'File 17/16 Fish Industry in Muscat (Dr. Bertram's Visit to Muscat)' [‎15r] (29/212)

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for work in the Gulf, would, in my view, be short-sighted.
If the provision of the necessary machinery for full refriger
ation is, in the first instance, not available, the vessel could
operate with ice temporarily.
(e) Refrigeration Plant . The opinion of $ Refrigeration^Engineer
needs to be sought. A somewhat similar vessel, recently fitted out
and now operating successfully in the Gulf of Aqaba, has a Ruston
10 H.P, Engine operating a compressor with ammonia as the refriger
ant. The fish is frozen in trays resting directly_on the freezing
pipes. The fish is cooled rapidly to 0 - 4° F. and then stored .at
about 14° F. Thus treated it will last many months. (P.S. For "many"
read "several").
(f) Fish Room . The whole fish room, not only_the lower parts,
should be metal-lined to allow of adequate scouring without wetting
the insulation. A proper sump and pumps, to take drainage and
washings from the fish room, are needed,
(g) '' Insulation . The specification is for "10 inches of granu-_
lated cork or other approved material". Slab cork is better and is
now fairly easily available from Forth Africa, It would probably
be wise to fit 12" of insulation in view of the extreme temperature
conditions to be met.
-) Ship *3 Stores . The present layout provides virtually no space
for ship’s stores and fishing equipment. The larger hull recommend
ed \ uld allow for this.
(i) Fresh Water Tanks . The capacity of the proposed fresh water
*tank is Inadequate.
(j) Master’s Quarters . These could be better arranged. At pre
sent there is excessive subdivision. I suggest a sizeable deck
cabin only, but properly shut off from the wheel house."
ROTE A.
TRAWLING AT THE HEAD OF THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
It has too easily been assumed that the provision of a
J -awler at Abadan would solve the fresh fish_problem. This may or
may not be so but the evidence seems to justify a full-scale trial,
and without this the answer cannot be known.
In the winter seasons of 1936/7 and 1937/8* Dr. Blegvad,
at that time Danish fishery adviser to the Persian Government,
carried out certain experiments in trawling from his 59~ton motor
vessel. The number of trials at the head of the Gulf was small
and the type of gear used is not well described. In his report
to the Persian Government in 1938 he gave the numbers of fish caught
in each trial haul but not their weights nor.sizes. However, he
stated that the proportion of good quality fish taken by trawl was
higher at the head of the Gulf than elsewhere. ^He mentioned his
best haul of first category fish as being 1100 kilos in one hour's
trawling off Shaikh Shu'aib island, which is close to the Persian
coast north-east of the tip of the Qatar Peninsula. He was an
experienced investigator and he expressed himself in optimistic
terms as to future fishery developments in the- Gulf. His main
recommendation however, was the establishment of the sardine canning
factory An East India Company trading post. at Bondar Abbas, leaving fishery development at the head of
the Gulf for a later date when more experience had been gained.
There is evidence that during the war of 1914-1918 the
British Army authorities arranged for one or more trawlers to work
at the head / ...