46 



not found in the text-books. Abundance or rarity to be expressly 

 noted with seasons of such abundance or rarity. 



The usual dates from observation and enquiry (a) of containing 

 milt or roe {/>) of spawning as judged (i) by the months in which the 

 ova are found ripe, (2) by the months in which the fish are found 

 empty (e.g., sardines and mackerel on the West Coast are full of roe 

 in June and July and empty and fat in October and November) ; 

 localities of spawning if ascertainable, e.g., whether open sea or in- 

 shore, whether the ova are pelagic or demersal, adhesive or separate ; 

 general number cf eggs in the fish, i.e., whether only a few dozen of 

 large eggs or many thousands of minute eggs ; time occupied between 

 spawning and hatching (probably this is not yet ascertainable until 

 experiment can be undertaken) ; any peculiarities of spawning or 

 hatching as in the cat-fish ; chief food of the fry ; chief enemies of 

 spawn and fry. 



Chief seasons at which the respective fish usually appear or are in 

 greatest abundance ; any cause for appearance or non-appearance of 

 fish at such seasons or localities, e.g., appearance of ooze or fish food 

 in the waters, currents, or winds or changes of temperature ; in the 

 case of predaceous fish, whether they are following smaller fishes 

 (e.g., observe contents of stomach) ; any observation tending to show 

 the direction from which they come, e.g., from open sea to in-shore 

 direct, or from northward or southward ; whether statistics or evidence 

 indicate any diminution or increase of catches, whether of particular 

 species, or of fish in general, on an average of years, e.g., quinquennia 

 or decades. Is there reason to suspect that shoals visit the coastal 

 waters every year but are missed by being at some distance from land, 

 e.g., more than 5 or 7 miles out ? Are fishermen prevented, e.g., by 

 the small size of their boats, from going out to sea to search for the 

 missing shoals ? Do they usually do anything more than wait near 

 the shore (within 3 or 4 miles) in hopes of shoals appearing ? 



What are the chief spots or grounds where fish are most abundant ; 

 what are the chief characteristics of such places ; any assignable 

 reasons for habitually small catches in various localities as on the 

 East Coast generally ; for instance, want of demand or market or 

 means of transport, want of proper boats and appliances, absence of 

 fish in the sea, shallowness or m.uddiness of water, and so forth. 



Quantities caught in the locality as judged {a) from the estimated 

 quantities used locally or sent inland, {b) by statistics from fish-curing 

 yards, {c) by estimate of quantities taken as manure (e.g., quantities 

 sent to large merchants like Peirce Leslie & Co., areas of gardens to 

 which it is sent, etc.). 



The maturity or otherwise of fish caught, especially in in-shore 

 fisheries, whether fry and immature fish of the chief food species are 

 largely caught, and, if so, of what sizes ; and in what months or 

 seasons and in what sort of nets (e.g., the " Karai-valai of Palk's 

 Straits). {Note. — The fry and young of fish which grow to a good 

 size must not be confounded with small fish of species which never 

 grow large.) What are the causes of immature catches, e.g., smallness 

 of mesh ; whether the catching of such immature fish and fish fry is 

 intentional or otherwise ; whether the fishermen could be induced to 

 return to sea, fry or very immature fish caught alive and uninjured, in 

 nets such as the " Odam." 



