1188 KEPOET OF COMMISSIONEE OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [6] 



mon, and the successful acclimatization of this fish from the ova already 

 received may now perhaps be a mere matter of time." 



Referring to the development of the fishing industry, the commission- 

 ers called attention to the desirability of extending the market for fresh 

 fish, and urged the adoption of improved appliances for the capture 

 and preservation of both the permanent and migrating fish with a view 

 to foreign exportation. 



United States Consulate-General, 



Melbourne^ Victoria, May 21, 1884. 



6.— THE FISHERIES OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1882. 



By H. Mattson, Consul-General. 



Fish are found in great abundance and variety in all the waters sur- 

 rounding India, and, by their extensive and permanent use as an arti- 

 cle (jf food among the native population, they constitute an important 

 factor in the internal economy of the country. They are not, however, 

 an article of export. Some attempts have been made at fish-curing as 

 an industry and as a means of increasing the food supply, which have 

 proved successful and will in all probability soon be developed under 

 the fostering care of some of the local gove)?nments. In the Madras 

 presidency there are eleven curing-yards, in which the total curings 

 amounted to 1,734 tons. The fishing industry is particularly well suited 

 to the natives of India, and it is only for the want of enterprise that it 

 has not already become one of great importance and profit. 



United States (Consulate-General, 



Calcutta, January 27, 1883. 



7.— FISHERIES OF CAPE COLONY, AFRICA, 



By James W. Siler, Consul. 

 « 

 Little effort is made to utilize the various species and great numbers 



of fish along the South African coast. In the coast districts suflicient 

 fish are taken to supply a cheap food to the inhabitants of the imme- 

 diate neighborhood ; but the attempts made at curing the fish are of 

 the most primitive kind, and the only exports of this commodity from 

 the seaports, worth naming, are to Mauritius. Some years ago whale 

 fisheries were carried on to some extent on the southern and south- 

 eastern coasts of the colony ; but latterly whales have ceased to fre- 

 quent these waters, and the amount of sperm-oil now taken is trifling. 

 South African rivers, as a rule, are singularly destitute of fish useful 

 for table or sporting purposes. 

 United States Consulate, 



Cajge Town, October, 18,83. 



