Table 3
Kau Sai Boat Population 1953: the incidence of mastership among eligible males, by age group and type of fishing.
9 years & under 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Over 60 Totals I Purse-seiners Eligible males 61 28 34 24 11 7 171 Of Whom (a) Masters of boats only 0 0 2 8 5 3 1 19 (b) Masters of boats and firms 0 0 0 9 5 4 0 18 II Long-liners Eligible males 12 15 8 9 9 4 1 57 Of Whom (a) Masters of boats and firms 0 0 1 1 3 8 3 16 III Handliners & others Eligible males 1 3 0 5 1 0 10 Of Whom (a) Masters of boats and firms 0 1 6 9 1By showing the proportion of those eligible in each age group who were in fact boats' masters in 1953 these two tables reveal that the relatively large number of masters in the thirties age group were not merely the accidental result of the probabilities of early marriage and the production of a sufficient number of living children on the idiosyncracies of paternal decision, they were as Barnett's hypothesis would lead us to expect inescapably linked with demographic fact. There simply were not enough men of the older age groups to go round.