FISH 



Trade 



FISHERIES OF INDIA 



Coastwise 

 Traffic. 



Imports. 



Striking 

 Features of 

 Burmese 

 Traffic. 



Exports. 



China (Hongkong) for the re-exported fish-maws and shark-fins, followed 

 by the Straits for the Indian. It is perhaps a significant circumstance 

 that the United Kingdom has for some years taken fairly large quantities 

 and even the United States have obtained supplies of these products 

 direct from India. 



As giving a fuller conception of the Indian production, the following 

 review of the traffic carried coastwise may be framed. In the year 1903-4 

 the total coastwise transactions came to 1,236,173 lb., valued at Rs.6,84,179, 

 but showed a decrease in 1905-6 to 875,927 lb. Of the amount for 1903-4 

 Bombay alone took 1,160,667 lb., valued at Rs. 6,29,229. Of these coast- 

 wise imports two-fifths came from Madras, one-fifth from Sind, the re- 

 maining two-fifths equally from British ports and non-British ports within 

 the Presidency of Bombay. The remainder, over and above the Bombaj 

 transactions on total coastwise trade, may be said to be imports taker 

 in 1903-4 by Burma from Madras and Bengal, viz. 47,057 lb. Practically, 

 therefore, the coastwise trade in shark-fins and fish-maws is concentrate 

 in Bombay. It has been fairly constant for some years past, but if any- 

 thing has manifested a tendency in the foreign imports to decrease anc 

 the Indian produce to expand, a satisfactory state of affairs. 



Trade in Fish. (&) to (d) above may be exhibited as follows : 

 Foreign Imports. In 1892-3 the imports of fish were valued at 

 Rs. 28,80,269 (say 193,000). Of that amount the " Unsalted Dry Fish " 

 (see p. 542) came to Rs. 3,55,893, " Salted Dry Fish " (see p. 546) 

 Rs. 18,08,491, and the " Wet Salted Fish " (Ngapi, p. 544) to Rs. 7,15,885. 

 In the years 1894-7 a serious decline took place in the traffic, due, it 

 is believed, to the conditions that then prevailed in Bombay. 



ANALYSIS OP THE IMPORTS OF FISH INTO INDIA. 



Another very significant circumstance in the fish trade of India may 

 be stated to be the fact that Bengal practically takes no part in the import 

 traffic. Burma receives by far the major portion of all the fish imported by 

 British India ; and, what is most striking, its supplies come almost entirely 

 from the Straits Settlements, and are uniformly returned at a much higher 

 price than the classes of fish that go to the other provinces. Bombay is 

 the chief receiving province for " Dry Unsalted Fish " and Burma for 

 " Salted Dry " and " Salted Wet Fish." The imports of " Dry Salted 

 Fish " come mainly from the Straits (into Burma) and from Arabia, 

 Mekran and Sonmiani (into Bombay). 



Foreign Exports. There exists a small re-export of foreign preserved 

 fish which in 1905-6 came to Rs. 44,584, and in 1906-7, 22,686. But 

 turning from these unimportant transactions to the traffic in Indian pro- 

 duced and preserved fish, it may be said that, if anything, the exports 

 of " Dry Unsalted " and " Dry Salted Fish " from India have shown 

 a tendency to improve during the past decade. In 1892-3, for example, 

 they were valued at Rs. 8,97,406 ; in 1903-4 they came to Rs. 17,75,722 ; 



550 



