Report No. 3 (1920). 



A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF AN INSHORF 



FISHING EXPERIMENT AT MADRAS 



DURING 1919 



13 Y 



M. RAMASWAMI NAYUDU, B.A., 



Sub-Assistant, Department of Fisheries, Madras. 



Certain markedly distinct physical features of the East and 

 West Coasts of our Presidency, affecting in their own way the 

 nature of the fish catch, have given rise to the peculiar fishing 

 craft and appliances characteristic of each coast. The muddy- 

 bottomed, comparatively surfiess region of the West Coast, rich 

 with seasonal migratory shoaling fishes, such as sardines, mac- 

 kerel, cat-fishes, ribbon-fish, prawns, soles, etc., and the predatory 

 larger ones that are ever after these, has brought about the evolu- 

 tion of big, swift-moving, dug-out canoes and powerful seine, drift 

 and cast nets and long lines, the last two being peculiar to that 

 coast : whereas the generally sandy, surf-beaten East Coast has 

 not gone farther than the primitive catamaran — a fishing raft made 

 of a few (3 — 5 or even 7) logs of wood lashed together — with small 

 sized seines, drift nets and hand-lines. 



Though shoals as big as those of the West Coast are seldom, if 

 ever, found on this coast, yet a few species do occur in small 

 shoals at certain short seasons and the fishing craft and methods 

 in vogue with the local fisher-folk at present are quite inadequate 

 to a proper exploitation of the inshore fisheries. Though cata- 

 marans can pass through the most dangerous surf with immunity 

 even during the height of the north-east monsoon when given 

 sufficient driving power, in actuality the power available from the 

 single primitive paddle and a couple or even five, small oars is 

 insufficient to carry the keelless, flat raft across the surf line ; 

 further, the catamaran being of very small carrying capacity can 

 admit of no heavy nets being employed from it. This state of 

 affairs having attracted the attention of the Fisheries Department 



