FISH 

 PRODUCTION 



Bengal 



FISHEKIES OF INDIA 



Bengal. 



Exports. 



Calcutta. 

 Supply. 



Tank Pish. 



Upper 

 India. 



Poor Supply. 



xi., 37-9, 68-71; Janjira, xi., 474-82; Kathiawar, 1884, viii., 106-7, 154; 

 Ahmednagar, 1884, xvii., 41-5 ; Sholapur, 1884, xx., 18-22, 151-6 ; Dharwar, 

 1884, 42-4 ; Poona, 1885, 87-93, 387-93. CENTRAL PROVINCES : Fuller, 

 Fishing Instruments, 1883. MYSORE : Buchanan-Hamilton, Journ. Mysore, 

 etc., 1807, iii., 105-6, 342-5. MADRAS : Sturrock, Man. S. Canara, 1894, 46-8 ; 

 Thurston, Sea Fisheries of Malabar and S. Canara, in Madras Mus. Bull., 

 1900, No. 2. ANDAMAN ISLANDS : Admin. Repts. BURMA : Fenwick, Journ. 

 Agri.-Hort. Soc. Ind., 1849, vii., 67 ; Smeaton, Fishing Implements (reprinted 

 by Mukharji in Amsterdam Exhib. Cat., 1883) ; Br. Burma Gaz., 1880, i., 641-97, 

 417-8; Settl. Bassein, 1883, 20-2; Gaz. Mergui, 1880, 19-28; Henzada, 1886, 7; 

 Amherst, 1893, 31-7,39; Sagaing, 1903, 29-32; Toungoo, 1901, 25; Rept. 

 Inland and Sea Fisheries in the Thongwa, Myaungmya and Bassein Dist. and 

 Turtle-banks, Irrawaddy, 1902; Max and Bertha Ferrars, Burma, 1900, 89-90; 

 Nisbet, Burma under Brit. Rule and Before, 1901, i., 361-2. 



The following are some of the chief commercial headings under which 

 particulars regarding fish and fish products may be found in this work : 

 Beche-de-Mer (p. 122); Fish and Fisheries (the present article); Fish- 

 maws and Shark-fins (p. 542) ; Isinglass and Glue (pp. 542-3, 695) 

 Oils and Fats Animal (pp. 811-4). 



Other kindred subjects are : Pearls and Pearl Fisheries (p. 557) ; 

 Shells : Conch, Chank, Mother-of-Pearl, etc. (pp. 558, 989). 



If may be said that while the products afforded by fish are many and 

 varied, the information available regarding them is fragmentary and un- 

 satisfactory. The majority of fish are of course cooked and eaten either 

 fresh or after being salted, sun-dried, smoked, pickled, preserved in oil, etc., 

 etc. But unfortunately it is next to impossible to learn actual particulars 

 of the fisheries and fish-curing industries that could be regarded as of a 

 practical and commercial value. Much has been published, but either of 

 a purely scientific character or of a most discursive nature. 



PRODUCTION. Bengal. In the trade returns of Bengal, for example, 

 repeated mention is made of exports in dried fish and prawns. It is also 

 known that a fair business is done in smoked, pickled or otherwise pre- 

 served mango-fish, Jtilsa (sable), and begti (cock-up), the last mentioned 

 being often prepared in the form known as " tamarind-fish," but nothing 

 for certain is known of the sources of supply or the centres of manufacture 

 in Bengal or even in Calcutta. It is recorded that Calcutta obtains fish 

 from Goalundo, from East Bengal, from Diamond Harbour, from Mutta 

 and other localities in South Bengal. Moreover, though repeated efforts 

 have been made (and indeed are being made) to organise a systematic supply 

 of sea-fish, the Calcutta market is almost exclusively met by fresh-water 

 fish. The supply of excellent begti, procured both direct from the rivers 

 or from special rearing-tanks, is very great and the quality excellent. 

 During their respective seasons both mango-fish and hilsa are plentiful, the 

 latter caught very largely in the Ganges and conveyed by special fish trains 

 to Calcutta. Tank-reared fish may be spoken of as an important feature of 

 the Bengal supply. The sale of live fry for the purpose of annually stocking 

 tanks is accordingly a fairly important special industry. The fry are 

 caught on the surface of the shallow water near sandbanks in the rivers, and 

 are carried inland in earthen pots to be sold to the owners of rearing-tanks. 



Upper India may be spoken of as entirely dependent on its rivers 

 for its supply of fish. At one time a great effort was made to convey 

 sea-fish from Karachi as far inland as Simla, but the venture was 

 evidently not profitable as it was discontinued. The military stations 

 of the Panjab, however, do in some cases get fresh sea-fish from 

 Karachi. Near the larger rivers the towns such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra, 



540 



: 



