The Development of Ceylon's fisheries (a symposium)

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The central equatorial region which showed the heaviest decline right from the b5ginning 0:111 be expected to yield a catch of 1 to 2 tons per unit effort. However with reduction in the fishing intensity in this region due to the spreading of the effort westwards, the catch rate in the central equatorial region though low, appears to be approaching stabilisation. With declining catch rates, the size of the tuna was also becoming smaller ; however, this phenomenon too does not seem to be getting worse. This condition setting in for this region can be expected to influence favourably the fishery in the Bay of Bengal as well. In the eastern part of the Arabian Sea fishing was good during the period 1957 to 1958 Gradually the good fishing areas have shifted westwards and the area immediately west of Ceylon has become relatively poor now. The Arabian Sea and the west equatorial region west of the Maldives and Chagos Islands, east of the African coast and north of Madagascar is a very rich ground at present (Fig. 4). With the decline in the average value of catch of yellowfin tuna per unit effort, tmn boJ.ts have to spend more days fishing in order to fill their holds and at the same time boa.ts leaving J apJ.nese bases have to sail the entire width of the Indian Ocean to get to the rich yellowfin grounds off Africa. This problem iE: being overcome by operating the tmu boats from African bases and by refuelling out at sea. Presently the number o+ boats operating from African bases is increasing rapidly, and their catches are transhipped either to ,Japan or directly to countries like the United States to which about 4,000 tons of the tm1a are thus shipped from the Indian Ocean.

Section 2-Big eye tuna Biology.- The life span of this species also is about seven years. This kind of tuna grows to a length of about 2:30 em. (150 Kgrms.) and attains maturity when it reaches a length of 91-100 em. (14-20 Kgrms). The size group entering the fishery is 80 to 180 em. with the mode at 140 em. The 120 to 180 em. group is dominant in the equatorial region. Tho size becomes smaller ill the south where bigeys over 1:30 em. are scarce. The mature female has a fecundity of 2.8 to 3.6 million eggs. The spawr1ing occurs both in the eastern and western waters and the bigeye in these two regions are considered as two sub-populations. The members of the eastern sub-population resemble the Pacific bigeye in their ch&racters. In the Indian Ocean as a whole mR.les predominate over the females, both among the smaller and the larger sized fish. Age group 0 I II III IV v VI Size 35 55 75 90 115 130 145 ± 5·9 ± 4·1 ± 2·6 ± 1·8 ± 2·2 ± 3·5 Distribution.-This species also has a wide distribution like the yellowfin and is relatively more concentrated in the northern waters than in the southern half of the Indian Ocean. However, this specief does not seem to be dominant in any part of this ocean. Best bigeye tuna fishing areas in tbe Indian Ocean are the mouth of the Arabian Sea west of the Maldive~:, and south of the Sunda. Islands. No bigeye is caught ir the antcrc+ic waters or waters affected by that flow. Though roughly similar k the yellowfin in distribution pattern, the bigeye perhaps lives at a relatively greater depth and less densely too. This species also has characters rather distinctly different from tho::;e of yellowfin and alb2 core. H has been shown in the c&se of the Pacific bigeye that ik distribution is not necessarily related to the plankton diE:ttibution. 1n the India::J. Ocean the fiflhing grounds are spawning gr0unds and the distribution of the feeding groups is still unknown. Catch per Unit Effort.-The hooked-rate in the Indian Ocean for higeye tuna ranges between 0.6 and 2.5 per cent., the average being a little below 1 per cent. There have been no marked changes in the stock through these years even though there have been fluctuations. The fluctuation of the hooked rate in different regions is shown below:

Area 1952 1.963 1.954 1956 19[.6 1957 1958 1969 1960

60°-70°E 0·81 0·85 l·Ol 1.07 1 ·04 0·67 0·81 70°-80°E 0·75 0·67 0·75 0.84 0·75 0·83 0·75 80°-90°E 0·83 0·81 0·76 0·93 0.83 0·79 0·63 0·63 7°S-12°S," 90°-100°E 0·97 1·18 1·45 1·65 1.51 1·37 1·08 1·17 l00°-ll0°E 1·09 1·82 1·64 1·54 1.37 1·25 1•22 1·52: " ll0°-120°E 0·81 0·93 1·52 1·19 0·76 0.55 0·60 0·76 0·75 " 6--R 951 (9/64) 280

Though they are caught almost in the same area as the yellowfin tuna, the annual fluctuation 'Df the hooked rate is markedly dissimilar to that of yellowfin tuna. The significant decrease of the hooked :rate with continued exploitation of the fishing ground, as seen in the case of yellowfin tuna, is not noticed in this species.

Section 3-Blue:fin tuna Biology.-This species is the largest of the tunas reaching a length of 2·5 m. and a weight of 300 to 350 kilograms. The dominant size group is 140-170 em. with the mode at 155 em. April to August, fish of 150 em. length or more are rarely caught. The fish caught during the active :fishing season are the spawning group. Until recently the bluefin tuna off the west, south and east coasts of Australia were considered to be completely independent populations and were called the " Indian bluefin " (West coast), " Southern bluefin " (South coast), and the "Australian bluefin" (East coast). Recently from morphmetric and tagging studies it has been shown that the fish from these three :regions cannot be distinguished morphologically though different spawning groups occur on either side of the continent, and also that intermingling occurs between those from the west and the south. Distribution and Fishing Grounds.-In the Indian Ocean this species was thought to be found along the west coast of Australia, 95° to 125°E longitude and 8°S to 20°S latitude, since 1952. In 1958, a "new ground" was discovered south of the "old ground", between 20°S and 30°S (Fig. 5). Very reeently it has been found that the bluefin tuna exists between 30°S and 40°S and longitudinally between 50°E and 90°E. Whether it is sufficient for commercial exploitation yet remains to be studied. The seasonal changes in the location of the " old ground " is as follows :-

September to Octobe:r : Between 8°S-l5°S, ll0°E November to Feb:rua.:ry : 8°8-20°8, l00°E March 8°8-20°8, ll0°E After April the fish is supposed to move southwards. The fishing reaches a peak during October, in the old ground. In the new ground the fishing commences in September and reaches a peak in Februaryland then declines. A north-south migration between the two grounds is evident.

20~----~----4-----+-~--~ ...

60 70 90 100 110 120 130

Fig. 5 : Indian Ocean Tuna Fishing Grounds : Density distribution of blue fin tuna (catch per 100 hooks).

Gatch per Unit E:ffort.--Roughly half the effort applied in the Indian Ocean is concentrated in the areas described above. There are two reasons for this. One is that the hooked rate of bluefin tuna is very high in the Indian Ocean and the other is that this tuna reaches an enormous size. These 281 ilwo combine to g1ve very high values for the catch per unit effort in terms of weight. An average of 3 to 4 per cent. hooked-rate for the old ground and 7 to 8 p::lr cent. for the new ground is being realised. The :fishing effort directed at catching bluefin increased steadily from about 48 operations in 1952 to 1,930 operations in 1959. Beginning from 1960 the effort shot up to 4,275 operations, with the discovery of the new ground. Presently the effort is in the region of 5,200 operations per year. Over half the total production of tunas from the Indian Ocean comes from the bluefin :fishery.

Biology.-This species is the smallest of the tunas and is uncommon in the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean. It has a life span of roughly ten years. Those caught north of 11he equator are smaller (mode 95 em.) than those from the southern part. In the region 0° to 4°S the modal size is 102 em. and this increases southwards to the 20°-25°8 latitude. Further south the modal size decreases. This probably could be attributed to the existence of a convergence around 24°S. The albacore above this convergenee belon~ to the spawning group and those below it belong to the feeding group. This condition resembles the pattern in the North Pacific where the sub-tropical convergence is the boundary separating the spawning group from the feeding group north of it. The earliest stage at which this :fish has been observed to be in the mature state is the 90 em. size stage.

Age group I II III IV v VI vn Size 50 65 75 85 95 •• 100 105 !'

The albacore in the Indian Ocean has been accepted as belonging to a single population unlike the yellowfin or bigeye tunas. These are slightly different from those of the south Pacific as seen from s'erological and morphometric studies. llowever intermingling has not been ruled out. Sex ratio. is generally l : l but females are smaller. Spawning is presumed to occur south of the Sunda Islands: and also west of Madagascar.

. . .-...... · ...... · ......

30 40 50 60 110

Fig. 6 : Indian Ocean Tuna Fishing Grounds : Density distribution of albacore (catch per 100 hooks).

Distribution and Fishing Grm~nds.-This species is concentrated south of 8°S anrl the pattern of distribution contrasts with that of yellowfin tuna in that its density of distribution increases south­ wards. The southern limit of distribution is the sub-tropical convergence (40°S) which is also the southern limit of the Indian Ocean (Fig. 6). During the summer (April to September) two major :fishing areas exist. One along the equator and other 'south of 8°S. In winter (October to March} the former fishing area disappears but the latter remains a year-round :fiahing ground. However the hooked-rate in the latter ground is very high between April and September. At the commencement 282 of the longline fishery in the Indian Ocean there was hardly any interest in the albacore even though the albacore were then caught close to the equator. However with the decline of the yellowfin catch rate more interest was shown on the albacore. Fishing is now extending southwards especially along the western part and the 10°8 to 20°8 range is being exploited. A future trend will be to push further south. Gatch per Unit Effort.-The average catch per day per boat is in the region of 1·5 to 2 tons. The region east of Madagascar appears to have the highest density of distribution with a hooked­ rate of over 5 per cent. The yield declines eastwards, to the Australian coast (Fig. 6). The 30°8 to 40°8 belt which is not being commercially exploited at present has also been found to be commer­ cially exploitable, according to investigations conducted lately (Fig. 7). However the size of the fish in this region. is likely to be relatively smaller. Right. from the beginning of the tuna fishery in the Inman Ocean, there has been no intense effort to fish the albacore popul;:ttion. However, the production of albacore increased from about 5-6,000 tons in 1952 to about 25-28,000 tons in 1956, Since 1956 the annual production has been low. Probabl:r this could be attributed to the fact that there has been increasing concentration of effort in new yellowfin and bluefin fishing grounds which were away from the vicinity of good albacore grounds.

20°r------~------~------~------S 3·4 1·5 liiiii 1·8 Ill 3·4 30~------+--·· liiiiii4 s--- i 3 3 HOOKED RATE D OTHER TUNAS lllll ALBACORE 40 1----f------11---=-

70 80 90 !00 Fig. 7 : Density distribution of albacore along the route of the 196.? exploratory cruise in tbe Indian Ocean sponsored by the Nankai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory, J'apan.

With.the pre.:;ent trend in the tnna fishery in the Indian Ocean, it is anticipated that greater attention will be pairl to exploiting more of the albacore from areas that are still more or less virgin.

Section 5-.Marlins and Spearfish BiolorJy.-The present knowledge of t,hese species is rather scanty compared with that of the tuna species, and is concerned mainly with their taxonomy. FisMng Ground.-These varieties are widely scattered north of 20°S. Distribution patt.ern relative to oceanographic conditions is yet to be worked out. However, the Arabian Sea area may be relation considered as a relatively good ground for these fish. Catch per Unit Effort.-There are no boats operating with the object of catching these varieties alone. Spearfish and marlins are caught during longline operations for the tuna species and have the same commercial value. These varieties may form a high percentage of the species com­ position of the catch in the northern waters. But the catch rarely e:>~:ceeds It ilom per day. The average catch per day for the Arabian Sc;a may be around 0·8-l·O t)n, the Bay of Bengal about 0·4--0·5 ton and the rest of the areas may yield abou1 0·4 ton per day. Aeknow!ectgements The sources of materials, including many of the figures, are the findings of the staff of Nankai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory (Japan) with whioh the author was directly associated during the period 1960-Hlb3 ; and most of it may have appeared in their puhlications or manuseript reports.

References

VARIOUS Au.rHORS. 1951-1964. Report of the Nankai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory, Nos. 1-20. l 961-1~63. Cont.ributions of the N an.kai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory to the annual Tuna Research Conference held in Kachi, Shikoku, Japan. Manu. Repts. ~4-.NONYMOtrs. 1962., Present status of tuna research in Japan., 2nd Japan-U.S. ITuna Conference, October 9th, 1962., Govermnent of Japan. KUROGANE, K. & HrYA)'I[A., Y. 1958. Morphometric comparisons ofyellowfin tuna from si.~ grounds in the Indian Ocean., Rec.Oceanogr. Works in Japan., Vol. 24, Nos. 6 and 7 Strzu1n et al., 1958. Serological stuClies of the races of tuna., Rept. Nank. Reg. Fish. Res. Lab., No. 8.

VIII. OFF-SHORE AND DEEP-SEA FISHERY FOR LARGER SCOMBROIDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN By K. SIV ASUBRAMANIAM Fish?rie~ Resectrch Station, Colombo 3, Ceylon. Introduction For the convenience of today's discussion, I am subdividing the fishery for scombroids into the inshore, the off-shore and the deep-sea or oceanic; inshore being limited to the continental shelf, off-shore is the region between 15 and 100 miles from shore and the deep-sea or oceanic region is the vast open mass of water beyond these. Before gGtliing on to the subject of my t8Jk, I wish to say a few words on the present status of the coastal fishery which Dr. VVTeerekoon has already dealt with in detail. In eonsidering the annual production I myself took into act;oun.:, the part played by each main variety of fish so that we may get a picture of their contribution, positive or negative, to the total trends, in relative terms. The rock fish variety has shown relatively the least increase in production. The 1963 production of this variety was only 12% more than that of 1958. Furthermore, the southern and western coasts have hardly contributed to this increase. Seer, paraw, blood-fish and shark groups have all shown considerable increases in annual production. The blood-fish showed 240% increase last year over the previous year. The eastern province showed an increase of 700% as compared to 83% by the southern prm7ince. Thus the E. P. exceeded the S. P. production of blood-fish, in 1963. In spite of this increase in production of these varieties, the annual total production for 1963 was not. signi­ ficantly larger than that of 1962. This was due to the drop in the production of beach siene varieties by almost 9,000 tons. One thing that was quite evident from the analysis was that fishing methods involving bait, whether dead or alive, are declining due to the price and poor availability of suitable bait. An independant baib fishery is very essential to overcome this. Applying different methods of fishing in an area reduces gear competition and existence of gear competition normally leads to a temporary drop in the catch per unit effort even though the stock in not affected. The Concentration Index or the skill of fishermen in locating good fishing grounds is another serious problem. The unusually large variation in the catch per unit effort for a number of mechanised boats operating from the same centre and on the same days, is an indication of the big difference in the skill of the men operating these vessels. Generally this index is calculated for a unit area of 0 l x 1 o (approx. 67 miles x 67 miles) but for Ceylon this unit area is about 15 miles x 15 miles. Yet the variation is very large. The average number of days that a mechanised boat operates in a month is 16 and the number of hours of fishing per day averages between 5 and 6. Being in a hurry to 284 return soon so as to sell their catch at the best prices on the beach, the fishermen spend very little time searching for a good location to fish and this is one reason for the large variation in the landings· per boat. If the number of hours of fishing is increased from the above value to 9 hours and the fishing days per month averages 22, then the total number of fishing hours per month will become doubled, resulting a big increase in production.

Distribution of Effort Even nations that are exploiting the resources of distant oceanic regions consi

SIZE OF VESSELS (TONS).

Fig. 2.4 : Size and Number of fishing vessels at successive stages in the growth of a fishing industry.

Off-shore :fishery for larger scombl'oids The tuna species commonly found around Ceylon is the yellow:fin (Kelawalla). Though there is a small coastal fishery existing for this tuna, it is not well established and it cannot bt> made a stabilised :fishery because there is no regular system of recruitment to this inshore stoc l- However~ 285

-fishery for skipjack, frigate mackerel, little tunnies and other bonitos contribute considerably to ~he coastal production and it can do so even more in the future. Trolling, gill-netting and pole-and-line fishing methods are being used for this purpose but the last method is yet to gain wide application. Pole-and-line fishing and tuna longlining could be developed successfully in the off-shore region. The tuna longlining will show relatively large fluctuation in the hndings because the tuna population in this region may move out of the off-shore limit during migration. The 15 to 50 mile range could be exploited with 38-40ft. class vessels, for scombroids as well as other fish. The 50 to 100 mile range could be exploited with 50-60 ft. class vessels suited for pole-and-line and tuna longline fishery. The Japanese vessel of the latter type may be preferable considering the cost, its larger fishing crew accommodation and its efficiency to operate both longline and pole-and-line gear. In the off-shore waters of Japan tills type of vessel carries out longlining in winter and pole­ .and-line fishing in summer. Good fishing grounds for skipjack exist off Ceylon, the Mald,ives and the Laccadives. In the Maldives there is a well established fishery for skipjack but the average size of fish appears to be smaller in that area than off the coast of Ceylon. Even the Japanese who investigated the possibility of establishing a skipjack fishery off the Maldive Islands, reported that the size of the fish was generally small and rejected the project giving that as one of the reasons. In the light of this fact, Ceylon need not venture for skipjack to the Maldives with large size boats; .a sufficiently large fishery for this variety could be established in our off-shore waters.

10

0 ...... & •••. .. . . · ..· ".-:. ..:.._·_ 10

Fig. 25: Indian Ocean Tuna Fishing Grounds: Catch per day (average for year­ round fishing); circles represent distances of 1,500 and 3,000 miles from Galle, Ceylon.

Deep-sea tuna :fishery in the Indian Ocean In the Indian Ocean there are four species of tunas that are of commercial importance: namely, yellow:fin (Kelawalla), bigeye, albacore and b1ue:fin tuna. The yellow:fin has the widest distribution and has been the m~in object of the tuna fishery. There are three main sub-populations of this fish; the eastern and central equatorial sub-populations which were exploited first are showing a decline in the catch and presently yellow:fin is abundant in .the western part, east of Africa, around Madagascar and west of the Maldives. The bigeye tuna grows to a relatively larger size but is not abundant in the Indian Ocean. It is usually caught along with the. yellowfin. The blue:fi.n tuna is the largest of these tunas and is concentrated off the west coast of Australia. The albacore is the smallest of them and is found south of the equator mainly below l0°S and extending to 35°8. 286

Over eighty tuna boats are now fishing in the Indian Ocean and on an average about fifty operations are conducted each day. Of these about half the number are concentrated off the west coast of Australia for bluefin tuna. About 70% of the remaining boats are operating off Africa, Madagascar ~ud the Chagos, the balance 30% being scattered over the rest of the Ocean. Fig. 25 shows approximately the catch per day averaged from year round fishing, in different regions. The bluefin ground yields about 3 to4 tons or even more because of the large weight of indivi­ dual fish. The area off Africa, Madagascar and Chagos yields c:,bout 3 tons of yellowfin and some bigeye and albacore also. The main albacore area is not being fully exploited in spite of the fact uhat the hooked rate (catch per hm1dred hooks) is high. This is attributed to the fact that, the size of the fish being small, the catch in terms of tonnage will be low. The rest of the areas can be expected to yield about 1 to 1.5 tons.

Trends in the fishery In 1949 when, in the north Pacific, the salmon fishery showed declining profits, many vessels wanted to change over to tuna fishing because this was then a growing venture and appeared to l)e very promising. In fact many tuna mother-ships were originally salmon factory-mother-ships. The Japanese Government licensed a certain number of the salmon vessels as tuna vessels and mother­ ships and also :fL-x:ed a quota for the mother-ship fleet. The quota was necessary to give an opportu­ nity to the smaller tuna-boat fishermen to operate profitably. With the success shown by the con­ verted boats, more and more fishermen wanted licences to construct and operate tuna vessels. The Japanese Government, being fair to the salmon boat fishermen who had changed over to tuna fishing, restricted the issue of licences and also increased the construction-rights charges for tuna boats. In spite of it tuna boats of a number of classes were commissioned. Thus today in Japan tuna fishing boats range from the 20 ton to the 5,000 ton class, their proportions approximately fitting the suc­ cessive curves of Fig. 24. .lYLost of the tuna fishing companies, associations and co-operat.ives own a wide range of classes of vessels, and investment distributed in this manner helps these institutions to tide over the unprofitable periods; as in 1957, when most of the classes of tuna vessels, with the exception of the 250 ton class, showed loss or no profit. With the general decline in catch per unit effort in all three oceans there are occasions when some vessels are forced to sell their catch to foreign markets below the cost of production. Such short-time losses are easily covered up by profit making classes of vessels but continuous loss incurred by large-size classes of vessels may lead to abandoning the :fishery with those classes of boats. This happened recently to two companies which were opera­ ting tuna mother-ships in the south Pacific when the catch per day dropped from 2·7 ton to 2·1 ton. Further the present status of tuna fishery in the three oceans has raised a question of the suitability of having large tuna boats engaged solely in this fishery right throughout the year. 'fhese points clearly show how sensitive the tuna fishery is, and should be carefully borne in mind.

Size of boat and cost of production This subject has been discussed at length at a number of meetings with the Directors of the Corporation. The experience of the Japanese tuna fishery has shown that the cost of production of fish decreases with the increase in size of boat. Considering the position of Ceylon in relation to the fishing grounds, there is probably no necessity for boats larger than the 250 gross ton class. This size of boat can cover practically all the existing good tuna-grour:ds which, as shown in Fig. 25, lie for the most part within the area between the two circles i:o.dicating distances of] ,500 and 3,000 miles from the port of Galle in Ceylon. A 100-130 ton vessel would be limited to operating within a J ,500 mile radius (inner circle, Fig. 25) if a sufficient number of days per trip is to be spent on actual fishing. The present requirements for tuna boats are that they should be able to stay a long time out at sea and have a maximum hold capacity. The tuna boats now constructed have been so de­ signed as to give a 10% increase in hold capacity; as a result a 250 ton tuna-vessel has a carrying capacity of any other 300 ton fishing boat. The daily freezing capacity has also been increased from 3 tons to 8 tons, in these 250 ton boats. The fishing time is being increased by refueli11g at sea. For Ceylon I consider a 250 ton class of vessel as very suitable since it can stay out long enough, cover the best areas, and also because this size of vessel has been proved to be one of the best so far 287

.as productive power per gross ton is concerned. Mr. Kvaran, FAO Marine Engineer, who was also consulted in these discussions. has I :fi;nd has made his calculations on a different basis and has arrived at the same conclusion: that i'3, a 250 ton boat would be more profital:lle than the 100-130 ton vessel.

Some problems As far as an operation of tuna-boats by Ceylon is concerned there are a few prohlems which mus-1; he given very serious consideration: l. The price of bait--Today the tuna bait, imported from Japan, costs us roughly twice as much as it costs the Japanese ; and we do not have 3, bait fishery at present to suppl:y this requirement. 2. Food for crew-The cost of providing food is extremely low for Japanese crew. From the experience of local firms operating tuna boats I find that there have been times when the cost of food for Ceylonese crew has been twice or more than twice that of the Japanese work~ng in the same boats. 3. Trained fishermen-Tuna :fishing is one of t,he difficult methods of fishi.ng and it has earned itself another name, "widow fishery." Great skill is required to operate the maximum number of units per day and also to avoid excessive damage to catch by sharks and killer-whales. 4. Utilization of shark catch-North of the equator we should expect at least twenty percent of the catch to be sharks (less when we move southwards). As such there will be occasions when the bo1.ts will be able to bring in the sharks. If various methods of processing them or utilizing them in some form are developed it would help considerably to make a success of a sensitive fishery like this. 5. Declining catch rates-In view of decli.ning tuna catch-rates in all three oceans, new entry into the oceanic tuna long-line fishery should be gradual and cautious.

IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRE3H WATER FISHERIES IN CEYLON By H. H. A. lNDRASENA, Fisheries Department, Oslombo 3, Ceylon

The Fresh-water Development section of the Fisheries Department has been primarily engaged in devising ways and means of increasing the production of fish from the inland fresh-waters. From a survey made of the country's inland water resources a few years back it was found that the fresh waters of the island constitute about 200,000 acres. Of this about 150,000 acres, constituting mainly the major irrigation reservoirs and other smaller tanks of the low country, were found to be potentially highly productive. To increase the production of fish in these waters the following steps were unfler-­ taken :- (1) Stocking offish in perennia! waters, e.g. major irrigation tanks and other reservoirs. These waters were stocked with edible varieties of fish so that they can establish themselves, multiply and add to the already existing fish population. The main varieties of fish stocked were Tilapia mossambica, common carp and giant gouramy. More than a million fingerlings of Tilap ia and severallakhs of finger­ Hngs of carp and gouramy have been stocked so far. (2) Stocking of fish in seasonal tanks. These tanks are able to retain water for about 8 to 9 months of the year. Many of these tanks are almost completely harvested when they dry off. The natural fish population consists mainly of carnivorous fish like lula and hunga whose growth is slow and hence the 1;otal yield. is poor. By stocking these tanks just after the rains, with Tilapia fingerlings 288

(3"-4" size and about 5,000 fingerlings in each tank) it has been possible to increase the yield offish by asmuchas 50-lOOper cent. The Tilapia grows to about 10"-12'' (i.e. on an average of about a f: lb,) during the 8-9 months. (3) Establishment of fish nurseries. For the production of stocking material fish nurseries were established at several places, the 2 most important centres being at Polonnaruwa and Colombo. (4) Introduction of nylon gill nets into inland tanks. To help better exploitation of the fish stocks in the inland waters the F.A.O. presented to the department nylon gill nets to be tried out. There nets were first loaned by the department in 1958 to fishermen at Parakrama Samudra who on our instructions did some experimental fishing using both the nylon nets and their own cotton nets. The fishermen found that the nylon nets were far more efficient than their own cotton nets. A few of these nets were also tried out by fishermen at Minneriya tank with the same result. By 1959, commercial fishermen in the inland waters were using nylon nets exclusively. (5) Experimental fishing in up-country reservoirs. This was done with nylon gill nets with the help of the research staff. Results of such fishing showed that in waters above 2,000 ft. carp had established itself well, whilst the growth and condition of Tilapia were very poor. Carnivorous fish like lula, walaya, hunga, etc., were also absent in these waters. It was therefore decided to stock these waters with carp and confine Tilapia to low-land waters. (6) Field surveys and investigations into certain perennial as well as village tanks were started with the help of the research staff so that the productivity of these waters could be assessed. (7) Experiments were also carried out with the help of the research staff in the processing of fresh water fish at Polonnaruwa Fisheries Station. Standardised methods were evolved in the pre­ paration of dried fish and smoked fish.

Production of :fish in inland fresh waters Figures for the production of fresh water fish for the whole island before 1957 are not available. This may be due to (a) lack of trained personnel in inland areas for collecting the necessary data; (b) presence of only a few fisheries of commercial importance at that time. However, for 1957 Dr. Ling, the F.A.O. expert on inland fisheries estimated the total production of fresh water fish for the whole island as l million pounds from the figures availabe at that time. The 10-year plan (which I believe was published in 1958) envisaged an increase of 6 million pounds of fresh water fish by 1968. How­ ever the total estimated production of fresh water fish in 1962 was 7! million pounds and in 1963, 10 million pounds. This is an increase of 10 times the amount compared to that of 1957. The target envisaged by the 10-year plan has therefore been surpassed in about 4--5 years time. The following factors have c0ntributed to the achievement of this increase :- (1) Intensive stocking of edible fish in inland waters especially with Tilapia mossambica. (2) Efficient methods of fishing adopted by the commercial fishermen, e.g. the introduction of nylon gill nets into the inland fresh-waters from 1958 onwa.rd&. (3) The rapid increase in the number of commercial fishermen migrating into inland fresh­ watert· each year. A steady increase has been observed from about 1957 to the present time so that these waters are fished to a greater extent. (4) Large scale processing of the fish caught by commercial fishermen, i.e., drying, salting and smoking. This helped to a great extent in the better utilisa.tion of the catch from the inland fresh­ waters.

Some suggestions for future development For the better management of our inland fresh-waters and for its fuller utilisation certain investigations have to be ca~ried out. The basic information regarding the types of fishes that ttre already present in the inland waters is available ; but much of the life history studies of the more important indigenous fish, including their biology and ecology, have to be determined. These studies are particularly important for management and fish cultural aspects, e.g. to find out new species 289 suitable for culture or whether new species from other countries will have a chance of surviv~ 1 if in­ troduced. Further investigations are also neceRsary to find out the productivity of the inland fresh­ waters so that information can be gathered en how to improve them, if necessary. Studies on fishing gear and craft already existiDg is also important so that improvem3nts can be effected in these to increase the catches. Investigations into the field of marketing (which a.t present is more or less neglected) and the processiEg of fish caught (e.g. canniPg, which has already been worked out in the case of Tilapia), are also very important. The answers at le::tst to some of these problems will heJp the management or the development section to increase production further from these waters. A final suggestion I have to make is a bout the comm)rciaJ fisherm~m. \Yith the yearly :increase in the number of commercial fishermen migrati:..1g into tbe inland fresh-waters there are bound to arise all manner of disputes. Much of this can l)e avoided if a permit syst(m is iYJtrocluced for commercial fishing. A permit may be issued to a fishermen or group of fishermen (at a nomL'lal rate) to fi&h in a particular tank, the number of permits to be issued to fish in a particular Lnk to be d3termined by the size of the tank and ;ts estimated production. Su0h a type of control over the commercial :fishermen will, I think, be necessary in future.

X,. BRACKI3H-WATER Fl3H FARMING IN CEYLO:N By T. G. PILI,AI, Fisheries Department, Colombo 3, Ceylon

Today brackish-water fish farmbg is extensively and very profitably pmctised in m'"tny Indo­ Pacific countries. There art> 300,000 i1Cres of fL;h po~1ds b1 bdo:1esia, 20:),000 acres icl the Philippines, 30,000 arres in Formosa and 2,000 acres il1 Hawaii. Ail. idea of the p1·oduction from these po11

Now, how do our figures compare with those of other Indo-Pacific countries~ IYJ Java, the average production is 440 Lbs. per hectare per a:nnr.m, the maximrm productioD in Java being 770 lbs. per hectare per annum. In the Philippi:2es the aver;;,ge production is 770 Jbs. per hectare per annum, the maximum bei::1g around 1,650 lbs. per hectare per annum. In Fol·mosa the average production is 2,200 lbs. per hectare per annum, the m;uim1Im bei:1g around 4,400 lbs. per hectare per annum. (These figures have been ta.ke.o. frvm F.A.O.jT.P. J4 of February, 1963). It will therefore be s0e:n that our experiment:<.] harvests compare verv favourably with those of Java, the PhilippineR and Formosa mtd, also, judgi~1g by the extent of farms i:'J. thesB countries, that milkfish farming can be successfully carried out here. However, it would not he reasonable to expect the ideal conditions of an exp•3rime:'1ta.l po~1d to prevali i-n every privB,te fi;;h farm. Under the somewhat less ideal conditions of a p:civs,te fish farm it, woulil not be difficult for a fi.3h farro-3r to produce 1000 lbs. per acre per annum. To the &mall faJ.111er vvith a l to I acre fish farm this would meaL 500 to 1000 lbs., worth Rs. 500/- to Rs.IOOO/- per annum. To the big fa.rmer this would mean 290 that if he has a pond system of 25 acres it would bring him at least Rs. 25,000 per allllum. With a little more care and farming the fish strictly according to the principles of fish farming it would be possible for the big farmer to double his annual production and, co11sequently, his income. There are over 25,000 acres of idle mangrove swamps, tidal flats and shallow lagoon areas which are suitable and can gradually be used, for brackish water fish farming. lf each acre could produce 1,000 lbs. -per acre per annum this would work out to '111 increase of 25,000,000 lbs. of fish per ammm bringing m Rs. 25,000,000 to those connected with the industry. Brackish-water fish farming is comparable to paddy farmil1.g in many ways. Mud ponds similar to paddy fields are constructed in such a way that at least 021e foot of water can be retained at low-tide or be completely drainec'l at. low-tide. Since the tides ara importa11t for brackish-water fish farming the ponds are constructed on suitable land bordering lagoons, or by bunding up shallow, shel­ tered areas of lagoons. It goes without saying that a study will have to be made of the area intended to be converted into fish ponds in order to determil10 the tidal range over it throughout the year. This will give an indication as to how much excavation will have to be done in order to retain the requu·ed depth of water in the ponds. Level tidal flats or mangrove swamps with scanty vegetation should be preferred as this will reduce the cost of pond construction. The soil should be muddy. Soil with much rock, sand, shell or gr2,vel cannot retain much water and is not fertile enough for good algal growth. Green thread-like algae and blue-green scums form the food of Ghanos under cultivation. Hence the more fertile the soil is the more algae and, consequently, more fish it can 1Jroduce. Besides a few other factors, the fry of the fish to be farmed should be available in sufficient quantities to stock the intm1ded area of :fish ponds annually. In Ceylon milk:fish fry are abundandly available during two seasons of the year in the Manaar region-March-June and October-November; grey mullet fry are available almost throughout the year. Wnile speaking of milkfish and grey mullet it would be interesting consider the types of fish suitable for farming. .As in animal husbandry it is most economical to farm herbivorous species of fish. It is a well known fact the conversion of plant matter directly intoanimalproteinis less wasteful than through the inclusion of animal food links in a chain leading to the fa.rmed product. Ghanos and Mugil are both herbivorous and are suitable for farming. This is the reason why many species like paraw, modha, etc. are not farmed. .A noteworthy feature of Ghanos is that it can thrive well even in fresh-water. Here, therefore, is a :fish that can be farmed even in fresh water either rnu·e or mixed with carp and gomamy as in certain parts of the Philippines aml Indonesia. ~ With regard to the rate at which fish fanning is likely to catch on in Ceylon 1 vrish to quote a few words from Dr. Lu1g's Report to the Ceylon Government il1 1962. "Generally, the Ceylonese people still do not quite understand the importance of full exploitation and better utilization of their inland waters. Because of this uncertainty, and because fish culture is a difficult and expensive veu­ tme, much time, effort and patience is needed to drive home the fact that fish culture can increase fish production." He then outfu1ed the steps to fish culture development. However, we have bad very encomaging signs in the recent past. .About 5 people with ponds in the Negombo area have asked for milkfish fry for their ponds and technical advice with regard to the farming. Three have already been issued with milk:fish fry and one has ah·eady reported to the Department that he has been successful with his preliminary rearing attempts. From an area of about ! acre he has captured and either sold or used for his subsistence about Rs. 900 worth offish. He has asked for more fish frv and hopes to construct a 7 -acre fish farm. · We have also carried out experiments on rearing milk:fish in salterns dming the rauw seaso11 when no solar salt production takes pl2uce. This experiment carried out this year proved that milkfish cultivation can be carried out in the salterns. The Salt Superil1tendent at Palavi has requested 10,000 milkfish fingerlings this year to be stocked in the saltern. He hopes to increase the area of stocking with Ohanos becau;:;e the cultivation of Ghanos i..'1 the ponds will result in a saving of Rs. 3,000-Rs.5,000 spent annually in cleaning the ponds of parsi (algae); the Ghanos being ::1 vegetarian feeds on it. There is of com·se additional revenue that can com 3 to the Government by the sale of harvested fish. The Salt Superil1.tendent has agreed to employ w~tchers to look after the fish since aquatic birds in large flocks attack the fish. It appears possible t) extend this practice to the other salterns. The Construction Manager of the Salt Corporation, Hambantota, has also agreed to rear milk:fish in the Koholankala Levaya, meeting all the expenses for watchers, repau·s to bunds, etc., with, of course, the proceeds from the sale of fish going to that Corporation. 291

Specially important points to remember in brackish-water fish farming: (l) A reliable roan is required on the spot-to ward of predatory animals and huma"1 being,:;. (2) In many parts of the Philippines the tidal range is around 9 feet, so that with regard to pond construction in relation to the tides there is not much accuracy required in the construction of ponds in order that they could retain I ft. or more of water at high tide. In Ceylon however the ra:1.ge rarely exceeds '2§- ft. and hence the bottom will have to be accurately situated. It is often likely that this will not be accurate in the first instance. It may be a year or two by the tiro:; the correct level is obtained by gradual modification. Shuster (1951) considers a tidal range of 1.5 ro. essential for a brackish-water fish farm. Though a lesser tidal range rna y not be satisfactory for proper draining of the ponds, it will be possible to m:1intain brackish-water ponds in area oflesser tidal ranges if methods such a water pumping and manuring are adopted.

Prawns I would like to end this account of brackish-water fish farming with a brief account of prawn, farming. It is true that prawns are farmed in other countries. This farming is verv much like milk­ fish farming and the fry are gathered during the breeding season as in the case of roilkfish fry. In the Philippines P. monodon is farmed either pure or, as is usually done, in combination with milkfish. This species is available in Ceylon waters. Its breeding seasons, locations of occurrence of fry, etc. will have to be worked out through research. With regard to breeding, i.e. reproduction, no one has bred P. m01wdon h"l captivity in Ceylon or elsewhere. In Japan another species has been bred. It took an enterprising man :30 years to successfully breed and evolve a method of commercial use for its culture. With a certain amount of luck, which often plays its role in several instances of research, it may become possible to breed P. monodon within 30 days. But with persistent plodding success may be achievecl in more or less than 30 years.

XI. THE ROLE OF INLAND WATERS IN RELATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CEYLON'S FISHERIES; AND A NOTE ON THE PEARL OYSTER FISHERY By c. H. FERNANDO, Fisheries Research Station, Colombo 3, Ceylon Introduction In this talk I shall deal primarily with fresh-water fisheries although inland fisheries include lago::ms and estuaries as well. I shall however m<1ke some comments on the bra.ckish-water fisheries and append a few remarks on the Pearl Fishery since I was in charge of this last named section this year. The information I have presented has been drawn from various sources. They comprise published material, departmental statistics not published, talks with officers and my own studies; also the Administration Reports of the Marine Biologist and of the Director of Fisheries for the period 1909- 1963.

A. Fresh-water Fisheries General Remarks.-The low production of feesh-water fisheries has been a subject of comment by a number of scientific workers. With vast areas of freshwa,ter tanks, rivers and low -lying marshes the total production was estimated as being about 0.5 million lbs. a year. These comments D..nd estimates are for the period before 1955. The reason for this low production was rightly attributed 292 to the poverty of our fauna but not so rightly &ttrihuted to the lack of herbivorous species. I my­ self rcn:mE:ntf d on His viEw in 1956 ard statEd that I could not accept the view that our fauna consisted largely of carnivorous species. However I have a different explanation for our poor fauna namely that sjnce we have no natural lakes there bas been no evolution of typical lake fiRhes. The larger fifhes that inhabit our tanks are really drawn from the rivers and the villus (marshes). Many of our species are in fact adapted to withstand drought conditions indicatirg their normal habitat.

I ntrod~tction of Foreign Species . .About twenty years a.go the introduction of foreign species in to our fresh waters was begun. Here perhaps I should mentiontbattherehad already been introduc­ tion of trout into Nuwara Eliya and carps into Nuwara Eliya lake for sport :fisheries. The Giant Gom·amy was accidentally introduced into the Mahawe]i Ganga in 1927. .Apart from these the introductions ard shown in Table I.

Introduced fishes fall into three categories regarding their chan~es of success in natural waters. Those which are prolific breeders like Tilapia and Etroplus have more or less assured success and their populations build up rapjdly. Slow breeders vvill either grow slowly in numbers as in the case of the Giant Gouramy and Trichogester or may not breed effectively like carp due to predntor­ action. The success or failure of an introduced species deperds on a variety of other factors. Well studied and tri8d out species can be used after at least a preliminary study of local co11d itions and the known eeology of the species to be introduced. In the past introductions appear to have been fal' too haphazard. Non-breeding species have been introduced into natural habit.ats wiih many pre­ dators. Fishes which are slow breeders (relatively speaking) or of little economic value have also been introduced.

TABLE I

FOOD FISHES INTRODUCED INTO CEYLON'S FRESH·WATERS

Country of Economic Breed+ SpacitJs Year Origin Food Preference importance does not today breed-

Foreign ·Ctenopharyngdon idellus 1948 China Omnivorous .. Nil Aristhichthys nobilis 1948 Cbina Omnivorous .. Nil Hypopthalamichthys molitrix 1948 On ina Ominivorous Nil Catla catla 1942 India Herbivorous .. Nil Cyprinus carpio 1948 China Omnivorous .. Little Tilapia mossambica 1952 E. Africa Plankton and Very + detritus important .Ospbrocnemus gouramy 1927 Indonesia, Herbivorous Little Malaya (Soft-plants) + Trichogaster pectoralis 1951 Malaya Plankton Very little + Helostoma temmincki 1951 Thailand Herbivorous None

Local Etroplus suratensis 1950 Ceylon; La- Herbivorous . . Important .. goons, estua- + ries a.nd coas- tal marshes {)h.anos chanos 1955 From lagoon Herbivorous . . None mouths

The number of :fish introduced into natural waters is shown in Figs. 26 and 27; Fig. 26 also gives some details of their progress. 293;

Fish Production Fish production began to show a rapid increase around 1955 and by 1962_the total pro:Iuct~on was about 10 million lbs. a year. Statistics of production up to 1957 are very mcomplete but smce then at least for the Polonnaruwa area they are more accurate. Fish catches indicate very clearly that only one fish has contributed to make the fishery commercially worthwhile (Fig. 28 and Table I). Mi!ITant fishermen came in growing numbers and by their use of advanced gear (over subsistence fishery) pushed up production ofParakrama Samudra and Minneriya. The catch for the period.1960-62 is shown in Fig. 28. In 1962 Tilapia contributed nearly 90 per cent. of the catch. It is worthwhile mentionincr here that if not for Tilapia the return which is roughly 75 lbs. per fishermen per day would ha;e been reduced to a non-economic level. Tilapia incidentally is mainly responsible for maintaining fisheries in many African lakes. Information I have from the Gal Oya valley indicates that the catch per peson per day is 35-4:0 lbs. Here the compo3ition is different: Tilapia, Hiri Kanaya and Koraliya all occupy important places in the catch and it is their combined weights which maintain the fishery. Also present catches are low compared with the two tanks mentioned earlier.

GOURAMY AND CARP BRED so /\ ;.IN. RESEARCH STATIONS I \ : 4---- CARP SHOW (f) .. I I .. - NO EFFECTIVE 0 70 GOURAI\IIY i ~TILAPIA : BREEDING IN z. BREEDING <1. I ESTAB- • NATURAL WATERS NATURALLY I ILISHED ~ 60 ~: 0 1 :X: BREEDIN~ lRAP!DLY: !:::; 50 I . I ~ 0 I I - . w I ,, : . U40 I I . . :::l I I I 0 I 0 I I I a: 30 I t- I I I z I I I I - --TILAPIA :X: 20 I I I --GOURAMY (f) ,, I I II • • • • COMMON CARP IL I 10 lj / I I I ~ I \1 48 50 55 60 63

Fig. 26 : Stocking of Gourami, Carp and Tilapia into natural habitats (except those in the Gal Oya Valley).

The fishery in the larger tanks is in general comparable to the pre-mechanization fishery of our inshore waters. The personnel and gear are the same except the use of nylon nets-an innovation as compared with pre-mechanization. Mechanization of fishing in some of the larger tanks may yield high catches as compared to what they are today. This is especially true for the Senanayake Samudra where much time is lost between their homes and the fishing grounds. Also the gear carried can be doubled or even trebled with a mechanized boat. The gear used too can be modified for greater­ efficiency. I think that mechanization and gear studies should form an important part of the develop­ ment programme. Apart from the fisheries of large reservoirs there are two other potential sources whlch can be· expected to make important contributions to production. They are the smaller tanks and pond. culture. Looking back at the history of pond culture in Ceylon it is apparently a failure. In evaluating the results of efforts in this direction we should realize that pond culture is a traditional craft difficult. to inculcate into people. In South East Asia the Chinese have carried pond culture practices to many parts and this craft still remains largely Chinese. In Indonesia however due to scientific programmes: and extension work it has become established amongst the indigenous people too. This latter fact gives hope for speedy progress if this aspect of fisheries is giver. '1n impetus. The small tanks have 294

provided subsistmce fisheries and with the annual drought the fish can be harvested. Preliminary "experiments" have indicated that production can be raised by the use of Tilapia mossambica stock introduced annually just after the floods have subsided. This would be a sort of " Pond Culture " from which we could gain valuable experience.

Measures for rais1:ng production Besides improveme11t ofgear and the mechanization of craft which increase etaciency in catching present stocks there are a number of measures which I envisage will increase the fish potential of our natural fresh waters. The success of Tilapia mossambica seems to indicate the introduction of complementary species. I would suggest a soft-plant feeder like Tilapia zilli or Tilapia me!anop:eura for the smaller tanks and another plankton feeder for the larger tanks. In addition a Tilapia species suitable for up country reservoirs should be considered. A likely species is T. galilaea, The " status" of Tiliapia mossambica in various types of tanks is being studied and should give us information as to suitable new introductions.

' ' ....

~CJ) 3~. TILAPIA 0 GOURAMY z COMMOII! CARP c::c CJ) TRICHOGASTER :::> 0 ::t:..._ ~2 w u :::> 0 0 ..._0:: z /' ::t: en I I iL I _, .../ /.__ ,_ .:::._ >. .-· ---- ... /. , ____ ! r, · ...... /·,/ '_, ~·.,., ...... :oo...... ,· ...... 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

Fig. 27 : Stocking of Gourami, Carp, Tilapia and Trichogaster into natural habitats in the Gal Oya Valley.

For pond culture, carp and Tilapia can be bred in the laboratory. I suggest that the present practice of introducinQ; carp and gouramy into tanks should be discontinued. Tilapia should be introduced annually into the smStll tanks in larger numbers over a wider area.

:Utilization of fresh-wxte?' fish In the period before 1957 the estimated fish production of 0 · 5 million lbs. per annum was small in -comparison to the catch from the sea, yet it must be remembered that fresh- water fish was perhaps the only available protein in Rome areas. Thus its value to the villager was far in excess of what the weight alone would suggest. Today when over l0 million lbs. of fish are caught annually the utilization of this resource has become a matter of considerable importance. The fish is used fresh, -salted or smoked. A considerable amount is transnorted in ice even to sea coast area.s Jike Mahawewa (near Chilaw). Fish prices indicate that fresh-w~ter fish constitute the cheapest protein available. A pound of fresh fish is sold wholesale at 10-15 r;ts. per lb. (Tilapia, Hiri Kanaya). This sells retail 295 at 50-60 cts. per lb. Prices of other varieties may be higher e.g. lula sells at Rs. 2-3 in towns close to Colombo. Both fresh and dry fish prices :fluctuate, the latter more so than the former (at least wholesale). Standard prices may be taken as follows: Tilapia Rs. 30-80 per cwt. salted; Rs. 60 to 100 smoked ; Lula smoked Rs. 1 to 1 ·50 per lb., and Wallago Re. 1.60 to Rg. 2 a lb. Canning has been successfully done with Tilctpia and it is well worth considering this a.s a. project. It will increase the utilization and therefore the production of :fish. (de Silva, 196:3).

TILAPIA 900 LABEO (HIRI KANAYA) ETROPLUS ( K€>RALIYA) OTHER SPECIES 800 ~

(/) 700 Ill MINNERIYA. ....1 PARAKRAMA SA MUDRA #- ~ 600 1960 1961 1962 1960 !!!? 1961 1962 500 ....~ z ....e -400 ~ :r; U) u ~ u~300

"!- ~ 200 - 0 IOoO 6~1!" -,.._ f1) U) !00 .:.

Fig. 28 : Fish production of the Parakrama Samudra and the Menneri Wewa in the years 1960-62.

Socio-Economic Factors

Fishermen working in the tanks are largely drawn from professional coastal fishermen. Since they are migrants and there are no accepted rules about fishing in fresh-waters fishermen are not aw?xe of their rights and duties. Legislation is urgently needed to make these fishermen more efficient. In the Polonnaruwa area the De1')artment has two extension officers stationed. This area has shown a considerable increase in proLdnction partly, I think, due to their presence alone. \~le have come acroE1t value in helping the orderly development of our fresh-water fisheries in lakes.

Potential contribution of inland waters

It is well worth remembering that of the world's fish production 15-20% comes from inland waters. Ceylon is provided with a considerable area of rich (in fish potential) tanks which have not been utilised sufficiently. It seems likely that our present production of 5% from freRh-waters can be increased to double this fignre at least in the next few years. 296

There are 150,000 acres of large tanks and 30,000 acres of village tanks. In estimating areas full supply levels are taken. Sometimes vast areas of floods serve as feeding and breeding grounds for fishes. Also the level of the tanks fall with use of irrigation water thus reducing the surface area. At present our estimates of area for purposes of fish produetion is inadequate. Using full supply levels of Parakrama Samudra the catch was 160 lbs. per acre per annum in 1962. If production of other large tanks is at this level production would be 24 million lbs. or 10,000 tons a year. If as it seems likely the production can be raised to 200 lbs. per acre per annum then the total would be 30 million lbs. or 12,500 tons. From small tanks at 50 lbs. per acre per annum an additional amount of 1 · 5 million lbs. or 700 tons would be harvested if stocking is done throughout the country. Thus from natural waters alone the production would be 10,700-13,200 tons a year. This target seems feasible within three years largely with improved socio-economic measures. At present no fish culture on a commercial scale; a few crude experiments done in the past give little in way of data on culture under local conditions. Assuming production to be of same level as in the more productive parts of S. E. Asia, 1000 acres with artificial feeding (low grade) at 500 lbs. per acre per annum will yield 0 · 5 million lbs., 1000 acres with feeding and fertilization with organic and inorganic fertilizers at 2,000 lbs. per acre per annum will yield 2·0 million lbs. This programme will take 5-10 years to bring up to standards mentioned.

Our fresh-water fisheries are primarily those of the large tanks and depend for their commercial success almost entirely on a single species, Tilapia mossambica which has been introduced into the country. In the light of past experience introduction of carp and gouramy into our natural waters should be discontinued and instead complementary species of Tilapia should be considered for introduction. The fishery can be improved by the use of more efficient gear and mechanization where possible_ Pond culture should be undertaken with a view to long term results. As a start our small tanks can be used for a sort of " pond-culture ". Socio-economic measures t.o he implemented a.re increase of cadre and suitable legislation defining rights and obligations of fishermen. Utilization ofTilapia should b~ encouraged with canning. Fresh-water fish constitute perhaps the cheapest protein available in Ceylon and its effects on the nutrition of the poorer classes cannot be over estimated.

B. Brackish-Water Fisheries Brackish-water areas in Ceylon have been estimated at 300,000 acres with a production of 3,4-00 tons. This gives a production of 20 lbs. an acre. These figures are for 1961-1962 (Admin. Report 1962). I do not know how these figures have been arrived at since there do not appear to be any separate statistics for brackish-waters. As for fresh-waters, in estimating areas we must take into consideration the wide diversity in the types oflagoons, marshes, estuaries, etc. Some will be of high productivity whilst others will be of low productivity. One of the most important r2sources obtainable from brackish-waters are the young of various species of fish which can be cultured both in fresh and brackish-waters. An a;:,cur-:-tte estimat0 of this resource is an urgenj need. The most important of these fish ar~ Oha.nos (Wekka) and Mngil spp. (Godaya). Prawns constitute an important resource from brackish-waters and there appear to be considerable prospects for extending culture to _prawns as has been alone in some countries :recently notably Japan, Australia and Amer~ca. Whilst a number of " experiments " Beem to have been done on culturing fish in brackish­ water ponds there seems t\_) be a lack of data on the fina~c_._al side of these projects. As 1 have men­ tioned earlier for fresh-water fish culture, jt will need considerable extension work before returns can be expected. I personally do not think that immediate returns c11n be obtained on a large scale. The most important steps to be taken to increase the production and usefulness of brackish-waters are: (1) A survey of economically important fishes whose fry can be used for culture, (2) More detailed work. on fish culture, (3) Exploring possibilities of prawn culture, (4) Collecting more reliable statistics. 297

'C. Some observations on the Pearl Oyster Fishery The Pearl Banks in the Gulf of Mannar have been under more or less continual survey for over a hundred years. There have been pE'riods however when for a few years at a time the surveys were interrupted

One of the great attractiom~ of the Pearl Fishery was the revenue it brought to Government and the publicity, exaggerated according to the time and circumstances, so as to bring interested persons to pay for the expenses involved in studying the Banks. A good example is the pearl fishing company which had a short existence and had to wind up its affairs for lack of funds. In more recent years (since 1940) the surveys have been sporadic but essentially the same as before. More detailed surveys have been done in some years, but the pur-pose seems confined to estimating the oyster populations and following their fate with a view to a fishery. It is important that a policy should be adopted as to the ways and means of studying and utili­ sing the Pearl Oyeter fishery so that both in the short and long term the data obtained can be utilised more effectively than in the past. Three possible courses appear to be feasible :- (1) Routine surveys to chart and estimate number and age of oysters for a fishery. (2) Survey and hydrological and biological observations. (3) Culturing of oysters for pearls and/or food.

The costs of these programmes can be worked out and the relative merits of one or a combi­ nation mB,y be decided upon. It is important that an objective attitude be taken as rega.rd which course or courses of action are a,dopted. In the past the Pearl Survey and Fishery have evoked interest from various quarters. Some cfthis interest, I suspect, arises from the mistaken view that the banks are a sort of a ~old mine. If only a routine survey is planned the costs will remain relatively low. The disadvantRges of this sort of survey are that the fishery is uncertain a.nd our knowledge will grow only very slowly regariling the biology and hydrology of the Banks. This may however prove the only type of work possible with the present limited staff and boats. If hydrological and biological work if' also unllertaken it might help in planning improve­ mente. It will of course give valuable data on the Banks which may be of great scientific interest. Under present conditions however the chances of improving the pearl fishery by management prac­ tices are rather remote. In a vast area (about 250 sq. miles) open to the ocean and its vicissitudes these problems are immense. Culture of Pearl Oysters has been carried out successfully in other cotmtries on an economic basis. It is possible therefore that we can do the same in Ceylon. For this purpose however regular supplies of spat must be collected and raised in shallow water. It is perhaps worthwhile at the present time to explore such possibilities.

References

DE SILYA, N. N. 1963. A report on the proRpeets of fish canning with special reference to inland fish. M.S. Report No. 23, Library. Fisheries Research Station, Colombo. "FERNANDO, C. H. 1956. The food of four common freshwater fishes of Ce_, lon. Ceylon J. Sci. (c), 7, 201-17. 298

XII. THE MECHANIZATION OF THE INSHORE FISHERIES AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT IN CEYLON By

E. KVARAN, F. A. 0 . .Marine Engineer, Fisheries Department, Colombo 3, Ceylon

At the Seminar held on the 15th of September at which the Research Officers described their current work and the present state of the fishing industry, and put forward ideas and suggestions for further development numerous facts were presented which can serve as a basis for furthe., work. One point which was brought out was that research and other technical officers are often called in too late when development·s are undertaken, are called upvn to try to correct mlStakes rather than to prevent them. The purpose of thiB presentation* is to develop further some of the points brought out at the Seminar, and to stress limiting factors to some of the lines of development which have subsequently been proposed. It will be limited to the marine fisheries, but it must be borne in mind that the fresh­ water and brackish-water fisheries should also grow during the period under consideration and must be allowed for when appropriate growth rates are determined or targets set. It is not my intention to present a. detailed program for development but rather to bring out those hnes which I feel offer the greatest promise. The fisheries of Ceylon must be improved on all fronts and there are a number of different ways in which this can be done. Theorizing or speculation can only provide the first steps, practical experience must be the ultimate judge in selecting between possible alternates. In other words any development prorgam must remain flexible, able to utilize new knowledge as it is acquired. Unfortunately new knowledge may prove negative as well as positive, and it is dan­ gerous to anticipate the results of planned lines of investigation or to extrapolate too far from such data a.s is available. Fisheries must develop on all fronts. There are four main ones, knowledge of the resources, the catching operations, shore fa.cilities and distribution. Before considering these further, I should like to deviate a little and look at the functions of the fishing industry. It was pointed out at the Semi­ nar that no effective planning could take place unless the objectives of development were clearly specified. These objectives wiJlnaturall:v be closely tied in with what we consider the proper functions of the industry. One function is to provide the population with an adequate desired food stuff, and to do so at an " equitable " price. Another .is to provide an equitable livelihood for those directly engaged in fishing or for those in secondary related industries or activities. The latter group may well be of greater importance than the former as far as development is concerned, as it is the group most likely to provide the capital, initiative, and ideas for development, including as it does not only fish traders, :fishing operators, money lenders, boat builders and engine agents, but the whole staff of the Depart­ ment of Fisheries, the Fish Sales Union and the Fisheries Development Corporation, with tentacles reaching as far as the United Nations and Colombo Plan. A third function of the fishing industry may be to act as a source of foreign currency or to bring about the conservation of foreign currency. This function is one of increasing importance to those concerned with the overall aspects of planning and administration and requires careful consideration. A fourth function is to become a source of revenue for the Government or community. It seems that in past times this function was of great importance in Ceylon, and may become so again with the formation of the Fisheries Development Corporation. It is difficult to achieve all these objectives simultaneously, as some of them are, or can be contradictory, but they provide yardsticks against which to measure progress. Other useful yard­ sticks, in addition to direct production :figures, are ratios, such as Input-Output ratio, (either in terms of rupees invested per lb. produced or rupees invested per rupees value produced), the percentage of foreign expenditure per unit total expenditure, employment per unit expenditure, savings in foreign expenditure per unit expenditure, and so on. These yardsticks will be referred to again, when different possible lines of development are compared.

* Delivered on 30. 11. 64. 299

In describing some of the functions of the :fishing industry equitable prices and equitable incomes were referred to and require clarification. For any industry to be healthy and capable of attracting or holding energetic workers, it should yield an average income not less than that obtainable elsewhere. Speaking in round numbers the per capita income in Ceylon is about Rs. 58() per year. Taking the average fisheries family as having five members per full-time bread-wi1mer an average annual income of Rs. 2,900 would correspond to the average. For various reasons a uniform distribution of incomes amongst all classes cannot be assumed and the fishing community will, at least for some time to come no doubt, be relegated to a position somewhat below the average. On the other hand we will here be concerned mainly with only a part of the fishing community, that part which is to be benefited h:v mechanization, and if there is to be any incentive for people to strive to become a part of this sector, the income here should be above the average for fishermen in general. In 1958-59 the average net income per fisher family was about Rs. 1,720 per year (G. N. de Silva, 1964) at a time when the per capita income was about Rs. 490. Assuming that the income of the fishermen has on the whole risen at the same pace as the national income it should now average around Rs. 2,000 per year. It does not seem unreasonable to expect the mechanized fishermen at least to "split the difference" between this figure and the national average ofRs. 2,900 per family, or in round numbers to average Rs. 2,500 as an " equitable " income. This figure can no doubt be impro·ved upon by a more refined approach but will be used here as a primary target to aim for.

Equitable prices for fish are not so easily arrived at. One measure could be the price of imported fish, after converting to the equi-valent weight of fish as caught. In 1963 a little over 36,000 tons of fish products for human consumption were imported at an average price of 75 cents per lb. In terms of fresh fish this corresponds roughly to a little over 100,000 tons at 25 cents per lb. As we will see rater, producing fish at 25 cents per lb. is extremely dfficult if not impossible unless all considerations of quality and consumers' preference are completely ignored. Now, it is a legitimate question to ask how is it possible for other countries to export fish to Ceylon below the cost of production here ? The bulk of fish importation into this country comes from India, Pakistan and the Maldive Islands, which in 1963 provided 2/3 of the imports, and all of which are exploiting the same Indian Ocean as Ceylon. Based on personal observation, albeit very limited observation, I would say that the answer does not lie in more efficient fishing methods, does notlieingreater output per man but in lower incomes of the fishing communities in these countries than in Ceylon. Not only are the average per oa,pita incomes in these countries lower than in Ceylon-Rs. 325 in India, Rs. 250 in Pakistan. I have not been able to obtain this figure for the Maldives-but it is my definite impression that the fishermen in these conn­ tries may also get a smaller share of the National Income than is the case here. Fish is exported to Ceylon, even at these low prices, not because there is any surplus, except in the Maldives which produce little besides fish, but because the Ceylon consumer is able and willing to pay more than his counter­ part in India or Pakistan. HoweV"er this may be, the fact remains that it is possible to import cheap fish at present and any subsitution cf more expensive local fish is inflationary and is eqitable to the consumer only to the extent that he may be getting a product for which he has a greater preference. Up to this point we have been comparing the landed prices, either the price to the fishermen or the CIF price. The cost of distribution is a very important factor in fish prices from the consumers' point of view and in the talk1 given by Dr. N. N. de Silva as reported in the proceedings of the Sem3nar there are extremely interesting figures relating to the cost of distribution. I will content myself by drawing your attention to Dr. N. N. de Silva's investigation into this aspect of the industry. For the present let us conclude tentatively that an equitable price from the consumer's point of view would be an average price o£25 to :35 cents per lb.landecl but that this is unlikely to be obtained if the fisherman in turn is to obtain an equitable net income of the order of Rs. 2,500 per year.

Although the landed cost of imported fish is here used as a possible basis for arriYing at on "equitable" price as far as the consumer is concerned-after all he is entitled to the cheapest available fish consistent with comparable quality-I am by no means advocating that this be any sort of a basis for an " equitable " price to the rroducer. The history of the guaranteed price for paddy shows some of the dangers inherent in using such a basis.

1 Seep.~ ~S1 300

One could also use some com[>letely different standard of comparison such as the price of other protein sources, especially meat. Compa,red to mutton the price offish is not unreasonable while it is high compared to the present price of beef. But to continue, let us also assume that we accept for the time heing that the primary function of the fishing industry is to supply the fish products which are :required or desired by the fish cons11m3rs of Ceylon. This is the equivalent of saying that the prima,ry target is self-suJiciency in fish proJu:}tiion, anl this is approximately the same goal as was set for the 10-year Plan. As a basis, ::L per ca:.:>ita consum~Jtiion of 40 lb. per year will be assumed, increasing at 3 per cent. per y.ea.r to accouat fo.r sli5b.tly iac.rea,sing consumption as well as the population increase.

----?' ___,_ / / - __ ,-- / / 200 /

100

~eo 0 .1- PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION c 60 z 1952-1974 Clt 00 g 40 •TIIouscnd Tone I Year :lt Year U111:reaee ll- ?Banned Production Moril!ll!! Toto! FleDI®rics

1984 100 17 i4·5 1965 117 18 15·<> 20 1966 135 22 18·7 19S7 !57 26 22·2 i966 163 31 28·3 !989 214 ;:!6 3tHil IS70 250 I

~0~--~~--~--~~--~--~--~----L---~--~--~----~ 52 54 56 60 64 66 69 70 12. 14 YEAR

Fig. 29: Ceylon's Fish Production and Consumption for the period 1952-1974.

Fig. 29 shows the total consum:;>tion and pro::J.uction from 1952 to 1963, with projections 10 years into the future. The total consum)tion fi_sures are aj)proximate only as there is still some uncertainty with resj_Ject to tl1e correct con-.rarsion f etc tor to u.3a for tae va~ious types of imported products. The graphs are dravm in a semi-log grid in which a co.1sta.nt growbh rate will plot as a straight line. Pro­ duction rates corresponding to self-suJiciency in three and ten years, as well as the extrapolation of the present growth rate are shown. The present rate of increase of production has been averaging abo'nt 16 per cent. per year since 1958, and if

A number of proposals have been made as to possible ways of obtaining the necessary increase. Basically these proposals fall into three broad categories: (1) The use oflarge, say over 150 G: T., fish.ing vessels, operating off the continental shelf of Ceylon, either on relatively shallow banks or in the deep sea. (2) The use of relatively sm'Lll, say 3 to 15 G. T., mechanized fishing boats operating on or near the continental shelf, and (3) The mechanization of existing indigenous craft primarily for use on the continental shelf.

Other lines of development are obviously possible, particularly in the range from 1-') to 150 G. T. but there is not yet enough data available to make a realistic appraisal of what coulrl be expected in that range. Earlier I mentioned the need for keeping development plans flexible, and this would be one example where one would definitely anticipate future developments as a result of research and exploratory fishing, and the plan should be able to accommodate such developments, even if specific provisions are not made in the early stages. I should now like to examine some of the concrete suggestions which have already been mentioned in more detail. The largest units proposed so far were included in a proposal submitted to the Government of Ceylon by Allied Marine Facilities, LtrL, ofU. K., in 1962. The proposal offered three :fishinf; units each consisting of one factory ship of 300 feet length and four trawlers of H56 feet. These three units were planned for an annual catch of -')4,000 tons on the assumption that each trawler could produce 15 tons per day and each factory ship 30 tons. As there were no grounds known in the Tndian Ocean which could reasonably be expected to produce these yields, and for various other reasons the proposals were not accepted, but are still of some interest in that they contain prices and operating data which make it possible to estimate at least approximately the probable results which could be expected from factory ships in this area. On the basis ofknoWP catch rates catches ranging from 5 to 7t tons per fishing day might be expected for each trawler of this size, after preliminary search:IDg for grounds. At these catch rates, and using only cost figures from Allied Marine Facilities, some of which may be open to criticism, such units could land fish at R.s. 0 · 40 to Rs. 0 · 60 per lb. which as we shall see presently is more or less comparable with the landed cost for trawlers of the 150 G.T. class such as the" Gandara". On the other hand the foreign capital investment required is of the order of Rs. 2 for each lb. of fish landed per year. For the" Gandara" class the capital investment is more like Rs. 0·75 per lb. per year, and for the 12 G.T. class of baby trawler it is of the order of magnitude of Rs. 0.25 per lb. per year. 1-ill investment output ratio of Rs. 2 per lb. per year would only be justifiable, if fish could not be obtained in any other way and even the present system of importing would be preferable as long as prices stay anywhere near their present levels. Continuing down the scale, the next sizes of vessels to be given serious consideration are t1ma long liners of 150 to 250 G.T. and trawlers of 150 G.T. Fig. 30 shows the probable cost of production for vessels in this size range. As was explained by Dr. Sivasubramanium at the Seminar the expected catch rate for the 150 G.T. class would be of the order of lt-2 tons per day, while the 250 G.T. class could be expected to produce 3-}-4 tons per day. The fish landed from this fishery would be mostly tuna and could be expected to fetch a market price in Ceylon of about Rs. 0 · 80 per lb. provided the production is restricted to the needs of a comparatively limited market. Today, fresh tuna can be sold at prices considerably above the Rs. 0·80 per lb. assumed here, up toRs. 1.25 even, and at this price the operation of a tuna long-liner could be a very attractive proposition from a profit making point of view. Just how much fish the market can absorb at these prices is problematic, and if deep sea long-lining is to be developed primarily with profits from local sales in view, great ca.re will be required to keep the size of the fleet and the market price in proper balance. The production cost of the tuna long-liners contains a fairly heavy component of foreign costs and, as can be seen in Fig. 30 the foreign cost alone amounts to Rs. 0.70 to Rs. 0·50 per lb. in the e:A--pected catch range for the 250 G.T. vessels, which are the only ones capable of operating at a profit on tuna long-lining unless very high market prices are obtainable. As far as reducing the loss of foreign exchange now expended on fish imports is concerned, it does not appear that tuna long-lining offers a very promising way out. 302

It has been proposed t.hat tuna be sought primarily for canning as an export commodity rather than as a substitute for imported fish. Fig. 31 showa an estim'1te of the co.st of canning based on the present offer for a cannery of 14 tons capacity to be erected at Galle, and these prices combined with the production costs of Fig. 30 do not make canning of tuna seem particularly attractive. From the Commercial FisherieE Review (1964) Japanese cam)ed tuna was exported in 1963-4 at prices ranging from Rs. 0·74 toRs. 1·02 per 7- oz. can, which requires about 1 lb. of whole tuna to produce. The tuna long liner requires about Rs. 0.70 per lb. to break even, and with an additional cost of canning at about Rs. 0·30 which, unfortunately, js probably a low estim:tte, it will be difficult to compete with these prices. Even if Ceylon is prepared to subsidize this export for the sake of the foreign exchange, it must be kept in mind that the canned tuna will already cost well over Rs. 0.60 per lb. of whole fish in foreign exchange alone.

m TRAWLER AND TUNA LONG-.LINERS OPERATiNG -1 ~ 2·80 AT 1500 AND 3000 MILES, FOR 150 - 225 0:: DAYS/ YR. w 0 »i 2·40 ---- FOREIGN COST a j- J.a.l :l!:: 2·00 Ill: <( ~ 0z !·60 <& 250 G.T. LONG-LINER !- 150 G.T. LONG-LINER ~ 1·20 0 2 0 ·SO TRAWLER ~ , 1- 0 ::> ', 0 ' ...... _ 0 0: ... _ a...... ______------

0~------~------~-L------~------~------~~------~------2 3 4 5 CATCH RATE: TONS/ DAY ON GROUNDS

Fig. 30 : 150 G.T. and 250 G.T. Long-liners and 150 G.T. Trawler: Cost of production per pound of fish.

The sale of dressed frozen tuna would seem to be a more feasible proposition. Japanese prices appear to lie in the range of Rs. 0·79 toRs. 0·89 per lb. for this product, which might be easier to compete with. In any case the prices quoted above should give sufficient warning that large-scale investment for export should not be undertaken without a careful analysis of the whole problem including the mBrketing aspects as well a1: production costs. Apart from these price considerations the:e are indications that the cannery as proposed may present some technical problems as well, but this is a. different ma.tter.

The 150 G.T. trawler appears to be a more promising proposition than the tuna long-liners. A catch rate of 3 to 4 tons per day can probably be counted on, and in this range +he trawler should be able to produce fish at about Rs. 0·40 per lb. The foreign cost element is also considerably m0re favourable being around Rs. 0·20 to Rs. 0·25 per lb. or slightly more than 50% as a.gainst a little over 60% for the long-liner which also is producing more expensive fish. Particularly as an alter­ native to imported fish, the trawler is more attractive, at leasi it does not lead to an increase in foreign expenditure as is the case with the tuna long-liner. 363

On the other hand the known trawler grounds are definitely limited ir1 extent and open to competition from India. Over fishing on the Wadge Bank would be a sho"'t-sighted policy, as the trawler fleet would have no alternate grounds to turn to while the Wadge Bank i:; recovering. Increasing the fleet from two up to the five trawlers now on order would appear to be about as big a step as could safely be undertaken with our present state of knowledge of the Wadge Bank, and an additior.al three trawlers for the Pedro Banks would exhaust the immediate prospects for large­ trawlers. These eight trawlers could be expec-ted to produce about 5 to 6,000 tons per year and would account for abont o~_Jy one half of the required increase for one year as given in Fig. 29. Recently there has been a strong trend in many paxts of the world towards larger territorial waters than the traditional 3-mile limit, especially as far as fishing rights are concerned. The sudden influx of a large fleet of Ceylonese trawlers on the Wadge Bank might easily cause a reaction in India in favour of a 12-mile fishing limit such as is being introduced in Great Briuain, which would result in the loss of a substantial portion of the grounds. Before going on to the inshore fisheries I would like to pause and consider the question : " How is it possible for Japan to fish tuna i:r:, the Indian OceaP, if it is not economical for Ceylon to do so "_

40 ESTIMATED COST OF CANNING 250 DAYS OPERATING PER YEAR 275 • • .. 35

:1: FIXED COSTS:- ~ 30 I.L CAPITAL ~ RS. 550,000 PER YEAR J: OVERHEADS~ 104,000 n a C/) FIXED WAGES .; 108,000 • ~ 25 IL. OPERATION COSTS:- IL. WAGES- RS. 400 PER DAY 0 ai 20 EL,WATER, FUEL 134 PER DAY ...J MAINTENANCE 200 • ...... t5 BOUILLON ETC. 0·030 u n • PACKAGING ETC. 0·012 • n n

10

05

o~----~----~------~----~------+-----~------~------0 2 4 6 8 10 12 OUTPUT PER DAY TON FRESH FISH

Fig. 31 : Cost of Canning.

The Commercial Fishieries Review of Jan. 1955 gives operating data for Japanese tuna long­ liners of various sizes including one of 300 G.T. which lends itself ~o a comparison with our proposed 250 G.T. vessel. The first striking difference is in the depreciati0n and other fixed costs on capital. The Japanese example is based on a vessel built in 1952 at a cost of about Rs. 3,300 per G.T. Tlw available tenders for Ceylon quote a price of the order ofRs. 10,000 per G.T., or three times as much. These prices may, however, l:le on the high side. Bait costs the Japanese half the expected price in Ceylon, at least in the early stages when imported bait will be required. Food for the crew is calcu­ lated in the Japanese estimate at Rs. 0·84 per ma.a-day at sea while the estimate for Ceylon is based 011 Rs. 3·50 per man-day. The average catch per fishing day is seven and half tons for the Japanese vessel, a catch rat) which will be very difficult to duplicate today as far as can be learned and iR in 304 fact double what we can expect. Fuel expenses are comparable, and the wages of the crew, including estimated bonuses do not differ very radically, although here the Japanese rate is higher. Taxes, unloading charges aild ice are higher for the Japanese but not nearly enough to affect the lower fixed costs. The sale price of fish was Rs. 0.58 per lb. which yielded aslightprofittotheowner. From Fig. 30 it is apparent that a Ceylon-based long-liner would also show a handsome profit selling fish at Rs. 0·58 per lb. if it could catch 7i tons per day. There are definite indications that the Japanese tuna fleet is experiencing difficulties due to the lower catch rates now prevalent. In any case, it is much more feasible for Japan to subsidize her export fisheries as they are operating almost entir~>ly on Japanese currency, the only major imported item being fuel oil. In other words Japan can keep about 90 cents out of every dollar while Ceylon can only "keep" say 35 cents out of every dollar. If both countries are prepared to pay tne same excess to get one real or net dollar, Japan can pay a bonus three times as high as Ceylon can afford per lb. of tuna if the production costs are equal, and even more as long as she can produce cheaper tuna. We must therefore turn to the in-shore fisheries, if we are to have any hope of reaching self s uffi.ciency by using a productio11 method whlch materially reduces the drain on foreigu currency which is now required for meeting the needs of the country.

COST OF PRODUCTION

12 G.T. LONG-LINER - LIVE BAIT TRAWLER OPERATING 200 DAYS PER YEAR CREW OF 6 SHARE 30,-"

·80 4 m ...D 'm «- o TRAWLER -/36 PER LIB. ~ /'-.....' ......

- 0 o~--~----~------~------~------~------~L------~---- 0 1/IS i/4 112 3/4 i !14 CATCH- TONS PER DAY

Fig. 32: 12 G.T. Fishing Boat: Cost of production per pound offish, and income per crew member.

The largest of the inshore vessels under active consideration at present are 12 to 13 G.T. fishlng boats made of wood or steel and fitted for tuna long-lining, net fishing, trawling or live bait fishing. The expected cost of each boat will vary from Rs. 45,000 to perhaps as much as Rs. 65,000 dependi~g on the equipment provided and the type of construction. These boats are expected to have a daily catch of the order of 700 to 1,200 lbs. per day and their expected cost of production is shown in Fig. 32. I do not intend to take up your time by discussing the cost of production calculations in any detail, but one difference in the assumption made for the tuna long-liners or large trawlers on the one hand and the inshore craft on the other should be noted. On the large ships payment to the crew is assumed to be made on the basis of a fixed wage plus a bonus per ton as is the actual practice in the Depart­ mental trawlers. The cost of production is thus independent of the sale price of the fish. On the inshore craft a share system is assumed as this is the present practice, although details of the share system vary widely in different places. The point here is that the cost of production will now depend 305

to some extent on the price of the fish and an over-estimate of the price ohainable will result in an over-estimate of the cost of production as well as of profits and income to crew, while an under-estimate will have the reverse effect. Simply by lowering the market price we can drastica-lly cut the cost of production, but such action, which would again reduce the fishermen to a subsistence living would d0ubtlessly result in a drastic drop in output as well. Not only does the cost of production for the 12 G.T. compare very favourably wi h that of the larger trawlers, the percentage foreigr; cost is strikingly less or of the order of 20 to 25% ofthe total operating cost as opposed to a bout 50% for thclarge trawlers and 60% for the tuna long-liners. As was pointed out earlier the investment per lb. offish landed per year is about Rs.0·25 or-} of that of a large trawler and out of this only about 65% or Rs. 0·16 per lb. per year is foreign while the trawler investment is entirely in foreign currency. This size of vessel therefore definitely appears attractive for rapid development coupled with appreciable savings in foreign currency. The incomes to be expected by crew members on the basis of a 30% share are also attractive and these boats will pay well in excess of the "equitable" income of Rs. 2,500 postulated earlier, if they get their planned catches of 70 to 100 tons per year. So far very little experience has been obtained with this class of vessel, only one such boat having been put into operation. By all accounts this boat is doing well as a tuna long-liner and there is every reason to think that baby trawlers will do even better. Experimental seining with the FAO steel boats and trawling by the" Canadian" and" North Star" have shown conclusively that small trawlers can produce surprising amounts* of fish in certain localities. Much of the coas line is as yet untouched and particularly with echo sounders it is reasonable to expect that many other good grounds will be located. The cost estimates for the 12 G.T. trawlers in Fig. 32 are prepared on the assumption that the catch will be located. will be cheap fish with 35 to 50% fetching Rs. 0·15 to~Rs. 0.20 only and the balance Rs. O· 50 pe:r lb.

3112-4 G.T. BOATS OPERATING 200 DAYS I YR. 1·20

OF CATCH AT IRS. O·SO PEIR LB.

m n IRS •. O·SO PER liEI. ~i·OO 5000 IX w m ::e 4000 ~

~ w 3000 f3

1- ~ •20 1000 0

o~------~------~------~------~--- 0 100. 200 300 CATC.~- LABS PER DA'lf

Fig. 33: 3i\· to 4 G.T. Fishing Boat: Cost of production per pound of fish, and income per crew member.

But perhaps the most promising use of all for these craft is as live-bait fishing boats. The Baleya is beyond doubt one of the species of fish which has tremendous potentialities ~for further ex­ ploitation, as was brought out at the seminar on fisheries last September. No doubt initial difficul­ ties will be met with here, as the supply and handling of the bait will present problems, but on the

*For details see research reports by Dr. A. C . .T. Weerekoon on trawling from small boats, in the Adminis­ tration Reports~ofthe Director of Fisheries for 1962-63 and 1963-64 (in press) 306

other hand we are fortunate in having a large reserve of skilled fishermen already familiar with the techniques oflive-bait fishing, which is not the case with the trawling operation. For the latter some intensive initial training must be allowed for. A feasible rate of introduction of this type of craft would be of the order of 100 boats per year on the average allowing some time for the construction to reach full capacity. As a first estimate an output of 8,000 tons per year could be expected from this fleet of 100, but a close watch would be required to prevent an over-supply with consequent local over-fishing. The maximum number would also depend on harbour and other facilities, +o be discussed later, but tentatively a total fleet of 600 will be assumed, that is, that these craft can be introduced throughout the period until self-sufficiency is achieved. These boats would af er six years be able to produce 48,000 tons per year. The next class of boats to be given consideration is the 3i to 4 G.T. 'ype, some 1,300 of which have already been issued to fishermen under the Departmental loan scheme. When kept operational these boats can produce around 20 tons of fish each per year. The cost of production is shown in Fig. 33 and is somewhat higher than the 15 anticipated for the 12 G. T. boats. The same is trueofthe initial investment, which is about Rs. 0·40 per lb. per year as against about Rs. 0·25 for the 12 tonners. On the other hand theEe boats provide at least twice as much employment per Rupee invested and their harbour requirements are more modest. This class of boat appears to have fallen into disrepute by reason of massive defaulting in loan repayments on the part of the hirers and because of difficulties in keeping them operating at capacity. These, in my opinion, are not sufficient grounds for eliminating this very useful boat type ; instead, the drawbacks to the present scheme should be eliminated, but I shall say no more on this subject for the moment as we are dealing with the craft requirements for a self-sufficiency program. The boat yards which were building for the loan scheme produced 300 boats in a year and could produce more if timber is made available. Three hundred boats of the 4 G. T. size per year during the next six years would have a produetive capacity of about 36,000 tons per year at the end of the period. The mechanizaticn of indigenous craft has been most successful in the case of teppams (rafts) fitted with out-board motors. This mechanization is still proceeding and the rate is limited at present only by the number of engi11es available on the market. The chief centres of this development are Negombo and Chilaw, with a seattering of motors all along the West Coast north of Colombo. Some 700 mechanized teppams are in operation, but the total potential number should be investigated before definite tar

MECHANIZED TEPPAMS OPERATING 200 DAYS PER YEAR I 6000 fiSH P~UCE ~S. -/60 PER lB. I SHARES: i::ffill.li~MIZNT -60%, 00 (I:: CREW- 40"'1" !Oil'ERATING COST MET I 5;oo BY OWill!~~J 5000 ...... 1- (J) ~· 1- 0 0:: u ®0 4000 0.. z 0 z It: 0 w 0 ll. g: 40 2000 w ~ ~ 0 0 0 ~ ~ 20 -- I 1000 0 ------!.0!EIGN COST RS 0 ------./LB.--·-- 0~------~~L------~~------~~~------~--~ 0 50 100 150 200 CATCH RATE : LB.! DAY Fig. 34 : Mechanised Teppams : Cost of production per pocmd of fish, and income per crew member. One rather minor problem which must be considered if maximum use is to be made of the possibilities of mechanizing local craft is the restriction now placed on the maximum size of outboard motor permitted as kattamarams, larger vallams and hala-orus* really require more than the 10 h.p. ceiling, now imposed, will permit. Rebate or reduction in duty on petrol, given either ilirectly to the fisherman, or better perhaps to whatever organization provides the capital for the outboards, could materially affect the operating economics of this class of craft. The three proposals already mentioned for the inshore fisheries development, i.e. say 600 12-G. T. boats 1800 4-G.T. boats and 6,000 mechanized local craft in about six years will be expected to yield 130,000 tons per year in addition to the 100,000 tons now being produced mainly by the inshore fishery. A gap of about 20,000 tons would remain to reach the target of 250,000 tons; deep sea trawlers and tuna boats will probably supply about 10,000 tons and other new methods such as purse seining, mid-water trawling, live-bait fishing would be expected to make up the balance, as well as the loss in the present fishery, which would result from diverting more effort into mechanized methods. At the Seminar, Dr. Weerekoon presented an estimate of the productivity of the inshore waters which gave a total feasible output of the order of 270,000 tons per year to 380,000 tons per year. A production of 250,000 tons per year would just be approaching the lower limits of the estimated safe minimum yield, and should not cause undue concern over the problem of over-:&hing in general, but specific cases of over-fishing, either of certain species or in given areas may well occur long before the overall limit is rea.ched. This is another reason why flexibility in any development pr;)gram must be kept in mind, and targets may need continual revision in the light of experience. In particular, this leads one to advocate craft which are not too specialized, such i'S the fibre glass boats or 4-tonners, in preference to single purpose craft such as teppams.

*Larger fishing rafts, planked boats and outrigger canoes, respectively. 308

In craft alone the goal of self sufficiency wm be expensive; 600 12-tonners, 1,800 4-tonners and 6,000 mechanized local craft with a good sprinkling of fibre glass hulls would cost something of the order of 80 to 85 millions. If deep-sea trawlers and tuna long-liners are included, at a moderate rate the tot,al would be about 100 million. Unfortunately, vessels are ~y no means the only major investment required. A large quantity of fishing gear, almost entirely imported, would be required; but this would have to be considered an operating cost. Shore facilities of a permanent nature would require a large investment. At the time of the m'awing up of the 10-Year Plan, harbours alone were estimated at about Rs. 120 million and there is no real reason to hope that less will suffice in the long run. In addition the 10-Year Plan included pwvision for over Rs. 50 million on other shore facilities of which freezing, cdd storage and ice plants made up the largest item, Rs. 33 million. On this item considera.ble savings might be realized by adopting a centralized cold storage a•1d ice distribution system as outlined by Dr. N. N. de Silva at the Seminar last September in his talk on the " Role of Technology in Fisheries Development in Ceylon ", and also by concentrating on ice and quick distrioution rather than relying very much on freezing and cold stores. In any case the total investment required will be of the order of magnitude of Rs. 300 to 350 million (the 10-Year Plan set the figure at Rs. 349,156,000) to obtain an increased production of about 150,000 tons per year, which corresponds to about "Rs. J per lb. of fish per year or. if boats and gear are excluded, as their value has alreadv been included in the production costs given earlier, the investment in shore facilities including harbours will be about 50 cents to 60 cents per lb. per year. If these invest­ ments are very conservatively written off over a J 5 year period the cost per lb. of fish will be about 3 cents to 4 cents, of which perhaps half will be foreign. From the operating costs given earlier an approximate average foreign cost of 15 cents per lb. can be obtained, giving a total of 17 cents to 18 cel1ts as the foreign cost of producing a lb. of fish. The average imported price is 25 cents per lb. So the implementation of a program of this sort would lead to a saving of about 7 cents to 8 cents per lb. of fish provided the program operates at a reasonable level of production. The total savings in foreign exchange with an added output of 150,000 tons per year would be Rs. 23 to 27 million per year obtained in return for an investment of Rs. 300 to 350 million as given earlier. In achieving this the landed cost of fish has been raised from 25 cents per 11). to sometbiltg of the order of 50 cents per lb. or higher. In arriving at these conclusions a great many assumptions have had to be made regarding costs, fish prices, wages, shares and catch rates all of which a1e open to debate. However, I am afraid that a criticism of the values used in my calculations would if anything lead to still more pessimistic results. To me at least it appears that we are forced to certain inf.scapable conclusions: Those items in the program which demand the greatest foreign investment and which give the smallest return per unit of investment must be played down as much as is possible. These are the deep-sea craft, the large trawlers and tuna long-liners. A+; least as long as there is a foreign exchange shortage the emphasis must be placed on the inshore and on the freshwater fisheries. But this implies much more than simply placing orders for boats, engines and gear and providing money for shore facilities. In sharp contrast to the deep-sea fishing, the inshore fishery is an old, established one with its own methods, regulations, share systems and. jn particular, distribution system. Despite the almost spectacular increases in output during the past decade, which can be directly traced to Government action on one hand and the i11fluence of boat builders and salesmen for gear or engines on the other, the state of the indus1iry is by no means a healthy one. Incomes are on the average low and there is a great spread in the distribution of incomes. This is clearly seen in Fig. 35 in which I have depicted some results of a study carried out jn 1958 by Mr. G. N. de Silva, Statistical Officer of the Department of Fisheries, and published in the Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Station, Ceylon, ]7 (l), 1964. One consequence of this state of affairs is that there is a strong tendency for any increase in income to be utilized for an improvement in the standard of living not only as far as the recipient and his immediate family are concerned but often also by a large group to which the lucky fishermen stand in some sort of obligation through family or other ties. Understandable and laudable as this situation :niay be from a human point of view, it is undesirable so long as development of the industry is the main objective. As far as is possible, the profits or the increased incomes from modernization must be ploughed ba.ck into the industry. At the very minimum this implies that loans must be repaid promptly, which in turn means that the craft must be utilized to their full capacity. On both these 309 scores, the present loan scheme is weak. The position of the Department with regard to the collection of loans, the seizure of boats or engines for non-payment and their subsequent re-issue is a very difficult one. A basic defect in the loan scheme is that while funds were made available on a generous scale to be released as loans, funds for the implementation of the scheme are almost totally lacking. Admittedly the Head Office clerical staff was strengthened somewhat and two new administrative officers were added to help deal with the flood of paper work resulting from the loan scheme but no really practical steps were taken to ensure prompt loan repayments.

OIS"ffW3UT!ON OF NET MONTHLY INCOME DURING FISHING SEASON (361 FA~ILIES). !20 30~ J ~ 100 I ~ ~ 0 ~ 80 ~@ ..J 20 :!E ~ 60 ' 1.1.. I 0 I 0 40 z 10 ~

2:0

! I ~ L I ,. 50 100 ~50 200 250 300 3!50 400 4!50 !500 INCOME PER MONTH - IRS.

Fig. 35 : Net Monthly Income of Fisher Families, during fishing season. (1958).

Perhaps more serious has been the very limited aid given to the fishermen in keeping the boats in operatio.1. tt has long since been clear tnat the limited training given to.a fisherman befc.re he is issued a boat is insufficient to qualify him to do more than run the engine. On maintenance matters, even on routine servicing, he will require outside aid. The vicious circle of high charges by mechanics on the one hand, and non-payment of bills by the fishermen on the other, has made private maintenance totally inadquate either to safeguard the Government investment or to keep the fleet in working order. The high price of spare parts and their inavailability has made the matter worse. It is admittedly a very difficult problem to decide on priorities for imports under the present strained conditions, but importing expensive machinery without adequate spares is leg,ding to waste on a large scale. 1f necessary, it is better to cut down on the rate of import of new engines, small as it has indeed become, than to shut off the supply of spare parts. One of the difficulties appears to be that import quotas are fixed with reference to imports of some ye~rs ago, before mechanization particularly with outboards really hit its stride. The physical assistance given by the Department in maintenance has been ne~ligible. One mechanic makes up the whole field-maintenance staff, with the temporary aid of an assistant from Mutwal Fisheries Factory during field trips. With over 2,000 engines installed this amounts to but a token guesture. Investing a very few percent. of the purchase price of craft in maintenance facilities would give the Government considerable protection against trw present very rapid depre­ ciation of boats issued on loans in addition to making repayment more feas3ble for the hlrer. It would also help greatly in sortiYJg out the sheep from the goats, so to speak, in deciding which fishermen should not be permitted to continue to operate boats at the public expense. Regardless of the .actual system to be followed in the future to get the fishermen onto mechanized craft, radical revision of the field servicing will have to be included. 1 have earlier put forward suggestions regarding 310 the minimum requirements for an effective maintenance program ancl will not take up your time by repea,ting them here. In any case the advent of the Fisheries Corporation will change the picture completely. What I do wish to do is to stress that this aspect of the problem m:ust be given top priority. Other problems include harbours or, rather, the lack of harbours. The present level of pro­ duction has been achieved with practically no investment in shelters or harbours as far as the inshore fisheries are concerned, but at a price in lost fishing time alJd in lost craft. Almost 100 hoat-s hav0 been wrecked so far, many of them permanently so. Providil1.g harbours is of course a long term project and while I should not like to make any proposals which might act to delay further the impbmenta­ tion of this project, I do feel that much could be done, as a temporary measure and at low co'3t, in the way of providing permanent moorings, at various fishing centres. In some areas at least, such mooril1.gs would also serve to lessen the tension between beach-seine fishermen and the operators ofmechanizecl craft, where the latter encroach on beach-seine padus in an effort to seek safe anchorage. The lack of mech<1nical knowledge on the part of the fishermen alluded to JUst now is but one aspect of the much larger problem of fishermen's training and education i11_ general. The Fisher­ men's Training Centre in Negombo is a step in the right direction, but very much more must be done, and in particular efforts should be made to see that fishermen's trallll'1g is directed towards the fi'3hing community. This is more important than trai~1il1.g others to enter into this field, if the fishing industry is ever to l)e capable of fulfilling all its primary functions in society, and if it is to have any real hope of develophg on its OW1.1. Research also has a vital role to play in the development of the fisheries. There are enough capable spokesmen for reserach presel1t here to make it unnecessary for me to labour this point but it is obvious that we ::tre now rapidly approaching the limits beyond which the traditional knowledge of the fishing community is of limited value, and active, aggressive, sea-going research can open up new vistas in the field to which the fisherme11_'s knowledge does not extend. The exploits of the Norwegian research vessel; G. 0. Sars, in the early fitties has hecome an ahnost classic example of what can be expected. As the first asdic-equipped vessel in Norway it guided the Norwegian herring fleet out to meet the incoming herril1.g, hundreds of miles farther out and many days earlier than the herring would otherwise have been located, and thus r6paid in one fell swoop all the expenditure which Norway has ever beetowed upon its marine research. We would be fully justified in ex­ pecting comparable re'3ults here from the operation of a research vessel. Furthermore, research into fish handling, at sea and ashore, into new uses of various fish species. and particularly into new processing methods for the home market could ultimately resolve the dilemma in which we now fi11_d om selves of trying_. to find means of serving both the fishing community and the consumers at the san,e time.