1 68 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN [VOL. XVI, 



eventual fishery can be entertained. It all centres in the race bet- 

 ween the appetite of the fishes and the growth of the pearl-oyster's 

 shell to a thickness sufficient to resist the teeth of the majority of 

 these fishes. I can see no means of combating this danger at a price 

 such asthe fishery administration can afford to pay. Possibly means 

 could be devised to kill off or frighten away these hordes of fishes, 

 but the cost would be prohibitive and the results uncertain at best. 

 Fishing on the banks (pars) off Tuticorin is already practised 

 to the full extent of the fishing capacity of the coast fishermen, as 

 they find there the best localities for bottom fishing with hook and 

 line. Hence unless special means be taken at a prohibitive cost, 

 any spat-fall that occurs must fight it own battle for existence with 

 its foes, unaided by the Fisheries Department. In this connexion 

 it must be remembered that the Madras pearl banks lie in the open 

 sea from 6 to 10 miles off the coast ; consequently there are long 

 periods during each year when all cultural operations have either 

 to be suspended entirely or carried on with difficulty and compara- 

 tive inefficiency. The conclusion I come to, in view of these cir- 

 cumstances, is that none of the cultural recommendations is practi- 

 cal at the present time and under present conditions not so much 

 because they are unsound in theory, but solely on account of the 

 heavy cost and the uncertainty as to whether, after the expenditure 

 of very large sums, these endeavours would bear fruit in showing 

 a profit after the expenses had been provided for. 



With regard to the method of inspection to be followed, in prac- 

 tice I found the so-called circle-inspection as described in 1905, to 

 answer all practical purposes ; it is also a method that allows the 

 superintending officer to supervise operations efficiently with a 

 minimum of trouble : the inspection ship on which he lives usually, 

 is the central mark of each inspection area and around it the inspec- 

 tion boats circle ; the officer has the boats' operations under his 

 eye the whole time. For some purposes, especially when extreme 

 rather than relative accuracy be required, a system whereby the 

 buoys are laid out in a series of parallel lines, is preferable. The 

 area so marked out should not usually exceed a length of two 

 miles with a width between the outer lines of buoys of one mile. 

 In this method the inspection vessel lies at one corner of the 

 rectangular space to be inspected and close supervision from the 

 ship is more difficult than in circle inspection ; the boats instead 

 of circling round the ship make parallel traverses backwards 



