8i 



lucrative — the whole work of an experimental station on 

 the larorest scale will be carried out in thorough business 

 fashion, with abundant funds, the best experts, and 

 complete continuity ; Government intervention would 

 therefore be unnecessary ; the company will ascertain for 

 Government and for the public whether trawling, purse- 

 netting, etc., are possible ; whether, as I believe, the 

 shoals of fish can be found and followed well out at sea 

 when they fail to visit the shore ; whether the West 

 Coast is as prolific over its average breadth of, say, 40 

 miles of shallow sea, i.e., within the lOO-fathom limit, as 

 it is within the five-mile area at present worked ; whether 

 fish can be brought to shore and placed on the market in 

 good and wholesome condition, and so forth. I regret 

 that it is not a Swadeshi business, but it fulfils my 

 prediction (Japanese note, paragraph 231) that European 

 enterprise will take the cream of the business if Indians 

 hesitate, and the enterprise will undoubtedly be carried 

 out in a way which should induce imitation. There will, 

 however, be plenty of room for less highly developed 

 operations; one or two steamers cannot work 15,000 

 square miles of sea, and there will be plenty of room for 

 small sailing smacks worked by independent fishermen 

 or groups. 



Moreover, the Company's vessels and works will not 

 only provide object lessons, but will necessarily train 

 men in all branches of deep-sea fishing, and in the subse- 

 quent handling of fish, whether fresh or preserved in 

 various w'ays, and fish products. For though Europeans 

 will at first supei'vise in all branches, whether as skippers, 

 engineers, curing masters, foremen, etc., the mass of 

 work-people will necessarily be Indian, and as intelligent 

 experience grows and competition requires the cutting 

 down of expenses, Indians will gradually be trained to 

 take up all but the very topmost places, and will thus 

 provide that body of industrial experts which it is the 

 aim of Government to provide in this as in other 

 industries.* 



* This Company did not, after all, materialise in the manner expected ; the 

 Company devoted its attention only to tish oil and fish guano, and is now (1915) 

 represented by a single oil and guano factory at Cochin. Its failure to develop 

 as expected reacted unfavourably on the Fisheries Department which, as shown in 

 the text, awaited that development, and, partly in the interests of the Company, 

 temporarily abandoned operations on the West Coast. 



Similar disappointments in the matter of fish-curing and fish-canning were 

 experienced on two other occasions, and materially affected departmental work. 



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