20 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY REPORT 



Kaitiawar. mid Bombay ; the opening of a railway to Nawanagar, only some fifty miles 

 distant, has also had a favourable influence in causing an increase in the pilgrim traffic, 

 and this in turn has probably entailed a rise in the retail value of the chanks 

 purchased as charms and holy souvenirs of a memorable pilgrimage. 



\Ve come now to a consideration of whether it is necessary or desirable to take 

 any steps to safeguard the well-being of this industry, and whether it is possible to 

 do anything to render it more productive. 



In the first place we have to recognise the great limitation of the area where 

 the fishery is carried on. The habitat of the chank is a peculiar sandy bottom 

 known to the Tamil chank fishers of the Gulf of Mannar as puchchi manal or 

 " insect-sand," containing such an amount of mud and organic matter as forms it 

 a suitable home for the sea- worms whereon the chanks feed. This haunt of the 

 chank is found at comparatively few places on the Okhamandal coast, the principal 

 being the sandy shore north of Kutchegad, the sands of Soso Bhara (esteemed the 

 best on the west coast), the bay between Okha and Vamiani Points, the coast of 

 Adatra facing Beyt Island, and Hanuman Dandi at the north of Beyt Island. A 

 few are also taken on a part of Chindi reef and on some of the banks in Beyt 

 Harbour ; some also at Borio and Mangunda. All told the chank grounds suffer 

 from the unalterable disadvantage of possessing extremely limited area which in all 

 probability cannot support any large increase in the number of chanks living 

 thereon. As no considerable increase in the revenue can be hoped for on account 

 of this limiting factor, any measures to be taken must be equally limited financially. 



If we turn to the great chank fishery of South India, we find that the 

 sole limitation imposed by the authorities on the fishermen, is that they shall 

 return to the sea any chank found that will pass through a gauge hole having a 

 diameter of two and three-eighths inches, and this is a rule which, if adopted in 

 the Okhamandal fishery, in my opinion would tend to benefit the industry, as it 

 would help to conserve the chanks till they reach maturity and have an oppor- 

 tunity to breed and raise up seed unto themselves. It would go far to counteract 

 any possible ill-effects arising from overfishing, which the payment of a high rental 

 and a brisk demand for the shells is bound to induce. Such latter factors are, I 

 fear, likely to result eventually in a more or less severe depletion of the beds. Of 

 course, the selling of undersized or immature chanks would also have to be made 

 a punishable offence. So I recommend the partial protection of chanks when next 

 the fishery be leased by the insertion of a condition (\vith proper penalties for 

 infraction) that no chanks be fished less than two and a quarter inches in diameter 

 and that gauges of this size be kept by the local officials at the fishery and sale 

 villages. If enacted, it must be impressed on the fishermen that these undersized 

 shells be returned to the sea near the chank bed as soon as possible after the close 

 of the day's fishing we cannot expect each man to carry a gauge with him, and 



