certain that they come into the Palau waters in search of foodo Conse- 

 quently the most important consideration in this fishery is to learn the 

 migratory pattern of the schools by a close study of the effects of 

 weather and sea conditions on the abundance or scarcity of the food fish 

 inhabiting the waters around the islands, 



A comparison of the reports of the Meteorological Station and the 

 results of our oceanographical observations shows that in the Palau area 

 the year is in general divided into the season of the northeast trade 

 winds and the season of westerly winds„ The northeast trades blow continu~ 

 ously from Noverber to Aprilj in May and June the winds are unsettled, 

 and westerly winds prevail from July to October„ 



From January to March the trade wind is strong, weakening somewhat 

 in April J, and the unsettled winds of May and June are generally weak, 



2o Fishing season 



The best season for skipjack fishing is when the trade wind starts 

 to bloWj that iSj, in November, December, and January„ The decline which 

 always sets in during February is thought to be due to the fact that 

 water tem.peratur'es reach their yearly low in that month„ The water tem= 

 perature in February is 27 degrees C, It rains continually everywhere 

 during the month and as the surface waters turn cooler the schools tend to 

 disappearo The most favorable siirface temperatures for the schools' 

 activities are within the range of 2.8 to 29o 5 degrees C^, and although the 

 situation varies from year to year (big catches were made in February 1929 

 in a^r.ite of rather low water temperatuies), it seems that schools generally 

 appee.r inore abundantly as the water temperature rises„ Vilhen it rains the 

 temperature of the surface layer is lowered, the water color becomes bad, 

 clarity is decreased, and the pattern of migration is disturbed, but the 

 catch ratios under such conditions appear to be comparatively good, (Vhen 

 the weather is clear and the sea is calm, the migrations of the schools 

 are normal and operating is easy o 



3o Fishing grounds 



All of the waters around Palau can be said to be fishing grounds, but 

 because of the configuration of the barrier reef, the ocean currents, and 

 other factors., there are places where the fish regularly congregate and 

 other places where they do noto Judging by the areas in which we have 

 hitherto operated, generally every place around the Palau Islands can be 

 called a fishing ground„ EKrring the trade wind season especially the 

 schools tend to come in close to shore, while at other seasons they migrate 

 several miles out to sea from the reef and operations are extremely easy. 



Schools can also be seen 20 or 30 miles off shore, but as the inves- 

 tigation of the distant offshore grounds is as yet incomplete, the matter 

 is left for further study o 



Ao Seasons of the year 



20 



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