Abstract
A report on a survey of the fisheries of Bengal by Dr. R. Naidu (Bengal Govt. Press, 1939) which has only recently been received, contains valuable information on the present state of the Indian fisheries. There is a descriptive account of the fishing methods, followed by details of the commercially exploited groups of fishes in the different parts of Bengal and of the recent work done in other provinces to improve the fisheries. The hilsa or the Indian shad (Hilsa ilisha) is the most popular food fish of Bengal; the report makes it clear that unless hatcheries are provided and protective legislation enacted, this valuable fishery will rapidly be depleted at the present rate of fishing. The condition of the carp fisheries, which come next in importance, is equally unsatisfactory, for, though carp culture is widely practised in Bengal, the methods in vogue are wasteful and destructive. The dried fish and prawn industries are considerably developed in the province, but the methods of preparation of the products for the market leave much to be desired. Analysis of the fishing trade points to the deplorable economic condition of the fishing populations who form the backbone of the industry; though fish are plentiful and prices high, a disproportionately high percentage of the profits go to the middlemen who intervene—between the fishermen and the consumers. The recommendations made include the organization of a new department with properly equipped stations and personnel, and if given effect to, should substantially improve the fishing industry of the province. Bengal had a separate fisheries department for some time, but it was abolished in 1923. From the facts presented in the report it is difficult to understand how the fisheries of the province could be improved without a properly organized fishery administration.
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Indian Fisheries. Nature 147, 604 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147604b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147604b0