FISHERY STATISTICS AND INFORMATION, WEST 

 AND EAST COASTS, MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The present Bulletin is a first attempt to display with some 

 degree of accuracy certain statistics relating to the fishing popu- 

 lation of the Madras Presidency. 



Scattered along the coasts of the Presidency are Ii8 fish-curing 

 yards in which Government issues duty-free salt to the fish-curers, 

 but, except in minor matters, does not ordinarily interfere with the 

 curers' methods. Each yard is in charge of an officer of the Salt 

 Department with authorities over him and subordinates under him, 

 and, during the last few years, note-books have, at the instance of 

 the Fisheries Department, been compiled by these curing-yard 

 officials, containing information on the number, methods, material, 

 condition, etc., of the local fisher-folk. This information has the 

 advantage that it is obtained either from the fisher-folk themselves 

 or from methods and facts under the eyes of the compilers. 



On the other hand there are several reasons why this informa- 

 tion is often both imperfect and even incorrect, for much of it has 

 depended on the statements of persons unaccustomed to accurate 

 statistical work and was gathered by persons having no great facili- 

 ties for or special interest in statistics. Hence in preparing the 

 statistics and facts contained in this Bulletin the information con- 

 tained in the note-books has had to be laboriously checked, modified, 

 and amplified by personal enquiry and observation ; this task 

 was entrusted to Mr. V. Govindan, B.A., Assistant Director of the 

 Department, whose personal knowledge of the fisher-folk and their 

 circumstances and whose interest in them and their development 

 specially fitted him for the work.^ The necessity first for laborious 

 compilation from the rather obscure and often imperfect note-books 

 and then for personal verification and amplification of the records 

 has caused much delay in the production of this Bulletin since it 

 was first taken up by order of Government in 1914. But this verifi- 

 cation has added greatly to the value of the statistics which, so far 

 as they go, may now be considered fairly reliable ; the economic 

 information has been very carefully examined and amplified by the 

 Assistant Director. 



The Bulletin is divided into two parts — one for the West and one 

 for the East coast ; each part comprises five sections, viz. — 



(1) Fish-curing yards, number of ticket-holders, markets. 



(2) Number of boats engaged in fishing. 



(3) The various kinds of nets. 



(4) Methods of curing fish. 



(5) Economic condition of fisher-folk an i curers, 



