194 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



the crew; the owner of the outfit generally has a share in the operations, 

 even if only their supervision. The people who operate the gear do so 

 on a share basis. As is usual elsewhere, the boat and gear used in share 

 fishing, count equally with the operatives in drawing a share. In some 

 cases of sharing of earnings the owner makes advances to the crew and 

 undertakes some responsibility for food, either providing it against 

 shares, or guaranteeing the necessary credit. Under such circumstances 

 an arrangement is made by which the fish must be sold to the owner 

 or his agent. 



Quite frequently the crew are employed on wage basis. Such crew 

 are provided with gear and are completely 'found.' In East Pakistan the 

 owners of boats and gears engage their agents to assemble parties, of 

 up to 200 or more, of fishermen, curers and others; the workers of the 

 party are engaged on wage basis whilst the agents are contracted to 

 take the catch to the owners, of boats and gears, to sell on an agreed 

 basis. The owners supply food and advance money. 



Amount of Production: Annual production is estimated to be in 

 the order of 100,000 tons, wet landed weight of fish. The bulk of this 

 is landed in East Pakistan. Wide variations in the catch exist in dif- 

 ferent localities, seasons, and in species. Variations of this kind are 

 characteristic of the fishery and have considerable effects on it in every 

 way. 



The catch in East Pakistan is composed of 30% Clupeoids, 25% 

 Crustaceans, 15% Bombay ducks and Hairtails, 7% Elasmobranchs, and 

 11% miscellaneous fish. In West Pakistan the catch consists of 25.5% 

 of Elasmobranchs, 18.5% Perches, 18.0% Crustaceans, 11.5% Mackerels, 

 10.5% Clupeoids, and 16% miscellaneous fish. In addition there are 

 3-5 thousand dozens of oysters and clams produced each year. 



In the absence of any reliable data regarding production by units 

 of time, of area, the number of crafts and gear, the number of men who 

 fish, it is not possible to measure accurately the total amount of effort 

 and catch per unit effort. 



Secondary Industry 



The secondary phase of the industry leaves much to be desired. 

 The equipment for handling, transport, marketing and distribution are 

 inadequate and inefficient, this being especially true of ice-making 

 equipment. Processing methods are also not satisfactory and yield prod- 

 ucts of inferior quality. 



Estimates of production passing through various channels of dis- 

 posal are extremely variable. It is held that of the total production in 

 West Pakistan approximately one third is handled and consumed fresh 



