Bulletin No. XVI. 



THE INDIAN PEARL FISHERIES OF THE 

 GULF OF MANNAR AND PALK HAY 



IiY 



JAMES HORNELL, F.L.S., F.R.A.I. 

 Director of Fisheries, Madras. 



I— INTRODUCTORY (1922). 



MY original report to the Government of Madras, made in 1905, 

 was never published though a limited number of copies, long since 

 exhausted, were printed. As it contained a large body of infor- 

 mation on the history and conduct of the local pearl fisheries, 

 nowhere else brought together, Government have been pleased to 

 sanction its publication in a revised form as a Bulletin of the 

 Fisheries Department. Since the inspection which this report 

 chronicles, my acquaintance with the Indian pearl banks has 

 increased immensely, for in 1908 I joined the Fisheries Service of 

 Madras, and was shortly after appointed Superintendent of Pearl 

 and Chank Fisheries in addition to my marine biological duties. 

 More intimate local knowledge has enabled me to make some 

 useful additions to the historical notes, whilst in respect of the 

 recommendations made for the improvement of the banks by 

 cultural means, I have come to the conclusion that local conditions 

 make this work too onerous and uncertain to be worth the heavy 

 expenditure that would be involved. Otherwise the conclusions 

 and recommendations have stood the test of experience and I find 

 surprisingly little that requires alteration or amendment. The 

 majority of the recommendations have been carried out and the 

 best advice I can give my successors is to place reliance first and 

 last on efficient inspection. Experience shows that culture in any 

 form on the banks is virtually impracticable owing to the 

 impossibility of protecting the spat under culture from the ravages 

 of fish. Therefore as a successful natural spat-fall is erratic and 

 its location impossible to predicate, the watchword of the officer in 

 charge should be inspection, efficient and comprehensive. But 



