22 



cockle shells, and bricks and tiles, entire or broken (Pnlicat is 

 full of ruined brick buildings), during the period when the bar 

 is closed and the level of the lake falling. When the shallows 

 off Pulicat, Karimanal and Annamalaicheri become dry or 

 nearly so, and not much further shrinkage is expected, the 

 prepared cultch should be spread over the firmest and cleanest 

 area available and left there till the expected floods arrive to 

 stimulate the reproductive glands of whatever oysters survive 

 and induce spawning with consequent spat-falls upon the 

 collectors laid down if conditions prove favourable. 



Fascines or bundles of casuarina twigs might also be tried 

 as spat-collectors, these being anchored preferably in the deeper 

 water section of the lake. The culture of mangiove oysters 

 would entail greater initial expense as mangrove seeds would 

 have to be obtained and planted. Extensive planting, if 

 successful, would have such far reaching beneficial effects by 

 reducing the extent of the shallowest portion of the lake and 

 by forming a barrier to overflow northwards of flood water, 

 that it may prove desirable eventually to offer some special 

 inducements in order to encourage this method of oyster farm- 

 ing. For a long time however the cultivation of mangrove 

 oysters by private individuals will not come within the range 

 of practical politics ; it must wait until oyster-culture in the 

 shallows by means of shell, brick, and fascine spat-collectors has 

 been proved successful and profitable. Meanwhile it would he 

 distinctly useful and appropriate if an experimental planting of 

 mangroves be taken in hand by the Fisheries Department with 

 a view to ascertain the species best adapted to suit the purposes 

 in view under the peculiar conditions existing in the lake. 



If systematic cultivation of edible oysters be taken up 

 extensively, culture of the magnificent pearl-producing green 

 mussel (Mytilus smaragchnus) would probably follow, as its 

 natural association is with our local oyster. In the Sonnapur 

 river in the Gaujam district where they are, or were till 

 recently, fished for the pearls contained, there exists a distinct 

 Ostrea-M/jlilus smaragdinus formation ; indeed the same associa- 

 tion is noticeable in the Ennore backwater though less emphatic 

 owing to the smaller extent and the relative sparsity of the 

 oyster population. 



These large mussels are actually more highly esteemed in 

 India than are oysters ; they form an excellent main ingredient 

 in curries. In Malabar and Travancore there exists an exten 

 sive fishing industry in the collection of mussels for this 

 purpose, an industry that serves as a training school for a 

 hardy race of divers, hundreds of whom are accustomed to 



