99 



compartments, chests, or barrels of sea water constantly 

 renewed by a pump or aerated by a simple air pum.p. 

 In this country the only trace of such is in the fine meshed 

 rattan baskets in which Maldive islanders keep their bait 

 in the lagoons ; not even in Bombay is the practice 

 found so far as my enquiries tell me ; the very idea 

 seemed inconceivable when propounded and queries 

 addressed to Bombay authorities have received only a 

 negative answer. 



20. Many boats are powerful enough to tow light 

 bamboo live cages behind them or at least to keep these 

 fish alive in such cages till they actually turn homeward 

 when, if necessary, the cages could be taken on the boat. 

 The West Coast canoes are generally manned by six to 

 eight men who readily row the boat home ; the drag of 

 a light torpedo shaped car behind them would not add 

 seriously to the effort, while the advantages of live fish 

 would be enormous ; the Ratnagiri boats could certainly 

 do so ; even the larger catamarans, having considerable 

 sailing power, could do the same, The matter of the 

 live well, chest, or car is of such vast importance that 

 their use, whether on board the proposed new sailers 

 or in connection with existinof boats, will be closelv and 

 continuously worked at in the experimental stations ; also 

 the cognate one of storing surplus fish alive in chests 

 near shore since catches, e.g., of pomfret, are often made 

 in excess of a demand commensurate with their value, 

 and chests would equalize demand and supply and 

 consequently prices. 



21. Ice or refrio-eration has net been entered as a 

 preservative for boats actuall)/ engaged in fishing ; in 

 existing boats there is of course no possibility of using 

 it, and even on improved boats its storage would be 

 wasteful and its prime cost prohibitive, except in the case 

 of special boats deliberately worked for high priced 

 markets only. 



Artificial ice in Eno-land costs — includino- all charees 

 such as depreciation, superintendence, etc. — about 

 ^0-7-6 per ton to make on the large scale ; wastage is 

 comparatively small owing to climate and the most 

 approved modes of handling (e.g., rapid breaking by 

 machinery, and its transfer by a long shoot and archi- 

 medean screw direct from the factory into the ice hold 

 of the boats) ; to the fishermen it costs from 10 shillings 





