Handlining . -Two or three men fish together from each canoe. As 

 in diving, the best fishing spots are around coral heads in lagoons, 

 and just outside the barrier reefs. Cut bait is used, fish, octopi 

 or shellfish. As stated previously, some fishing is done to depths 

 of 20 fathoms, but mostly less than half that. No. 20 cotton twine, 

 medium laid, is the best all-round size. Hook sizes desired are 5 to 

 10/0. Hooks developed by the Japanese are superior j?or reef fishing, 

 the point being recurved toward the shank to minimize fouling. 



Although the same species are caught as in spearing, the fish 

 average somewhat heavier as the older fish seek deeper water. In 

 addition, crevalle, Caranx and Carangoides spp .. barracuda, tuna, 

 swordfish and sharks are caught. 



Seining and hand-netting .-The simplest use of netting is found 

 in the hand-net (figure 12), used by women in the Carolines, but for 

 same reason rare in the Marshal Is and Marianas. A characteristic of 

 the shore area of many islands is the fairly flat coral table extend- 

 ing seaward as much as several hundred yards before dropping off 

 abruptly to several fathoms. At low tide, water over this table is 

 from 6 to 24 inches deep. A litter of coral rocks provides cover 

 for small fish and shellfish. After placing the two nets around a 

 rock it is moved and the small fish are trapped in the nets as they 

 dart away. However, the commonest use of these nets is by a group 

 of women and girls, frequently the whole female population of a 

 village, working together. In single file, the group wades out in 

 a semicircle from a point on shore. When all are in position, with 

 nets in either hand extended to join her neighbors, each woman 

 moves slowly toward shore. Inside the semicircle, youngsters 

 splash about and chase the small fish from their hiding places. 

 Finally the fish are driven into a compact mass which can be 

 scooped onto the shore where all participants share in the catch, 

 though not equally, the chief's wife and those of other village 

 dignitaries making off with the choicer fish as in any well-regulated 

 community. Since the catch is preponderantly of minnow size, netting 

 mesh is from 1/8 to l/2-inch square. Machine-made netting being 

 scarce, most of the nets were knitted locally from home-made sennit 

 twine. On Truk, some very fine netting is made from the fibers of 

 a seaweed which gives a smoother, less bulky cord than sennit. 



Most beaches are either too rough and littered with coral, 

 or drop off too abruptly for beach seining of the kind shown in 

 the frontispiece. Where seines are used at all, they are of the 

 type known as surround nets, which are set in shallow water and 

 the fish driven into them, no attempt being made to haul the nets 

 ashore . 



12 



