No. 1 (1922). ADMINISTRATION REPORT, 1920-21 27 



40. The Hilsa Hatchery at the lower anicut could not be operated 

 in 1920 owing to the lack of ripe fish. Attention was therefore 

 concentrated upon a search for fry and young fish. Considerable 

 success was achieved, young hilsa, between 57 mm. and 75 mm., 

 being captured for the first time in channels above the anicut. 

 Another set, ranging between 92 mm. and 130 mm., was secured 

 from other channels. A studv of the scales of hilsa has been com- 

 menced by Mr. Sundara Raj with a view to determine the age of 

 breeders and the time the young spend in fresh water before going 

 down to the sea. Considerable progress has been made and already 

 several generally accepted preconceptions have been found erroneous. 



41. Incomplete schemes. — The fish farm at Mopad is nearing 

 completion. Stocking operations will probably commence within 

 the next few months. The Kanigiri-Duvvur scheme was sanctioned 

 for an experimental period of three years in May 1919, but so far 

 the detailed plans and estimates have not been received from the 

 Public Works Department. 



The Chingleput and the Vellore moat schemes are two projects 

 important both from the sanitary and the piscicultural standpoints. 

 In each case, a considerable population lives within the fort and has 

 suffered much from malaria in the past. In the case of Chingleput 

 construction work was started during the past year, while at Vellore 

 preliminary work was done in the clearing out of the masses of 

 water hyacinth that choked the moat. The clearance of these weeds 

 has, as at Chingleput, already yielded results mitigating largely the 

 former mosquito plague, but no permanent good will result till the 

 works be completed and the moat stocked with fish suitable for 

 keeping down the growth of vegetation and for destroying mosquito 

 larvee. 



42. Research. — Owing to the restriction of practical work in 

 several directions due to financial stringency, more time than usual 

 was available for the investigation of the life-histories of food fishes. 

 Considerable progress was made, as already mentioned, in the study 

 of the early stages of hilsa ; the nesting habits of the Gourami were 

 further studied and also the breeding habits of two of the largest 

 oatfishes found in the Cauvery (Macrones aor and M. seenghalu). 



Encouragement has been given to others working on the same 

 lines, and I am glad to record that Mr. N. P. Panikkar, F.L.S., 

 Inspector of Fisheries, Travancore, and a former student of this 

 department, has furnished a valuable and interesting account of the 

 breeding habits of the two species of Elroplus found in Travancore. 

 With the sanction of the Madras Government, this most useful paper 

 has been published as a constituent report (No. 5) of Volume XU of 

 our Fisheries Bulletin. It is indeed encouraging to find valuable 



