No. 6 (1922) 



FISH SUPPLY OF MADRAS 



137 



In the commercial world fish are divided into prime for the rich 

 and the offal for the poor and here the" fish supply being a poor 

 man's question the condition of the industry depends largely on 

 the offal and not on the prime. Out of the 53 different kinds of 

 fish considered edible by Indians only a few such as seer, pomfret, 

 hilsa, some of the horse mackerels, cock-up, bonito and Indian 

 salmon are regarded as prime quality. 



The prices of the catches of fish depend upon the time when they 

 are landed and marketed, the condition of the fish — many prefer 

 tainted fish, but thanks to the sanitary supervision of markets such 

 indulgences are scarcernow — and the general abundance or scarcity 

 of fish. On festivals when there is a greater demand than 

 ordinarily the prices run high but on fast days^ e.g., Amavasai, 

 Kirthigai, Ekadasi (monthly), Sivarathri (monthly), Saturdays (or 

 Fridays when some Hindu women fast) when the fish-eating 

 Hindus eschew fish, they are very cheap. The prices given in the 

 statistics are those at which the sellers had taken the fish from the 

 middlemen or as in some cases from the fishermen direct and so 

 are cheaper than those usually paid by the consumer in the market. 



The average rates per pound of the food fishes of Madras are 

 as follows : — ■ 



Names. 



Surgeon 



Eels ... 



Butterfish 



Seer 



Pomfret 



Hilsa 



Cock-up 



Lizard fish . 



Queen fish . 



Bonito 



Bombay duck 



Crocodile-fish 



Sand eel 

 Carp ... 



Rays ... 



Shaiks 

 Murrel 



A. 



7 



5 



5 



5 



5 



4 



4 



4 



p. 

 6 

 6 



o 

 6 



2 

 2 





(Chatoessus) J 



3 



3 

 3 

 3 



7 

 6 



4 



