40 MADRAS FI HERIES BULLETIN VOL. XV. 



Order— No. 2142, Development, dated 17th November 1921. 



The Government have read with interest the administration 

 report of the Fisheries Department for the year 1920-21. The 

 Government consider that the results of the year were perhaps not 

 so encouraging as a perusal of the report might suggest, Certain 

 schemes originally included in the departmental programme have 

 proved under present financial conditions too costly to justify pursu- 

 ing them further and this has been recognized in orders recently 

 passed. In the case of certain other experiments, the principal of 

 which is the cannery, the experience of the year has been the 

 reverse of promising. 



2. Industrial section. — The experimental Cannery, Ohaliyam. — In 

 paragraph 9 of the report the Director refers to the necessity of 

 removing the cannery to a better site. The Government have 

 decided that it is desirable to take this step after a suitable site 

 has been found and as soon as the necessary fuuds can be allotted. 



The cannery is reported to have worked at a small loss of 

 Rs. 1,878-14-11. This figure is arrived at after crediting to the 

 year's revenue two-thirds of the value of unsold products, and this, 

 the Government believe, is a correct method of commercial account- 

 ing. They understand, however, that purchasers for these unusually 

 large stocks of canned goods are not yet forthcoming, and that the 

 unsold stock has since increased. Unless a market for this stock 

 develops, it is clear that the actual loss on the year's working will 

 be much greater than that appearing in the report. It also seems 

 likely that these conditions will repeat themselves in the year 

 1921-22. 



The question of this cannery has recently received much atten- 

 tion from the Government. The management appears to have been 

 satisfactory enough so far as its efficiency in small scale production 

 is concerned, but from the financial point of view it cannot be 

 regarded as anything but discouraging. The Government are 

 convinced that if pioneering efforts are to be followed by private 

 enterprise, it is essential to demonstrate not only efficiency of 

 manufacture but the possibility of regular profits. It is hoped that 

 the reconstruction of the cannery on a more suitable site together 

 with more attention to the selling part of the business may 

 demonstrate this possibility. The cannery has been peculiarly 

 affected by the fact that the local demand for its products was 

 largely a war demand, and it was unprepared with any selling 

 agency sufficient to meet changed conditions. 



8. The Tanur Experimental station also showed a small loss 

 during the year, but this is a minor matter. These experimental 

 stations are not necessarily intended to show a profit 



4. Public fish-curing yards — Paragraph 15 of the report. — The 

 question of the policy to be adopted in respect of the compulsory 



