between totals of table and text result from rounding off the 000 

 in the table. As stated above, maximum production was in 1937, with a 

 catch of 74,933,780 pounds, valued at $958,476 (conversion rate 4 Sen 

 to Dollar), or 1.3 cents per pound average to the fishermen. 



The price of fresh bonito varied from place to place, fluctuating 

 according to local abundance as shown in table 3, but basically it 

 was a percentage of the market price for dried bonito sticks in Japan. 

 The 1937 price of fresh bonito at point of production was 9 percent 

 of the market price for bonito sticks in Tokyo. The local price in 

 the Palaus, for example, was established monthly, calculated at 9 

 percent of the price at which Palauan bonito sticks sold in Tokyo 

 the preceding month. 



In 1938 the catch dropped to 32,703,981 pounds, and to 25,411,466 

 pounds in 1941. This is the last year for which statistics were 

 available from the South Seas Government records , but it is known 

 that the catch declined abruptly in subsequent years. 



The heavy catch in 1937 seems to have resulted from the opera- 

 tions of an unusually large number of fishing vessels some of which 

 were withdrawn the following year. Table 2 lists the number of 

 fishing vessels at bases in the mandate in 1937. Figures for the 

 following years are not available, but the number is known to have 

 been less. 



Table 2 — Nunfcer of Fishing Vessels in the Mandated Islands, 1937 



Total 193 167 360 5304 



Japanese recommendations, which the present survey showed to be 

 practical, are that the number of vessels in the bonito fishery should 

 be 25 at Koror (Palaus, Carolines); 20 at Trukj and 10 at Ponape. In 

 •addition, 40 vessels of 50 to 60 tons could be used, for tuna, Neothunnus 

 macropterus Schlegel, 20 each at Koror and Truk. 



22 



