Pearl oyster resources of India

Mahadevan, S and Nayar, K Nagappan (1973) Pearl oyster resources of India. In: Proceedings of the symposium on living resources of the seas around India, 1968, Mandapam Camp.

[img]
Preview
PDF
Article_50.pdf

Download (582kB)
Related URLs:

    Abstract

    Of the 6 distinct species of Pinctada Roding (Pteridae) viz., Pinctada fucata (Gould), P. margaritifera (Linn.), P. chemnitzi (Philippi), P. anomioides (Reeve,) P. sugiUata (Reeve) and P. atropurpurea (Dunker), the first named species is the common pearl oyster of India, occurring on the pearl banks off Tuticorin coast in the Gulf of Mannar on the rocky ridges extending all along the coast of the gulf at depths of 15 m-25 m. They are occasionally found in the Palk Bay also in shallower waters lying in loose clusters over a bottom of coarse sand grains covered with a matrix of dead shells. In the Gulf of Kutch they are found on the intertidal reefs. The pearl fishery in the Gulf of Mannar is unpredictable and it is a question of utilizing the natural resource as and when the pearl oyster spat settle down and grow. It is difficult to have effective control over the conditions affecting the settlement and growth of the pearl oyster in the natural beds because of their occurrence in the open sea. For the purpose of conducting an organized fishery, the population of fishable oysters should be determined with accuracy. The existing method of estimation of population, the knowledge of the grounds and the method of fishing require reorientation. To this end a thorough survey of the areas of oyster settlement was undertaken for a period of 3 years and the grounds charted for the first time by means of direct under-water observations by SCUBA. The outlook for pearl fisheries in the next few years is rather bleak at present. The success and failure of the pearl fisheries of the past and the futile attempts made over a number of years to watch for the possible settlemenet of the pearl oyster spat show that the only alternative to put India in the map of pearl producing nations is to resort to pearl culture practices.

    Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Pearl oyster; resources; India
    Subjects: Molluscan Fisheries > Pearl oyster
    Divisions: CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Molluscan Fisheries Division
    Subject Area > CMFRI > CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Molluscan Fisheries Division
    CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Molluscan Fisheries Division
    Subject Area > CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Molluscan Fisheries Division
    Depositing User: Dr. V Mohan
    Date Deposited: 31 Aug 2010 06:24
    Last Modified: 09 Sep 2015 15:19
    URI: http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/id/eprint/2762

    Actions (login required)

    View Item View Item