry out, under my
own or Assistant's supervision, such further develop-
ments as I have indicated in matters of drying, smoking,
wet salting, the use of turmeric, the application of preser-
vatives and preservative methods ; there is nothing that
cannot be here carried out without special experts,
except a special hand for the electrolyser for whom
application will be made to the Madras Electric Works.
A couple of oil-engine hands will also be needed ; these
can easily be obtained in Madras.

136

7 1. Inspection boat. — I am unable to say at present
what staff will be required for this, if sanctioned ; it will
be less than that required for the comparatively large
" Margarita " (Rs. 500 per mensem) which, moreover,
is engined with steam. But during voyages a com-
petent skipper will be needed, say, for six months from
November to April ; possibly a junior Port officer might
be available.

72. Superior staff. — For general purposes, and more
especially for the supervision under my direct personal
control, of the experimental station including the develop-
ments which will follow in the shape of branch or other
stations at Tuticorin, Tellicherry, etc, I need a trust-
worthy and competent Assistant, one not too young,
genuinely interested in and having first-hand knowledge
of fishery work on the industrial side, and capable of
goingabroad, e.g., to England if required. Such an officer
(an Indian) I have in my mind and will address Govern-
ment separately regarding him.*^ By competent I do
not mean " expert," for 1 know of none such in India,
but a man of education, common sense, intelligence and
energy ; one who will readily grasp principles and the
methods based on them, and capable of modifying exist-
ing methods to suit new ideas. The sanctioned post of
Personal Assistant is now vacant ; the pay would be that
already passed by Government, viz., Rs. 175 — 5 — 200.
I need also a Sub-Assistant on Rs. 50 — 5 — 75 as sanc-
tioned for immediate charge of the station, and would
appoint a man from the West Coast who is already
accustomed to, or acquainted with, fishery work.

I do not at present suggest any further appointments
as regards the work now in question, as the can-
ning station and plant must lie over pending separate
reference and orders.

Cost.

"j-^. It is impossible to state the exact cost of plant
and staff until correspondence with firms is concluded
and the staft'" actually worked out. Approximately it
should be something as follows : —

* Subsequently appointed ; he is now (1915) Assistant Director.

137

RS.

(i) Two 15-ton boats complete at Rs. 100 per ton
phis cost of various working drawings from
England and stores ... ... ... ... 3,500

(2) Nets, lines, live chests, for one boat only, the

other being pro\ided by the co-operating firm. 1,000

(3) One 16 or 18 ft. dinghy from America, landed

and set up in Madras, complete with 2 H.P.

petrol engine, as per catalogue ... ... 500

(4) Drying plant, viz., air heater and fan (500),

drying closets (200), manual centrifugal (200) ;
altogether say ... ' ... ... ... ... 1,000

(5) Salting tubs and cisterns, drying platforms, and

scaffolds ; all simple and cheap ... ... 100

(6) Preserving plant, viz., Universal Sterilizer landed

in Madras (Rs. 400), smoke shed (100), barrels
(200), stock of preservatives (500), experi-
mental electrol)^ser and dynamo, etc. (2^500) ... 3,700

(7) 3 to 4 B.H.P. oil-engine, oil tanks, etc. ... 1,500

(8) Windmill, pump, and tank ... ... ... 1,500

(9) Set of pearl button tools ... ... ... ... 1,000

(10) Shedding, engine, etc., foundations, and drying

grounds necessary for above ; shedding of
small area and very simple, for engine, electro-
lyser, and drying plant only ... ... ... 1,000

Add for contingencies, repairs to Ennore bungalow,

superintendence ... ... ... ... 2,700

Grand Total ... 17,500

I have not included the cost of an oyster culture
ground, as the expenditure on this will hardly come into
the current year, but it will not be considerable at any
time.

The cost of a refrigerating and canning plant is not
included ; the former as quoted for, would cost ^275
f.o.b. in London, to which must be added freight,
charges, and building. I do not intend to ask for this
at present, but it may be required shortly in connection
with fresh fish experiments or a canning plant since it
would keep tons of fish in perfect order, while waiting
to be sold or canned.

A canning plant of the size mentioned would cost,
according to lists, about the same, as the machines are
simple and cheap, if open brine boilers are used ; if a
steam boiler and cookers as per modern processes are
installed, the price would be increased. I am reporting
separately on the whole canning question.

■38

The cost of an inspection boat is not included, since
it is not known whether she will be sanctioned or her
precise cost if sanctioned.

74. To the above capital cost of Rs. 17,500 for plant
must be added running cost, viz., establishment, oil for
engine, salt, wear and tear of nets, a little wood fuel
for dryers and smoke house, the upkeep of the small
petrol dinghy, and so forth.

Pience the running cost of the Experimental Station
for the current year, exclusive of the inspection boat and
of the supervising staff, should be about Rs. 6,000 plus
a share of the cost of the " Margarita," and for this and
for the capital cost (Rs. 17,500) sanction is requested.
Further sanctions, e.g., for the inspection boat, canning
and, perhaps, refrigerating plant, will be subsequently
requested. The running cost of two Japanese stations
that I visited was Rs. 27,385 and Rs. 14,122 respect-
ively for 1905 ; in neither case was there any power
boat, but both had canning plants and one a cultural
branch.

75. Resume. — An abstract of the above letter is as
follows ; postulating that abundant, cheap, and whole-
some fish food for the masses is the object aimed at, it
advocates deep sea fishing not by means of steam
trawlers or expensive modern plant but by sailing boats
of moderate size, large enough to go far to sea, to use
better catching plant, to treat the fish hygienically at sea
or to keep them alive in wells, chests, or cars, and yet to
be within the purchasing power of individuals or small
groups ; small power-boats as carriers to ensure the
delivery of live or sound fish at shore are also advocated
and even the use of auxiliary power — probably in the
shaoe q{ kerosine eng^ines — for catchingr boats is suoorested
in special cases, as to supply a fresh fish market, a
canning factory, etc These will be the objects kept in
view in the experiments conducted at sea. On shore the
treatment of the fish by improved preservative methods,
including the use of preservatives new to Indian industry,
thnu2;h not new elsewhere, and of processes not at
present practised such as pickling, smoking, etc., will be
the subject of varied and continuous experiment. In all
the above matters the interest and co-operation of the
public will be invoked, especially that of firms and

tj9

individuals connected with the trade who have already
promised assistance.

For the above^ an experimental station at Ennore is
to be started on the site granted by Government in the
Public Works Department, Ennore being selected for
the reasons given in paragraph 46. A branch will be
suggested for canning and general curing purposes,
probably at Tellicherry where suitable fish are abundant
and curers progressive and enquiring.

The plant necessary is summarised in paragraph 47,
the probable first cost (Rs. 17,500 exclusive of an inspec-
tion boat, canning and refrigerating plant) in paragraph
']^, and the current year's running cost (Rs, 6,000
inclusive of working establishment but exclusive of
supervising staff, paragraph 72 and cost of an inspection
boat, paragraphs 71 and 74) in paragraph 74,

Separate letters will be sent regarding an Assistant
and a branch canning station.

Order— No. 1635, Revenue, dated i2th June 1908.
The Government approve generally of the lines on
which Sir F. Nicholson proposes to proceed in the
experimental development of marine fisheries in the
Madras Presidency.

2. The proposal to locate the first experimental
fishery station at Ennore on the East Coast instead of
at Tellicherry on the West Coast is accepted and sanction
is accorded for an expenditure of about Rs. 23,500 in
the purchase and erection of the required plant and
towards the cost of the station during the current year.*

3. The Government understand that Sir F. Nicholson
does not need at present the inspection boat mentioned
in jjaragraphs 67 and 68 of his letter, that the services of
the " Margarita " will, if possible, be utilized for inspec-
tion and experimental trawling during the current
year, and that one of the big boats to be purchased will
be used both as a carrier and as a fishing boat. Orders
on paragraph 68 of the letter will accordingly be deferred
for the present.

* Ennore was soon found to be unsuitable and the experimental station was
transferred to Cannanore ; see page i6o Ijelow. Very slight expenditure was
incurred at Ennore.

140

Letter --{xQxVi Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director, Madras Fisheries, Madras
Dated — the 13th July 1908.

I desire to make suggestions on the sardine trade
of the West Coast. From Coondapoor to Cochin,
especially in certain areas, the beach is frequently
covered between October and February with these fish
drying in the sun ; they are intended chiefly as manure
for which they are most valuable (see paragraphs 100 to
106 of my note on Japanese Agriculture) ; roughly the
" whole " fish contain 10 per cent, nitrogen and 4 to 5
per cent, phosphoric acid, besides other constituents.

9. Putting mackerel out of consideration for the
present, though in the seven years ending 1906 the fish-
curing yards received on an average 369,100 Imperial
maunds of mackerel against 182,930 maunds (6,755 tons)
of sardine or exactly double, attention will be confined
to sardine, and that chiefly in the way of exports as
fertilizer. For it is to the loss to India both as food,
manure, money, and trade that I desire attention. So
far as the above 6,775 tons of cured sardine are con-
cerned I have obviously no complaint since the whole of
this is used as food and much of it in this country. So
also with regard to the comparatively few tons of ferti-
liser used on our tea and coffee estates, all of which
directly enrich the country. But the fertiliser trade is a
very grave loss to this Presidency.

3. I am not as yet able to give exact figures for this
business ; I am gathering them from the statistics of the
seaports and can give minima, though the precise figures
are not of supreme importance since it is admitted that
the lowest figures are very large. For 1907-08 when
sardines were unusually abundant, the exports of fish
fertilizer from the Malabar district alone were 1 1,527 tons
to Ceylon and 3,302 tons to Japan or 14,829 tons ; these
two countries took all the foreign exports. In the pre-
vious year when sardines were ordinarily abundant the
exports to these two countries were 4,580 and 1,142
tons, respectively, or 5,722 in all. The above figures
are minima for Malabar district ; in reality the exports
were slightly greater, but are not distinguishable from
inter-coastal trade. The figures for South Canara will

141

be added when received. Fifteen thousand tons of sar-
dine dried for manure represent at least 30,000 tons of
fresh fish averaeins" larore, medium, and small sardine at
45,000 per ton, this means at least 1,350,000,000 fish.*

4. My point is this ; at present this enormous amount
of potential food— either direct food if eaten as fish, or
indirect if used as manure for cereals, etc. — is lost to
the country qua food ; the money proceeds as received by
the fi.sherm(m and local agents, are much too low ; while
the export of this mass of merely dried fish deprives the
country of a large industry in the preparation of the fish
either as good food or as good manure and oil, and in the
sending of it through and into the country. The whole
business as it is at present and as it seems likely to be
conducted is a conspicuous example, as is also the sister
trade in oil seeds, of unnecessary and vexatious loss to
the country. I blame no one ; I state the fact ; I propose
some small remedial measures.

5. It will be observed that I am obtaining statistics of
the dried sardine fertilizer trade through the Sea
Customs officers. That is because the great bulk is sent
out of the country. Small quantities are dried and sent
to Mvsore, to the tea estates on the Nilgiris, and to the
Shevaroys, etc. ; a little is occasionally used, more often
the guts, for cocoanuts, tobacco, cucumbers, etc., on the
coast, but, as shown above, the g'reat bulk goes abroad,
either to Ceylon for the tea estates there, or for re-export
to Japan. In my note on Japanese Agriculture I have
shown not only the enormous aod increasing demand in
Japan where they already use a minimum of 134,000 tons
annually ; but the price, which there ranges between
Rs. no (wholesale) and Rs. 150 (retail) per ton for this
fertilizer, chiefly as scrap or dried fish minus its oil, is a
sufficient proof of its productive value. As shown in that
note, one ton of well-dried whole fish fertilizer free from
adulterants such as sand, contains 224 lb. nitrogen and
90 of phosphoric acid^ or 10 and 4 units, respectively ;
these are the nitrogen and phosphoric acid contents of
9,000 lb. of grain, and 12,500 lb. of straw ; in other
words, it would suffice for 20 acres of dry cultivation as

* The total average exports are much larger; in one recent year they weie
34,000 tons, representing 85,000 tons of fresh fish.

142

an addition to present manures. Hence, if the 15,000
tons of dried fish now exported were used in this country,
it would well suffice for 300,000 acres, and should pro-
duce, at three fourths of its nominal fertilizing- capacity,
above 100 million pounds of grain, and 135 million
pounds of straw.*

6. Why does this enormous amount of potential food
leave this country ? Simply because its productive value
is not recognized. Why is its value not recognized ?
Because there is no proper organization either properly
to prepare and put the stuff on the market as food ^ or to
explain its value and push its use as 2^ fertilizer. It is far
easier for Indian merchants and agents to buy it upon
commission and sell it on the spot to firms who will ship
it off to some country where the foreign tea planter or
export merchant will utilize it, than to take it up-country
and sell it either as dried food or as manure. It will be
said that trade and industry always seek the line of least
resistance ; they take the easiest opening. This is so ;
but if this line is damaging to the country or even less
productive than it should be, it is for us to see whether a
better line cannot be opened. It is largely a question of
knc»wledge, enterprise, push, organization, and I now
propose to stimulate and help these factors of good busi-
ness, and to assist in creating both a desirable product
and a demand.

7. What is the actual loss to the country ? We lose
the fish altogether both as food and as manure ; we gain
not its (Japanese) sale value but only a fraction of it. I
found the price in Japanese ports to be about Rs. no
in bond ; 70 yen or Rs. 107 was recently mentioned to
me in India as the ordinary price obtained in Japan.
Now this country does not get that sum even approxi-
mately ; the fishermen who catch and dry the fish get
an average of from Rs. 8 to 10 per ton for the wet fish
or Rs. 18 to 25 for the dried ; on an average Rs. 20
to 22 per ton of dry fish. The brokers who buy from
them and sell to contractors get a rupee or two per
ton, and the contractors get their profit from the
exporting firms usually, if not always, European ; it is
said that a ton of dried sardines free of sand costs

* See last footnote.

143

European firms about Rs. 30, a 20 per cent, deduction
being made for sand. To this must be added a small
cost for carriage to Ceylon and the agency charges there,
except when the stuff is sent, as is now largely the case,
direct to Japan. Obviously, allowing largely for local
charges, freight, etc., there is a very large margin be-
tween Rs. 30 in Calicut or Cochin and Rs. 1 10 in Japan.
Hence while the export trade obtains a maximum of
profit with a minimum of labour and expense, and the
actual fishermen and local agents a minimum share of
the sale value, the country loses the whole of the stuff
itself.

8. We have here an important contrast ; on the one
hand our sardines bring us in a money value of perhaps
Rs. 35 per ton of dried fish as the total result of our
sardine harvest ; on the other, if we, i.e., chs public, kept
the fish in the country and either ate it or put it on the
fields, we should, (i) as at present, provide the Indian
fishermen with about Rs. 22 to Rs. 25 per ton of dry
fish ; (2) as at present, the Indian commission agents
would get perhaps Rs. 5 per ton ; (3) if the fish were
used as food, we should provide a large body of curers
and operatives with a livelihood ; (4) we should largely
help in maintaining communications and those who live
by them ; (5) we should provide work and profit for a body
of wholesale and retail dealers ; (6) we should keep a
vast mass of food in the country. If used as fertilizer
we should (3) introduce a valuable industry in the
way of expressing fish oil and preparing fish fertilizer
from the scrap, an industry requiring only moderate
plant and technical skill ; * (4) we should utilise the oil
in batching jute, in the leather trade, and otherwise ; (5)
we should help to maintain communications in sending
the stuff up-country ; (6j we should have a vast mass of
the finest manure for our fields and a consequent vast
addition to our food-crops ; (7) we should provide
work and profit for a number of dealers and for our
co-operative agricultural associations. If, again, our
peasants would learn the true use and disposal of human
excreta, these fish after fi7'st being used as food and
doing work as such, would pass into the fields as the

* Since introduced : in 1914 above 200 small factories were at work along the
coa,sts of Malabar and South Canara.

144

greatly enriched excreta of the human consumer, thus
bringing- about the natural circulation of food, fertilizer,
and again food, and so ad infinitum. On the one hand
a few rupees and a minimum of industry, on the other
hand stimulated industry and trade, the whole value
kept in the country, and a vast addition to the food-
supply direct, or indirect, or both.

I propose then to take up the sardine industry of
the West Coast, partly by direct work, partly by stimulat-
ing Indian traders and industrials.

9. Fertilizer. — I do not propose to enter into the
manufacture of fertilizer ;* it would involve heavy plant
and expenditure, and a Cochin (London) firm is already
experimenting on a large and modern scale, viz,, in
expressing the oil, in selling this to traders that need it,
and in selling the scrap ; they are willing, of course, to
sell in India if they can get an equally profitable market,
and the head of the firm would prefer to do so, as
involving less trouble, but, of course, he looks to the
best market. Fish scrap fertilizer, i.e., dried fish free
from oil, is now, I believe, available to some extent at
Cochin, but it is probable that within one or two years
a very large amount will be on sale and, if profitable, the
business will probably be imitated by competitors ;
hence there is no need for Government in the Fisheries
department to interfere in this manufacturing branch of
the matter. But I consider that the use of the stuff
may be pushed in the Agricultural department and
especially, at the outset, in the Coimbatore district, which,
being full of comparatively advanced and pushing
agriculturists (Goundans) w'.th many valuable industrial
crops under wells, in close proximity to the West Coast,
and possessing an Agricultural College and experi-
mental station, should be a peculiarly suitable district
for experiment. A few tons of scrap fertilizer, i.e.,
not the crude fish but the residue after expression
of the oil, distributed gratis to a number of selected
ryots, under conditions and instructions as to use, might
be well spent. Where there is a practical agricultural
association with real working life in it, a ton or so might
be handed over for distribution among- the most
intelligent members, conditioned on careful supervision

* This was modified next month by proposals for a small oil and guano factory
which was, in fact, established within three months ; see next following paper.

145

and report of results ; papers might be drawn up in the
department detailing- the importance of the manure and
its successful use in every other country, and, when
results permit, its success in this. Substantial prizes
might be offered to successful users ; not a rupee or iwo
for a sample of grain or produce, but Rs. 20 or 25 for a
crop on the field, of an area of, say, ^ or i acre. Long
ago, and often since up to 1907, I have advocated the
use of the prize-field system ; originally and in detail in
my letters read in Board's Proceedings No. 214 of the
13th July 1887, in paragraph 98 of my note to the
Agricultural Committee of 1889 who adopted the
suggestion in paragraph 53 of their report ; later on in
my memorandum of ist November 1899, and finally in a
note to paragraph 175 of my note on Japanese Agri-
culture ; my visit to Japan has indeed strengthened my
views as the system is in vogue there ; see paragraphs
175 (i), (11), {\2\ (16). 180 (2), 182. 184 (3) and (6), etc. ;
moreover the Irish Agricultural Department has recently
re-adopted and is now working this stimulative method ;
in Denmark it is largely employed through the local
societies. I presume it lias never been tried in this
country because of the want of judges and of funds ; if
the new Agricultural Associations are worth anything,
judges ought now to be available — with departmental
help — for so simple a matter as judging the success
or not of a field crop, growing with a particular manure
amidst similar unmanured crops. As for money, much
is not required for experiment ; personally I shall be
happy to give Rs. 500 per annum for three years
as prizes in the Agricultural Department for field
crops grown with fish scrap fertilizer in the Coimbatore
district and within a small typical area which can be
properly supervised and judged. It goes without
saying that the fertiliser will be exhaustively tried
in the Coimbatore Agricultural Institution, but I see
no reason why ryots should not be invited to try
it at once on certain selected crops, in selected cultiva-
tion seasons, and in a selected area. If the ryot
will but take to fish fertilizer as a rich and necessary
manure, we shall at least keep the product of our sea
harvests in our own country, so that both fishermen,
ryots, middlemen, industry, and transport will reap
ihe benefits.

IQ

146

10. Food. — As for the food question. It is, of course,
hopeless to think of putting fresh sardines on an inland
market ; they can only appear there as a cured product,
either dried, dried and smoked, salted, or canned. Hence
I propose that an experimental station at or near Telli-
cherry should be opened in two sections as soon as
possible, primarily for work at the sardine and mackerel
shoals : —

f(i) by way of improving the ordinary
Section i ...\ salting and drying,

[ (2) by adding smoking to the drying,
Section 2 ... (3) by canning.

Experiment, especially in smoking and canning, will
also be carried on with several other classes offish.

11. Section i. — At various places I saw a good deal
of the sardines as " cured " for food ; in the better class
of methods as at the fish-curing yards, they were lightly
salted (one part salt to 7 or 8 of gutted fish) for one
night, rapidly dried on the ground in the sun for a day
or possibly two, and then sent out for consumption. A
large quantity, however, was .either slightly salted in
domestic yards and dried, or dried without any salt at
all, and the product was then peculiarly offensive; at
certain railway stations the packages simply reeked w^ith
taint, or " high " flavour, and were for despatch to the
East Coast (South Arcot especially) where sardines do
not appear. Now properly cured sardines are excellent
and cheap food and I propose first to experiment in
securing that the fish shall be absolutely fresh on arrival
at the yard ; this is easy at present as the fish are caught
inshore, mostly within 2 or 3 miles of the coast, but
when fishing extends further out the motor or steam
carrier may become necessary ; the live chest or pen
near shore in which catches not immediately curable may
be retained alive will also be tried. I propose, secondly,
to cure them in several different ways ; [a) they will be
treated as pilchards are treated in Cornwall. From
October onwards when sardines and mackerel are most
abundant on the West Coast, they are also fat and full
of oil like pilchards ; they can be then mixed with plenty
of salt heaped into vats provided with means for allowing
the brine and oil to escape, somewhat weighted, and lett
for several weeks (if necessary) in the vats ; they are
then taken out washed, packed, and marketed ; [b) they

147

will be salted both lightly and heavily, and sun-dried by
an improved process ; (c) they will be brined or salted
lightly and heavily, partially sun-dried, and then smoked
for various periods and at various temperatures. A site
will, if Government approves of the proposal, be at once
selected, an estimate submitted, and work begun by ist
October.

12. Section 2. — But an important function of the
sardine is to be canned^, and to judge by the appearance
of the fish themselves and by results obtained at Mahe,
our sardines are admirably adapted to fill this function.
Perhaps the very first attempt at progress in Japan was
in canning sardine (paragraphs 151, 40, etc., of my
Japanese Note), and the goods which I obtained there
were excellent and cheap ; the small ones were the best
I have ever tasted. The Japanese are now endeavouring
to enter the highest priced markets of the world, e.g., the
American — by improving their goods in every way ; the
best oil is imported and a complete rebate given of the
import duty when canned goods in oil are exported.
Not only so, but they can these fish in various ways
especially for home consumption, as by simply canning
the fat fish in large cans (of 4 lb. or larger) ; the export
goods were seen not only in Japan but at European
exhibitions such as that of Milan, while the domestic
goods were seen and tasted at the Japanese Experi-
mental station and al private factories ; these latter
included large tins in which the fish were simply boiled
in their own fat which is found as a cake on the surface
when the air-tight tins were opened. The ivholesale
prices — see table in paragraph 165 of the Japanese
Note — varied from Rs. 15 to Rs. 18 per case of 100
quarter tins delivered at Kobe, or about 2\ to nearly
3 annas per quarter tin.

Now we have three excellent sardines, besides the
Engraulis, on the West Coast ; these spawn in June-July,
and by October when they are more largely caught,
have become fat ; they are then admirably adapted for
canning ; nothing is required but the factory and the
expert. As for price, the solitary French canner to be
presently mentioned, sells his goods at Rs. 1 1 to
Rs. 12-8-0 per case of 100 ordinary quarter tins, and
at Rs. 1 5-10-0 for key-opening tins, or 0-1-9,0-2-0,
and 0-2-6 per tin. These are excellent goods, and since

lo-A

14-^

the manufacturer is able to make a living profit on a
small business, it is clear that we can do better than
even Japanese prices which, again, are lower than
ordinary European prices. I propose then to develop
this business both for export and for domestic trade.

13. I propose then a cannery near Tellichery * which
is a great sardine centre ; there is a French canner
of Mahe who operates in British territory close to
Tellicherry, and instead of competing with him I hope to
co-operate with him. Canning is a delicate operation ;
toxic products are more probable and more virulent in
badly canned fish than elsewhere, possibly for the reason
that it is the most toxic in the early stages of decay and
becomes less so as decomposition develops ; hence when
slightly decomposed fish are canned, decay is stopped
but the virulent toxic elements may remain, especially if
the cans have not been heated well above boiling point,
say 240° F. to 250° F. under 10 or 15 lb. steam.
Similarly, if perfectly good fish are not thoroughly steri-
lised by good processing, decay may slowly develop and
with it the peculiar toxic elements of decomposition.
Hence canning must not be introduced except under
thoroughly expert instruction, for which purpose it will
be necessary either to employ a first-class foreman from
an English firm, or to use the man on the spot who is
not only an expert producing good and cheap goods, but
is well acquainted with the seasons and classes of fish,
with the local people and market, and with the peculiar
conditions of tropical canning. I send herewith some
specimens of his canning ; I have frequently eaten his
goods and believe them to be safe, because he cans only
on a small scale, with fish caught close to the factory,
while the processes are carried out either by himself or
under his immediate inspection. Hence I would recom-
mend co-operation with this canner if he will come to
terms. Government s^rantino- certain substantial advan-
tages in the way of modern plant and salary, in return
for the thorough training of apprentices in all the methods
of canning. The canner will, of course, derive great
advantages from this co-operation of the Government,

* For various reasons the cannery was not opened in this neighbourhood but
was set up temporarily in Cah'cut as a purely departmental enterprise, at the end
of 191 1 and bes^an work in January 1912. Nor were the services of the French
canuer (M. Josselin, since deceased) availed of.

149

since he will obtain at least a salary (equal to sub-
stantial premia) for teaching our apprentices, and pro-
bably a Government loan either in the shape of plant
or money, together with a guarantee that Govern-
ment will not itself promote or aid competitive factories
within (five) miles on either side of him. If he declines
to co-operate there will remain the alternatives that
Government must open its own canning factory and
school wherever it may be convenient, or will endeavour
to co-operate with some other firm. I submit a general
idea of this canner's work and of the conditions I would
propose in a confidential appendix to this letter, and
should Government approve of the idea will open
negotiations.

14. In drawing up proposals I have, as regards plant-
contemplated three alternatives ; (a) the provision by
Government of modern plant both for can-making and
canning, and for the lending of such plant to the canner
gratis in return for full instruction in the use of it ; {b)
the loan of funds to the canner who could then provide
his own plant ; {c) the simple training of our apprentices
by the canner in his existing methods and with his
existing plant. As regards («:) there are the difficulties
that we should have all the trouble and delay of choosing
and buying the plant, and that after all it might not suit
French methods or ideas ; also that he might use it-
carelessly and recklessly, as not being his own, and that
th^re might be endless disputes both as to the wear
and tear of the plant and as to the liability for any
repairs that might be needed ; this would be accentuated
as the three years' term came to an end. I mention
three years, for that term should suffice to train up a
dozen or more men who will serve as instructors and
experts to private enterprise or in Government instal-
lations, and the arrangement might then terminate.

As regards ib) ; here Government would, like the
Congested District Boards in Ireland, simply lend the
canner such sum, say Rs. 6,500 (see /^^/r^: paragraph 19),
as would enable him to buy the proper plant, in the
selection of which Government should claim a voice so
that we may ensure good machines for modern processes ;
this sum might be lent free of interest for three years
and thereafter at 3 per cent, for another four years when
it should be recoverable, and it would be secured by a

i5o

mortgage on the factory. In this way Government
would be spared aU disputes and compHcations and the
canner would naturally take good care of his own
property.

As regards (c) it is known that this canner is working
by ordinary French (Brittany) methods and does not
use steam pressure cookers but simple, open brine baths ;
hence he may be unable to instruct in the use of the
more modern plant which, however, is desirable for many
reasons, and must eventually be worked up to. It is
believed also that his sardine tins are sent out from
France ready cut and shaped but in the flat, so that he
has nothing to do but solder the tins up and affix the
labels which are also imported.

15. Canning plant is b) no means expensive. For
can-making the manual or foot power machines are
simple and comparatively cheap ; one American list
works out at ^80 f.o.b, for plant for 2 lb. and 3 lb. cans,
to which must be added the dies (^8) required for sardine
cans; ^i 10 should sliffice to land a full plant on the
West Coast. A London firm quotes me a small manual
plant for round and sardine tins for ^75 f.o.b. and less
5 per cent, discount, and I should recommend this offer
if a plant is needed, as it could be landed for less than
^100.

As regards canning plant ; by a printed American
price list machinery for 5,000 round cans (2 lb. and 3 lb.)
per day with steam boiler, scalding and exhaust tanks,
one steam pressure processor, and many etceteras, should
cost about ^140 f.o.b. From correspondence with
London firms this is about the mark, the chief items being
a vertical self-contained steel boiler complete with steam
fittings (^50 to ^60), a steam processor also complete
(^50 to ^60), an open boiler, steam heated (^ 10 to ^ 1 2),
and etceteras ; one firm ofters the goods at these rates
f.o.b. and less 5 percent, discount. Hence ^200 should
see a small but good modern plant delivered on the
West Coast. Of course, it is possible to can as the
French canner does, with mere open brine baths over
furnaces, in which case a (gw hundred rupees would be
ample for the actual canning plant. But as stated above,
I strongly recommend processing under steam pressure
at a temperature of say 240" F. as against the cheaper
and easier open (brine) bath system ; it is far safer as

^51

regards the products, for in the brine bath the Internal
temperature of the cans cannot be raised above 212°
without danger of their bursting, whereas In the steam
cookers the pressure of the external steam balances that
from within, so that higher temperatures up to, say, 255°
F. can be reached with perfect safety and with conse-
quent inestimable advantages to the quality of the goods.
For sardines in oil open baths may be used and will
be tried, but the steam cooker is necessary for general
goods. Moreover, It is desirable to take a step in
advance, and not to be content with open, low tempera-
ture baths, but to introduce modern methods which are
at the same time more rapid and more safe than the old
ones. More rapid, for with a steam heat in the processor
of 240" or 250° F. the goods are processed in half the
time required in open baths at 212° F., with consequent
great saving of fuel and with the ability to deal with
double the number of cans and double the amount of
fish In the same time, a matter of the first importance In
this climate. More safe also, as explained above In this
paragraph. At the same time the open bath system will
be in use so that small caj)italists may utilise the simple
and (initially) cheaper system.

Hence the total cost of plant for both can- making
and canning should not exceed ^300 delivered on the
West Coast, to which would have to be added the cost
of the very simple buildings required and of etceteras
bought locally.*

16. A motor boat as carrier, costing perhaps Rs. 3,000,
will also probably be necessary in the near future, but
this may stand over till next year when work develops ;
without such boat it miorht be difficult to bring in a
sufficiency of fish In a perfectly fresh state to keep the
factory at work, since the sardines are capricious In their
visits both as to time and locality ; moreover when the
fishlnof extends to off-shore areas, a motor boat will be
necessary to bring the fish In rapidly. The Mahe canner
recently bought a kerosine motor boat, but it Is said to
lack power and size and to be therefore unsuccessful.

17. So also it may be found advisable to obtain a
small Linde ammonia refrigerating plant, costing about

* A small plant on the above lines was accordingly bought and eventually put
in operation (see previous footnote), with such success that a larger "sanitary can"
(solderless) plant haj now (1915) been set up at Beypore and will start work in
August.

152

^300> * i" order to ensure the keeping a stock offish free
from taint for some days so as to maintain several days'
supply of fish in perfect order ; at present fish go bad
within 24 hours so that the factory must stop work
whenever fish are not caught in the immediate vicinity.
For a similar reason floating chests or pens for live
sardine may be hereafter advisable. But these items may
also stand over till next year, and are only mentioned so
that the whole probable cost may be roughly estimated
from the beginning ,ind that Government may know
what expenditure is contemplated.!

* A smaller refrigerating plant, costing with oil engine completed, under .^150
has been obtained and set up (1915) at Beypore where it should be at work by
June.

t The above proposals were all sanctioned by the Government of Madras in
G.O. 2267, Revenue, of the 17th August 1908, with the suggestion that failing
successful negotiations with M. Josselin, an independent Government cannery
should be arranged for. Negotiations, however, for various reasons, especially the
pressure of other work, were not attempted and eventually a Government cannery
was opened.

Order— No. 2267, Revenue, dated i/th August 1908.

^k -;•■ *

2. The Government agree with Sir F. Nicholson
that every endeavour should be made to make more
widely known the value of fish manure and to extend its
use by the agricultural community. They consider that
thorough experiments with this fertilizer should be made
at the Central Farm, Coimbatore, and they approve of
Sir F. Nicholson's proposal that prizes should be
offered on the prize-field system for crops raised with
the aid of this manure. The Board of Revenue is
accordingly requested to offer its remarks on the best
methods of giving effect to this and the other suggestions
contained in paragraph 9 of Sir F. Nicholson's letter.

3. The Government also approve of Sir F. Nichol-
son's proposal to make experiments at or near Telli-
cherry in curing sardine, mackerel and other classes of
fish by means of the processes specified in paragraph 10
of the letter.

153

Letter — from Sir F. "A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Hono-
rary Director, Madras Fisheries.
Dated — the 12th August 190S.

In modification of paragraph 9 of my letter No. 100,
dated 13th July, on the subject of a cannery station near
Tellicherry, I now offer to Government the suggestion,
to start a small fish-oil and fertilizer factory at the same
place.

2. My reasons are as follow : —

(i) To popularize the idea and the methods of
preparing oil and fertilizer it is, I find, not enough to
await developments by European firms ; their methods
and processes will be kept very secret, as is natural, and
will therefore not serve as object lessons to people who
require to have the matter forced into their notice. The
possibility of profits on unfamiliar stufi of little local use,
prepared in a corner by unknown processes, and marketed
in distant countries by business methods requiring
considerable organization, knowledge and enterprise,
does not strongly appeal to a public of very small
capitalists especially when the methods are conducted
on a scale and at a cost generally beyond their means.
Hence I propose to prepare and display a simple and
public object lesson at all events as regards the industrial
part of the problem ; I do not propose to enter the trade
except in the necessary disposal of produce turned out,
and then, if possible, only by selling to local brokers or
firms. I rely upon the Agricultural Department to create
a rural demand for the stufi, which — as whole fish — I
now hear is largely used by Bombay ryots for tobacco ;
since above 20,000 acres of tobacco are annually grown
in the Coimbatore district, in which (letter above men-
tioned) I have already suggested the pushing of fish
fertilizer as a manure, that district ought to provide a
good local market.

(2) In working a cannery there will be a lot of
stufi' — stale fish unfit for canning, oftal, etc., — which will
otherwise have to be thrown away ; this and fish bought
locally from the fishermen who now dry the surplus
catches for the manure brokers, will provide material for
a small fertilizer factory.

(3) The business connection and boat arrange-
ments which provide the cannery will help to provide
the fertilizer factory.

154

(4) Apprentices learning one business can learn
the other in the same place.

(5) The opportunity offers of showing that the
business may be carried on with (a) small and (d) medium
plant requiring {a) a few hundred rupees, (d) live or
six thousand rupees as capital. This is what the coast
people do not understand.

3. I propose an expenditure not exceeding Rs. 7,500
in setting up (a) a petty plant suitable for a simple
fisherman or curer or syndicate of the same ; (^d) a
medium plant suitable for a small capitalist or group of
capitalists,

4. For (a) I shall simply provide (i) two or three
open pan furnaces, (2) a small manual press, (3) a few
vats, tubs and barrels with mat shedding and drying
ground ; in (i) the fish will be cooked, in the vats the
oil and water will drain off, in (2) they will be squeezed
for further oil ; the barrels arc needed for the export of
oil. Rupees 1,000 should be ample for these needs.

For (d) I shall provide (i) a steam boiler of 4 h.p.
nominal, and probably a suitable engine, (2) 3 or 4 open
wooden vats for cooking by steam coils, (3) a larger
press than for (a), driven by power if I have an engine ;

(4) a variety of draining and settling tanks, barrels, etc. ;

(5) a few small iron-roofed sheds and drying ground.
The steam boiler with injector, all steam connections,
etc., costs in Madras, at the Public Works Workshops,
below Rs. 1,000 ; with engine below Rs. 1,800 ; the press
may cost nearly the same ; the steam cookers Rs. 150
each; and so forth. I calculate Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 6,500
as a probable figure.

5. For the above sum, p/?is running cost, I can open
a useful factory ; if it is, for any reason, a failure, Govern-
ment may lose somewhat in selling the plant ; if it suc-
ceeds. Government can sell, if they wish, at full value
and will have established a valuable industry without
cost. As a matter of fact I know that certain small
capitalists are waiting for a lead exactly in this way and
matter.

6. Of course if Government wish, I am prepared to
put in proposals and estimates for about half a lakh as I
have full data for such plant ; this would be a full sized
concern, and I do not recommend starting in this fashion :
moreover it would be simply competing with existing

i^5

large firms and hot benefiting the small folk, whereas
my object is to introduce plant and methods suitable to
a hundred small folk and firms alono- the whole course
of the coast, so that the fresh catches may be dealt with
on the spot as and where they arrive.

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Hono-
rary Director, Madras Fisheries.
Z>a/^r/— Madras, the iSth October igoq.

Regarding the establishment of an Experimental
Station at Cannanore.

* * * *

4, In accordance with the statements in paragraph
15, etc., of my letter read in G.O. No. 2267, Revenue,
dated 17th August 1908, and in other places, I
purchased, when in England, from the London firm
therein mentioned, a can-making plant somewhat better
than that noted in the paragraph, but nevertheless
costing net, i.e., deducting the trade discount which I
obtained, only ^83, f.o.b. London, to which must be
added freioht to India, so that the oross cost will be
about £100 or Rs. 1,500 as expected. The plant is
quite sufficient for small operations and can be enlarged
at any time, and as it is from the same firm which
supplied a Coimbatore Company for tinning coffee I
hope to get my men trained there. The Company has
very courteously acceded to my request to train men, and
suggests that if this is insufficient they will be pleased
to send me their expert Manager for a week or so in
order to give more complete instruction ; a fee and
expenses will of course have to be paid to such Manager.
I anticipate no difficulty in getting my men thoroughly
taught.

5. I have also obtained rudimentary plant for canning
operations, viz., steam retort and steam vat from an
absolutely first-class firm ; the boiler to supply steam I
expect to get through the Madras Public Works Stores
or, failing them, in Bombay. I obtained a trade dis-
count of 20 per cent, on the goods ordered, the retort
costing ^48 instead of ^60 and the vat ^10 instead of
^12. I have also ordered a small steam autoclave or

156

kettle, self-contained, i.e., producing its own steam by
heat applied direct, and capable of high pressure ; this
is for experimental canning when it is, of course, un-
desirable to use the large plant ; the autoclave will cost
about ^25 delivered and will hold enough cans for
practical experiment on a considerable scale, e.g., 30 or
40 one-pound cans. Nothing further is needed for first
operations in canning except such material as can be
locally obtained, viz., fittings, sheds, tin plate, cases, etc.

6. For operations in smoking, pickling and other
methods I rely, as usual, on simple plant all procurable
locally and need not give details. But I have bought
one or two items of plant for peripatetic work such as a
portable iron smoking kiln, etc. I intend to begin
seriously on an attempt to utilize the abundant sardine
as good and cheap food in the ways indicated in my
letter read in G.O. No. 2267, Revenue, of 1908, e.g., by
pickling (like pilchards and herring), by drying and
smoking, and by canning in bulk ; all other fish will be
similarly dealt with. The method of potting will be
very specially attempted, and that of mealing fish, while
my initial attempts at preserving fish fresh (by absolutely
innocuous methods) for 24 hours and more, will be
pushed further.

7. In accordance vvith the general sanction conveyed
in your D.O. 1 180-B/08-1, I have arranged to open a very
small oil and fish guano plant in order to utilize fish
which cannot, for various reasons, be turned into whole
some food ; I have bought a small oil press (Rs. 450)
suitable for expressing oil from boiled sardine and
propose to purchase the remaining small plant locally,
viz,, open boilers, settling tanks, pumps, tubs, etc. I also
bought a portable open-pan boiler self-contained (with
stove, etc.) for touring work. This will be a plant on the
very smallest sca^e and will not cost Rs. 1,000; with a
cheaper press such as may be made locally, and mere
iron pan boilers over brick furnaces, it will cost local
fishermen much less, and I hope to influence quite a
number to take up the business of boiling the fresh or
dried sardine, expressing the oil, and selling it and the
guano to local merchants. One enterprising man at
Cannanore, about whom I wrote last year as an enquirer,
is now doing this, and selling his stuff at a fair price, and
I hope to get many others to do the same ; I can also

show them better methods and better implements which
will save them from groping in the dark and will prevent
waste of time and disappointment. I shall probably ask
Government for a small further development shortly.

8. I am negotiating at Ratnagiri to hire one or two
of the well-known Ratnagiri sailing boats in order to
begin deep- sea operations under my own control ; they
will ordinarily bring me daily supplies of fish but
I shall be able to insist on the gutting and cleaning
of all dead fish on board as soon as caught, and the
keeping in li\e chests of certain classes of fish taken
alive, so that on coming ashore dead fish will not only
be as free as possible from taint but will be actually
ready for the curing tub, etc., while the live fish will be
available for any process. My great trouble at Ennore,
apart from the paucity of fish, has been that the fish
have been caught an indefinite time, not less than 2 but
perhaps as long as 6 or 7 hours ; hence experiments
were vitiated because some fish were fairly good and
some in the early stages of taint by the time I could
deal with them ; this will be avoided by the arrange-
ments now beoinnino- at Cannanore. Moreover, in
January and February these Ratnagiri boats are
accustomed to fish in the deep sea for shark, etc., and
stav out a week at a time ; I intend to utilize this habit

" to introduce the new Salt rules for taking duty-free salt
to sea. At present these boats (which seldom come so
far south as Cannanore) take out duty-paid salt which,
being expensive, is taken and used in very scanty
quantity ; hence the catch by the end of the week is apt
to be putrid, and it is evidently these to which Mr. H. S.
Thomas alluded when he stated that the catches usually
come ashore putrid and full of maggots. Under my
control these boats will take out plenty of salt and salt
down their catches properly, so that not only will the
product require little handling when it arrives on shore
but it will be untainted.

9. In establishing new or developing old industries
each advance usually means the collateral advance of
some connected industry. The present is no exception,
but I will not further deal with this point save to say
that successful canning will necessitate an improved
vegetable oil industry, and successful curing, especially
pickling, means a large wooden barrel and box industry.

158

As regards edible oils I may have to address Govern-
ment shortly, as they must be both cheap and above
suspicion, and I do not at present know of any plant in
this Presidency for refinino- crude vegetable edible oil in
such way and with such thoroughness that I could use
it in canning.

lo. If these operations are successful Government
will have introduced notable industries of great value yet
workable by small folk in scores of localities all along
the West Coast, and on their establishment Government
will be able at once to sell its plant practically without
loss, as I know by enquiries already made. But in any
case the experiments are well worth the few hundreds of
pounds which they will, at most, cost.

Order— No. 3488, Revenue, dated i 8th December 1909.

The proposals of the Honorary Director of Fisheries
regarding the establishment of an experimental fishery
station at Cannanore and the operations proposed to be
conducted by him on the West Coast are approved.

159

Letter — from R. A. Graham, Esq., I.C.S., Collector of

South Canara.
To — the Secretary to the Commissioners of Land Revenue.
Dated — the 7th April 191 1.

I have the honour to forward a copy of a letter I have
received from the Honorary Director of Fisheries on the
subject of the grant of suitable pieces of Government
land to persons desirous of engaging in the manufacture
of fish oil and fish manure in accordance with the system
he is trying to introduce. From a conversation ! have
had with Sir Frederick's Assistant, I gather that the
chief difficulty in the way of such persons lies in the
darkhast rules. There seems to be a future before the
scheme if it can get a fair trial on this coast. There is
a very large demand for fish manure and constant c^mi-
plaints that the fish manure now obtainable contains an
excessive admixture of sand ; so that any process by
which it can be supplied free from sand ought to deve-
lop a considerable trade. The land required for the
factories will always be near the sea-shore, and in some
cases it may be possible to le'\se convenient plots to the
manufacturers without permanent assignment ; but even
this may be contrary to the spirit of the darkhast rules
and, where the question of assignment arises, the pre-
ferences allowed by the rules will frequently prevent the
applicants from getting the land they want. I beg,
therefore, that the Board will obtain the sanction of
Government for the relaxation of the rules in such cases.

Enclosure.

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Hono-
rary Director of Fisheries to the Government of
Madras.

To — the Collector of South Canara.
Dated — Chepauk, the 29th March 1911.

You are aware of the large quantities of oil sardine caught on this
coast which, after being sun-dried on the sandy beach, are exported
mostly to Ceylon and other foreign ports and a comparatively small
quantity sent to the planters in South India. This process of manu-
facturing fish manure is very primitive ; the oil which is in itself a
very valuable conimodity is not only v/holly wasted but, in drying,
takes up with it a large quantity of sand (30 per cent, or more) which
by no known methods can be got rid of after it once adheres to the
fish. Neither sand nor oil are required by the planters, nevertheless
they have to pay for them and incur all the incidental charges for
transport to their estates hundreds of miles from the coast. More-
over, this primitive process is objectionable from a sanitary point of

i6o

view, but apparently it has been tolerated hitherto, in the absence of
other improved methods, owing to the large demand for fish manure
of any sort as a valuable plant food.

My department have, by a series of experiments conducted during
the last few years, found out the best method of manufacturing the
manure and extracting the oil from sardine. It consists in boiling the
fresh fish in open boilers made of iron or copper, and pressing the
residue under screw presses worked by hand. The oil is separated
from the dirty water which is thrown away, and the pressed cake when
dried and milled gives a high class of fish guano which is free from
all bad smell. The process itself is practically free from smell and
from any sanitary objection.

This new process has been adopted by some private parties and
several factories have already been opened on the coast. My depart-
ment have, by advice and practical demonstrations held at important
fishing centres, been encouraging many others to start such factories.
As the Selection of a proper site adjoining the beach is a very import-
ant factor for the successful working of these factories, I have the
honour to request that you will be pleased to grant, on favourable
terms, unoccupied Government land suitable for this purpose to appli-
cants who wish to open such factories in your district. Before the
land is granted I would request you to forward to me the applications
for scrutiny so as to enable me to ascertain whether the applicants will
adopt the correct methods of manufacture and whether they have the
capacity to carry on the business on proper lines. This, I think, will
be of assistance to the Revenue Department in granting sites.

Reference, dated 2ist April 191 i.

Submitted to Government.

2. The Board recommends that the Collectors of
South Canara and Malabar may be authorised to grant,
in consultation with the Honorary Director of Fisheries,
leases of land on the coast, subject to the conditions laid
down in G.O. No. 3904, Revenue, dated 9th December
19 10.

GRANTS OF LAND FOR FISH-OIL AND
GUANO FACTORIES.

Order— No. 1593. Revenue, dated 29TH May 191 i.

The Government consider that the power to grant
long leases of lands on the sea-shore for the erection of
factories should not for the present be delegated to
Collectors, but the Collectors of Malabar and South
Canara and the Honorary Director of Fisheries may be
informed that the Government are prepared to give
favourable consideration to proposals to grant such
leases to persons desirous of engaging in the manufac-
ture of fish oil and fish manure.

t6i

Order—No. 3038, Reveinue, dated 8th November 1909.

The Honorary Director of Fisheries is informed
that the Secretary of State has sanctioned the creation
of the appointment of a whole-time officer as Marine
Assistant in the Fishery Department for three years
and the appointment of Mr. J. Hornell, f.l.s., to the
post * from 3rd July 1909 on a salary of Rs. 700 — 50 — 900
per mensem with the travelling- and leave allowances
admissible under the Civil Service Regulations to
officers of corresponding rank. A copy of the agree-
ment executed by Mr. Hornell is forwarded to the
Honorary Director, who is requested to report with
reference to clause 8 in which vernacular language
Mr. Pfornell should be required to pass.

2. A report should be submitted to Government in
two years' time whether the permanent retention of the
appointment is required.

In compliance with paragraph 2 of the above order, a
report was made in 191 1 requesting Mr. Hornell's
retention, which was accordingly sanctioned in G.O.
No. 201, Revenue, dated 24th January 1912. In 1915
Mr. Hornell's appointment was made permanent and
pensionable.

Early in 1909 proposals were made to Government
that Mr. Hornell who had had much tropical experience
in Ceylon as Marine Biologist and Superintendent of
Pearl Fisheries, should be made Superintendent of
Pearl and Chank Fisheries for the Midras Presidency ;
this was sanctioned in G.O. No. 601, Revenue, dated
4th March 1909, since which time Mr. Hornell has
combined these duties with those of Marine Assistant.

Hence by the appointment of Mr. H. C. Wilson
as Piscicultural Expert in November 1907, and of
Mr. James Hornell, f.l.s., in 1908, the Department
obtained the expert and valuable services of two prac-
tical European scientists in the several branches of
pisciculture and fishery developments.

* [ Mr. Hornell had already been appointed temporarily for one year from
Julv iqo8, with the result that his further retention was suggested during the course
of the year. J

IT .

t62

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director of Fisheries.
Dated — the ist July 191 o.

I have the honour to submit herewith two papers by
the Marine Assistant, Mr. James Hornell, on the subject
of edible oyster culture, viz. (i) a report, with general
suggestions for India, on oyster culture as practised at
Arcachon, France, and (2) a note containing specific
suggestions for beginning work on Arcachon lines, at
Pulicat. These papers embody the suggestions, by an
expert, foreshadowed in the first sentence of paragraph
169 of my report on fisheries in Japan, and relating to
developments of oyster culture in this country ; see also
paragraphs 42 and 65 of my No. 55 of 1908 read in
G.O. No, 1635, dated i2th June 1908.

2. As mentioned in my Dis. No. 68, dated nth
February 1909 (disposed of in G.O. Mis. No. 525,
Revenue, dated 24th P'ebruary 1909), I intended, when
recently on leave to Europe, to utilize my own and
Mr. Hornell's time in inspecting, inter alia, the Arcachon
methods of which we both had a general but not detailed
knowledge ; personally I was unable to go there, but
Mr. Hornell carried out the plan, and the accompanying
report is the result. I think that Government will agree
with me that it is a very valuable and practical bit of
work, and m.ay be the basis of large developments in this
country.

3. Apart from the mass of practical details which,
with other knowledge gathered by Mr. Hornell, will
enable us at once to set on foot the experimental culture
of the oyster with every prospect of commercial success,
the great lessons for us in this report are (i) that by the
careless and selfish depletion of oyster beds carried out
by purely private interests and unrestricted by public
regulation, the richest oyster beds may speedily be
ruined ; (2) that wise regulation will prevent such
depletion ; (3) that where depletion has occurred, wise
regulation coupled with scientific industrial assistance
may not only restore a decadent or decayed industry but
may develop it far beyond its former scope. The
Arcachon oyster beds which, in the middle of the i8th
century, were maintained in fair productivity by Parlia-
mentary regulations necessitated by the heavy drain
upon their resources, fell into complete ruin by the middle

I03

of the 19th century owing to the unrestricted ravages
consequent upon an unlimited demand and the disuse of
the earlier regulation ; the genius of Coste and other
scientific and practical experimenters who were supported
or fostered by the resources of the State, found the
remedy in systematic oyster culture, with the result that
the Arcachon beds which in 1859 furnished only 700,000
oysters valued at 28,000 francs, supplied in 1907 no less
than 352^ millions valued at 2,659460 francs, a value
much below the real value since many millions are sold
immature — at two years of age — for being fattened else-
where. Besides this large output of native oysters
nearly 96 million Portuguese oysters were also grown
and sold. About 1,000 million oysters are under culture
at any one time on the 7,500 odd acres which are held
in about 3,000 holdings, the small holding being the one
especially fostered by Government as a provision for its
naval reserve. The figures of output of native oysters
show an annual outturn per acre of about 45,000 or
slightly over one per square foot ; there must be present
an average of about three oysters per foot or 135,000 per
acre, since the gross number any one time under cultiva-
tion is 1,000 million. Hence it will be seen that a great
source of wealth and industry was ruined by carelessness
and absence of regulation, but more than restored by
authority, science and industry working in combination ;
State regulation and State assistance in experiment have
re-created Arcachon.

4. One immediate result of Mr. Hornell's enquiry is
the second paper for which we had laid the foundation
by the examination of the Pulicat Lake by Mr. Hornell
in 1908, as reported in the first paper in Departmental
Bulletin No. 4, and by the preliminary experiments in
oyster culture at Ennore recorded, for 1908, in the
second paper in the same bulletin, some remarkable
results of which are mentioned in paragraph 1 7 of my
annual report for 1908-09 read in G.O. No. 12 15,
Revenue, dated 4th May 1909. These Ennore experi-
ments were repeated on the same ground in the autumn
of 1909 with still more remarkable results; briefly, it
may be here stated that on tile collectors deposited in
the backwater between 19th September and 12th Octo-
ber, very many young oysters were found on the 19th
November, the sizes of which varied from very smallto

II-A

164

as much as if inches in diameter. Since the oysters
could not possibly be above two months old, this rate of
growth is very remarkable, and exactly corresponds with
similar results in 1908 when the largest oysters of not
more than 1 1 weeks old, and possibly less, reached a
diameter of i| and even i|^ inches. Subsequent examin-
ation on the 26th March last (iQio) showed that while,
owino- to over-crowdino- on the tiles, the o-eneral mass of
young oysters had not much increased in size, those, on
the outer edges which had more room and more food,
had greatly developed showing sizes up to 3 x 2 inches,
2 J X 2, etc., on the tiles laid down on 19th September
1909, and up to 3 x 2^ on tiles laid down on 12th
October 1909 ; the sizes slightly decreased on the tiles
laid down later than the 12th October, but nevertheless
were as much as 2| x 2^, 2\ x if, etc. Hence it is
proved that in slightly over fivs months oysters can be
deposited as spat and grow to the size of 3 x 2^ inches,
a rate of growth unparalleled or unsurpassed anywhere.
Not only so but the oysters deposited on our tiles in
October 1908 showed on 26th March 19 10, or within
eighteen months, a growth in inches as follows : 4J x 2f,

44 ^ ^4' 48^ ^ 34' 32 ^ 3' 3 ^ ^2. 34 -^ ^4' ^^*^-

These oysters were healthy and fat, while the shells were
well developed being from i|^ to i|^ inches in thickness,
while the flavour was, Mr. Hornell says, the finest of any
he had eaten in India ; these oysters, he adds, were of
just the proper size for use.

Hence it has been already proved to demonstration
that we can raise oysters of good size and excellent
quality, fit for table consumption, within 18 months from
spat fall. It may also be mentioned that the spat fall
again occurred immediately after the fresh water floods
in the backwater, and was earlier in 1909 as were also
the floods.

5. With the sanction, therefore, of Government I
now propose to develoj) our preliminary Ennore experi-
ments into a small but systematically arranged experiment
in oyster culture, in view to its eventual public acceptance
as a regular fishing industry of simple and readily learned
character, easy control, and great value, which private
individuals, however unlearned and poor, can carry out
with ease and profit. The oyster industry has the
advantages that its subjects are stationary, its locale is

165

in shallow, safe waters, and its returns calculable, while
the fresh products will be in considerable local demand
at high prices, and any surplus can either be sent to
Calcutta, etc., in ice after being shelled as in America,
or converted into goods (in cans, extracts, etc.) in general
demand.

6. Mr. Hornell considers, and I concur, that the East
Coast of this Presidency is better suited than the West
Coast for oyster culture, since, except where there is
very free communication with the sea, as at Cochin, the
West Coast backwaters are, for several months, so
diluted with floods of fresh water that no oyster could
live in them ; these conditions do not obtain in our East
Coast backwaters. Moreover oysters are only found in
patches in the West Coast estuaries, and hardly at all in
the open sea, whereas the margins of the East Coast are
frequently fertile in oysters attached to the mangroves
and rocks. As at present advised, we consider the
Pulicat Lake or backwater to be the most suitable place
for beginning operations ; the backwater is convenient
both in position and character, its bar is generally open
to the sea. and very good oysters are found there, though
only in patches ; these can be utilised as breeders (i) by
fencing in about three acres — in two plots — of the lake
as culture beds (parks) and preparing them for cultural
operations, (2) by carrying out in these plots the cultural
operations found desirable, these being based in the
first instance on Arcachon methods, (3) by the issue
of Government Orders prohibiting the taking of oysters
from the scanty existing beds within the lake.

7. The work will of course be experimental at first
since no such cultural attempt has ever been made in
India, and we shall have to ascertain not merely the best
form of spat collectors but the exact season or seasons
in which to put them in position, the enemies and dangers
to which the oysters will be exposed, the best localities
for further work, the ages at which, and the methods by
which, oysters will give the best commercial return,
and the best means for the disposal of our crops ; two
or three years should enable us to answer the above
questions.

8. Mr. Hornell has given in the second of his papers
full details of the experiments proposed and of their cost
which, annually, will be very small ; the capital cost of

165

fencing and preparing the two acres which will be first
dealt with, will not exceed Rs. 2,800 of which only halt
will be required in the current official year ; the recur-
ring cost may be about Rs. 1,200 annually of which
Rs. 600 will be required this year ; hence, in round
figures, Rs. 2,000 will be needed this year, and Rs. 2,000
next year by the end of which period there should be a
considerable crop of marketable oysters and, above all, a
new industry in actual, though infant, operation.

The essence of the experiments is simply this ; small
areas of the lake bed, about two acres in one area, and
one in another, close to existing oyster beds, will be
bunded in by bunds of perhaps a foot high, merely
intended to retain water at very low tides and ordinarily
submerged entirely ; these areas (parks) will be specially
prepared by cultching, etc., for the due receipt of young
oysters which will be obtained by placing tile collectors
in the selected areas on which the spat from the adjacent
oyster beds will fall, and by subsequently removing the
young oysters from the tiles and putting them out for
growth in the selected breeding parks. Probably the
process will be assisted by transferring natural oysters
from the beds to the parks, but the above is the proposed
system in outline. As already mentioned, experiments
have shown us that good marketable oysters can be
obtained in eighteen months after the spat fall, so that
by March 191 2 we may have on the first acre a lakh of
good oysters and on the second acre a large number of
young ones ; in four years' time there should be on three
acres several lakhs of oysters in various stages from
infant to marketable.

9. The third point adverted to at the close of para-
graph 6 siitra is however essential, viz., the issue of
orders by Government wholly prohibiting, for the present,
the taking of oysters from the lake except by the
Fisheries staff or persons authorized by the department.
There are few and small beds, and no oyster taking-
industry at present exists at Pulicat. But recent adver-
tisements by a firm which was — apparently temporarily —
located at Pulicat, stated that dried or other oysters
would be supplied on demand, and it is obvious that any
one who could find a market for dried or preserved
oysters might destroy the whole existing beds in a single
season, and consequently the whole of the brood oysters

1^7

on which the lake, and our cultural experiments, depend
for spat ; destruction of the beds would mean great
additional expense and very great additional difficulty in
re-stocking the lake. There can be no doubt but that the
bed of the lake is Government property and the High
Court have decided (I.L.R., Vol. XXVII, July 1904,
Madras, Annakumaru Pillai v. Muttupayal and others)
that "chanks are not fish. They are not fercu naturoe.
but are doniitoe natu^^os, and must be placed in the same
category as oysters so as to be the sndject of theft.''
Moreover, as Mr. Hornell points out, the Bombay
Government exercise complete ownership and jurisdic-
tion over the oyster beds in the Sind backwaters, etc.,
and the Kutch Darbar over the beds within their territory.
Hence Government may declare that the oyster beds in
the Pulicat Lake are reserved land and that their products
are removable or in any way to be dealt with only by
officers of Government, and that persons interfering
with these will be liable to the penalties for theft, or
mischief, etc. The whole of the lake, however, need not
be brought under the order but only such very small
part of it as will affect our operations, viz., the area
enclosed by a line drawn east and west just north of
Annamalaicheri (see plan in the first paper in Bulletin
No. 4) and another line at the entrance of the canal into
the lake at Vadamanikuppam (see plan accompanying
Mr. Hornell's letter of the iSth instant). If Govern-
ment approve, a proper proclamation with all boundaries,
etc., will be drawn up and submitted to Government.

10. As work should begin on the spot by about ist
August next the very early orders of Government are
requested, first for sanction, should they approve, for the
carrying out of the experiment and for the outlay of the
necessary funds, (2) for the handing over of the areas
w^hich we require and which are indicated on the plan
attached ; as the Buckingham Canal is under the control
of the Public Works Department, the transfer of the
necessary sites may be ordered in consultation with that
department. The plan will show that the sites required
in no way affect the canal, and as a matter of fact, our
operations will be so slight and of such a simple and un-
obstructive character, that the canal could not possibly
be aftected. The bunds raised for the protection of the
oysters are but a few inches above the level of the lake

168

bed and are merely intended to retain water when the
surrounding lake bed is occasionally uncovered by very
low tides.

Order— No. 2442, Revenue, dated 23RD July 1910.

The Government agree with the Honorary Director
of Fisheries that Mr. Hornell's report on -'the practice
of oyster culture at Arcachon and its lessons for India"
is a very valuable and practical piece of work.

2. The Honorary Director's proposals for the conduct
of experiments in oyster culture in the Pulicat Lake are
approved.'"'

* This farm was started shortly after the date of the Government Order,
Droughts and fresh water tioods have caused unforeseen diificulties while expert
superintendence was almost impossible. Nevertheless excellent oysters are now
being produced and marketed with success, and with the educated superintend-
ence now available, the farm should rapidly progress.

169

tetter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director, Madras Fisheries.
Dated — the 19th July 1911.

I have the honour to submit herewith copies of Mr.
James Hornell's note on " Marine Fish-farming for
India," being a report written by him on his inspection
of the fish-farming at Arcacbon and Comacchio in 1909,
together with general suggestions for work in Madras.

2. The report is the outcome of the department's
frequently expressed desire to see the numerous Madras
backwaters properly utilised ; I had specially intended
in 1909 (see my letter Dis. No. 68, dated nth February
1909, read in G.O. Mis. No. 525, dated 24th February
1909), to visit the above places, but my inalDility to do so
was fortunate since it threw the whole duty on Mr.
Hornell, who, possessing both practical and scientific
knowledge, has been able to concentrate attention on the
necessary details and consequently to write a very useful
report on which we may begin fish-farming work with
the minimum chance of mistakes.

3. The word " fish-farming " has been used to distin-
guish the method from the marine pisciculture or, rather,
hatchery work of which we generally hear. In America
and elsewhere marine pisciculture is mainly confined to
the artificial hatching of thousands of millions of the eggs
of food fishes and the release of the fry into the waters
of the sea to shift for themselves. But the fish-farming
here reported on is simply the retention of fish in enclosed
ponds or lagoon enclosures into which the young fry,
hatched in the open waters of the sea, are enticed, or in
which they are born as the progeny of mature fish
already within the enclosures ; in these enclosed areas
they live and are brought to maturity on the food
naturally contained in the water which is constantly
changed by aid of tidal ebb and flow and by the drainage
waters from the surrounding country, and thence are
removed for market.

4. As Mr. Hornell points out, the process is very
inexpensive and simple ; primitive in fact in all except
the ingenuity, born of long experience, with which the
waters are dealt with, in view to maintain normal whole-
someness, temperature, salinity, and a supply of natural
food, and by which the fish are enticed into the enclosures,
maintained against extremes of cold, and eventually

i;o

Captured for market. Mr. Hornell lays stress on the
fact that no attempt is made at the alternative method of
fish-farming, viz., that of the intensive culture, by artificial
hatching" and artificial feeding, of sea fish as practised in
Japan and probably in Japan only (see paragraphs 179
to 184 of my " Note on Japanese F'isheries ") and that, in
all probability, the artificial hatching — so easy in these
days — of millions of fry and their nourishment by adding
artificial food to the natural contents of the water, would
immensely aid their productivity and profits.

5. In fact, the actual produce per acre of the fish-
farms reported on is disappointing as compared with
potential produce ; that for Comacchio, the origin of
which goes back to Roman times and in its present form
is many centuries old, is decidedly poor, though evidently
much larger three hundred years ago when the
money value of its output was higher than at present
though money was several times its present value. At
Arcachon, however, the average output is better, and
averages 264 lb. per acre, valued at Rs. 65, a very fair
outturn for water to which no artificial aid is given to
increase the produce, and about double the ordinary out-
turn of carp per acre in German lakes, except in Bavaria.
But it is to be noted that this outturn — at Arcachon
especially — is obtained with very little labour and ex-
pense ; a fish farmer with 100 hectares, or 243 acres,
clears ,:^ 1,000 profit /^r anmim, and for this large area
he employs only /(9?/;' labourers, while the cost of repairs
is but small. When compared with the produce of an
equal area of land, requiring to be ploughed, sown, cul-
tivated, manured, harvested, at large expenditure of labour
and money, and with, after all, very uncertain results
owing to variable or adverse seasons, the outturn is
decidedly good and recalls an expression actually used
to myself in Bavaria by a successful arable and carp
farmer whose farm was half land, half water, that he
wished that the whole of his farm were water.

6. The areas under fish-farming in Arcachon and
Comacchio are the low-lying lands on the sea margin
which in nature form marshes and lagoons, periodically
overflowed by the sea, or, when separated from the sea
by low spits of land, are subject to the periodical in and
outflow of the tides through a bar : these have often

i7t

been artificially embanked and sluiced in order to tbrnl
solar salt-pens ; at Arcachon the farm sites are, in fact,
chiefly old salt pans, while at Comacchio the land has,
from time im.memorial, been gradually dyked and sluiced
till it is a maze of ponds and canals ; the fish farm
area of Comacchio is about 90,000 acres, while that at
Arcachon is only about 740 acres.

7. Now these classes of water are precisely paralleled
to an enormous extent in this Presidency ; on both coasts
there are numerous and very large backwaters, such as
Pulicat lake of 180 square miles, Covelong, Dugaraza-
pattanam, etc., while the west coast is largely a chain of
backwaters. Besides these there are deltaic marshes and
even disused salt pans. Numerous areas are capable of
beino- reclaimed, such as the small arms or reaches of the
west coast backwaters, and marshy areas which need
little but embanking and sluicing to form first-class fish-
farms. The questions then arise {a) whether the creation
of marine fish-farming as an industry is worth while ; {/?)
if worth while, whether it is possible ; if so (c) what are
the most suitable fish, and (d) what methods should be
adopted.

8. Positive and assured answers cannot at present
be given to any of these questions for the simple reason
that no such thino- as marine fish-farmino- has ever been
attempted or even its possibility examined in this Presi-
dency. It is precisely one of the problems for the solu-
tion of which dy experiment, " Fisheries " exist and, as
will presently be shown, the problem is eminently worth
a few years of experiment. For the problem is to render
fully prodtictivehj cultivation huge areas of water which

at present are only semi-productive ; just as wild lands
produce a certain small amount which may be enormously
increased by proper farming, so these waters if duly
farmed should produce much greater yields than at pre-
sent. For instance, though Pulicat has oyster beds and
a good spat fall, and there is little or no removal of the
oysters, there is but a small wild crop of oysters, whereas
in the culture experiment now in process there, a small
two-acre enclosure is expected to yield, as a first and
experimental crop, some 15,000 dozen mature oysters in
18 months from beginning the experiment. The exam-
ple is perhaps not quite parallel, but it is an example of
culture V. nature.

Then again, if these areas can be made fully produc-
tive an enormous amount of food can be easily grown
and easily harvested by men of any class. For such
harvesting no dangerous work and exposure, as in deep
sea fishing, are necessary, and both cultivation and harvest
can proceed in all weathers and seasons, while men of the
ordinary Sembadavan class can engage readily in such
work. If, for instance, only 16,000 acres out of 116,000
of Pulicat lake alone were under fish-farming, and pro-
duced only at the Arcachon rate of 2J cwt. per acre,
2,000 tons would be annually produced by this fraction
of the lake, and there are many areas better suited for
farming than Pulicat, though not so extensive, e.^.,
Dugarazapattanam, and probably Covelong ; this would
be almost an assured annual harvest, obtained with the
minimum of trouble and risk.

This rate of produce, however, may be largely
increased by culture and additional food, especially
considering the rapid growth in tropical waters, parti-
cularly when food, naturally considerable, is artificially
increased and where precautions are taken to prevent
either cannibalism by the fish under cultivation, or the
attacks of predaceous foes. There is no reason to
suppose that marine fish, confined in conditions suitable
to their nature, will grow less rapidly than fresh-water
fish, and the recorded accounts of their growth, as
mentioned in paragraphs 196 to 198 of my " Note on
Japanese P^isheries " are astonishing and suggestive.
With these figures may be compared the phenomenal
rate of growth of the edible oyster as ascertained by our
Ennore and Pulicat experiments of the last three seasons,
viz., full maturity and fitness for market in 18 months
from spat fall. Hence a few acres of properly farmed
and protected backwater should provide a good income
even though fish be priced at but one anna per pound.
Since these areas are mostly owned by the State it will
eventually be possible to draw from them a revenue
which will maintain the department without recourse to
the general purse. Hence there is every reason for taking
up marine fish-farming as a most important Government
experiment, in order to ascertain its methods and its
possibilities, and to provide examples for imitation.

9. That fish-farming, if possible, is worth while, has
been argued. That it x'?, possible \^ practically certain ; if

^73

possible in Arcachon and other parts of France, as well
as Italy, it is possible in the still more favourable condi-
tions of this presidency. Provided that the general
water-way is unobstructed there are tens of thousands of
acres of perennial water, unencumbered by vested rights
or interests which can be turned into productive fish-
farms at slight expense ; slight, that is, as compared
with probable results and with subsequent annual ex-
penditure. The property in these waters is mostly
vested in Government who can assign areas, on lease or
otherwise for cultivation as properly as areas of arable
land, and should the expected success attend our experi-
ments, it will be a subsequent duty to ascertain
conveniently placed areas suitable for private farming.
Considerable fishery produce is already obtained
especially in several of the backwaters such as Chilka
lake, Pulicat, Cochin, etc., these fisheries, however, are
simply in a state of nature, and were the system of taking
in common the mere natural produce of these waters to
give place to enclosure and cultivation, there can be no
doubt but that the produce would increase as vastly as
the produce obtained by the enclosure of arable com-
mons. In pages yy to 83 of his report Mr. Hornell
shows, in fact, that several of the main conditions of
successful fish-farming are more favourable in this
Presidency than in Europe, such as the much larger
variety of prime fish suitable for growth in enclosures
(see paragraph 10 hijra), the warmth of the waters
leading to abundance of minute life and consequently to
rapid growth of the fish, the absence of a rigorous winter
when orrowth is at a stand-still, and so on. Having,
then, the water, the fish and the favourable conditions, it
is obvious that the application of intelligent experiment
should — I might almost say must — resuk in success.

10. Assuming that fish-farming is both important
and possible, it remains to consider what fish are most
suitable. Here Mr. Hornell's practical and scientific
knowledge are already of the first importance ; his
remarks are contained in pages ^^ to yy of his report.
Knowledge of the fish found suitable in European
waters for growth in quasi-confinement gives a starting
point for our own investigations. Those fish are eel,
mullet, smelts and bass, and a sprinkling of other fish ;
those named are the chief ones, especially the three first

174

mentioned, of which the eel is by far the most import-
ant. In Japan eel and mullet in the brackish waters
of the Tokyo ponds were found to be the fish chiefly
cultivated.

Now in this Presidency the eel, though found in
some quantity, is not abundant or in general favour, and
may at present be neglected. The mullet, of various
species, is one of the most abundant in the backwaters
forming a large item, for instance, in the Ennore catches.
But Mr. Hornell points out that we have, in addition,
quite a variety of much more valuable fish, habitually
found in our backwaters, such as the koduva (Lates
calcarifer, begti or cock-up). The kala or bami'n (Poly-
nemus), sea-bream of several species, and even, when
young the white pomfret according to Dr. Day ; also
others of less food value.

The mullet is very suitable in many ways ; it is
omnivorous and consequently easy to feed, while, as
frequently caught at the Ennore station, it is at certain
seasons, full of ripe spawn or milt so that the eggs could
be artificially fertilized and hatched with great ease for
farming purposes. Mr. Hornell estimates that these
fish would be quite marketable in a year from entering
the ponds as fry. Mr. Hornell also points out that
since at least some species of the polynemids (bami'n)
enter the backwaters and tidal rivers for spawning, there
should be no difficulty in obtaining ova for artificial
hatching ; so also with Lates calcarifer and some other
fish. Also that the fry of several valuable species are
found in enormous quantities at various seasons in the
backwaters and could be obtained with the utmost ease
for rearing in enclosures ; they may be caught abundantly
in ordinary push nets along the banks, since children
catch them in quantity by using their cloths as nets.
If the white pomfret is really susceptible of cultivation
in enclosures as suggested by Mr. Hornell, a most
valuable fish would be brought into comparatively
common consumption.

The fish mentioned are not only valuable as food
fish but have apparently accustomed themselves to those
large and rapid variations in the water which we find in
our backwaters and which would be fatal to European
farming. Mr. Hornell mentions the matter of salinity
in some detail and points out the wide extremes, so

175

observable In the backwaters. These variations need
give Uttle anxiety, since the fish are habituated to them.

11. We have, then, a much greater variety than in
Europe of fishes suitable for cultural work, at least
experimentally, and therefore very great chances of
successful fish-farming. But Mr. Hornell also points
out the regrettable fact that we know very little about
our food (or other) fishes as regards (a) breeding habits,
(/?) food, {c) ability to live in comparative confinement, and
that we require to experiment in the laboratory as well
as in small fish farms, before we can definitely say
which fish are the most suitable, both in their ability to
thrive in er^closures in the conditions and on the food
therein available or in the food which we can supply
with sufficient cheapness, and in their food value. I beg
to refer in this connection to my remarks in paragraphs
6 and lo of my No. 163, dated ist June last, on the
necessity for giving " Fisheries " a domicile with a small
biological laboratory and hatchery in the proposed new
aquarium, and the practical advantages arising there-
from. As Mr. Hornell says (page 82) "Observations
are urgently needed upon the breeding habits and the
nature of the food of the principal backwater and
estuarine fishes, and experiments in artificial impregna-
tion and hatching are needed before marine fish culture
can be carried on commercially with fair assurance
of eventual success." So also in page 74, he alludes to
the need for a small hatchery attached to an aquarium
and the opportunities which it would give for practical
work. Hence, though we know thai several of the most
important natural conditions are more favourable to
fish-farming in this country than in Europe, e.g., large
variety of suitable and valuable fish, abundance of fish
food, rapidity of growth, absence of rigorous winter, etc.,
yet more data are required before fish-farming can be
coruiiiercially assured.

12. Consequently we come to the methods suitable
to this country. Mr. Hornell (pages "]"] to ^i) shows
that there are vast areas suitable for both methods of
fish-farming, viz. (i) the so-called "natural" method in
vog^ue at Arcachon and Comacchio, to wit, the settino"
apart of large continuous areas of water and simply
enticing the young fish from the sea into these areas,
where they grow, without artificial food, till fit for

market, and (2) the intensive method, practised in Japan,
where marine fish are artificially hatched or hatched in
confinement and brought to maturity in vast quantity in
comparatively small ponds with the aid of artificial
food ; see paragraphs 179-184 of my " Note on Japanese
Fisheries."

13. For the present it is premature to discuss in
detail commercial methods, since fish-farming is non-
existent and we have too igw data. Personally I
incline to the belief in the intensive method which is
agreeable to the Indian tendency towards ''petite
culture, " and is enormously productive on very small
areas ; I should like to see vast areas of the shallower
parts of our backwaters reclaimed and turned into
small fish farms. Traversing these backwaters, espe-
cially in Travancore and Cochin, one may see hun-
dreds of petty reclamations carefully embanked not to
retain but to exclude water, and expensively unwatered,
often by engine power, to enable land crops to be grown ;
such areas would grow fish abundantly with the minimum
of expense ; in any case, since ryots are willing to spend
large sums in getting rid of water, they may be induced,
it we can show them successful fish-farming, to spend
smaller sums, in similar positions in keeping the water
in. Natural food in these positions is usually abundant,
consisting of small aquatic and semi-acquatic life, both
animal and vegetable, while for the more expensive
classes of fish such as the bami'n and pomfret, it would be
possible to supply artificial food in the shape of dry fish
meal, etc., at extremely low rates.

14. For the present, however, the methods for
mention in this letter are those to be adopted by " Fish-
eries " in experiment. These are (i) laboratory or
aquarium methods, (2) pond farming as a working experi-
ment in selected positions. The first has been mentioned
and is essential if we are to gain an exact knowledge of
the bionomics of food fish, and I trust that Government
will sanction the proposal alluded to in paragraah 11
supra, viz., the provision of a small biological laboratory
and hatchery attached to the proposed new aquarium.
The second can be readily carried out in connection
with certain salt-pans, the main supply channels of
which are admirably suited for experimental work, being
enclosed, protected from ooaching and interference,

177

and properly sluiced ; see pages 79 and 80 of the
Report.

15. I trust, therefore, that Government will now
expressly sanction experiments in marine fish-farming as
part of the department's work, in which case Mr. Hornell
will prepare and send in the necessary plans and estimates
with all detail. As suggested in the first part of this
letter, the experiments will be very cheap since, as
regards laboratory experiments the small plant required
is necessary and will be maintained for much other work,
while as regards pond experiments we have the neces-
sary sluiced waters all ready to hand, and it is believed
that there are occasionally disused salt channels which
could be placed entirely at our disposal.

16. Mr. Hornell's report is, 1 believe, the very first
detailed English report made at first hand on these
methods of fish-farming, except perhaps the mention of
Comacchio in a report on the Adriatic sea fisheries by
Faber, and I think that Government will agree with me
that it is highly valuable and suggestive as the starting
point for marine fish-farming in this Presidency and
perhaps in India.

Order— No. 2537, Revenue, dated 2ist August 191 i.

The Government agree with the Honorary Director
of Fisheries as to the value and suQoestiveness of Mr.
Hornell's report on " Marine Fish-farming for India "
and will be glad to receive the detailed plans and esti-
mates which Mr. Hornell proposes to prepare and
submit.

12

,78

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director, Madras Fisheries.
Dated — the 20th April 191 2.

Referring to G.O. No. 2537, Revenue, dated the 21st
August 191 1, desiring detailed plans and estimates for a
marine fish farm as suggested by Mr. Hornell in his
report on " Marine Fish Farming for India " (Fisheries
Bulletin No. 6), I have the honour to submit copy of a
letter from Mr. Hornell giving particulars and proposals.

2. After receipt of the above Government Order I
requested Mr. Hornell to visit several parts of the coast
in view to a general survey of fishery practices and possi-
bilities and with the special object of selecting a conve-
nient site. Mr. Hornell reports that many such sites
are available, and in Ganjam a village officer has come
forward to lease a lagoon area admirably suited for the
purpose but too far from our general head-quarters to be
departmentally worked. Finally Mr. Hornell pitched
upon a site which though not perhaps ideal in all its
conditions as a fish farm, is excellently situated for a
first experiment which demands continual observation,
experiment and control, viz., a lagoon area of perhaps 150
acres close to the chank godowns about a mile out of
Tutlcorin, perfectly unused, and communicating with the
sea by a narrow inlet. His proposals to utilize this are
mentioned in his letter and will be readily understood by
the sketch. The Revenue and Marine authorities have
stated in writing that they have no objection to the use
of the area, and the Executive Engineer has prepared the
estimate. Beino- close to the chank o-odowns the farm
will be incessantly under supervision by the chank staff
as well as by Mr. Hornell during his lengthy stay at
Tuticorin in the pearl and chank season.

3. Since Mr. Hornell's letter was written he has
suggested to me that the farm may be used not merely for
food-fish farming but for the cultivation of ( i ) the window-
pane oyster {^Placuna placenta), (2) the ordinary oyster,
in a position where it will be daily under observation in
quiet and enclosed waters. The first named is not unim-
portant ; the fish is not unknown in Madras waters and
is also found largely in Ceylon ; its former industrial use
is well-known, and though such use had apparently died
out it is now reviving where a subdued light is required,
a notable instance being in the new and up-to-date

179

American hospital at Manila in the Philippines. In
Ceylon this oyster is fished extensively as a source of
seed pearls, which are a Government monopoly.

4. The total cost for the current year is Rs. 4,700, of
which Rs. 4,410 will be capital non-recurrent cost, and
Rs. 290 recurrent. The pay, Rs. 15, of each watchman
is high, but labour is very dear in Tuticorin, and the men
will have to be nursery-men rather than mere watchers.

I recommend that the farm be sanctioned at a very
early date and the cost met from the lump sum Rs. 15,000
provided in the current year's budo-et.

Order— No. 1314, revenue, dated 2nd May 1912.

The Government approve of Mr. Hornell's proposals
for the establishment of an experimental marine
fishfarm near Tuticorin and sanction an expenditure of
Rs. 4,700 to meet the capital cost and the running
expenses during the current year in connection with
the farm.*

* \'arious uncontrollable dela\s have occurred ia constructing this fish-farm,
but it was built at the end of 1914 and bas now ''191 5) begun work.

12 A

i8o

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I,C,S., Honorary

Director, Madras Fisheries.
Dated — Madras, the 3yst May 1911.

I have the lionour to request that Government will
be pleased to consider the following letter when deciding
upon the plan, etc., of the new aquarium at Madras.
My letter is almost entirely based on suggestions
made to me by Mr. Hornell as Marine Assistant to
" Fisheries ", and discussed together both in person and
by letter ; as expert member of the Aquarium Committee
Mr. Hornell drew up the general plans and sugges-
tions for the new aquarium, and in so doing proposed
that with the living exhibition should be combined a
place of study and education, and a proper home
for the Fisheries Department. I append copies from
Mr. Hornell's letters.

2. I suggest {a) that the new aquarium should not
be merely a show place, for recreation or for the satis-
faction of curiosity even though intelligent, but that
it should be (i) scientific, (2) educational, {3) practical ;
{b) that the direct association of " Fisheries " with the
aquarium will be for the financial, administrative and
practical benefit of both.

3. A modern aquarium is as much a marine biologi-
cal station as a mere place for the exhibition, however
interesting, of the wonders of the deep ; it is now usual
to combine both purposes. The Naples Aquarium is, of
course, the standing and finest example of such a combi-
nation, and for forty years has been the resort on the one
hand of the tourist and general visitor, on the other of the
student and savant, while its specimens have gone all
over the world. This is similarly the case with the
Aquaria of the United States, their latest being under
development in the Philippines ; so also at Plymouth
in England, Monaco, etc. The New York Aquarium,
already second in the world, is to be developed on both
sides at an expense running into millions of dollars.
I therefore presume that when undertaking the expense
of a large new aquarium, Madras will not neglect
the practically universal example of other countries,
specially under the considerations which follow.

4. Scientific. — There is no marine biological station,
as distinguished from museums, between Naples and
Japan except perhaps a small station for special purposes

i8i

at Galle ; the contents and biology of the tropical waters
of the Near and Middle East are scientifically almost
unexplored ; we know almost nothing of marine zoology
in its many living aspects as apart from mere descriptive
and classificatory work. Apart from the aid which
science may and does give to practical work, there ought
to be in this great country, the very centre of the tropical
East, a central station, where the marine fisheries staft
and where savants and students of marine biology can
study marine life, both fauna and flora, not as mere
museum specimens but as living organisms. Moreover,
savants from Europe, e.^., from Oxford, frequently desire
material for biological research, which, for lack of a
supplying agency, they are unable to procure. I need
not, however, dwell on this point, since it will obviously be
admitted ; it is rather a question of finance and location.
5. Educational. — There can be no two opinions as
to the need for such a station as an aid and adjunct to
education in natural history. As pointed out by
Mr. Hornell, and by Professor Powell of Bombay in the
appended extract from the Madras Mail, biological
students must, in the absence of specimens, even dead
ones, be mere text-book men, who may have committed
to memory printeci descriptions and facts gathered by
scientists but who have no first-hand acquaintance with
the organisms they describe ; they have never seen or
handled a cray fish but can quote Huxley verbatim ; they
have not studied science but only the literature of
science. Consequently educationists all over the
country are demanding sets of specimens for their
students to handle and examine ; Mr. Hornell has been
asked by various educationists, e.s^., the Victoria College
at Palghat, for sets of specimens which he is, of course,
unable to supply ; the Acting Director of Public Instruc-
tion considers that sets of properly preserved specimens
of marine fauna would be of great benefit to college and
school museums. This duty of providing properly
arranged series of fauna for educational purposes is very
thoroughly carried out by the Fisheries Department of
the United States of America and to a great extent
by biological stations in other countries. A fortiori, a
marine station where college students can study, as
living organisms, the fauna and flora which their text-
books describe, can observe, handle, and dissect them,

l82

will be of first-class educational impQrtance. Professor
Powell of Bombay considers that it would be difficult
to exaggerate the importance of a properly equipped
aquarium as an educational factor. A proper biological
laboratory added to the exhibition and opportunities of
study afforded by the aquarium would supply sets of
specimens for the whole of India and to many other
places, while providing a place of study from the life,
as in other countries.

6. Practical. — An aquarium which is at the same
time a biological station would be of great practical
importance, especially to the " Fisheries " staff. Marine
fish-farming, for instance, can hardly be undertaken
successfully or without much loss of time and money,
until we know at least something of the breeding and
feeding habits or characteristics of food-fishes on which, at
present, we know absolutely nothing ; these points could
be readily studied in an aquarium properly equipped for
such studies and continuously available to Fishery
officers. Similarly it would be possible for experts to
study and probably ascertain the method of inducing the
pearl oyster to produce pearls ; as I have pointed out in
my Note on Japanese Fisheries, it was by study at the
coastal biological station that Professor Mitsukuri was
led to suggest to a business man a method of inducing
pearl growth, a method which, though only growing half
or three-quarter pearls, has brought lakhs of rupees
of profit to Japanese pearl-growers. From further
re-searches it is possible, perhaps probable, that a method
of growing whole or round pearls may be developed, and
in Mr. Hornell we have an expert capable of tackling the
problem which scientists elsewhere are attempting. So
also the bionomics of chanks could be readily studied, a
necessary preliminary to a culture which must prove of
direct pecuniary gain to Government and others. There
are many other practical matters which could advantage-
ously be studied in an aquarium which includes a properly
equipped biological laboratory.

7. I conclude point («) by suggesting that Madras is
the proper place for a combined aquarium and biological
station for scientific, educational and practical work.
The Presidency has the longest sea-board of any
province ; it is washed both by the Bay of Bengal and by
the Indian Ocean, and is completely tropical. Moreover,

183

Madras has the honour of having led the way
throughout in fishery work ; Dr. Day was a Madras man,
first employed by the then Madras Government to study
its fisheries ; later on (1905) the Madras Government
revived the subject and instituted investigations which
are not only bearing local results but have been elsewhere
followed. Madras established the first tropical aquarium
— except that in Honolulu- and has already shown
therein some of the wonderful animals which live in its
waters ; now that the aquarium is to be developed in size
it should also be developed in scope, in importance, and
in usefulness.

8. (b) The direct association of ^' Fisheries'' with t,he
aqiiariuin and its advantages. — Mr. Hornell, in his revised
plan, suggests that the whole upper storey of the new
aquarium should be the home of the Fisheries Depart-
ment. He proposes that the upper storey should
comprise a good laboratory, a technical museum and
library for the use of students and staff, and office rooms,
the whole of the ground fioor being devoted to the
aquarium proper. The proposal connotes a direct
connection of the Fisheries Department with the
administration and working of the aquarium. I consider,
with Mr. Hornell. that the connection will be for the
financial, administrative and practical benefit both of
the aquarium proper, of the Fisheries Department, and
of special education for staff and students.

9. At present " Fisheries " has not even a habita-
tion, still less a laboratory or biological equipment as
in all other countries, except Great Britain where the
Fishery Departments are mainly for statistical or
regulative purposes. We have in Madras a couple of
rooms which are all very well so long as the office is
a mere clerical staff engaged in keeping accounts and
writing letters ; the Cannanore station is concerned with
manufacturing questions, and Tuticorin with pearls and
chanks. But if investigation work, including both
scientific research and practical experiment, and educa-
tional work in various branches, are to be carried on,
even on the most modest scale, " Fisheries " must have
a domicile. Moreover, for the educational work men-
tioned in paragraph 5 supra, viz., the preparation and
issue of complete sets of zoological specimens for the
use of colleges, schools, museums, savants and students,

i§4

and for the issue to scientific persons or bodies of such
material as they may occasionally require, a proper
domicile is necessary, since " Fisheries " alone can fill
this demand which is daily growing.

lo. Advantages to '' Fisheries ^ — {a) Economy in
the provision of a fitting domicile at minimum cost. I
presume that addition of an upper storey to the aquarium
building will not only be much less costly than the
erection of a separate building, but will add materially to
its architectural appearance ; hence economy in cost.
But for investigation purposes " Fisheries " would require
the provision of live tanks for its numerous experiments
(e.g.), in the feeding and breeding of fish, the treatment
of shell fish not only for pearl breeding but for shell
industries, etc.), and in the aquarium these will already
be provided on a large scale, hence a second and very
great economy. This latter consideration is bound up
with {b), viz., the immense advantages to Fisheries oi a
splendid series of live tanks for observation and experi-
ment, and with (f), viz., the ability to prepare sets of
specimens for educational and scientific work by the
Fisheries staff working in the laboratory which is the
essential part of the proposed Fisheries office. A fourth
advantage (^d) is that many chemical and physical
analyses and experiments could be conducted there for
which, at present, I have absolutely no provision, and
which are of the first importance, such, for instance, as
laboratory experiments in the refining, bleaching, and
decolorizing of fish-oil by chemical and physical methods,
the valuation of fish guano by the ascertainment of its
nitrogen and phosphoric acid contents, the examination
of samples of fish treated with various amounts of pre-
servatives, in view to ascertain the amount actually
absorbed or remaining, a matter of the very first neces-
sity, and many other researches which I need not
detail ; these could all be dealt with by an Indian
Assistant or Sub-Assistant at slight expense in a small
laboratory fitted ad hoc. A fifth advantage (e) would be
the provision of accommodation for the growing scientific
library of the department in an accessible and con-
venient place, coupled with a small technical museum
as I have seen both in Japan and in Washington, both
beine for the consultation and education of the staff
and of students.

1 1. Advantages to the aquaritun. — A primary advant-
age {a) is that experts of the Fisheries staff would be
ahvays on the spot, either the Marine Assistant
himself, or one of the others. These would not only
give general supervision, but would materially assist
in the practical working of the aquarium, a matter in
w^hich many questions or difficulties must constantly
arise when a large series of living animals are
associated in somewhat abnormal conditions, and when
questions of food, air, water circulation, etc., must con-
stantly arise. Here, again, Vk'oulcl result considerable
economy, since in the absence of such experts, always
on the spot, separate aquarium officers would have to be
appointed at considerable expense, and I need hardly
say that none could easily or cheaply be obtamed who
would have the experience and the knowledge of the
higher officers of " Fisheries," such as Mr. Hornell
himself. A second advantage [b] is that "Fisheries"
could greatly aid and greatly cheapen the provision of
live or other material. We already have two fishing
boats, one of which, the motor-boat " Turbinella," will
use powerful nets and dredges, and could provide the
aquarium with any quantity and variety of specimens.
I understand that the local fishermen utterly refuse to
provide food-fishes (probably fearing that we shall breed
them on an enormous scale and abolish the fishermen,
as gravely suggested in a recent petition to Government),
and that, in tact, there are none in the present aquarium ;
these we could provide in any quantity as well as
sharks, etc., about which there is a local difficulty. The
" Turbinella " will probably be stationed at Madras,
and when the proposed new inspection schooner becomes
available the aquarium could have almost whatever it
chose at practically no expense and on demand.

12. Advantages to the public. — Apart from the special
educational advantage alluded to in paragraph lo (r),
viz., the distribution of specimens and material for
education and research, there would be the great advant-
age to the general public that, with Fisheries located
in the aquarium building and constantly examining the
tanks, there would be on the spot expert officers ready
and able to give detailed and interesting information
which would immensely add to the attractions of the
place as a show, and would often convert mere gaping

Curiosity into intelligent observation. Apart from actual
students, the more intelligent or earnest enquirers
would readily be given permission to observe in the
upper storey laboratory processes and results, and to
consult the technical library or museum of models and
implements, so that the aquarium would become an
educational institution of much practical value, and one
which might become the nucleus of a general Fisheries
Association and of a Fisheries school.

13. I beg, therefore, to commend to Government the
proposal to locate Fisheries in the upper storey of the
new aquarium, and to provide it, at very moderate
expense, with such laboratory and other facilities as will
enable us to obtain the above advantages for the
aquarium, for the department and for the public.

The above letter was referred by G.O. No. 2336,
Revenue, dated ist August 191 1, to a committee
mainly of scientists who reported as below.

18;

Letter — from the Chairman and Members of the Committee
appointed to report on the proposals regarding the
projected new Aquarium for Madras.

Dated— tht i6th January 191 2.

In accordance with the direction contained in G.O.
No. 2336, Revenue, dated 1st Auoust 191 1, the com-
mittee therein appointed met this day under the chair-
manship of Dr. A. G. Bourne, f.r.s., to consider the
suggestions made by Sir F. Nicholson in his letter of
31st May 191 1 regarding the enlargement of the scope
and usefulness of the new Marine Aquarium which it is
proposed to build in Madras.

2. We the undersigned members of this Committee
are unanimous in expressing our entire approval of the
scheme and have little to add to the proposals.

3. The association of the management of the
Aquarium with the Fisheries Department is an obvious
desirability, and it will be an arrangement both econo-
mical and of great practical advantage if one of the
officers of the department named be ex-officio the
Director of the new institution.

4. The interests of the Fisheries Department
require that the location of their head-quarters should
be at Madras, but were there no compensating advan-
tages such as those which will be conferred {a) by the
utilisation of the fishery investigation vessel and the
fishery motor-boats for the supply of living material for
the aquarium tanks and for biological research, and [b)
by the use of the Fishery out-stations at Tuticorin and
elsewhere, Madras would not be the most suitable
location fc^r a Marine Biolog^ical station. The Com-
mittee are of opinion that if arrangements be made to
afford opportunity for biological research at the Tuti-
corin Fishery station and particularly if special provision
be made eventually for the opening of a small Biolo-
gical out-station at Pamban where research on a rich
coral reef fauna and flora may be prosecuted with
great facility, then the disadvantage inherent in the

■Madras location will be counterbalanced. The provi-
sion of research facilities at Tuticorin will involve no
extra expenditure as the Fishery Department already
maintains an establishment there.

The desirability also of fully investigating local
freshwater piscicultural problems further points to

1^8

Madras as the most generally convenient and suitable
working centre.

5. The staff, additional to that of the Fisheries
Department, which we consider requisite for the working
of the main institution in Madras is as follows :~

One Zoological Assistant and one Chemical Assist-
ant, each on a salary of Rs. 1 00-5-1 50, one Research
Fellow employed upon fishery investigation (tenable by
graduates of the Madras University) on Rs. 50 per
mensem, together with a subordinate staff of two door-
keepers, one engineer, one engineer's assistant, three
laboratory and aquarium attendants, two fishermen,
one gardener and one sweeper. This staff as shown
in the annexure will involve an expenditure of Rs. 5,640
per annum. In the same annexure the estimated cost
of upkeep and contingencies is shown as Rs. 6,660 per
annum, being a total annual expenditure of Rs. 12,300
in round figures.

Order— No. 756, Revenue, dated 13TH March 191 3.

The Government have for some time past had under
their consideration the necessity of enlarging the scope
of the Marine Aquarium in Madras and of providing
additional facilities for research work in Marine Biology
and allied subjects to meet the growing needs of the
Department of Fisheries, and of students and others
interested in such research. In January 191 1,
Mr. Hornell was directed to draw up in consultation
with the Superintendent, Government Museum, a
scheme for the internal arrangements of a new Aquarium,
which it was proposed to construct, and in his letter,
dated 31st May 191 1, Sir F. Nicholson submitted to
Government his suscsestions as to the scientific, educa-
tional and practical requirements for which the new
Aquarium should provide. He also suggested that
the combined Aquarium and Biological station which
he thus proposed to institute should be placed under
the control of the Fisheries Department, which should
be accommodated in the building, and that provision
for a laboratory, a technical museum and library should
be made. The Government accordingly appointed a
Committee composed of four officers of the Fisheries

1 89

and Educational Departments, to consider and report
on these suggestions and to draw up detailed estimates
as to the establishment that would be required and as
to the cost that would be inv^olved.

2. The fourth paper read above is the Report of
the Committee thus formed. The members are unani-
mously in support of the scheme and of the recom-
mendation that the management of the Aquarium
should be entrusted to the Department of Fisheries.

3. His Excellency the Governor in Council is
accordingly pleased to approve the recommendations of
the Committee and to sanction the construction of a
new combined Marine Aquarium and Biological station
at an estimated cost of Rupees two lakhs, and to
sanction the estimate of recurring expenditure, amount-
ing to Rs. 12,300 per annum, as shown in the annexure
to the Committee's report. Orders will issue in the
Public Works Department for the preparation of
detailed plans and estimates for the work.

4. The Government are also pleased to direct that
the control and management of the Aquarium be trans ■
ferred from the Educational to the Fisheries Depart-
ment, and that the Marine Assistant and Superintendent
of Pearl and C hank Fisheries be, ex-officio, the Director
of the combined Marine Aquarium and Biological
station.*

* The plans of the Biological station and Aquarium are now under preparation
by the Government Architect and should result la a very tine institution both
scientifically and architecturally.

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director of Fisheries.
Dated — Madras, the 23rd December 191 2.

I have the honour to submit remarks on the second
sub-paragraph of paragraph 5 in G.O. No. 2638, Rev-
enue of 3rd September, reviewing my report for 191 1-
1912.

2. The sub-paragraph instructs me in future to
report [a) " the amount of fish products placed on the
market by the department. "

3. Point (a). — This raises the whole question of indus-
trial and commercial, as against experimental, work, to
which I referred at length in paragraph 19 of my report
for 1909-10, and again in my report for 1910-11.
Hitherto our work, beginning at first with investigation,
has been experimental, viz., attempts to ascertain the
technical methods most suitable to our fish and in our
climate ; to adapt Western processes to our conditions.
We have now obtained such an amount of technical
success and experience that we can take the further step
of translating experimental into industrial work, the
obvious and necessary complement to which is commer-
cial work, viz., the sale of the goods industrially
produced.

It is only by placing goods on the market as a busi-
ness proposition that we can either test their accepta-
bility or their profitableness. By the experience we
have gained we can now supply untainted fish in all
lines ; we ca7i provide light-cured, semi-dried, pilchar-
dized, pickled, smoked, and canned products not one of
which has hitherto been commercially on the market,
and it is not possible to gauge the public tastes —
especially in different localities and communities — with-
out providing a supply on a fairly large, continuous, and
reliable scale. Hence technical success such as we have
gained, is only a first success ; we have now to ascertain
whether our technically successful products meet the
public tastes, and where modifications may be desirable,
and of what sort. Moreover, the main point in estab-
lishing a new industry — or at all events new lines of
goods — is whether they can be produced and sold
profitably ; profit is the touchstone of industrial success
for it is only profit which, at one and the same time,

T9I

demonstrates technical success, public acceptability,
and the necessary return on capital ; profit can only
be demonstrated by entering the business market as ■
producers and sellers ; and it is only upon the demon-
stration of profit — as in our commercially successful fish
oil and guano manufacture^ — that private enterprise and
capital will pay any serious attention to the new
methods and to developing the industry. Finally it is
essential to advertise, that is to make known, the
methods and their results ; reports written to Govern-
ment are valueless to the business public who will not
believe them per se ; they must see results ; reports may
lie, but products at all events are solid facts. Products,
moreover, exhibited for sale in a shop or stall are adver-
tisements which cannot only be seen but handled and
tasted, and will do more to create a demand than a
thousand reports. Hence Government must pioneer not
only technical but commercial work in this industry.

4. But with our experimental plant and staff we
cannot go into the market in business fashion ; our small
plant, staff, and organization are not adapted to indus-
trial work. What I can do with technical success I
cannot at this moment do with commercial success,
because my plant and staff are insufficient in size and
organization to produce an industrial output ; commer-
cial success requires, moreover, that the goods shall
be produced in a businesslike way, and further, that
they shall be up-to-date, attractive, and cheap though
commercially profitable. All this I can do if now pro-
vided with the necessary plant, which has partly been
indicated by my studies in England, etc., this year.

5. I have refrained from coming forward with direct
industrial proposals till I was quite sure of the best
methods and products ; hasty efforts by ill-equipped'
persons kill an infant industry, and there have been
notably bad results from premature attempts. More
over, there were several genuine attempts by private
enterprise — atone time three persons or syndicates — to
take up certain branches of curing, and I stood aside so
as not to interfere ; two out of those three have now
dropped out, and the third enterprise is insufficient and
petty. Nor can I now regard enterprise which merely
takes up the " casual parcel" class of work as a serious
attempt to develop a modern fish-curing industry ; such

192

enterprise is usually lacking in capital and in organiza-
tion, and fails the moment a demand for continuous
supplies arises. Hence I consider that the Government
department should take up the matter in a business
fashion, alvva)s with the proviso that it will relinquish
commercial work when private enterprise serioitsly enters
on it. I may remind Government that in Japan it was
the Government experimental fishery stations which
developed the large modern fishing industries, especially
those of canning, modern curing, oil and guano, etc., by
taking up the several branches industrially and commer-
cially, and entering the market as serious producers
(see my note on Japanese Fisheries) ; also that at the
Industrial Conference at Ootacamund several years ago,
" Fisheries " were expressly excluded from the category
of industries in which the intervention of Government
was deprecated ; in " fisheries " a free hand was willingly
conceded to Government, just because private enter-
prise was unlikely to take the matter up till Government
had demonstrated profitable possibilities.

I now propose to ask the sanction of Government
(i) for new plant proper for industrial work, if only as a
model or type for future potential manufacturers ; (2) to
put the resulting products on the market for pioneering-
purposes only.

6. New plant needed f 01^ cei'tain branches of work. — -
I will consider in detail several of the processes and
products and indicate the new plant wdiich I consider
immediately necessary, e.g. —

(i) Canning.

(2) Light curing.

(3) Pickling.

(4) Fresh fish supply.

(5) Net making.

^. Canning. — This promises to be one of our earliest
and easiest successes though our latest experiment, just
because the goods can be easily and openly displayed as
new and attractive products, readily saleable everywhere
and to all, and at cheap rates. The outlay on plant for
the production of really attractive goods must be some-
what large, but should recoup itself at once, and the
plant would be readily saleable to a purchaser.

One of my chief and most costly difficulties at Calicut
has been trustworthy soldering, especially where goods
are preserved otherwise than in oil. Moreover our tins,
though solid and good, are not so attractive as the

193

modern make of cans, and the soldering process is slow
and costly. In a soldered can (i) the body has to be
cut and soldered together, (2) the bottom has to be
struck and soldered to the body , (3) after the can is filled
the top. separately struck, has to be soldered on. Hence
three soldc rings in each of which there may be a defect,
nor is the completed can attractive till supplied with
paper or foil labels. Moreover our solderers are apt to
work very slowly and unless under the strictest super-
vision, inefficiently. But the modern can is (i) solid
drawn, viz., by being stamped by a die out of the flat
into a seamless dish, (2) the cover is sealed on to the
body by a machine which folds the edges or flanges of
cover and body with a double fold having a rubber ring
between them, so that the joint is not only beautifully
neat but absolutely air-tight , the operation is practically
automatic, is extremely rapid — over 5,000 per day
can be sealed with one machine — failures are very
few, and the completed can is of good appear-
ance, being extremely neat and tidy, irrespective of the
labels.

8. Schedule A is a pro forma invoice of a can-making
plant which I propose as a type-plant, viz., an installation
which can at any moment be reproduced by persons who
desire to engage in canning as a business enterprise, and
who can simply copy our plant and be instructed in every
detail of its use, larger enterprise can simply multiply the
units of which it is composed or obtain larger machines
of the same type. This will greatly help private enterprise
in taking up what must, at a very early date, become a
popular industry, by having a type plant people can know
beforehand exactly the cost of an enterprise and can be
personally instructed in its use, while repairs and re-
placements will be immensely simplified. The engineers
who supply the plant have gone carefully into the matter
with me, and the plant is believed to be exactly suitable
for the small canneries which, like the small oil and
guano factories, will probably be the form which develop-
ment will take.

For purposes in which solderless cans are undesir-
able, whether on account of small size or other technical
reasons, I shall still have my present plant which is quite
efficient.

13

194

Canning plant is not required as the cannery already
possesses a boiler, steam bath, steam cooking retort, and
an autoclave, besides experimental plant , any small
developments can be supplied from the ordinary current
grant for plant.

9, I therefore suggest that my purchase of the plant
mentioned in schedule A at a cost of about ^400 be
sanctioned, and that I may be permitted to set it up and
work the cannery as an industrial concern.*

IT. Li^ht airing. — For this I require C)nly small
outlay, since I have nearly everything necessary except
drying plant. As I have frequently mentioned, the
tropical sun is not good for the proper drying of edible
fish, at least when whole ; moreover, in the monsoon
time fish, prawns, etc., cannot be dried for want of sun
so that either it is not worth while to catch them, or, if
caught, they go bad for want of drying, while in any
case the fishermen get a bad price because the curtrs
cannot certainly count on drying them, I have known
boatloads of valuable prawns sold for a trifie because
the curers would not take the risks due to wet weather.
Moreover, in light curing the drying is only carried to
a certain stage so that the heat and method must be
capable of easy regulation and while partial must be
fairly equal throughout the tissues, instead of being
on the surface only ; hence the drying plant must be
something else than the burning sun.

Proper driers, in which dryage is obtained by
mechanical arrangements, will effect the above reforms,
and I propose to set up driers of one or two quite cheap
but effective patterns, which may be everywhere copied,
and which may especially be set up in the numerous
Government " curing yards " for use in common by
ticket holders,

I request sanction to lay out a special sum not exceed-
ing ^75 in plant for the drying of edible fish, that is
exclusive of a different class of drier for fish-guano.

12. Pickling. — The only special outlay in this matter
is on barrels and coopering. At present I must obtain
my barrels from England; they will cost me about three
shillings each, and will be sent out in shooks so as to
minimize freight ; the staves will be all marked so that

* Obtained and set up (1915) at Beypore.

195

they may be readily assembled by one cooper. I have
also need of a set of coopering tools for use in the
curing yard ; my carpenter is a fair cooper. After we
have obtained a supply of proper barrels made of the
proper wood I will try and have similar barrels made
locally. I request sanction for expending a special sum
not exceeding ^50 (Rs, 750) on this account.

13. F^^esh fish supply. — Hitherto I have not
developed this important and attractive branch but have
confined myself to cured fish, since the supply of fresh
fish demands considerable organization (especially for
sale) and somewhat expensive plant. But it is, of all
branches, that which most appeals to the public and
about which there is no question of varying taste or
doubtful acceptability ; no one will look at cured fish if
fresh fish can be obtained ; this is strikingly shown not
by mere verbal demands but by the facts —

(i) that it is usual to try and sell all fish fresh
before it is taken to the curing yards where it conse-
((uently arrives, often, in a state of incipient taint,

{2) an inland trade is carried on by runners chiefiy
but occasionally by train and jutka, to the utmost
possible limit — possible $hat is to utterly crude and
careless methods — and in villages a very few miles from
the coast, fish is habitually consumed as ''fresh," i.e.,
not cured fish, though its condition is very far indeed
from freshness, and I cannot but think that many of the
cases of the bowel and other complaints are due to the
eating of decomposing fish which is notoriously toxic
especially in the earlier stages of decomposition.

Moreover there has existed for many years a so-
called fresh fish trade in which fish in ice are sent by
the night mails to certain markets, such as Ootacamund,
Coonoor and Bangalore, in which this fish is sold at
high prices, but not always in the best condition.
Having watched the present unsatisfactory methods
from the beach at Pulicat and Ennore to the tables in
Ootacamund where so-called "fresh" fish is served up,
and having failed to induce West Coast merchants to
take up the matter seriously though there is a small ice
factory at Calicut, I think it time to enter the market
with new methods based on scientific practice, and I
believe that I can put fresh, firm fish from Malabar on
the market in Ootacamund, Bangalore and Madras at
13-A

196

cheaper rates than are now paid for soft pasty fish, rates
which will open up a much larger demand aad a wider
market, by methods of much simplicity, which I have
been studying in actual practice in England.

14. Apart from the Iresh fish business, moreover, a
refrigerating plant is necessary to our developed methods
such as canning. It frequently happens, almost daily in
fact, that the best catches are made or come to shore in the
afternoon, when it is too late to work off more than
part of the fish or to get through more than some of
the stages of curing or canning. For instance, prawns
may come in in bulk at 3 p.m. and it is late before they
can even be boiled and shelled while, if left till next
morning, they will be stale and sour ; similarly sardines
may be only half prepared for canning. Unless there-
fore in the absence of a refrigerating plant, I have a
night staff and night superintendent I run the greatest
risks, and in small industrial factories run for the maxi-
mum of profit, manufacturers might often be tempted to
use up stale goods rather than incur loss ; hence risk to
the public unless I demonstrate that, with a small outlay
on refrigeration, goods can be kept over night or longer
with complete safety. Again sardines, mackerel, etc.,
come in in bulk one day and glut the market, while next
day there are none at any price. Hence to equalize
demand, prices and factory work, a refrigerating plant is
a necessity, especially where we are trying to develop
modern methods and the potentially great fishing industry.

15. My method of transporting fresh fish and the
need for preserving fish in cold storage for a day or two
require a small refrigerating — not an ice-making — plant ;
small, because our operations, though on an industrial
scale, will necessarily be small ; an ammonia plant of
about I ton refrigerating capacity will suffice, and this,
delivered and set up, will cost about ^400 (Rs. 6,000)
including a small oil-engine, cold storage room, etc. I
recommend this for sanction.*

16. Net-?Jiakin(r. — Our experimental stations are
really our future educational institutions where modern
processes will be taught to fishermen, curers, students
and youth on the lines which I saw so successfully
practised in Japan (see " Note on Japanese Fisheries").

*

the

' A smaller plant costing about £140 has been obtaiaed, chiefly for working
" Henderson " process of fish freezing and transport.

197

One of the most practical subjects and one which can
especially be taught to youth is net-makiu^. At present
this is practised on the primitive lines of village cloth-
weaving ; even more primitive indeed, for village weaving
possesses hand-looms while the net-makers have none,
but squat on the beach and slowly make their nets by
hand. The increasing demand for sardines for manure
and other fish for food leads to an increased demand for
nets, and I have had painful experience of the extreme
difficulty of getting nets, while the fishermen occupy
many months in making their own. My Personal
Assistant, Mr. V. Govindan, often brought this to notice
on the West Coast, and while travelling in Scotland and '
Ireland he discovered and brought to my notice that
net-making looms worked by hand are available and are
in regular use ; they have been supplied to the Govern-
ment Fishery school at Baltimore (Ireland) and are
exported to the Colonies, etc., and I have myself
inspected a net-making factory in Cornwall where
pilchard, herring and mackerel nets are being made
on six or seven hand-looms. On consideration of the
various looms I have selected those made by a manu-
facturer at Bridport (Dorset) (a very well-known centre
of net-making by power-looms), who made the hand-
looms which I saw in Cornwall and have obtained
through Mr, Govindan, who has especially studied this
itefn of the industry and has visited several factories, a
pro forma invoice of his looms. The cost of one loom
will be ^170, and with accessories and packing, etc.,
about ^200. A loom will, within reasonable ranges,
make varying sizes of meshes, e.g., between 36 and 64
per yard, so that two looms would supply all needs, but
at present I only ask for one. The maker will not only
give Mr. Govindan free and full instruction in working
the machine, but also in re-assembling it from the
packing cases, and in dealing with anything that may go
wrong, for which purpose not only will every part be
clearly numbered and marked, but the loom will be
taken to pieces and re-assembled until Mr. Govindan is
thorouohlv conversant with it ; three or four weeks will
be advisable for this tuition, and this is one of the
reasons for my having recommended an extension of his
deputation till 31st March. Any further aid we can get
from experts in the cotton-weaving mill in Calicut.

198

This one loom will make nets faster and better than
a whole group of village netters, and will supply the
experimental station with its ness, will serve as a pattern
plant for others who may wish to invest in such machines
(we have had enquirers on the coast), and will enable
us to instruct apprentices in the working of the most
useful machines.

I therefore ask sanction for buying one hand-worked
netting loom and accessories at an approximate cost
of ^200 plus freight, from Messrs. Richard Samson of
Bridport.*

17. Deep-sea fishing. — I reserve my recommendation
on this essential matter till I return to India in January,
as it does not involve immediate purchases, merely
premising that by " deep-sea fishing," I here mean the
charter or purchase of a large sailing boat, of say 50
or 60 tons, for use as indicated in paragraphs 7 to 18 of
my letter No. 55 of May 1908, with our existing motor
boat (" Pearl ") as a carrier to the same. The master
fisherman whose employment has already been sanctioned
by Government, will skipper this boat, which will not be
an expensive craft like the new inspecti"on schooner, but
a plain teak-built boat, built on the East Coast at about
Rs. 150 per ton, all told, exclusive of nets.

18. I therefore request the very early sanction of
Government —

(i) for a present expenditure of about ^1,400
(Rs. 21,000) payable partly out of the current budget,
partly out of that (lump allotment; for 191 3-14, on
new up-to-date plant and accommodation for can-making
and canning, light curing, pickling, refrigerating, and
net-making ;

(2) for permission to work the experimental station
in all branches as an industrial concern but only —

[a) until the products have created an effective
demand for themselves ;

[b) until private enterprise has seriously and
effectively taken up the supply of such products ; and

(r) until we have thoroughly instructed so many
students and manufacturers in the various operations
that the new fishery industry can march by itself free
from the monopolies due to trade secrecy, and from the

* Obtained and set up in Tannr experimental station.

199

risks to the public due to half-knowledge and to imperfect
methods and plant.

I should add that as the basis of the proposed
development is, exhypothesi, commercial, the profits, if
our work is successful, will form a return upon the above
expenditure which is purely capital, non-recurring
outlay.

Order — No. 537, Revenue, dated 20th February 1913.

The Government are pleased to sanction the expendi-
ture of Rs, 21,000 (Rs. 7,000 to be met from the current
year's budget and the balance from that of 1913-14) on
new up-to-date plant and accommodation for can-making
and canning, light curing, pickling, refrigerating and
net-making as proposed by the Honorary Director of
Fisheries.

2. They also approve the Honorary Director's propcsal
to work the experimental station in all branches as an
industrial concern subject to the conditions specified in
paragraph 18 (2) of his letter read above.

200

Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Honorary

Director of Fisheries.
Z^rt/^iZ-^Madras, the 26th P'ebruary 191 3.

I have the honour to forward herewith a note on my
recent inspection of the Sunkesula fish farm, as its facts
may be of interest to Government.

Sunkesula Fish Farm Inspection Note.

A note, based on recent inspection by the undersign-
ed, on the character and work of the above fish farm,
estabhshed by the Piscicultural Expert, Mr. H.C.Wilson,
may be interesting, as it is the very first fish-farm estab-
hshed in Madras, possibly in India, except the same
officer's trout hatchery on the Nilgiris ; the accompany-
ing blue print gives a complete plan of the farm.

2. It was established primarily (see note on Japanese
Fisheries, paragraphs 203 — 205 and 211) to experiment
in stockino" the 200 miles of the Kurnool-Cuddapah
canal (besides occasional large tanks) which arc barren
offish except for the first 17 miles, though abounding
in fish food. Hence its somewhat out-of-the-way
position at the Canal anicut where alone it can get a
supply of water — by pumping from the river — all the
year round. Its gross area is 20*05 acres, and it contains
roughly lof acres of water, divided into 19 ponds,
the largest of which is about 4 acres. The farm lies
below the flood bank of the river from which water is
pumped by a small steam engine running a six-inch
Gwynne centrifugal, for about eight hours per day, but
not necessarily daily. The water passes into a settling
and storage reservoir, whence after depositing much of
its mud, it flows to the several ponds ; after having done
its work in the ponds it flows by a low level sluice
into a small wet dock for the motor boat and then into
the canal on which one extremity abuts. The work of
laying out the ponds has been done in a very systematic
and workmanlike manner ; every pond can be supplied
or cut off independently, by means of sluices in the
common channels, and there are alternative channels in
case of a breakdown and for other reasons. The ponds
are excavated and embanked in a substantial manner and
the whole farm fenced in. More land is available if it
should bethought necessary to extend the area, e g., for
growing cholam, etc., as food for the carp.

201

3- The farm has an oil-launch and a number of live-
cars for transporting the fish to various sections of the
canal ; the launch engine has given trouble but the
reasons have been discovered and it is now likely to do
well. But it is not quite powerful enough to tow a
string of live-cars against the full current, which runs at
about three miles per hour, and a new engine may be
necessary ; the old one can readily be utilised elsewhere.
A house boat is desirable, as the Piscicultural Expert
has to depend on borrowing from the Public Works
Department and boats are often not available, and not
comfortable.

There is a general superintendent on Rs. 50 (the
incumbent is a pensioned Subadar Major), a writer-
maistry, an engine driver and assistant, six fishermen,
and <L watchman ; the Piscicultural Expert constantly
visits the farm.

4. An integral and necessary part of the farm, though
five or six miles distant, is the large Edurur swamp, an
area of several hundred acres ; this is a large sheet of
shallow water fed partly from the canal into which it
opens, partly by the drainage from the surrounding
country. It is mostly covered by reeds and grass, but
there is a large area of open water in the middle ; the
vegetation of course provides enormous amounts of fish
food, besides protection for the young fish. The swamp
holds water for about eleven months in the year, drying
up soon after the canal is closed. In this swamp vast
numbers of young fish are placed to grow, means being,
of course, devised to remove the fish before the water
entirely disappears ; for full utilisation this swamp Vv-ill-
be fiu'ther developed, e.g., by excavating a small area
in the deep bed to which all fish will resort as the shal-
lower parts dry up and in which they may readily be netted
for removal to the farm proper during the short dry season.

5. The farm has at present three objects, two main
and the third subsidiary, viz., (i) carp growing for
stocking the canal and other waters ; (2) murrel grow-
ing for the market ; (3) the growing of larvicides for the
destruction of mosquito larvae.

6. Cai'p g7'oiving. — This in principle is a very simple
matter though it requires very careful work in practice.
A number of mature fish (spawners) have been obtained
and placed in several of the ponds ; here they spawn in

202

the reeds and grass surrounding the ponds ; the fry and
spawners are separated after a time so that the young
ones may feed and grow undisturbed. Before the canal
closes in April a number of fry are also obtained from
the river, and the young fish from the Edurur swamp are
also brought in. Here they are kept until June- July
when, the canal being again open, the young fish
(fingerlings and upward) are removed in the live-cars to
various sections of the canal. This was done for the
first time in 19 12 but only about 40 miles were stocked
and that only partially, as the farm was not fairly at
work.

7. Obviously recourse must be had to artificial feed-
ing except in the Edurur swamp where there is abund-
ance of space and natural food. In the farm proper
fish have to be fed, principally with cho^am grain,
boiled and mixed with soil into balls, which are
then broken up and distributed over the ponds. The
question of the nature and cost of food is being further
considered by Mr. Wilson.

8. One pond was netted for my inspection and showed
a good head of fine fish [Cat/a Buchanani') ; a small one
had some vigorous mahseer [BaJ'biis Tor) of fair size.

9. The work of stocking the canal and tanks has
hardly yet begun ; next season (from July onwards) this
work, will be much more advanced. But the farm proper
is organized and equipped for doing excellent work,
though additions and developments are still necessary.

10. Mnrrcl fainn. — This branch of work is an excel-
lent illustration of the economic value of the practical
knowledge of an expert. In studying the fish most useful
for growth as human food Mr. Wilson was especially
led to consider the murrel [Opkiocepkahts punctattts and
srtiatus) found all over the Presidency, especially in the
irrigation tanks in which it is enabled to survive by its
habits of aestivating deep down in the mud when the
tanks dry up, and by its being an air breather. It is a
fish which nests an:! vigorously protects its young for
several months ; Mr. Wilson found that its eggs float and
can consequently be easily removed by dippers from the
nest and placed in protecting boxes where they hatch
out ; after they have absorbed their yolk-sac they are
let out from the boxes into the nursery pond where they
grow undisturbed, proceed thence to a growing pond,

i203

and finally when of fair growth, to the large market ponds
where they mature. As these market ponds contain the
mature fish a large number of murrel are hatched inde-
pendently by the parents and tend to increase the stock
of fish and, incidentally, of food for the larger fish.

1 1. The murrel being predaceous are of course kept
in separate ponds away from the carp. The market
ponds being large and almost covered with vegetation,
the fish find an enormous amount of food for them-
selves in the shape of frogs, snails, water-beetles,
insects, etc., but their natural feeding is supplemented
by an artificial growth of frogs for which separate ponds
have been allotted ; here the frogs grow in countless
numbers, and are daily collected and fed to the murrel.

12. The large market ponds aggregating over 2|-
acres simply swarm with fish of which there must be
many thousands. These ponds are called "market
ponds" for the following reason: Mr. Wilson ascer-
tained (i) the ease with which these fish can be grown
in any quantity, (2) the partiaHty of the public for them,
especially when grown in clean ponds so that any muddy
flavour disappears, (3) the extraordinary ease with
which, as air breathers of persistent vitality, they survive
removal from the water for many hours if kept merely
moist, (4) the miserable nature of the fish supply in
Kurnool town and villages (as in all inland districts).
Hence he decided to grow murrel extensively not for
placing in the canal, etc., but for market supply, and
Government have practically sanctioned the building at
Kurnool of a market stall with masonry live tanks at a
cost of Rs. 550.

13. The site for this stall is close by the canal ; an
irrisfation stream runs alonos'de it, and the water will be
simply diverted through the live tanks in which the fish
will be placed, and out again, without the slightest loss
to the irrioation stream. The tanks will be sunk in the
ground and a sluice already exists which will be utilized.
The fish, broueht from the farm in live cars alonor the
canal, will be placed alive in these tanks, and kept alive
till sold. It will be unnecessary to bring them while
the canal is closed since at that time Kurnool is supplied
with fish from the pools in the section of canal at
Kurnool which, as above stated, is the only section
containing an appreciable quantity of fish. The market

'So4

will supply a fair amount of fish regularly for the re-
mainder of the year and cannot interfere with the
fishermen's trade which is in general very petty and
unproductive ; it will supplement this precarious supply
by very desirable fish, alive till sold, consequently free
from taint, and very nutritious. Mr. Wilson believes he
can supply 20,000 murrel this year, and much greater
numbers in the next and following years.

14. A third and subsidiary branch of work has re-
cently been added, viz., that of the growth of larvicides
for the destruction of mosquito larvse. Glass tanks have
been used and a small pond, and from the facts ascer-
tained Mr. Wilson has now built a special pond for the
growth of the fish which he has ascertained to be the
best larvicides. On this subject he read a paper before
the recent Malaria Conference.

15. To sum up : We have in Sunkesula the novelty
(in India) of a working fish farm, its objects being —

(1) the stocking of barren waters to provide a

new food supply ;

(2) the supply of live fish, grown for the purpose,

direct to the markets ;

(3) the distribution of larvicides.

The fii st object is the increase of fish, in large
quantities, which are to mature outside of the farm in
waters at present almost barren of fish, viz., in the
Kurnool-Cuddapah canal and elsewhere, but success or.
failure cannot be known for several years, viz., until the
young fish have/(?r a series of seasons been placed out in
the canal and the results ascertained by enquiry, by
observation, and by the rentals which at present are
neoflio-ible except in the section near Kurnool town.

O^ J- , -111

The pecuniary returns to Government, if any, will only
be indirect, viz., in the increased rentals derived from
increased takes of fish all over the canal, but the increase
in food supply should be very great. The object is an
economic experiment.

T\i^ second object also aims at the production of large
quantities of fish but in this case wholly within the
tarm ; the returns will be immediate and direct, and can
be easily made not only to support the farm but to show
good profits ; the main result, however, will be the
practical ideas which this successful breeding of murrel
suggests. To the department the success of murrel

205

breedino- suo-o-ests that we should establish near each
inland centre of population (e.g., Madura, Trichinopoly,
Salem, etc.) a murrel farm purely for market supply, so
that fish can be put on the market at a minimum cost
of transport. These several farms, again, will provide
object lessons to the public in the ideas and methods of
fish breeding for profit wherever water can be secured.

The lessons of the third object of experiment enable
us to devise means for establishing numerous centres for
the growth and distribution of larvicidal fish 3.nd po7' fanfo,
the reduction of malarial disease.

Finally the existing farm, and still more those which
will result from it, will form self-maintaining centres of
piscicultural instruction both for our own staff and for
the public who may be interested in profitable fish
breedinor. Sunkesula itself is necessarilv somewhat out-
of-the-way, but its facts and lessons can hereai^ter be
demonstrated in centres accessible to all.

1 6. The conditions and methods for the practical
cultivation of coarse fish on the Madras plains were, till
the estabHshment of this farm, wholly unknown, and the
difficulties very great, especially in this Presidency where
the waters are everywhere temporary ; the binomics of
the fresh water fish were little understood, and their
artificial propagation had never been practised. Mr.
Wilson is to be congratulated on this preliminary success
which, as above stated, is an illustration of the economic
success which only an expert can obtain where the
conditions are novel, the difficulties unexplored, and the
art locally unknown.

2C6

Order— No. 1905, Revenue, dated 2nd July 191 4.

In the above papers the Piscicultural Expert and the
Honorary Director of Fisheries call attention to the
necessity of prohibiting the use of basket traps and
other fixed engines for fishing and of regulating the
dimensions of fishing nets, with the object of protecting
immature fish and particularly those which are useful
as larvicides.

2. The Government accept their opinion that action
in the directions suoo-ested is desirable and is in fact
urgently required in some parts of the Presidency m the
interests both of the fishing industry and of the campaign
against malaria ; but they do not think that the general
and immediate application of rules made under the
Indian Fisheries Act to all public waters in the country,
if indeed such general application were legal, would be
prudent or desirable.

3. So far a^ regards the protection of fish in paddy
fields and in private waters within the limits of zamin-
dari and other estates, they consider that no direct
action is possible, unless the owners concerned consent
to the application of rules made under the Fisheries
Act. But they desire that their officers should take
every opportunity of impressing upon pattadars and
landholders, the folly of methods of fishing which involve
the needless destruction of small fry, and should use
every endeavour to discourage them.

4. In public waters, e.g., rivers and channels regis-
tered as poramboke in ryotwari tracts, the Government
will be prepared to apply rules framed under section 6
(3) of the Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, in particular cases
when they are satisfied that such special measures of
protection are required either for the protection of
particular species of edible fis'n or for the establishment
of larvicides in malarial tracts. But the particular
waters to which the rules are to be applied must be
specified by name, and information must be supplied of
the existence of any claim to rights of exclusive, as
opposed to common fishery, which if established would
constitute any part of such waters, private waters, within
the definition in section 3 of the Act.

5. Mr. Wilson will accordingly be requested to frame
draft rules under section 6 (3) of the Act, or to supply the
detailed particulars necessary to enable the Government

207

to fnime them ; and to specify the waters to which he
recommends their apph'cation. His proposals should be
supported by reasons in each case as indicated in the
preceding paragraph and should be forwarded through
the Collector of the district concerned.

6. Pending the application of such rules to particular
waters, all officers of the Revenue and the Public Works
Departments will be directed to take such action as
they think practicable to prevent the use of fixed
engines and the capture of immature fish. In all waters
in which rights of fishery are let by Government the
conditions of the lease should prohibit methods of fishing
which are considered objectionable. In all waters
registered as poramboke, the occupation of any portion
of the bed by the erection of fixed engines or the con-
struction of weirs should be treated as an encroachment
and dealt with under section 6 of the Encroachments
Act, 1905 ; unless the person in occupation of the bed
can establish a customary right to so "occupy it. In
navigable waters persons who obstruct a public line of
navigation by the erection of stake nets can be prosecuted
under section 283 of the Indian Penal Code.

Order— No. 1157, Revenue, dated 15TH May 1915.

The following notification will be published in the

Fort St. George, Kistna, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Bellary,

Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Salem, Nellore, Coimbatore,

Malabar, South Canara and the Nilgiris District

Gazettes : —

NOTIFICATION.

The following draft rules which His Excellency the Governor in
Council proposes to make under section 6 of the Indian Fisheries
Act, 1897, in respect of the waters specified below are published for
ofeneral information. They will be taken into consideration after one
month from the date of publication. Any representations regarding
the save should be addressed to the Secretary to Government,
Revenae Department : —

Rules.

I. No person shall erect or use any fixed engine or construct any
weir for the purpose of catching fish in any of the following waters
which is not ' private water' : —

(i) the Kistna and the Tungabhadra rivers and their tributaries
in the Kurnool district :

(2) the Tungabhadra river and its tributaries in the Bellary
district :

(3) the Penner and its tributaries in the Cuddapah district :

208

(4) the Penner and the Kandleru (Upputeru) and their
tributaries in the Nellore district : —

(5) the Upputeru and its tributaries and the Colair lake in the
Kistna district :

(6) the Cauvery river and its tributaries in the Salem district :

(7) all the rivers and streams in the Nilgiri district :

(8) the Bhavani and the iSloyar rivers and their tributaries in
the Coimbatore district

(9) the Bhavani, the Ponnani, the Beypore (Karimpuzha) the
Valarpattanam and the Talipparambha rivers and their tributaries in
the Malabar district

(10) the Netravati, the Chandragiri, the Adkastala and the
Charvattur rivers and their tributaries in the South Canara district

(ii) the Cauvery river and its tributaries in the TrichinopoFy
district :

(12) the Coleroon river and its tributaries in the Tanjore
district.

2. Any person who erects or uses any fixed engine or constructs
any weir for the purpose of catching fish in any of the said waters
in contravention of these rules shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable, on conviction to a fine which may extend to Rs. 100,
and if after such conviction he repeats the offence he shall be liable
to a further fine which may extend to Rs. 10 for every day in which
the offence is committed after the date of the first conviction.

3. A magistrate may, on conviction, order the seizure, forfeiture or
removal of any fixed engines, erected or used in the commission of
the offence and may also order the forfeiture of any fish taken by
means of any such fixed engines or weirs.

209

The Marine Fisheries of the Madras Presidency.*

The Marine Fisheries of the Madras Presidency
while of considerable present value, have much greater
possibilities. The coast line of some 1,700 miles, ex-
clusive of indentations, necessarily provides work for a
large number of families, and food for many more, but
the whole industry is still in a primitive condition ;
boats in general are either the catamaran (logs tied
together) or the duQf-out canoe ; the area of fishing is
limited to a distance not generally exceeding 5 or 6
miles from shore and 6 to 8 fathoms in depth ; the nets
and lines worked by such boats are necessarily of com-
paratively small power ; and the duration of each voyage
is but a few hours, usually by day but in some localities
and seasons at night also. Curing methods are as
primitive as the boats, being practically confined to
saltine and sun dryino- under conditions which render
the product unacceptable to ordinary tastes and probably
deleterious to health. Business organization is similarly
crude, and the oreneral ignorance of most of the fishino^
and even of the curing classes, is profound. The in-
dustry is, in a way, suited to physical conditions ; where
the surf is heavy, harbours few, and the open sandy
beach the only landing place as along the East Coast
generally, the catamaran is invaluable since it is unsink-
able, can readily and safely be taken through the surf,
the logs untied and carried up the beach ; each separate
log is also thoroughly disinfected by its alternate immer-
sion and insolation. It would be almost impossible in
most places habitually to beach large heavy boats capa-
ble of fishing in the open sea ; the surf boats used for
seinino- and cargo work are mere inshore vessels of
light timbers sewn together, and are not adapted for
fishing. On the West Coast where for 8 or 9 months
the sea is calm, the dug-out canoe provides a fairly
useful boat, which, with care, lasts for many years, but
is in no sense anything but a fair weather boat.

Again, these boats, tackle, and methods have not
been ill-suited to past economic conditions ; in the
absence of good roads and rapid communications,
catches of fish much larger than could supply the wants

* Read at the Lahore Industrial Conference, 1909.
14 •

2IO

of the sea borders, were almost useless ; climate forbade
deep-sea voyages for loads of fish which would taint
before reaching shore and catches which could not
attain a market ; ignorance of good curing methods
prevented surplus catches from being properly dealt
with ; while cheap boats and cheap methods suited the
poverty alike of producer and market. It is probable
also that with foods such as the millets, of a monotonous
and insipid character, the highly flavoured products
of the crude curing methods alone known, were posi-
tively acceptable or, at least, had grown so, to the
poorer classes, just as the ngapi of Burma is a necessary
article of diet to supplement the cereal ration, or as
tainted fish of the " Madura cure " is demanded by
certain sections of the Madras people.

But with modern conditions have come modern
ideas and necessities ; public hygiene demands for the
individual and for the community alike and in the
common interests of both, that food should be of the
best and safest quality obtainable, and should at least be
above the suspicion of favouring, if not begetting, dis-
ease ; increasing wealth among many sections develops
a more fastidious taste in food and a craving for new
flavours and foods together with the ability to pay for
them ; a population rapidly becoming dense demands
more food and more nutrient food ; the fields demand
more nourishment if they are to respond to the heavier
demands for crops ; the industry and its workers need
organization and capital to meet growing necessities.

The first public recognition of the necessity for devel-
opment of the fisheries was in the mission of Dr. Day
in 1869 — 71 who reported both on the marine and inland
fisheries of the whole of India. For various reasons this
report was not followed by organized, practical action —
save in one very important matter — either on the part of
Government or of the people ; the time was not ripe
for devisino- for the distant and vague harvest of the sea
what was barely coming into contemplation for the harvest
of the soil under foot ; for doing for the scattered, slender
line of fisherfolk what was not yet being done for the
more exigent and ever-present ryot. The one great
exception was the grant of duty-free salt for curing fish
within fenced enclosures, a reform initially due to the
report and to the subsequent papers of Dr. Day, to whom

2tl

much honour is ownig for his advocacy of this industrial
concession.

Dr. Day's suggestions were accepted by the Madras
Government, and from 1882 a gradually increasing
number of yards, or bonded enclosures, were opened, at
which salt is issued not only free of duty but often at
rates much below the local cost of the salt to Government.
In South Canara the charge per Indian maund (82 lb.) is
As. 6-8, or 15 shillings per ton, a price which includes
the whole cost of transport from the very distant salt
pans of Bombay, Madras or Tuticorin ; in other districts
the inclusive cost is 10 annas or ^1-2-6 per ton, the
practical result is that the total price charged by Govern-
ment is often less than the mere transport charge, in
which case the concession is an actual bounty. Govern-
ment take no direct part in the curing ; the only conditions
are that the fish shall be brought into the yard, salted
and dried within its limits, and kept there till presumed
fit for issue : the proportion of salt issued is governed
by rules which have had the sanction of many years.
There are 143 such yards scattered along the coast in
which something over 50,000 tons of wet dressed fish are
annually cured, the bulk of the yards and by far the
greater bulk of the fish cured, being on the comparatively
short line of the West Coast which is far more prolific
than the eastern.

The result of this concession to the industry has not
been all that was expected by Dr. Day, for the cure has
not developed in quality, or even in quantity, proportion-
ately to the cheapness of salt; the East Coast cure remains
precisely what it was in Dr. Day's time and long before
him or before a salt duty was charged,^ viz., an article
often very badly tainted, the reasons being that the market
seems to prefer or at least to be reconciled to a highly
flavoured product which the curers can produce in their
ancient way and with the minimum of care and charge,
while, as will presently be seen, the mere cheapness
of salt cannot counteract the results as to taint of lonof-
standing primitive and defective customs in catching and
marketing. The product of the West Coast is, in general,
far better, partly because of the ease with which fish
is caught close to the coast, partly because of the
comparative abundance of fish so that much is taken
direct to the curing yards, partly because of the immense

export to Ceylon which will not admit a really bad
product ; hence greater facility and care in the cure.
Yet even on this coast a great deal is badly cured,
especially that intended for the markets of the interior
and particularly of the eastern tracts. It is obvious that
to secure a generally good product the consumer must be
educated as well as the producer, and the first step is the
production, by various reforms, of a better article which
will appeal first to the better class of consumer and will
gradually become acceptable and available to others.

So matters remained for some years, till, early in 1905,

the Government of Madras consule Lord Ampthill

took up the question of the marine and inland

fisheries ; their objects may be briefly summed up in the
words " Better food, more food, more and better fertiliser,
better organization." As regards marine fisheries, a brief
explanation of these general expressions and of the
methods now under experiment for the attainment of these
objects will be of interest ; the matter of inland fisheries
must await another paper.

Better food. — This desideratum is placed prior even
to the second item because, in the case of fish, quality
must be sought before mere quantity ; we must make
the best use of what we now catch before proceeding
to catch yet larger masses. Of all general foods, fish is
most liable to taint and most poisonous when tainted,
and to increase the amount of the catches under present
conditions would be to increase the amount of dan-
gerous food. While we need not, at present, accept
Dr, Hutchinson's proposition that leprosy is generated
by a diet of tainted or badly cured fish, it is a priori pro
bable, and the probability is supported by convincing
evidence, by expert medical opinion, and by the general
practice and experience of other countries, that such food
is productive of, or predisposes to, intestinal and other
diseases. Tainted fish as produced in this country are
not merely penetrated by masses of the putrefactive
bacteria and by the very poisonous results of their
activity, but are liable, often in a high degree, to contain
— largely through the agency of flies — -the germs which
cause specific diseases such as cholera, typhoid, etc.,
especially where the fish are stored in the huts of fishing
hamlets which have been the scenes of out-breaks of
such diseases, or where fish-curing yards adjoin such

2ij

hamlets ; recent cases, known to the writer, are in point.
Apart, however, from this latter danger, the consump-
tion of tainted fish is fraught with hazard, even to
individuals or races which are accustomed to it, for the
toxic products (ptomaines and toxins) of the putrefac-
tive bacteria are not only produced most rapidly and
abundantly in fish but appear to be abnormally
dangerous, while even the best of cooking will not
destroy some of them. Moreover the dangers arise at a
very early stage of decomposition as when fish is soft or
pasty, and before the sense of smell gives the danger
signal ; fish is unsafe at a stage when flesh meat seems
to be innocuous.

Now the fish supply of the Presidency outside of
the comparatively high class n:arkets of Madras City,
of the fishing centres themselves, and of a few places
scantily served by fish in ice (and only then as regards
those who can pay the price) is in a very great degree
tainted ; little is beyond suspicion, the grand cause
being the tropical temperature which is precisely that
at which putrefactive bacteria are most active and
consequently taint most rapid.

The boats afford insufficient protection to the fish
when caught, and the bulk of these are caught in the
day time ; the customs of the fishermen and the demands
of the immediate fresh-fish market /tr/^/V/ the gutting and
cleaning of the fish at sea so that the most putrescible
portions remain for several hours within the fish ; there
is no such thing in existence as a live car or contrivance
lor keeping the fish alive up to the shore ; the fish are
often hawked about on the beach for local sale before
being sent out to the outlying villages, where they
mostly arrive in a high state of taint if the distance
exceeds 5 miles, or to the curing yards ; the methods,
vessels, locale, and entourage at many curing centres
are primitive and faulty. Hence abundant cause, wholly
remediable, however, by degrees, for tainted fish whether
fresh or cured.

There is however another cause, viz., the demands
of the market. On the West Coast, as mentioned above,
the bulk of the best cured fish is sent to Ceylon where
the regulations; forbid the entry of bad fish ; hence the
production of a salted and dried article which is far less
faulty than that supplied to inland markets, and is in

^4

many cases quite tolerable, especially where, as at
Tellicherry, etc., the fish is caught solely on account of
the curers, to whom it is at once taken. But the inland
market appears to demand or easily accept fish in high
and even putrid condition ; the product known as
" Madura cured " is practically putrid, and the bales on
the railway stations, the carts on the sea coast roads,
eloquently testify to the character of the products. As
in other tropical countries it seems that a monotonous
diet of millets and common vegetables demands a
s-trongly tasting accompaniment, and this is supplied by
stuff which, as frequently seen on the East Coast, is
often fit, in European and the better class of Indian
opinion, only for the manure pit. Nevertheless the
demand continues, and while no one may dispute tastes,
yet it is desirable so to educate the market on the one
side and to supply tasty but sound products on the other,
as to remove hygienically faulty products from the
markets ; in municipalities the Sanitary Inspectors are
believed to condemn this class of goods. Moreover it is
certain that a better quality of product would greatly
increase the demand and consequently the catches ;
while tainted fish may be approved by certain classes,
those more well-to-do and better educated decline
such goods, and millions are consequently deprived of
a nutritious food which they would readily buy if
a thoroughly sound, pleasant article were supplied.

It would seem, in fact, that while better and equally
cheap food for the masses is the main final object of
work, it may be more easy to move indirectly, viz., by
issuing from improved yards goods produced by the
ordinary methods, e.g., salting and sun drying, but
improved by scientific and technical knowledge and
slightly more costly than at present, as well as goods
prepared by new methods. These improved goods at
slightly enhanced prices will appeal to numerous classes
at present unable to accept existing products, and this
demand will, in turn, foster an improved supply, so that
better methods and a greater business will insensibly
develop, as on the West Coast under the demand from
Ceylon, and more capital will flow into the industry, to
the benefit alike of producer and consumer. If the
present low class goods are produced and sold at i to 2
annas per pound, it may be better to produce and sell

2T5

better but similar goods at 2 to 3 annas to a better class
and an almost unlimited market, for the profits will
attract both capital and a better class of producer as well
as develop a demand for more raw produce and at better
prices. Hence the problems both of better and of more
food will tend to a ready and profitable solution.

Hence effort is now being directed in the experi-
mental stations started by the Madras Government to
various obvious and simple reforms. Firstly, to the
introduction of live cars and live chests, or pens, so that
fish can be brought alive to shore and kept in good
condition till required ; this was a universal custom even
intemperate climates till the introduction of cheap ice,
and still is in many cases. At the experimental stations
the method is being tested and, when success follows,
will doubtless become popular. Secondly, fish not kept
alive must be cleaned and washed at sea and properly
stowed ; this brings them to shore with a much decreased
chance of taint even if several hours intervene, while the
time now occupied in gutting them on shore will be
saved ; this is now a successfully accomplished fact.
Thirdly, fish intended to be eaten fresh must not only be
brought alive, or properly cleaned, to shore but so
treated subsequently that freshness will be preserved for
a longer time than usual ; experiments in this line have
already been successful. Fourthly, the fish must be
taken at once to the curing yard where cleanliness must
be, as elsewhere, an absolute rule ; clean receptacles,
clean salt, clean drying grounds and tables (scafiolds or
Hakes) ; amongst other advantages it is found that fish,
untained to start with and cured in absolute cleanliness,
require less salt than in ordinary yards. Fifthly, rapidity
of operation is in many cases necessary, so that fish
brought in the early morning may be salted, dried (and
smoked), by the evening ; this has frequently been accom-
plished already and the product will keep perfectly good
for some days. Sixthly, the production of really good
products of ordinary and popular character even if at
slightly enhanced prices, is a primary object, while
nev^ertheless demonstrating principles and processes com-
mon to all proper curing which shall be applicable by the
poorest curers to the cheapest goods. Seventhly, wholly
new methods which will yield an absolutely whole-
some yet tasty product, fit for universal consumption

2l6

are necessary and available ; salted and dried fish c-m
be supplied free from all taint, smoked fish is already in
demand and this cure has been undertaken by several
private firms and persons ; pickled fish is now under
trial, while canning for which experimental plant has
been obtained, is a necessity and a certainty of the
immediate future. These methods and many other
possibilities too numerous to mention, will largely cure
the evil of tainted fish supplies, and are already in active,
if experimental, progress. But only a beginning has
been made, and many years of thought, experiment, and
demonstration are }et necessary before untainted food
will be supplied from all our fishing and curing
centres.

More food. — This is not so simple a development as
may be thought. Moreover there are two branches of
the subject ; the first is the turning into food of much of
the present catches which is not so utilized ; secondly
the catching of more fish. Firstly, along the West
Coast and in parts of the East Coast certain fish appear
at times in enormous shoals and are cauo-ht in such
quantity that, with the appliances and methods now in
use, they cannot be treated as food but are dried on the
sand and become a rude fertilizer, most of which is
exported to foreign countries at low prices. A single
recent day's work at one fishing centre produced iio
tons of fresh fish, chiefly mackerel ; single hauls of a
shore seine frequently exceed several tons of sardine.
There is no more wasteful or unprofitable way of treating
such fish than drying them for fertilizer on the sand ; as
food they would directly maintain their tens of thousands.
When these sardine masses are cured as food, the
present method is to clean as many as possible, salt, and
dry them in the usual way ; these are fairly good, but
those which cannot, for lack of time and space, be so
dealt with, are strewn on leaf mats in the sun and dried
without cleaning or salt, the result of which — cxpcrto
credite — is food, but food of which most should be
condemned. Again, in parts of the Presidency, scaleless
fish or animals are not eaten, so that sharks and dog-fish,
skates and rays, porpoises, etc., though caught are not
properly utilized as they are on the West Coast ; the
flesh of these should be so utilized that less particular
folk may be nourished.

2 l"]

It is obvious that the introduction of new methods,
enterprise, and capital into the industry will utilize these
masses of fish as edible food ; the keeping of quantities
of fish — sardines, mackerel, etc., are all caught alive — ■
in live chests or pounds till needed, refrigeration, the
use of innocuous preservatives, etc., will enable curers
gradually and safely to turn larger quantities of fish into
good food ; the method of salting down pilchards in
masses, after the Cornish fashion, will equally suit
sardines ; speedier processes and larger plant will deal
in equal times with larger quantities ; the introduction
of cannino- on a considerable scale and in laree cans, as
in Japan, will provide most wholesome food for use even
by the masses. All these methods except refrigeration
are now under actual experiment, and will be available
for public demonstration shortly if not already on view.*
The limits of this paper prevent further elaboration of
this point.

Secondly, more fish should be caught ; the present
difficulty of dealing with unwieldy occasional catches is
greater than that of disposing of larger ordinary catches,
if they can be regularly obtained. The questions here
are whether fish are of sufficient Q-eneral abundance to
admit of much larger catches, and, if so, the best method
of taking them. As mentioned above, the fishing fleets
of the Presidency consist, in general, of catamarans
(rafts) and dug-out canoes or similar small open boats ;
hence the fishing is, in general, confined to a narrow and
shallow inshore belt of perhaps 6 miles wide and up to
8 fathoms in depth according to locality and season.
Within this belt there is a great deal of immemorially
ancient fishing with numerous boats, canoes, and
apparatus from the villages which line the coast, and
it is probable that, except for attacks upon shoals, no
great development of capturing methods is desirable or
permissible inside that area ; the appearance of steamers
and other powerful vessels would be prejudicial not only
to the vested fishing interests of a large fishing popu-
lation, but probably to the supply of fish ; restrictive
regulations should certainly precede such up-to-date
attempts at development. For attacks upon shoals some

* The Government cannery is in successful operation, and refrigerating plant
has been obtained and will shortly be at work.

IS

2l8

license is permissible ; probably these vast bodies of fish
are as inexhaustible as the herring shoals of the British
and other coasts, and it is evidentially certain that vast
shoals frequently pass untouched, because unperceived,
a few miles out at sea ; it is even true that fishermen
sometimes deliberately neglect to make possible catches
because present appliances and methods do not admit of
dealing with them, a strong argument for the rapid
development of curing enterprise. But with regard to
deep-sea fishing, i.e., beyond the 6 mile limit, there need
be no restriction and there should be development, the
obvious method being the use of larger boats using
more powerful nets and lines, able to keep the sea
comfortably for a week together so as to avoid the vast
loss of time in daily voyages, and carrying salt, under
the existing Madras rules for the carriage of duty-free
salt, for curing their fish on board, as on the coasts of
the United States, Holland, etc:

Now private enterprise necessarily feels diffident in
deep-sea developments ; the fisherfolk are poor and
ignorant, and there is no class corresponding to the fishery
capitalists who finance and organize the vast fishing
industries of Great Britain ; it is not certain that deep-
sea fishing will pay ; it is not clear whether the fish are
there in such abundance and frequency and accessibility
that large boats would pay their expenses, nor is there
any one who will risk the cost of building large boats on
a speculative enterprise. Hence it has been left for
Government to attempt the enterprise, and two boats
are now being built — one a motor boat— to test this
question. Though large as compared with existing craft,
they are really small, viz., 14 and 22 tons, but they will
suffice to settle the question and are big enough for all
present ordinary purposes in these waters. Moreover,
the use by the Cannanore Experimental Station of two
Ratnagiri (Bombay) boats, of about 8 tons each, in these
Malabar waters, shows that they can catch, somewhat
further out to sea than the canoes, large fish (seer, etc.)
in quantities and of a character quite impossible to canoes ;
using large and long drift nets they bring in very paying-
loads of valuable fish. Later in the season these boats
go still further to sea, remaining out for a week, and
catch shark, etc., in abundance, salting their catches on
board ; hitherto they have used duty-paid salt which.

2T9

being costly, was used in greatly insufficient quantity ;
they will now use duty-free salt under the Madras rules
above mentioned. Boats such as these and work such as
they do, appear to show that deep-sea fishing" will pay
sailing boats, — possibly with auxiliary motor-power —
very well, and a season or two should entirely settle this
question ; if the answer is in the affirmative, a large field
for increasing the regular supply of fish will be opened
out. It is doubtful, however, if, at present prices, steam
can possibly pay ; in these Madras waters trawling is out
of the question and steam drifting and lining of uncertain
success. In any case the natural primary development
from the catamaran and canoes is to the small sailing
smack, with perhaps auxiliary motor-power and motor
carriers to save time when fish must be brought fresh
to shore ; from catamaran to steam trawler would, in
Madras zvate7'S, be a leap economically unnatural and
commercially hazardous.

A method of increasing the food supply is by
pisciculture, but for the present this, with one exception,
can only be carried out in inland (fresh) waters. The
exception is that of the culture of shell-fish, such as
oysters and mussels, as so widely carried out in western
countries and Japan ; being non-migratory these animals
yield the largest returns to careful culture ; where the
oyster is laid there he stays and grows. These shell-fish
are very abundant and prolific in India, the backwaters
teeming with them, and growing them at rates un-
exampled outside of the tropics. The edible oyster is
found of good quality in most of the backwaters and can
be obtained at nominal rates since it is eaten by Indians
only to a small extent ; the water at the spawning season
is full of spat, and the simplest of means will ensure
abundant crops ; mussels of huge size and clams are also
found in great abundance. It has been found by
experiment at Ennore that the oyster spawns in the
backwater on the stimulus provided by the inrush of
fresh water in the rainy season (there the north-east
monsoon), and tile collectors put down in October 1908
in a somewhat unfavourable corner of the lagoon, were
found coverei with spat in the middle of December of
the same year, with the astonishing additional fact that
some of the young oysters had attained the diameter of
if inches in a maximum period of ten weeks, a rate of

220

growth absolutely phenomenal when compared with that
even of France ; a second experiment in the current year
has confirmed the previous one. Mussels of eight inches
in leneth are also common and the clam is so abundant
as to provide a large lime-burning industry with shell.

Though the oyster and mussel are not greatly utilised
as food in India there is a wide opening for a preserving
industry ; shelled and iced they would be in large demand
amongst Europeans in India ; shelled and dried there is
an inexhaustible market in China ; properly canned they
would be taken in large quantities in western countries
and by Europeans in India ; reduced to extract — with
or without the meat — by proper processes, they form a
highly nourishing and digestible food specially recom-
mended for invalids ; mussels and clams are, in America,
made into extract which is considered superior even to
that from oysters.

Before thece steps can be taken it is necessary to
survey our best beds, to consider the methods and
restrictions necessary for promoting their development,
and culture, to test the methods by experiment, and then
to publish the details ; the Ennore experiment is only a
first and slight step in this direction. Restrictions are
obviously necessary. Great Britain, America, France,
Holland have all ascertained this necessity, and in India
we have as a first warning the practical, if temporary,
destruction, or at least depletion, of the well-known
Karachi oyster beds which formerly supplied excellent
oysters in ice at cheap rates to up-country consumers,
but which have been depleted by wasteful methods and
by the total absence of culture ; these mistakes must be
avoided.

More and better by-products. — This paper can only
touch and that briefly, on two such products, viz., sardine
oil and fertilizer. As mentioned above, sardine reach
the West Coast (and northern parts of the East Coast)
in shoals vast but of very irregular periodicity, from June
to March ; during the south-west monsoon they are
practically protected by the weather, which is fortunate
since they are then spawning, but from October to
March they are fat and easily attacked. These fish
produce abundance of fish oil, while the "scrap" after
the expression of the oil is a first class fish guano and
should contain about 8 percent, of nitrogen, and a nearly

221

similar amount of phosphoric acid. The oil obtained by
ancient methods, viz., by the putrefaction of masses of fish
in open receptacles, was a product of disgusting charac-
ter and its production has largely fallen off, owing mainly
to the introduction of mineral oil and to its own un-
pleasantness. At present the masses of fish which, for
want of time or means, cannot be turned into food, are,
in general, simply dried on the open sand of the beach ;
the viscid oil takes up an immense amount of sand,
and the whole product when dry is then sent to the
coffee estates of the interior or Ceylon, etc., as manure. .
Hence the consumer obtains a product by no means
suitable to his real wants ; the oil, useful elsewhere, is
not only useless as a fertilizer but is objectionable,
clooging the soil and delaying decomposition ; some of
the nitrogen has been lost by partial putrefaction, while
the sand is obviously a mere nuisance. Consequently
the producer obtains a very low price, since the consumer
has to buy and pay carriage on inert or undesirable
matter ; neither party is pleased. It is absurd that the
fisherman should get only from Rs. i8 to 24, averaging
about Rs. 20, for a ton of dried sardine. Now while it
is obvious that these valuable substances should be so
treated as to insure the obtaining of their full value, the
attainment of this object is not easy. There is consider-
able difficulty in dealing with them on the large scale in
central factories ; the shoals are most irregular in appear-
ance often at long intervals, and though they are pro-
bably not far off, it is difficult, with present appliances, to
find them ; if the factory deals with dried sardine the
sand adulterant is a very serious if not fatal stumbling
block and the products are, in any case, less satisfactory
than if fresh fish are used ; if with fresh sardine, then
regular supplies can only be obtained, and not even then
with certainty, by the use of power-driven boats scouring
the coasts for catches, in which case the cost may
outweigh the value of the products. Hence it would
seem more economical, industrially, to have a chain of
very small factories, as formerly on the American coasts,
which, with plant costing at most only a few hundreds
of rupees each, will deal with the sardine wherever and
whenever it arrives, and can remain idle without serious
loss ; moreover by exercising care and direct supervision
locally in drying the fish free from sand, a small factory
16

222

can continue work on dried fish when fresh fish is not
available. The plant required is nothing but one or
more open boiling pans, one or more wooden presses, a
filter, and a supply of tubs ; with this chief plant can be
turned out oil and fertilizer of good quality, which could
then be sold to brokers who would blend the products
and place them with a guarantee of quality or analysis
on the markets ; the oil for various purposes such as the
batching of jute, the fertilizer to the hungry fields of
India. These petty factories can either be started singly
as individual ventures, or in groups by the help and
under the control of small firms or capitalists who will
obtain their profits as the brokers or middlemen. This
method was advocated in public papers about \\ years
ago ; up to date one enterprising Indian merchant has
adopted it as a personal venture, and has now three
screw presses and boilers ; developments, in the way of
promoting a number of such petty works, are under
discussion by others. A similar plant intended to
demonstrate improvements in the saving of labour,
rapidity, the quality of the oil and guano, the preser-
vation of the fresh fish from taint pending operations,
etc., has been started by the Government Experimental
Station, and good results are expected.* There is a
wide opening for proper dealing with such fish as, at
present, cannot be turned into food ; the final object
however should be to increase the food supply at the
expense of the yield in fertilizer, for the direct nourish-
ment of the people by the consumption of the fish itself
is a more economical use of fish than its transformation
into fertilizer, which, indeed, should mainly reach the
soil indirectly after doing its work as food.

But there is a wholly untouched, unobjectionable, and
permanent supply of fish manure in "fish waste"; the
"utilisation of waste " is one of the reforms which India
has to learn from Japan ; that which at present is a
sanitary nuisance, whether night soil or fish waste, may
become a vast source of wealth. Fish waste consists of
the offal or guts of the masses of fish brought to shore ;
of quantities of fish too putrid for use as food ; of fish-
bones, heads, and other residues ; all these are now badly
wasted, only a small portion of the offal being used as

* By 1914 211 small private factories, extending in a chain along the coasts
of Malabar and South Canara, were in active operation.

223

manure. While it is impossible for a large factory to
deal with the stuff which is scattered in small quantities
along the coast, it is easy for individuals at each locality
to collect it and to utilize it by simple methods now under
demonstration. To bury a ton or two of tainted sardines
in the porous sand of the beach and dig up what remains
some months later, is an error in management ; to throw
the offal into the sea or leave it on the beach, to bury the
skeletons of sharks and skates in the sand and never to
dig them up at all, is pure waste. !n Japan every ounce
of offal, residues, bones, etc., is gathered and added to
the compost heap, and this valuable stuff is equally
needed here. In America it was recently calculated that
the refuse, exclusive of the bones otherwise thrown away,
amounts to 1 12,500 tons annually at an average of 25 per
cent, on the catches ; if this be taken even to include
bones, it means that on this Madras West Coast not less
than 15,000 tons are annually wasted, irrespective of
tainted fish which are common in this climate. This
method of utilizing waste is being specially dealt with at
the Cannanore Experimental Station,

Better Organization. — It is obvious that in developing
the fishing industry for the benefit of the consumer, an
essential consideration is the producer ; not merely does
the development ultimately rest with him but his welfare
IS,, pro tanto, as important as that of the consumer. For
it is no new industry to be introduced ab extra, but the
development of an ancient and indigenous one, employ-
ing a vast number of people who have immemorial
interests and customs, who form no negligible portion of
the population, and who ought to develop pari passzt
with the industry, in status, in intelligence, in independ-
ence, and in wealth. The matter is one of extreme
difficulty, for while more or less loosely bound in ties
of caste or religion — for Hindus, Christians, and Maho-
medans are all found in very large numbers — they are
far less united in corporate life than the inhabitants of an
inland village, with their village administration, defined
boundaries, rights and privileges, their corporate sentiment
and communal and agricultural ties ; while, taking them,
en masse, especially on the East Coast, they are far more
ignorant and poor and in many cases, less diligent and
thrifty, than the cultivator of the soil. Hence if it be
difficult to introduce new methods in the villages, it is

17

224

yet more difficult to develop the fisher folk by means
which shall make and keep them independent jet co-
operative, and to prevent their degeneration into mere
labourers still more at the disposal of richer folk than
they are now.

But it is impossible to deal with so vast a question,
which is largely administrative and not merely industrial,
at the end of a paper already too long. The subject is
having attention alongside of the technical ones, and, as
might be expected, attempts will be made to develop
co-operation side by side with a certain amount of
Government assistance, whether by loans after the
fashion of agricultural loans, by technical and general
education, and by such other means as may arise in
practice. There is one advantage which we possess over
similar efforts in agriculture, viz., that the demonstration
of improvement is easier ; just as the ryot was instant in
his recognition of the superiority of the iron sugar-mill
over the ancient wooden one (which has disappeared
within the period of the writer's service) owing to the
fact that it yields, in the more rapid and abundant flow
of juice, a tangible and measurable improvement, so
the larger boat, the more powerful net, the larger catches,
the more valuable and better-keeping product, will
probably appeal at once to the fisherman ; there are, in
fact, recent examples of his adopting new nets and long
lines on this coast, while several have accepted modern
improvements in curing. Hence it may be possible for
experts to educate the fisherman in new technical
methods more easily than the agriculturist. Hence,
again, the necessity for taking care that the improve-
ments introduced, whether in catching or in curing, are,
as far as possible, so simple, so cheap, so obvious, so
suited both to producer and consumer, as to commend
themselves at sight to adoption by persons of limited
mental and economic capacity ; to neglect the step-by-
step method would be an economic and social error,
since the aim should be to foster the independent yet
co-operative, owner of the fishing smack and the petty
factory rather than the capitalist-cum-labourer.

In many cases, moreover, capital will find its easiest
and safest outlay in the encouragement of small folk in
small ways ; where an industry is obliged to operate over
a very long line of coast but on a very narrow sea belt,

225

with no special harbours or railway facilities, with a
wholly unorganized and very low priced market in the
interior, with uncertain and perhaps merely short-season
harvests, and in a tropical climate where taint is imme-
diate and ice unattainable or costly, the central capitalist
factory positively invites loss if, except perhaps at one
or two localities, it invests heavily in plant. The cost of
running- a steam fleet, the uncertainty of its catches
especially when restricted from interference with the
habitual inshore fishing grounds of the ordinary folk,
the inability to dispose of such catches except at its own
factory, and many other reasons, rule out, for the present,
anything except localized effort as displayed in better
sailing boats plus small motors ; the wholly British idea
which has actually been promulgated in this Presidency,
of a steam fleet seeking out fish anywhere in the deep-
sea and delivering catches at any port where it might
find itself, is ludicrous in the absence of an organized
market, trade, and communications. Hence the foster-
ing of local effort and small plant, the supervision of their
methods, and the purchase of their goods, is a more
hopeful and possible plan. Similarly in the fish-oil and
fertilizer trade, the difficulties in dealino- with the fish
at a central factory are immense, and, as already argued
above, the more advisable plan is one which is consistent
with the development of the small folk, viz., the fostering
of a chain of petty works by small folk.

To sum up ; we have in this Madras Presidency an
ancient industry employing a large population but primi-
tive in its methods from catch to sale ; knowledge and
capital, energy and organization, introduced as much as
possible by private enterprise, are necessary to improve
the old and develop new methods in such wise as to
ensure that the present catches shall all be turned into
wholesome food ; that these catches shall be gradually
augmented, as the fisher folk show capacity to deal with
them, so as to assist in feeding a growing population ;
that fish which for any good reason cannot be turned
into direct food shall, after the expression of their oil,
be turned into high class fertilizer for the benefit of
Indian soil ; that fish waste shall be utilized to the utmost
possible extent ; and that these developments shall be
carried out as far as possible through and for the benefit
of the existing fisher folk and curers, and by means, on
17-A

226

the Government side, of a carefully devised general and
technical education — and other assistance — in which
demonstration through experimental stations, fixed and
peripatetic, shall play a chief part. Such are the main
items of the direct programme for the Madras Presi-
dency. Be it remembered that if we take the present
annual catches in this Presidency roughly as 150,000
tons of edible fish, this is but one-seventh of the British
catches for a similar population ; that the addition of
only 100,000 tons would mean additional edible rations
of something like 180 million pounds, or nearly 4.5 lb.
per head for every man, woman, and child in the Presi-
dency, an appreciable addition to the food of the meat-
eating population, while there would also be 20,000 tons
of offal, etc., for conversion into manure ; the whole of
this mass of food and fertilizer would be pure gain to
the country and especially to the working classes, while
various by-industries, which there has been no space to
discuss, would accompany the development ; such indus-
tries are those which relate to boat building, machinery,
the pressing and refining of edible vegetable oils, the
production of vinegar, pottery, refrigeration, co-opering,
pearl button making, tin plate working, etc., to say
nothing of increased traffic and business dealings.
Briefly, the goal aimed at is the development of a vast
existing industry with its concomitant by-industries in
such way as to stimulate and develop, enrich and whole-
sonely feed, the greatest possible number of people in
the desirable process of adding the harvest of the sea to
the harvest of the soil.

22j?

A LIST OF TAMIL NAMES OF THE FISH OF THE
MADRAS PRESIDENCY.

Transliteration.

Tamil name.

Scientific name.

Adatirukkai

^'^[T ^Q^&e^-.a

Trygon sephen.

Adukkuppalsura

^(S<S(&)UUsi3h(Trj'

Carcharias ellioti.

Akamparai

^s,irLDufre^p

Chorinemus moadetta.

Akkanankeliru

^ds,i66ff)IElQssS^

Plotosus canius.

Akkelutti

^dQ£B(efh^^

j (i) Plotosus canius.
\(2) ?. arab.

Allatti

j^&KSfTrr^^Q

Elops saurus.

Ambattankatti

^ihuil-i— bhr iBii^,

Mene maculata.

Ambattanparai

Mene maculata.

Ambattanvalai

Notopterus kapirat.

jij^^sweufTiijeir s^^"^

j ( I ) Umbrina macroptera,
\(2) SciEena vogleri.

Anaivayankattalai

Appe

j^uQu

Monacanthus monoceros.

Aral

.^(nj"So

Rhynchobdella aculeata.

Aranisura

^5(oaS'3i((rj

Scyllium rarmoratum.

Arrukendai

^p^aQ-iM&i &SjL-

Barillius gatensis.

Asarai

J^iFSSip

Lepidocephalichthys ther-
malis.

Attavannaitirukkai

£iji ' 1 (S)j anmSoSSr ^(V

) Pteroplatea mi crura.

Attukkattikola

Belone strongylura.

Attuvalantirukkai

Trygon sephen.

Ayarai

^UUiS^ p

Lepidocephalichthys ther
malis.

Ayinkavalai

^aSliEjaeuSso

Clupea fimbriata.

/'(i) Platax teira.'
1 (2) P. vespertilio.

Chadakkan

S'i—dasek

/ \ / L

\ (3) Heniochus macrole.
\^ pidotus.

Chanipparai

s^fTMofluurejsi/D

Gazza argentaria.

Chankumunjikarava 5^/ia(gfi/D@^«jQJ/r

Upeneus luteus.

Chavalai

<£F/r<a/ffSsrr

Trichiurus haumela.

Chellakkasu

Q^i5l)&)fTd^T3r

Etroplus maculatus.

Chellal

05=«rt)6U6b

Etroplus maculatus.

Chengan

0,f!El4(oC>OI

Cirrhitichthys aureus.

Chengara

Qs'iwsifir

Synagris japonicus.

22;

Transliteration.

Chettai

Chilpi

Chinnatumbi

Chippili

Chottaiporuva

Tamil name.

Q €sr eijr ^ lolSI
euir.

Scientific name.

Pimelepterus cinerascens.
Holacanthus imperator.
Pegasus draconis.
Scatophagus argus.
Engraulis telaia.

Emank51a

Erivalai
Erumainakku

Tkkarakola
Ilippambu
Illipa

QlULDfElCvSirioOn

Qujifleun'bsiT

^sSluufTLDl-l
@)&)6SluiT.

f{i) Histiophorus imnia
^ culatus.

((2) H. brevirostris.
Wallago attu.
Psettodes erumei.

Chorinemus toloo.
Ophichthys erientalis.
Pristis zysron.

Kadalkudirai

Kadal viral
Kadichai

Kakkachi

Kala

Kalikkaral
Kalkkakachi
Kalkasa

Kallapparai

Kallitirukkai

Kallukozhimin

Kahnadanam

Kalmin

Kalnavarai

Kalpambu

Kalpelachi

Kaludan
Kaluluvai

Kanankalutti

Kandal

c£L—'bV

esyir

s- e\-) a [T ff^ IT

sek err u u IT isni JD

sioideues) iT
tSioSifi—ffi''

/(i) Synganathus serra-
tus
(2) Hippocampus gut-
tulatus.
Elacate nigra.
Pristipoma maculatum.
r(i) Ambassis commer-

< soni.

((2) Myripristis murdjan.
Polynemus spp.
Equula splendens.
Holocentrum rubrum.
Holacanthus xanthurus.

[(i) Caranx kalla.

\(2) C. armatus.
Urogymnus asperimus.
Holacanthus imperator.
Scolopsis vosmeri.
Lutjanus marginatus.

Upeneus indicus.
Synganathus serratus.

i) Minous monodac-

tylus.
(2) Ostracion turritus.
Gerres oblongus.
Percis punctata.
C{i) Scomber microlepi

< dotus.

[(2) S. brachysoma.
Synagris tolu.

229

Transliteration.

Kanjakelutti
Kannipparai
Karaikkutti

Karal

Karandipparai

Karapparai

Karava

Karikattalai

Karimunjipparai

Karimuttaisura

Karivalai

Karivalankola

Karruppettai

Kartikavalai

Karukkaparai

Karuinanikkendai

Karumpelachi

Karunachuzhi

Karunkattalai

Karunkelutti

Karuntumbi

Karuppumattivayan

Karuppuvauval
Karuppu viral
Karuvatirukkai

Karva

Katta

Kattaikkelutti

Kattakkichan

Kattazhai
Kattazhaikkendai

Kattikkala
Kattitirukkai

Kattuppiriyan

Kavalai

Kazhikkaral
Kelutti

Tamil name.

S,pUUIT0S>lD

s ifl 'di frdsv

sir pj^uQu^d^^^

SQffJB'f'SrL^.

s(m/B£ijLaLSl

«©uqLQ^a./rajOTr Chrysophrys berda
st^uL^QeuefT^fT^ Stromateus niger

Scieniific name.

Plotosus arab.
Caranx atropus.
Scolopsis vosmeri.
Equula fasciata.
Caranx jarra.
Caranx sansun.
Upeneus cinnabarinus.
Scijena diacanthus.
Caranx ire.

(i) Carcharias inenisor-

rah.
(2) C. dussumieri.
Chirocentrus dorab.
r(i) Belore melanos-

< tigma.

{{2) B. chorani.
Tetrodon immaculatus.
Trichiurus savala.
Caranx sansun.
Labeo kontius.
Tetrodon margaritatus.
Gobins gymnocephaliis.
J(i) Umbrina dussumieri.
{{2) Scigena albida,
Arius nella.
1(1) Pterois miles.
(2) Gyinnapistus niger.

SQ^ULIdiS>((r/>6V

iSBirfr^iT

.n

SI

3a^^rri5S)Lfi

Ophiocephalus striatus.
Aetobatis narinari.

f{i) Lethrinus miniatus.

I (2) L. karwa.
^ (3) L. nebulosus.

: (4) Lutjanus malabari-

[ cus.

Chorinemus sanctipetri.
Macrones cavasius.
Therapon theraps.
Pristipoma dussumieri.

s.S^/r6S)cpi(o)<S5me<Di— ScicEna coitor.
^ili^.ssir0Ofr Polynemus sentarius

<« lL qi ^ (^ a loTO <5

fiLL(tii.Ji3i?,\Ussr

sendso

Trygon kuhli.

Lutjanus rivulatus.
j(i) Clupea atricauda
\(2) Dussumieria acuta.

Equula splendens.

Macrones seen^hala.

230

Transliteiadon

Tamil name.

Kichan

'S>3=S^tTSSr

Kilatti

Qetrrr^^

Kilichal

Qeifls'.f's^

Kilimin

QeifliEosr

Kilinjan

Qertli^^rrehr

Kizhangan

^LpiSlSlTciiT

Kodakkuttuva

Qairi-at^d^eurr

Kodunkaral

Q'S/r(iliEi'SiT^e\)

Koduntalaiporuva

QsrrQjB^SoiiuOu/TQ^

eiiir.

Koduva

(^sfrQeinT

Kolakkatta

Q &fr<oV!r<saL-i—T

Kolarinjan

Q sir do jfjrfliVfS'fr-osr

Kolasura

(SarwiT<3r(n^ ■

Komarapparai

OsfTLDmrUUfTeSl/D

Komarasisura

Q&i LDiriT&3i-(fr/'

Kombankelurti

QsmiiU6irQ<s(m^.M ^

Kombansura

Qi^fnxums^(n/

Konibantirukkai

QrSfTLDi-iiosr ^iQ^sms

Komorinsura

Q.rSBirQi-Ciiri^m^rQrj'

Rorangansura

Q6S(TiTEi%isin «■ (nj"

Koravai

Q&irn'^'n eu

Kottantirukkai

Qs,fnLL_[r6m ^(v^ie^s

Kottukkaral

Qs^fTilQ&arrpiSi)

Kottulu

O'Sfri-LQ^

Kovai kichan

^ ft fr smevS ir 3" IT m

Kozhakelutti

Q<siTLBdQ<s(m,iSl

Kozhal

Kozhimin
Kozhiittamural

Kullaral

Kulumparai
Kundal

Kundalaniuluvai
Kuri

Kurunkendai

Kuruva
Kiiruvipettai

Kuruvittirukkai
Kuttidi

OsfTipfft)

3h.lS^W

@S337L_(SUi-D &.(Sn,Sn<dl'

■3fx./6)

Scientific name,

Therapon puta,
Triacanthus strigilifcr.
Csesio cuning.
Pseudoscarus chr}'sopoma.
Pseudoscarus chrysopoma.
Sillago sihanla.

( 1) Pellona indica.

(2) P. brachysoma.

Equula insidiatrix.
Engraulis kanimalensis.

Latis calcarifer.
Chorinemus toioo.
Labeo ariza.

Carcharias macloti.
Caranx rottleri.
Stegostoma tigrinum. •

Macrones aor.
Zygcena blochii.
Dicerobatis eregoodoo.
Stegostonia tigrinum

Ui) Stegostoma tigrinum.

■<(2) Chiloscyllium indi-

( cum.

Ophiocephalus punctatus.
Dicerobatis eregoodoo.

f (i) Equula blochii,

\(2) Gazza minuta.
Ostracion cornutus.
Therapon puta.
Pangasius buchanani.

[(1) vSeriolichthys bipin-
■-• nulatus.

[(2) Chanos salmoneus.
A'janthurus gahm.
Hemirhamphus limbatus.
(i) Rhynchobdella acu-

leata.
(2) Mastacenibelus
armatus.
Caranx gymnosteihoides.
Scolopsis vosmeri.
Gobius striatus.
Chrysophrys berda.

((1) Barbus chola.

((2) B. dorsalis.
Sciasna maculata.
Tetrodon immaculatus.
Rhinoptera adspersa.

Trachynotus ovatus.

23i

Transliteration.

Kuttuva
Kuzhakkelutti
Kuzhimin
Kuzhippambu

Kuzhippanna

Tamil name.

Scientific namfe.

Pellona brachysoma.
Pangarius buchanani.
Murgenesox talabon.
Muraenesox talabon.

(i) Sciaena aneus.

(2) Otolithus maculatus.
[(3) O. ruber.

Madakili
Madavai

Madanam

Madukkendai

Manaltirukkai

Mandaikaral

Mandaikeliru

Mandinisura

Manjakalava
Manjalkozhimin
Manjalparai
Manni

Manuluvai

Marankendai

Marittankendai

Mattachavalai

Mattakombansura

Mattasura

Mattatirukkai
Mattivai
Mattivayan
Mattupelachi

LD COST «ro (_<5 0 .5 SI R (5

U3 (cj 5^ sir G (5b /r L^ lC ssr
LosrareOTf?

LaiLL^Qs,rris>u6k g^(n/
(-0 1. '_(_ ^ ^ (75 « i?ro <s

i-OfTLLQQuedirs'^

Mattuvayudakam LoiLQenirjj'&Siii^itLD

Mavulasi

Mayarai

Mayilmin

Mettamparai

Mettampiriyan

Mohan

Mona aral

Mosadi

Mosingiparai
Mullanpelachi

Mullantirukkai

(LpetrmmQuisDirs'^

Therapon jarbua.
]Vlugil spp.

(i) Diagram ma

crassispinum.
D. griseum.
Chatoessus chacunda.
C. nasus.
Trygon volga.

Equula edentula.
Arius thalassinus,
Carcharias sorrah.

Serranus flavocaeruleus.
Chjetodon octofasciatus.
Caranx malabaricus.
Ophiocephalus gachua.
Rhynchobatus ancylosto-

mus.
Megalops cyprinoides.
Barilius bendelisis.
Trichiurus muticus.
Zygaena tudes.

Carcharias gangeticus.
Rhinoptera adspersa.
Scolopsis vosmeri.
Chrysophrys datnia.
Ostracion cornutus.

(i) Gerres lucidus.
(2) G. setifer.

Cybium commersonii.
Eleotris fusca.
Histiophorus gladius.
Caesio pinjalo.
Lutjanus annularis,
Stromateus sinensis.
Rhynchobdella aculeata.
Upeneus indicus.

Caranx djedaba.
Tetrodon patoca.

;i) Urogymnus asper-
rimus.

[2) Halieutsea stellata.

(;

C

232

(T^ err (25 0 Lj 6U /r iF ©
(ipw (Cijoi /rSoff

Scientific name.

Triacanthus strigilifer.
Diodon hystrix.
Chirocentrus dorab.

Transliteration. Tamil name.

Mullaru
Mullupelachi

Mulluv3lai

Mundakkankakkachi (ifi<5m-i_dsmT^iTss,ir Ui) Myripristis botche.

a=& \(2) Apogon glaga.

Mundaikannitirukkai(i/3(SBOT-isrL-<5SKP essB^^ L^hinoptera adspersa.

Mundakkankarava (Lpmru-i-^em'^peair Pempheris malabarica.
Vlusali Gp5=4i5)

l.obotes surinamensis.

Nachuli

C5<r<^erf?

Naikadi-he

Naikelutti

Naimin

fBiTUJLSeir

Nakarai

iBaetna

Nallataraltai

iseo&i^nL-isuii—

Namakkaral

iBinD.fs<sfrff&)

Namapparai

Nanneparai

Narayanantunibili

IB/TLDUUITicSiff

IB bfi'di 0 esw uurr e/s)jr)

Nasuvankaral
Nayaralu

fBn<9reu6sr^iTpeo
iB/ruup^

Neduuiankelutci

Ois(BLDfrE}Qa(en)^^i

Nedunakku
Neduvaliiidakam

G)lB(Sl6UfT(oQp<S'T i_ <5Lb

Neivetti

Q/BiuQeuil-u^

Nelakorukkai

OjBe\)Qs/r£f/<ii>m^.

Neliyansura

Nettili

Nuleni

QiBei'flLU6k<9r(nj>

Nunalai

^SSdT^

Odadi

^r^^

Olaivalai

eg^diz/rSsw

Olari

e^eff^l

Ora

9&

Ottampiirai

<c^!.'.l^inliun&ap

0];isthognathus rosenbergii.
Lutjanus sebfe.
Pseudotropius sykesii.
Pseudoscarus seruginosus.

(i) Upeneoides sulphu-
reus.

(2) U. tragula.
?43hippus orbis.
Equula daura.
Caranx leptolepis.
Caranx ire.
Sauriis myops.
Equula ruconius.
Psettodes erumei.
I (i) Arius thalassinus.
( (2) A. parvapinnis.
Plagusia marmorata.
Gerres filamentosus.
Periopthalnuis koelreut'eri.
/■ (i) Ichthyscopus
\ inermis.

^ (2) Antennarius num-
(^ mifer.

Carcharias laticaudus.
Engraulis indicus.
Lutjanus lineolatus.
Clupea brachysoma.

Upeneus niacronema.

( (i) Trichiurus haumela.

( (2) T. savala.
Amblypliaryfigodon
melettina.

(■ (i) Teuthis Java.

^(2) T. vermiculata.
(3) T. concatenata.
(4) T. oramin.
Caranx oblongus.

233

Transliteration.

Tamil name.

Pachaikkutti

LJ ff a» .? ffi @ lL LJi

Padangan

Ui_is<4/r6ar )

Paluluvai

urrJii p..^anei] j

Pal sura

uiTgd aT({ff

Pambank51a

urrmueir Qsireoir

Panai

u'Scur

Panaieri

uSnlnQuJfS

Panjalai

u(^<9^dso

Panjaditirukkai

u @<? /r^!-^(75 asro«

Panjalantirukkai

un (^g: IT &L)<oar ^q^s.^i^S

Panjukkalarai

u<f^<3f&3,&3evfr\u

Panna

uesr

©

Pannikkalavayan ussnss^-f asva/ffiuejr

Pannimin

Pannisettan

Parai
Parakkoravai

Parala

Paravetti

Paravu

Paravukendai

Paruvakkola

Paruvapelachi

Paruvasora

Pasimural

Pasindi
Pasuva
Patna suttannakku

usisr si^iSok

upefTfT

UjTSlf

uQFiQjQ-frrrrj'

Scientific name.

f (i) Chatoessus chacunda.

( (2) C. nasus.

,'(i) Rhynchobatus djed-

j densis.

J (2) Rhinobatus granu-

I latus.

1^(3) R. halavi.
Mustelus manazc.
Belone annulata.
Polyacanthus cupanus.
Anabas scandens.

( (i) Barbus saraiia.

( (2) B. chrysopoiiia.
Myliobatis niaculata.
Trygon kuhlii.

f (i) Serranus gilberti.

\ (2) S. undulosus.
(i) Scicena aneus.

(2) Polyacanthus cupa-
nus.

j(i) Serranus stoliczkce.

I (2) S. pantherinus.

(i) Lates calcarifer.

(2) Cromileptes altivelis.

(3) Serranus lanceolatus.

((i) Lates calcarifer.

1(2) Cromileptes altivelis.

Cafanx spp.

(i) Ophiocephalus
gachua,

(2) O. punctatus.

Coryphaena hippurus.
Periopthalmus schlosseri.
Nuria danrica.
Rasbora daniconius.

(i) Exoccetus evolans.

(2) E. poecilopterus.
Tetrodon inermis.
Carcharias acutus.
Hemirhamphus xanthop-

terus.
Drepane punctata.
Priacanthus holocentrum.
Pseudorhombus triocellatus.

234

rransliteration.

Pattai

Pearal

Perunkilichal

Peruntirukkai

Penavarai

Pettai

Pillar in) an

Pillinjan

Pillippanna

Pillipparai

Piluluvai

Pisukola

Ponatti

Ponnantalai

Poruva

Poruvakattalai

Pottainettili

Pozhakkala

Pudukkansura

Puatirukkai

PuUianpettai

PuUikalava

PuUippanna

Pullitarattai

Pulliansura

Pulliantirukkai

Punkozhal

Purakkasu

Ramamuzhian

Tamil name.

ufTL^es) —
Quajrr(r>^(5i>

L9i5L.'4>'S(^-°"6Sr

l3 ill eS uueur le^

Ouir(f})SaifT
(SurripssrTsoir

Ljefreifluuek ^

Lj,'BlQstTLp \J

fflTLD

(hPl^

LUiosr

Sallikendai

Salliudakani

Sankkuditirukkai

Sappekola

Sattamural

Sayavelichai

Selkendai

Seluppatti

Sembadakkatirukkai

<? 6i)(SlS«0<S SCOT 60i__
o^ffOsSafJ!/— 4LCI

3 uQuQ'SrTearr

Q<f0)lLJULLLS^

Scientific name

Eleotris muralis.
Mastacembelus armatus.
Cffisio chrysozona.
Pteroplatea micrura.
Upeneoides trgula.
Tetrodon nigropunctatus.
Cirrhina reba.

j (i) Saurus indicus.
I (2) Sphyrsena jello.

Otolithus maculatus.
Caranx speciosus.
Rhynchobatus aneylosto-

mus.
Belone cancila.
Silundia gangetica.
Pagrus spinifer.
Engraulis mystax.
Sci?ena vogleri.
Engraulis tri.
Polynemus tetradactylus.
Carcharias ellioti.
Aetobatis narinari.
Tetrodon stellatus.

(i) Serranus hexagona

tus.
(2) S. maculatus.

(i) Sci?ena aneus.

(2) Otolithus maculatus.
Drepane punctata.
Stegostoma tigrinum.
Trygon uarnak.
Seriolichthys bipinnulatus.
Etroplus maculatus.

Triacanthus strigilifer.

Barbus carnaticus.
Gerres lucidus.
Rhinoptera adspersa.
Hemirhamphus georgii.
Belone strongylura.
Chela argentea.
Labeo limbriatus,

Solea ovata.
Trygon walga.

235

Transliteraticn.

Sembarampanni

Semmantirukkai

Semmara

Semparai

Senganni

Senkadapparai

Sennagarai

Sennal

Sentumbi

Seppatirukkai

Seppili

SeraiTipambu
Seri

Settaral

Sevvalikendai

Sidai

Sigappukalava
Sila

Silai

Silaipparavu

Silaivalai

Siraiya

Sombadakka

Sonagankelutti

Sonagatirukkai

Sonagavalai

Sottavalai

Sudai

Tamil name.

(0)3 6sr6are\)

Qff uu 3,^(1^ dm; s

Q^Q/'LhufTLDL^

G'S^rzjsufreSld-

Qs6SSr6S)L-

^^ if rr 6!3J a ok O&i^ff, Si

Ccd^/TiS&T aSU /T" ^

Sudumbu

3r^u:tL\

Suduppunamkaral

i5r^LJLI[BfrLJi6S/rfi}6U

Surai nun

(^&D/DLSeor

Talamparai

Tannirpettai
Tappakuttitirukkai

Tarali

^psifl

Tarattai

^ITlL e?i;L_

Scientific name.

(i) Serranus pantherinus.
(2) S. polleni.
Trygon bleekeri.
Lutjanus unimaculatus.
Caranx affinis.
Lates calcarifer,
Caranx carangus.
Synagris bleekeri,
Anabas scandens.
Pterois russellii.
Myliobatis nieuhofii.

(i) Lutjanus argenti-

malculatus.
(2) L. roseus.
f (i) AIura?na macrura.
((2) Anguilla bengalensis.

Diagramma cinctutn.

(i) Rhynchobdella acu-

leata.
(2) Mastacembelus arma-
tus.
Barbus filamentosus.

(

Clupea lile.
Serranus sonnerati.
Sphyraena jello.
Callichrous biniaculatus.
Danio malabaricus.
Callichrous bimaculatus,
Mugil ceur.
Trygon zugei.

Macrones punctatus.
Trygon uarnak.
Trichurus muticus.
Callichrous bimaculatus.
(i) Clupea fimbriata.

(2) C. lile.

(3) Pellona leschenaultii.
Laetarius delicatulus.

1(1) Equula edentula.-
( (2) E. insidiatrix.
Thynnus thunnina.

Caranx malabaricus.

Tetrodon nigropunctatus.
'(i) Pteroplatea micrura.
(2) Myliobatis nieuhofii.
(i) Opisthopterus tartoor,
(2) Raconda russeliana.

Ephippus orbis.

{

236

Transliteration.

Tamil name.

Taraudan

cE-/7®Fir(_/7-eaT

Tatnankaral

^L-(^<S!<3SrTrr:io

Tadiyanslla

^'Sj-iusis^^eoir

Tazhankala

^fTLp^sTeofr

Tazhankili

^fTLpP^S&fl

Teli

0/ei^

Tenavarai

Q^/B^soja

Tengapparai

Q ^[Ej^srruunemp.

Tentalai

Q^iSdSso.

Terakam

Qcf.ffaw.

Terankuni

Q^!ri}'9)(sS

Terukkuttuva

035(TFjS(^ Ji^eUfT

Timilai

^liBds^j.

Tiraliudakam

^jr(srffsfEi_<sa).

Tirapparai

^.puutrssiir

Tirukkai

^(TFjde^'i

Tiruvan

QQ^evein

Tiruvankola

^.(Tf)&jmQ'Srr<5^!r

Tdkkaral

Q ^(r&^(T(irj'is-i

Tdlparai

Co^fTwuire^njD

Tukkunasi

^!'.d(ff^BrrQ

Tumbi

^ldl3

■Tumbili

^ihiSleifl

Turadikattalai

.^ irir t^ s ^ ^2sfr

Udakam

e^L_'5?L0

Uduppatti

Ulan

Ulla

S-Etren IT

Ullam

a_ Vrgrrtb

Uluvai

a_(EY5(S3)Q;

Umaichi
Umaikilatti
Undekelutti
Unguni

Urikkutti

S-iP-i(^{ '-Kj.

Uruppatti

■s-(i^uurr^^

{I

Scientific name.

Pentaprion longimanus.
Equula bindus.
Sphyrsna obtusata.
Polynemus indicus.
Therapon buadrilineatus.
Saccobranchus fossilis.
Upeneoides bensasi.

r (i) Caranx kalla.

< (2) C. nigrescens.

' (3) C. armatus.
Pimelepterus cinerascens.
Atherina forsakalii.
Engraulis commersonianus.
(i) Clupea kunzei.
(2) Pellona indica.
(i) Narcine timlei,
(2) Astrape dipterygia.
Gerres oyena.
Caranx oblongus.
Narcine timlei.
Mugil parsia.
Hemirhamphus limbatus
Pristipoma hasta.

((i) Chorinemus lysan.

1 (2) C. toloo.

( (i)Tracbynotus russellii.

I (2) T. ovatus.

Pterois russellii.
Saurida tumbil.
Scia^na belangeri.

J(l) Gerres filamentosus.

((2) Pristipoma furcatum
Etroplus suratensis.
Crenidens indicus.
Sphyraena acutipinnis.

J(i) Clupea ilisha.

{(2) C. toli.
(i) Saurida tumbil.

(2) Gobius gutum.

(3) G. giuris.
Ostracion cornutus.
Monacanthus scriptus.
Arius nella.

Ccesio chrysozona.
r(i) Echeneis naucrates.
{{2) E. brachyptera.
r(i) Platycephalus scabei
1(2) P. insidiator.

237

Transliteration.
Valai

Valankandal
Valuvansora
Valvaditirukkai

Vaniyanporuva

Vanjaram

Vannatti

Varikkanora
Varikkaral

Varikkattalai

Varikkichan

Varikkola

Varipparai

Varnanachuzhi

Vauval

Vayirrankflutti

Vazhukkaikelutti

Velamin

Velasura

Velichaikendai

Vellaikattalai

Vellaikattazhai

Vellaikelutti

Vellaikichili

Vellaikolsura

Vellaimattuva

Vellaitumbi
Vella'i vauval
Vellarani sura
Vellarinjakendai

Vellisa
Velramin
Vengannu
Vennaipparai

Vilamin

Vilangu
Viral

Tamil name.

eua^

euiressf^tUssrQu n(TF,suir

etJ d <SSST IB 3" '9r L^

QeuefTeu/rsv

ewi—
G) £L' err Ssrr cf ^ _5 Sbyt

Qsuen2sff'SS^^fTS!iLp
(o cL err 3off <2 Q -s (ETj ^ ^/
O ai; err Ssi' Ss^^io^i

G)eusrr'bo)TLDLLQeiJfr
Qajsr? Soir^LCiJ??
QeueifrSsiTQoijsveurrisv
Qeinsaenir n<sis!£irr(ir^

Qfflverreyflc^ff
eSsfTLEsoT

Scientific name.

(i) Chirocentrus dorab

(2) Wallago attu.

(3) Trichiurus savala.
Synagris striatus.
Galeocerdo rayneri.
Rhinoptera javanica.

Hi) Engraulis malaba-

< ricus.

C (2) E- hamiltonii.

\ (i) Cybium interruptum.

( (2) C. guttatum
( (t) Barbus ticto.
\{2) Cheetodon collaris.
Teuthis concatenata.
Equula dussumieri.

( (i) Lutjanus sebee.
\{2) ScicCna maculata.
Lutjanus kasmira.
Hamirhaniphus far.
Caranx affinis.
Percis pulchella.
Stromateus niger.

(i) Arius parvipinnis.
(2) A. thalassinus.
Siiundia gangetica.
Pristis cuspidatus.
Pristis zysron.

f (i) Chela argentea.

\( 2) C. clupeoides.

( (i) Scifena miles.

} (2) S. albida.
Scicena coitor.
Macrones cavasius. .
Scisena coitor.
Hemigaleus balfouri.
Chrysophrys sarba.
Apistus carinatus.
Stromateus cinereus.
Scyllium capense.
Labeo boga.

Mugil borneensis.
Cybium guttatum.
Pellona brachysoma.
Caranx ire.

Lutjanus spp.

Lethrinus spp.
Anguilla bengalensis.
Ophiocephalus striatus,

MBi

V'vl'-'v-V^r'f*^*''^^^^^^^

'■. •■■ ..i^'i^

^■^■^:--v;^^^!;-^^;''i,i

L:

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