4 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN "VOL. XV 



condition precedent to the placing of an order for a large number 

 of these collections. This book should also prove of considerable 

 value to those who take an interest in the common objects of the 

 sea-shore, for till now, no attempt has been made to provide a 

 popular guide to the shells of South India. 



I have also been able to publish, thanks to the generosity of 

 Government, a report upon the Outrigger Fishing- Canoes of Indonesia ; 

 this appeared as Report No. 2 of Fisheries Bulletin XII. At the 

 science congress held in February 1921 at Calcutta, I also read a 

 paper on Catamarans and Reed Rafts as evidence of former race 

 continuity from the Mediterranean eastwards to South America. 

 A summary was published in Man in India for June 1921. 



Extensive tours have been made, chiefly in the interests of the 

 piscicultural section, to investigate several schemes shortly to be 

 submitted to Government. Special visits were also made to Tanur 

 and Calicut to enquire into the protests made by curers against the 

 imposition of certain of the new rules in force in the fish-curing yards 

 at these places. [ was fortunate enough to arrive at a modus Vivendi) 

 and that good relations, especially at Tanur, have been re-established 

 is evident by the fact that the staff there has not been interfered 

 with by the rioters in the recent disturbances. 



My advice has been in frequent unofficial requisition by officers 

 administering fisheries in other Governments. Among these may 

 be mentioned inquiries upon canning procedure from Baroda and 

 Travancore, upon general fishery development in the Seychelles, and 

 upon freshwater pisciculture in Behar and Orissa and the Fiji 

 Islands. 



INDUSTRIAL SECTION". 



The Experimental Cannery, Chaliyam. 



6. General. — The year under review was one of those unfortu- 

 nate lean years experienced occasionally in practically every sardine- 

 canning locality. The catches of sardines were a complete failure, 

 not only in the neighbourhood of Chaliyam but everywhere else on 

 the Malabar coast. Mackerel on the other hand were abundant 

 and the bulk of the goods canned were of this fish. Unfortunately 

 the demand for mackerel is small compared with sardines, and as 

 their keeping qualities are inferior it is not advisable to can 

 beyond a certain limit. 



Prawns were also scarce at Chaliyam, and although large 

 quantities were caught at Tanur, the condition of those taken to 

 the Chaliyam cannery was usually such as to preclude their use in 

 canning. This resulted, I believe, from the exceptionally torrid 

 weather which characterized the past season, causing fish and 



