MALAYAN FISHKS. 11 



bok), which ascends the rivers to a considerable distance diiring the 

 breeding season. It arrives on the coast in enormous shoals, and 

 twent}' eight years ago, as Skeat has recorded, they were invariably 

 taken in full roe, when they are in the best condition. 



Uecent reports show that Terubok have fallen off both in 

 quantity and, as the writer knows from his own experience, in 

 quality, those now taken being mostly spent fish in which state 

 they are positively unwholesome. 



These fish used to be taken in such numbers that the nets con- 

 tained more than the boats could load. Within the past few years 

 the writer has, on several occasions, picked up these fish by hand in 

 a dying cojidition apparently choked by silt in their attempt to 

 ascend the rivers. Failing to ascend the rivers the Shad must 

 either spawn in the sea or in the polluted lower reaches and in either 

 case the eggs perish. 



Unfortunately, the migrations of the Terubok do not, as far as 

 the writer's experience goes, take it to the East coast of the Penin- 

 sula, so that, the Terubok fishery of Malaya appears to be in 

 danger of extinction. 



This introduction would not be complete without some mention 

 of the conditions under wliich the transport of fish from the source 

 to the consumer takes place. 



There is a general agreement that transport is bad. Many 

 schemes ha've been evolved for ensuring rapid transport and reduced 

 prices, but none of them have l:)een ijut into practice and probably 

 none are commercially practicable. A permanent scheme is re- 

 quired that can be built up by degrees; the writer has advocated 

 in two reports the use of cold storage. While allowing that the 

 expenditure will l>e great we should not lose sight of the fact that 

 it will be a permanent and sound investment. 



Let .us consider the existing conditions first. 



In a temperate climate f sh will keep fresh for days. Here, 

 near the Equator, fish caught in the morning are in an advanced state 

 of decomposition before the evening. Decay is arrested by the use 

 of ice. For instance, ice manufactured in Kuala Lumpur is taken 

 by train to Port Swettenham and sold to small middlemen wlio 

 go to sea and purchase from the fishermen. These middlemen are 

 bound as a rule to sell tlie fish to the ice dealers, who again sell to 

 other middlemen, who sell to the retailers in the markets. The 

 result is that fish costing $15 a pikul at sea cost $80 a pikul in 

 Kuala Lumpur, 30 miles away. 



Ice melts rapidly in the trains, in the boats, and in the mar- 

 kets. A box of fish must therefore contain an enormous proportion 

 of ice to allow for wastage, and the fish instead of being fresh, cold, 

 and wholesome are in a swollen and sodden condition. 



