io7 



of our Immense backwaters all of which open to the sea, 

 and the Tuticorin fish-farm Is the earliest systematized 

 attempt to produce free swimming- fish under controlled 

 conditions. Mr. Hornell, as Marine Assistant, devised 

 this farm in a lagoon at Tuticorin and built it during- the 

 year under report ; he writes as follows : — 



"The Tuticorin fish-farm was completed in January 1915 and 

 stocked with mullet, whiting ( Sillago sihama) and other quick growing 

 backwater fishes. Hardly had this been done when unseasonable 

 and exceptionally heavy rainfall occurred throughout the Tinnevelly 

 district entailing in the river valleys very serious losses wherein the 

 fish-farm unfortunately participated to the full. A considerable 

 portion of the palisading was damaged and could not be repaired till 

 the floods subsided. The fish fry were scattered and stocking had to 

 be undertaken a second time in March; we cannot therefore expect 

 growth to be so s?.ti?factory or the stock to be so large as it otherwise 

 would have been had normal conditions prevailed in January. The 

 work done has, nevertheless, already added largely to our knowledge 

 of the fauna of the lagoon and of the life histories of several of its 

 more important constituents. A very satisfactory feature is the great 

 abundance of two of our most valuable Indian prawns ; not only do 

 these species grow to a large size and form excellent eating, they also 

 constitute a valuable bait for the line fishermen. These men for 

 years past have been handicapped by a shortage of this bait, so when 

 I found that prawns were thriving greatly in the fish-farm, it appeared 

 obviously sounder economically to exploit this resource specifically 

 for the benefit of these men than to dispose of the catches to the 

 general public as food. Accordingly special store baskets were 

 devised in v/hich the catches made during each day are stored till 

 the early morning of the succeeding day when the line fishermen 

 come for their supply. On most days their demand is greater than 

 the supply ; this I hope to put right next season when more normal 

 weather conditions may be expected to prevail than was the case this 

 year. 



" The line fishermen greatly appreciate this boon of bait supply 

 and storage. Hitherto it has been a common occurrence for them to 

 be delayed unduly in the mornings as the lack of storage facilities 

 meant that they had to await the actual daily capture of prawns 

 before they could go to sea ; I have seen men eitting on the shore 

 till 9 A.M. waiting for the prawners to catch a sufiiciency of bait. 

 Now they can usually get to sea by 6 a.m. as all they have to do is 

 to go to the prawn store and buy what quantity they desire." 



22. Edible oyster culture. — Growth of the stock on the beds at 

 Pulicat proceeded most satisfactorily throughout 19 14, and at the 

 beginning of January 1 915, the oysters had recovered from the set 

 back they annually receive during the ordinary rainy season of October 

 and November. Unfortunately the exceptional and heavy rains which 

 occurred towards the end of January and which, as already mentioned, 

 occasioned ill-effects in the Tuticorin fish-farm, were equally well 

 marked at Pulicat and this second flood of fresh water threw the 

 oysters back two months in condition so much so that sales had to be 



