8 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 234 



our dinner, returned to the deck to take up submarine light fishing, when we 

 noticed a torchlight procession proceeding from the village down the sand spit 

 that fringed a reef. The orderliness of the procedure soon changed to what at 

 our distance might have [been] considered some wild ceremonial dance. 



Our curiosity being thoroughly aroused, we lowered a boat and soon joined the 

 party of men and boys, who were clad in the conventional G-string costume, each 

 provided with a torch varying from about 4 to 6 inches in diameter and probably 

 10 to 12 feet in length, made of slender segments of dried, split bamboo, carried 

 on the left shoulder, held by the left hand, and lighted in front. The right hand 

 was reserved for the ever-present bolo or a spear. The light of these torches would 

 show through the shallow water and thus reveal the luckless devil fish, which 

 seemed to have forsaken the secure caverns of the reef and to have gone a-hunting 

 on the shallow flats within. They are curious creatures, and their humped up 

 attitude and large eyes render them rather mirth provoking at such times. But 

 there is little time given to contemplating, for a native bolo or spear brings him 

 in and he is promptly strung on a rattan string, where he may continue to squirm 

 with his fellow captives until dead. 



Thelma Jutare, a graduate student in marine biology from Estancia, 

 Panay, stated that this method of octopus fishing is still customary. 

 The best time is during a low tide when the octopus is seized by hand 

 by the hght of a palm frond torch and placed ahve in a basket. She 

 was not famihar with the custom of "turning the cap" practiced in 

 many coimtries. According to Jutare another method of capturing 

 octopus is the use of the juice of the plant called tubli in the Visayan 

 dialect. The plant is macerated and the juice squeezed in to an octopus 

 hole. The octopus immediately deserts its home and is grasped by 

 the fisherman. Octopus are usually cooked fresh. The industry is 

 small and local in nature. 



Squid and cuttlefish are widely eaten in the Philippines and are in 

 great demand, both fresh and dried. Dried squid bring the highest 

 prices, about three pesos per kilogram, and fresh squid about two 

 pesos. The supply of Philippine dried squid has never equalled the 

 demand and they are imported from other countries. Immediately 

 after World War II, dried Loligo opalescens was imported from 

 Monterey, Calif. Since then, dried Todarodes pacificus from Japan 

 has helped to fill the market. 



Jutare states that most of the squid and cuttlefish are caught by 

 shore seines, but that they are usually incidental to and included with 

 the fish catch. Squid and cuttlefish are also caught at night from 

 boats, dipped by net imder night lights or caught along with fish in the 

 purse seines. 



The large cuttlefish. Sepia pharaonis and S. latimanus, are spHt open, 

 the cuttlebone removed along with the viscera, and the mantle, head, 

 and arms dried in the sun without salt. Smaller squids do not have 

 the viscera removed and squids of 3 to 5 inches in length are 

 preferred. Dried squid and cuttlefish are more highly prized and 

 demand higher prices. 



