[xiv] CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



same morning (March 17th, 1902) and wished to show him how the dredge could 

 bring up oysters or whatever else lay on the bottom, and I believe that these first 

 dredged young oysters tbat we showed him " between South Modragam Paar and 

 Kodramallai Point " were a sample of the oysters which have been fished this year 

 from the " Kutiramalai Paar," and have contributed much to the success of the 

 present fishery. The age of the oysters agrees, and the position on the chart is about 

 right. The four little crosses on fig. 2 show the four dredgings united in the 

 ' Narrative ' as Station LXIV. 



Finally, I would make a general remark upon paar-ground in the Gulf of Manaar. 

 It is, that we need never be surprised to find that boundaries of banks alter, and that 

 oysters appear on occasions in new spots. I have already pointed out in a previous 

 part of this Report that the whole of the shallow shelf within, say, the 12-fathom line 

 is potential paar-ground. The bottoms shift to some extent and may change their 

 character, sand may be washed over a paar, or again may be swept away, leaving a 

 hard bottom. One of my first observations when dredging on the " Lady Havelock" 

 was that we found oysters in the Cheval district where they had no right to be, 

 according to Captain Donna n's oiitline of the paar. This statement may seem to 

 cut at the root of my own charts and definitions ; but it is not really so. The 

 outlines of the paars are justifiable and, in fact, necessary as representing the normal, 

 departures from which may be expected, but are exceptional. 



It is evident that there is some difference of opinion amongst the authorities in 

 Ceylon as to whether or not " dredging is economically a more sound method of 

 fishing than is diving." I am inclined to think that the operation has not yet had a 

 fair trial ; but even though it may not, under the conditions in vogue in the East, be 

 able to compete economically with native diving, I must emphasise what I have said 

 elsewhere in this report, that the utility of dredging is by no means confined to 

 obtaining a supply of adult oysters for the market, but is really fourfold, consisting as 

 it does : 



(a) In fishing oysters ; 



(6) In cleaning the ground and removing enemies ; 



(c) In thinning out overcrowded beds ; and 



(d) In spat transplantation. 



Its value is not properly assessed if account be taken of the first of these alone, or 

 even of the first and the last. Finally, it must be remembered that several of these 

 important operations can usually be carried on in the same series of dredgings. 



Mr. Hornell is acting in accordance with these views, and at the recent fishery it 

 is evident that a good deal of transplanting, cleaning, and thinning out went on 

 simultaneously with the fishing for oysters. I shall quote a few sentences in regard 

 to this work in Mr. Hornell's own words : 



"90. On 15th March enough of mature oysters had been removed by the divers 



