Marine Biology in Ceylon

Abstract

DR. JOSEPH PEARSON, in his Administrative Report of the Marine. Biologist for the Year 1931 (Part IV: Education Science and Art (G). Colombo: Government Record Office, 1932), states that the years inspection of the Ceylon pearl banks has not brought to light any new spat falls and as there are no mature oysters in large quantities at present, there is no prospect of a pearl fishery for at least another four years. The dredgings in the Gulf of Mannar, however, showed small patches of young oysters on practically all the paars, which is a promising sign for repopulation of the banks, as the heavy spat falls of 1921–24 followed a similar scattering of young oysters in 1920. During the diver's inspection of the pearl banks, in one or two places dense masses of Avicula spat were found attached to the Sargassum weed. This is known as ‘false spat’ and used often to be taken for the spat of the pearl oyster. The report also contains notes on the window-pane oyster fishery, chank fisheries and local fishing industries. Plans for development are sketched out and it is hoped that a fishing vessel of a modern type will soon be available by the aid of which it is proposed to carry out detailed investigations and research necessary to determine the best methods to be adopted for the bettering of the fishing industry by the introduction of modern fishing craft and modern fishing appliances.