XIII.-THE FISHERIES OF INDIA/ 



By Fkancis Day, F. L. S., F. Z. S., 

 Deputy surgeon-g&n&'dl {retired), formerly inspector-general of fisheries in India. 



The subject wLicli I sLall have the honor to bring before you this 

 evening is that of the fish and fisheries of India and its dependencies. 

 Possibly there are other questions pertaining to the East which would 

 prove more attractive and likely to engage attention than fish; but 

 I think there is not one which could be selected more directly inter- 

 esting to the teeming millions of our Indian Empire, and which requires 

 so much investigation from our legislators, philanthropists, and scien- 

 tific inquirers. 



Origin of fisheries. — Doubtless one, perhaps the greatest, reason 

 why many persons take an interest in this class of the vertebrate ani- 

 mals consists in the food they afford, and the occupation they give to 

 man. But when we consider the subject more closely, we find that in 

 our everyday life we are profiting extensively from the lessons which 

 our ancestors received from the finny tribes. Man, in his savage con- 

 dition, has the natural instinct of desiring food when hungry. Whether 

 he can or cannot subsist solely upon vegetables is immaterial; his 

 canine teeth demonstrate his carnivorous propensities, and, nauseated 

 with a vegetarian diet, he would naturally seek change by the addition 

 of animal substances. If living near water, more especially on the sea- 

 coast, the hungry savage would first resort to such mollusks, crusta- 

 ceans, and fish as he could capture in the shallows, or were left there 

 by a receding tide; but as his wants increased, and the source of sup- 

 ply began to diminish, he would have to adopt other devices. He 

 would wade after his prey, pursue them with spears, shoot them with 

 bows and arrows, as the Andamanese do to this day, obtain them by 

 setting up dams and weirs, or intoxicate them with poisons. 



But, again (unless consequent upon some peculiar circumstances), the 

 time would inevitably arrive when augmented captures would be de- 

 sired ; man would then have to venture further out, to dive after his 

 prey, employ nets, to float upon a log, or fasten pieces of wood together 

 as a raft, and in due succession would come the construction of a boat, 

 and finally that of a ship — this last being necessary for the purpose of 



*From Journal of the Society of Arts, pp. 609-628, London, May 4, 1883. A paper 

 read in the Indian Section, Friday evening, April 20, 1883. 



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