INDIA. 



(See Plan, p. 140.) 



IN a tropical country, such as India, the economic value of well-stocked fisheries depends 

 greatly upon two considerations. First whether a sufficient local demand for fish exists, which 

 will yield a fair remuneration to the fishermen for their outlay on the necessary gear and 

 labour in securing the finny tribes. Secondly, provided such demand is insufficient, whether 

 facilities are present which will enable them to send their surplus captures in a marketable 

 condition to more distant localities. 



Consequently it becomes necessary first to observe upon what proportion of the people of 

 India and Burma consume fish as food, or rather are able to do so without infringing caste 

 prejudices. In the Punjab comparatively few of the inhabitants are thus prohibited, although 

 Brahmans and the rural population in some places reject it, but among the residents of hilly 

 districts and towns its consumption is only limited by the paucity of the supply and the 

 cost of the article. In the North-West Provinces, Haiderabad, Mysor, and Coorg, more than 

 half the population are permitted by their religion to consume fish. In Oudh the majority 

 can do so. In Sind nearly all except the Brahmans ; in Bombay by far the largest proportion 

 of the people ; in South Canara 89 per cent. ; in Madras the majority, the exceptions being 

 Brahmans, Goldsmiths, high-caste Sudras, the followers of Siva, Jains, &c. ; in Orissa more 

 than half the people ; in Bengal proper from 90 to 95 per cent. ; in Assam and Chittagong 

 almost the entire population, and in Burma in the form of Nga-pse its use is universal. 



In investigating how the local markets were supplied with fish up to 1873, the replies 

 from native officials gave the following results. In the Punjab one in ten markets were 

 sufficiently supplied, in the North-West Provinces one in three, in Oudh one in four. In 

 Bombay the amount was stated to be insufficient in all and the same reports came from 

 Haiderabad, Mysor and Coorg. In Madras, near the sea, the quantity of fish was sufficient, 

 but only in one out of the ten inland markets. In short merely one-tenth of the bazaars were 

 reported as fully supplied with fish, and of these one-fifth obtained them from the sea-coast. 



The fishermen in several parts of India, more especially in the Madras Presidency, 

 have customs of a patriarchal character, which are more strictly adhered to on the Coromandel 

 than on the Western coast, but they appear to be falling into disuse. In Madras there are 

 three classes of headmen, the superior or priestly, whose office is hereditary, and he exercises 

 control over large tracts of country; the next is likewise hereditary, his jurisdiction being 

 limited to a few towns and villages. Tihe lowest form is elective, and he is over one village or 

 street. 



The sea-fishermen in olden times are stated to have been divided into two distinct classes 

 (1) Those who captured fish in the sea beyond their own depth ; and (2) those who fished from 

 the shore or in the backwaters, and were more immediately concerned in fish-curing and fish- 

 vending. Kemains of these two classes are still existing in Ganjam and elsewhere, but 

 generally the deep-sea fishermen have taken to the cheaper mode of plying their occupation 

 close in-shore. 



The condition of the sea fishermen in Sind about ten years since, when investigations were 

 made, showed that they were fairly well off; miserably poor in Bombay, except in the vicinity 

 of large towns ; in a prosperous condition from South Canara down the Western coast of the 

 Madras Presidency, but once round Cape Comorin they again appeared as a poverty-stricken 

 race of people, and continued so up the Coromandel coast, except when residing near large 

 centres of population. 



The sea-board of India and Burmah extends for about 4,611 English miles, and the seas 



