8 MADE AS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIII 



catamarans and appliances. They were continued with four Malabar 

 canoes and various kinds of nets, long lines, etc. The full crew of 

 21 hands worked for 6^ months, while for the remaining 5|- months 

 the crew was reduced to from 9 to 15 men. In 310 workino; davs 

 114,850 lb. of fish were caught and sold for Es. 6,404 ; average daily 

 catch was 370 lb. valued at Ks. 20-10-6. The capital outlay on 

 boats and nets was estimated at Es. 1,500. The fishing season was 

 not favourable. The Malabar boats were able to go out to sea on 

 several occasions when the local catamarans could not be taken out 

 on account of bad weather. The total expenditure during the year 

 was Ks. 6,377 including a capital outlay of Rs. 270. The expenditure 

 was high on account of the large increase in the cost of provisions 

 for the crew ; moreover the department had to incur an expenditure 

 of about Es. 1,320 on account of house-rent, the pay of an overseer 

 and a cook which would not have been incurred, had this fishing 

 been undertaken bv local fishermen. It is clear therefore that 

 fishing on these lines is very profitable. Enquiries have been 

 received from more than one person who wishes to take over the 

 business. The transfer of the business to one of the applicants has 

 been recommended to Government and the orders of the Government 

 are awaited. Proposals for extending the experiments to other 

 important fishing centres such as Cuddalore and Negapatam are 

 under consideration. 



Marine Section. 



33. Chank fisheries. — The returns from the chank fisheries were 

 not as satisfactory as in the previous season. The labour problems 

 presented difficulties and the weather was more unfavourable. A 

 profit and loss account is appended. The profit was Es. 46,029 as 

 opposed to Es. 82,611 in the previous year which was the highest 

 on record. 



34. Tinnevelly chank fisheries. — The divers of Tuticorin with the 

 assistance of local capitalists who wished to employ them at the 

 Ceylon chank fishery in February struck work at the beginning of 

 the season, i.e., in October, and demanded increased rates of payment 

 for chanks. The demands were refused and divers were brought 

 from Kilakarai who worked regularly until the 2nd March 1920 

 when a local diver was bitten by a shark and died. This is the first 

 time in the annals of the Tuticorin fishery that such an incident 

 happened and the divers refused to work for several days. The 

 Government sanctioned the payment of a gratuity to the family of 

 the deceased diver. The total catch amounted to 158,941 full sized 

 chanks, as against 148,285 in the previous year. The average 

 earnings per diem per head during the 132 days of the fishery were 

 Es. 1-9-0 while the average daily earnings per head during the 

 fishery season taken as a whole were Es. 1-2-0. 



