IV CEYLON MARINE BIOLOGICAL REPORTS. 



Ha\"ing thus outlined in merest detail soiuo of the linuiustances whicli liave led to the failure of 

 the enterprise, it would be well to now consider what ought, in our opinion, to be done in the future. 



'A. —The desirability of forming a Government Marine Department. 



The pearl fisheries represent the olde.st, and probably the largest, source of revenue to the Govern- 

 ment that is, and its extensive nature fully warrants the attempt being made to make the banks as 

 lucrative and successful as possible. What is required in Ceylon is a Government Marine Department, 

 with a special staff of two or three suitably trained men. whose 07ily duty would be to fully investigate and 

 enhance the marine resources of the Island. The primary work would bo a continuation of the scientific 

 research initiated on the pearl banks. During the south-west monsoon, when operations are impossible 

 on the ]3earl banks, there would be the investigation of tlie Placuna fisheries on the sheltered side at 

 Tamblegani, or the investigation of the fresh-water fisheries. In addition to these, chanks are fairly 

 plentiful on muddy gromid, and this industry could be made profitable. Finally, fish trawling investi- 

 gations could be carried on, and this industry placed on a scientific basis. It would be impossible 

 to do this work without a special staff. A Marine Department could be run for from £2,000 to £3,00(J 

 per aanum successfully, and if a single pearl fishery resulted once in from twenty to thirty years, the 

 Department woidd liave paid for itself, to say nothing of the other industries. Other fisheries over and 

 above the one named would represent clear profit. One has only to turn to the Madras Presidenc3^ and 

 many other places elsewhere, to find that even the minor marine industries are placed on a proper and 

 lucrative footing. Ceylon is unique in this respect in possessing the finest pearl fishery in the world, and 

 tins fact itself is sufficient reason why a special department should be estabUshed. What Peradeniya has 

 done for agriculture in Ceylon — for tea, rubber, coconuts, &c. — can be done by a Marine Department 

 with the pearl fishery and other marine industries. 



The difficulties with the fisheries here when under Government control have ahuost always been 

 that the various officials pro tern, were merely casually deputed to reap the harvest of the sea, and had no 

 time nor business to seek to enhance its value, or to ensure its continuity. 



There are instances on record, and not far remote, when by the merest chance Government 

 conducted huge fisheries wliich might easily have been lost. We have no doubt whatever that these 

 incidents have been numerous in the past, but there is necessarily no record to show. Instances are 

 more numerous still ui which beds of oysters two, three, fom', and even five years old were discovered 

 for the first time. If the inspections had been carried out with that thoroughness which so large a 

 source of revenue warrants, these oysters would have been discovered before they were three months 

 old. It is also equally clear that if beds have frequently been found of this age, other beds have never 

 been found at all. The discovery of a bed of oysters two, three, four, or five years old indicates tliat the 

 necessity of an extensive survey of the pearl bank area has not been thoroughly appreciated. No 

 inspection is either satisfactory or adequate wliich does not every year systematically and fully cover 

 the eniire plateau ; and so long as inspections are merely confined to a few paars, beds of oysters are 

 bomid to be lost. Oysters or spat, when they occur, ought to be discovered at once, and watched and 

 tended with that care which the circumstances demand. The rectangular method of inspection adopted 

 by the Company leaves no part of the ground unexplored. It is described elsewhere. 



The pearl bank area is to be regarded as wholly ijotential, and not as consisting of a number of 

 j)aars. The notoriety of the Clieval and Muttuvaratu Paars as very productive areas is merely incident 

 on their having been more frequently examined. In fact, up to five or six years ago these were practi- 

 cally the only areas inspected. As the recent investigators went further afield, other productive paars 

 were discovered, and there is every reason to believe that oysters flourished tliereon occasionally from 

 time immemorial, and were never sought for. As we have already noted, the area under lease covers over 

 700 square miles : there is still much potential ground not under lease. The entire area covers approxi- 

 mately over 1,200 square miles. The thorough inspection of tliis area would fully occupy six months. 

 It thus becomes evident that tliere is emiJloyment for two trained and expert men, and I have no 

 doubt in my own mind that the establishment of a Marine Department would not only be a successful 

 venture, but that in a short time it would prove to be one of the principal and most lucrative sources of 



