26 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY REPORT 



history. Some years have been moderately profitable to the lessees, while others have 

 proved barren. The lean years may occur because of several factors, but it is probable 

 that the chief cause is to be traced to reckless and wasteful methods of fishing, 

 especially to the wholesale destruction of immature oysters. In Ceylon I have seen 

 huge piles of shells, remnants of former fisheries, of which quite a large proportion 

 were too young to be of any real value. To obtain, say, a few pies worth of pearls a 

 whole thousand of young oysters are often destroyed, which if left to maturity would 

 yield pearls ten- and twenty- fold or more in value. This, too, leaves out of account 

 the fact that such destruction, taking place before full sexual maturity is reached, must 

 militate most materially against the repopulation of the beds with new generations. 



Should the window-pane oyster become the object of a fishery in Okhamandal, I 

 recommend strongly that a regulation be made and enforced strictly enjoining the 

 fishermen to put back upon the sea bottom, convex side downwards, all oysters less 

 than four inches and a half in longest diameter. Very few pearls are present in 

 oysters under this size, so no material loss will be caused to the fishermen or the 

 lessee, and a valuable step towards ensuring the continued well-being of the beds 

 will be effected. No necessity is likely to arise for a long time to establish a breeding 

 reserve, provided size limit be enforced, as every muddy bay along the coast of 

 the Gulf of Kutch has its beds of these oysters, capable of restocking the Okha 

 bays should the stock there become depleted. Until all such bays be the subject of 

 a similar fishery — a contingency most unlikely — the oysters therein may be looked 

 upon as constituting natural breeding reserves for the whole neighbourhood. 



On account of the chill winds of winter, the season for fishing is indicated 

 as the warm period from May to September as a maximum ; June, July and August 

 will probably be found the most suitable months for the work. The rest of the 

 year may be considered as a natural close season. 



In Sind and in Ceylon the beds are rented out for periods of three to five 

 years ; if it be possible the same system will probably be found the most suitable 

 for Okhamandal also, as departmental working is necessarily expensive in the 

 case of a small and intermittent industry such as this must be under the most 

 favourable circumstances. 



Mr. Pradhan suggested the possibility of utilising the shells in button- making. 

 This is worthy of attention, but I fear cannot be a success unless some method 

 of hardening the shell be discovered — the shell is too soft and partakes too much 

 of the nature of slab mica in its natural condition to withstand abrasion, a 

 quality button material must possess to command extensive employment. Possibly 

 permeation by some fluid cement might effect this object. I hope to experiment 

 on such lines before long. 



