March % 1903.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
625 
— : « 
To the Editor. 
TRAWLING IN CEYLON. 
Jan. 27, 1903. 
Dear Sir, — I see Dr. Gandevia has been 
writing rather strongly on the trawling question 
in Ceylon. His first contention that trawlera do 
not place on the world's market an abundant and 
constant supply of fresh wholesome fish at a cheap 
price, is, however, open to doubt. At Giimsby, Hull, 
and Aberdeen, three, if not the greatest, at least 
among the greatest trawling eencres in the world, 
the past year has not been attended with the 
same prosperity as in past years. This is not 
accounted for by competent writers and experts 
on the subject as due to a scarcity of fish. Fish 
were plentiful, but trawlers were too numerous, 
the supply was too abundant and the prices con- 
sequently unremunerative. The picture of thou- 
sands of " devastated " villages is, from my little 
experience, considerably overdrawn ; in tact the 
seven-mile limit to British Trawlers has proved 
quite sufficient to protect the coast line fisher- 
men at home, and were the Danish and Norwegian 
Trawlers not permitted (by the North Sea Con- 
vention, I think) to lower their beams as close 
as three miles off the coast there would be 
little cause to complain. By all means protect 
the foreshore fisheries in Ceylon, but let the 
protection b© reasonable. Five or seven miles 
would be ample in my opinion as a reserve for 
the line fishermen. If the trawlers do not go 
raking along the spawning beds, I do not think 
the churning of steamer screws will frighten the 
fioh away. Dr. Gandevia's object is praiseworthy 
enough, but I do not think Government should, 
without expert advice on the matter, do anything 
to crush the life out ot a new industry by making 
the conditions of its prosecution impossible with- 
out being thoroughly satisfied that the industry 
is injuriously affecting the coast fishermen's 
interest.— Yours, &c. SEER. 
.Sir, — Dr. Gandevia's letter in one of your 
numbers, regarding Trawling in Ceylon is deserving 
of attention. Facts are what is wanted ancl 
sayings and assertions are to be taken for what 
they are worth. Not long ago dead fish was 
washed ashore, and it was found that the fish 
caught by trawling was more than could be cured 
or preserved, and the rest was thrown overboard. 
Surely this is not a desirable proceeding to destroy 
fish which could be fished by villagers on the coast. 
To destroy the food of man for the benefit of a few 
speculators is not a matter to be encouraged. 
In the North-East monsoon there is an abundance 
of fl«»h near the coast, and most Mkely it is due to 
the smooth sea at that time of the year and the 
abundance oi food for (ish washed down from land 
by the burst of the Norlh East monsoon. If such 
is the case, it is a pity that fish should be pro- 
vented from comins' near land by trawling a few 
miles from the coast. 
As we have laws for the protection of land 
animals by pame laws, why should not there be 
the same protection for fish on the coast, to prevent 
79 
fish being caught and destroyed because the catch 
is in such abundance that it could not be preserved. 
To my mind, trawling should be allowed during 
the South- West monsoon from April to November, 
and for the four months from December to March 
it should be disallowed. This will give the fisher- 
men on the sea coast the benefit they need and the 
trawler, his share as well. 
To allow trawling all the year round, would 
impoverish the inhabitants along the sta coast, 
whose trade is in fishing, and also affect the spawn- 
ing. These are matters which deserve careful 
attention as it may lead to crime, poverty and to 
the restriction of a fresh fish diet, and to encourage 
a badly-cured fish one. The appended extract will 
show the distress caused in fishing villages when 
deprived of their living. — Yours truly, 
TRUTH, 
Troubled Fisherfolk. 
London, Jan. 13. — Forty thousand fishermen on 
the coast of Britanny have been deprived of their 
means of livelihood, owing to the disappearance of 
sardines from the adjacent waters of the English 
Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Great distress 
consequently prevails among the residents of the 
coastal districts. — Australian paper. 
TOBACCO IN INDIA AND IN CEYLON. 
Feb. 4. 
Dear Sir,— I rather like a weed— I mean 
between the lips, and not on the plantation ; 
but I don't see why I should pay more for 
a cigar than my brother in India. I found 
the other day in the Indian Planting and 
Gardening, a protest against the prices put 
on Indian cigars by the three leading manu- 
facturers there, while their quality has been 
deteriorating. On that point I do not wish 
to say anything ; but the writer speaks of 
a box of a hundred Manila or Havana 
cigars being available for R4'50 to Ro, and 
of Loudres at R6. How is it we cannot get 
these brands in Colombo at these prices ? 
Is it that the duty here is heavier than in 
India? Or is it that our shopkeepers have 
forgotten to alter the prices which they had 
arranged in combination, when the rupee 
was worth only thirteen pence ? This for- 
getfulness extended to other articles as well, 
until some Cash stores were^tarted. Can no 
one start cigars at reasonable prices? 
SIXTEEN -PENCE. 
[Imported cigars pay Rl^ per lb. here. In 
India 5 p.c, ad valorem. — Ed. T.A.] 
OVER-PRODUCTION : NOVEL PRO- 
POSAL IN BRAZIL. 
Feb. 5. 
Dear Sir.— Enclosed is a cutting from the 
Financial Times of 10th January. What 
about the over supply of Cardamoms being 
treated in some such manner ?— Yours truly, 
VISITOR. 
f Extract referred to. J 
Two Birds with One Stone.— A Committee 
recently appointed by the Agricultural, Commer- 
cial and Industrial Society of San Paulo, in Brazil, 
