Ceylon
side has been the scene of the greatest pearling operations ; and from
the Madras coast, the fisheries have not been prosecuted except at long
intervals, averaging once in fifteen or twenty years.
Owing
to the scarcity of oysters and to other causes, the fishery was
prosecuted on the Madras coast in only eight years of the whole period
from 1768 to 1907. These years of productivity were 1822, 1830, i860,
1861, 1882, 1889, 1890, and 1900; and even then the yield was
relatively small. The largest was 15,874,500 oysters in i860, from
which the Madras government derived a revenue of Rs.250,276; and about
half as many oysters were obtained in 1861 with a revenue of Rs.
129,003. Numerous and prolonged experiments in conserving the reefs and
in cultivating the oysters have been made without success. The reason
usually given for the greater wealth of oysters on the Ceylon side is,
that it is more sheltered from the strong currents which sweep down the
Bay of Bengal into the Gulf of Manaar and impinge directly on the
coast of the mainland.
The headquarters of the fishery are at Tuticorin, near to Madura,
the Benares of the south, the holy "City of Sweetness" which the gods
have delighted to honor from time immemorial. But the camp is commonly
erected of palmyra and bamboo on the barren shore several miles distant
from Tuticorin. The 1890 fishery was at Salâpatturai, and that of 1900
at a place which received the mouth-filling name of Veerapandianpatanam.
The preparations for pearling at Tuticorin are similar to those
on the Ceylon coast. In the autumn the reefs are examined by
government inspectors, and if the conditions seem to warrant a fishery
in the following spring, arrangements are made therefor and the proper
notification issued. The announcement follows the general plan of that
in Ceylon. The following, from the Fort St. George "Gazette," Madras,
January 16, 1900, is a copy of the notification preceding the last
fishery which has occurred :
Notice is hereby given that a pearl fishery will take place at Veerapandianpatanam on or about the 12th March, 1900.
1.
The bank to be fished is the Theradipulipudithapar, estimated to
employ 100 boats for twenty days with average loads of 7,000 oysters
per day.
2.
It is therefore recommended that such boat owners and divers as
may wish to be employed shall be at Tuticorin on or before the ist of
March next and anchor their boats abreast of the government flagstaff ;
the first day's fishing will take place on the 12th of March, weather
permitting.
3.
The fishery will be conducted on account of Government, and the
oysters put up for sale in such lots as may be deemed expedient.
4. The arrangements of the fishery will be the same as have been usual on similar occasions.
