Note 65 — M (Continued) (continued 2)

“Fishing is the hereditary occupation of the Mukkuvans. Their boats, made of aini (Artocarpus hirsuta) or mango wood, and fitted with a mat sail, cost from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500, and carry a crew of 5 or 8 men according to size. Their nets are of all shapes and sizes, ranging from a fine net with a ⅜″ mesh for sardines and such small fry to a stout valiya srāvuvala or shark net with a 6½″ or 7″ mesh; and for a big Badagara boat a complete equipment is said to cost Rs. 1,000. The nets are generally made of fibre, cotton thread being used only for nets with the finest mesh. Salt is not usually carried in the boats, and the fish decompose so rapidly in the tropical sun that the usual fishing grounds are comparatively close to the shore; but boats sometimes venture out ten, fifteen, or even twenty miles. Shoals of the migratory sardine, which are pursued by predaceous sharks, kora, and cat-fish, yield the richest harvest of fishes great and small to the Mukkuvan. Huge quantities of mackerel or aila are also caught, and seir, white and black pomfret, prawns, whiting, and soles are common. The arrival of the boats is the great event of the day in a fishing village. Willing hands help to drag them up the beach, and an eager crowd gathers round each boat, discussing the catch and haggling over the price. The pile of fish soon melts away, and a string of coolies, each with a basket of fish on his head, starts off at a sling trot into the interior, and soon distributes the catch over a large area. Relays of runners convey fresh fish from Badagara and Tellicherry even as far as the Wynaad. All that is left unsold is taken from the boats to the yards to be cured under the supervision of the Salt Department with Tuticorin salt supplied at the rate of 10 annas per maund. The fisherman is sometimes also the curer, but usually the two are distinct, and the former disposes of the fish to the latter ‘on fixed terms to a fixed customer,’ and ‘looks to him for support during the slack season, the rainy and stormy south-west monsoon.’ The salt fish is conveyed by coasting steamers to Ceylon, and by the Madras Railway to Coimbatore, Salem, and other places. Sardines are the most popular fish, and are known as kudumbam pulartti, or the family blessing. In a good year, 200 sardines can be had for a single pie. Sun-dried, they form valuable manure for the coffee planter and the cocoanut grower, and are exported to Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and occasionally to China and Japan; and, boiled with a little water, they yield quantities of fish oil for export to Europe and Indian ports. Salted shark is esteemed a delicacy, particularly for a nursing woman. Sharks’ fins find a ready sale, and are exported to China by way of Bombay. The maws or sounds of kora and cat-fishes are dried, and shipped to China and Europe for the preparation of isinglass.”65 It will be interesting to watch the effect of the recently instituted Fishery Bureau in developing the fishing industry and system of fish-curing in Southern India.