Diving and Spearing .4'Jomen rarely do this kind of fishing. 

 Usually several men work together, as it often takes more than one 

 to capture a large fish, octopus, mo ray eel or turtle. Five fathoms 

 is about the maximum working depth, and probably 90 percent of the 

 fish are taken in less than three fathoms. Length of time under 

 water depends on how much exertion is required. Most divers do 

 not exceed 90 seconds since they are quite active. 



The best spear fishing is found around coral heads in lagoons 

 and along the outer face of barrier reefs. In addition to reef 

 fish, many shellfish are taken, especially trochus, Trochus niloticus . 

 cowries, Cypraea sp_., and giant clams, Tridacna gigas , T. elongata , 

 and T. crocea. Giant clam shells, of course, are not brought up, 

 the meat only being cut out. Spine-thrillers to the contrary, divers 

 consider the chances of getting a foot caught in the jaws of a giant 

 clam about on a par with the possibility of accidentally falling out 

 of a jail window. 



Each diver has a length of strong cord or wire on which to 

 string his catch and a small pouch of woven cocoanut leaves to hold 

 small shells, which can't be kept in the breech cloth. He also has 

 a pair of diving goggles, Japanese-made with hard rubber frame and 

 window-glass lenses. Spears are made to suit local conditions. 

 They range in length from a two-foot piece of 3/lb-inch diameter 

 rod propelled by a sling-shot, to a heavy 12-footer (figure 11) 

 whose double barb tip is made from an automobile brake rod. Throwing 

 spears are likely to have a bamboo shaft so that they will come to 

 the surface in case of a miss, while spears used mainly for jabbing 

 are apt to have a hardwood shaft which helps in pinning a fish 

 against the coral rock. Of course there is no hard and fast rule 

 about this, because the shaft will have to be made from whatever 

 is at hand. 



Some attention was given to recording the amount of fish 

 taken by spearing. As in any kind of fishing, the total depends 

 on the abundance of fish and the skill of the fisherman. There 

 was a wide difference in catch per man from 5 to 25 pounds of fish 

 per hour. Most reef fish are under a pound in weight, but some 

 larger ones are speared, especially brown spotted groupers, Serranus 

 tauvina Forskal, and the green wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus Ruppell, 

 (figure 10). Experienced .divers seldom strike at fish weighing 

 over five pounds unless two men can strike at the same time for, 

 if not killed, or paralyzed by the blow, a large fish will dart- 

 away to deep water with the spear, which may not be recovered. 



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