or not they have any commercial value. It is bad from a conservation standpoint, and 

 discouraging to native fishermen, to discard so large a percentage of the trochus taken. 



The black lip, or pearl oyster ( Pinctada ) . is conmon in water from one to four 

 fathoms deep, in the area between the fringing shore reef and the outer barrier reef. At 

 the present time no use is being made of these shells. As the total quantity is not large, 

 it is doubtful if it would pay to put them on the world market, "Riey could, however, go 

 into inter-island trade to be used as inlay in native handicrafts. 



Cowrie shells ( Cypraea tigris ) are very abundant, particularly around Uatalanim, and 

 many hundreds are brought in by the natives for sale. The present price to the natives is 

 three for ten cents. A large number of these shells are now being rejected because of a 

 milky appearance of the shell, which is the result of in^roper drying. In order to retain 

 the high natural polish they should be either buried in dry szind for a month or six weeks, 

 or the animal inside them can be rotted out in sea water and then the shells dried in the 

 shade. Usually the milky appearance which renders them unsuitable for trade purposes 

 results fron exposure to the sun and to fresh water. 



Small giant clams (Tridacna) up to 12 Inches are very common and are eaten in large 

 quantity by the natives. As far as we were able to determine, there are no very large 

 ones ranging up to three feet or more. 



The barrier reef here is notable in being very wide, up to 150 yards, and also 

 peculiar in dropping off abruptly on the lagoon side to four or five fathoms. Along 

 this inside edge large parrot fish ( Callyodon sp.) and crevalles ( Caranx sp.) of 10 to 

 15 pounds weight are very common, but wild and difficult to catch as they immediately 

 seek deep water when fishermen come around. Small mullet, up to 10 inches in length, are 

 common in the shallow water on top of the reef. Also abundant are several species of goat- 

 fish ( Pseudupeneus ) around eight inches in length and occasional schools of large bliie 

 wrasse (Cheilinus sp.) weighing up to 30 pounds. As many as 17 of the latter have been 

 taken in one haul of a homemade beach seine. This type of seine is set in a semicircle on 

 a flat part of the barrier reef and then a number of fishermen splash and drive fish into 

 the center pocket. Due to the roughness of the bottom, it is not possible to haul the 

 seine as is done with most beach seines. 



Along the outer edge of the barrier reef there are many rough cat-eye (Turbo) shells, 

 some of which contain cat-eyes of fair quality. We did not see any of the smooth type, 

 which are the most valuable. 



The natives of Ponape do not use either stone fence traps or large traps of any kind. 

 There are several bamboo fence traps which had been constructed by natives from Yap. We 

 were unable to obtain any information as to the production obtained from these traps. 



Hawksbill turtles are fairly common around Ponape and a number are taken annually. 

 The price set by Militaiy Government is 80 cents a kilogram for thin shell and $1.30 per 

 kilogram for thick shell. The Japanese paid from •¥100.00 to ¥160,00 per kilogram. In 

 computing the price, the whole shell is weighed. A large shell weighed approximately six 

 kilograms. Turtles are tsiken mainly by spearing or are caught by hand, but a few are 

 also taken by nets. 



Under the Japanese the natives obtained some income from the preparation of trepang 

 from sea cucumbers. The Japanese paid 30 sen (¥.30) per kilogram for fair quality, 45 sen 

 (¥.45) per kilogram for good quality and 73 sen (¥.75) per kilogram for very good quality. 

 The abundance of sea cucumbers warrants a resumption of this business, if markets can be 

 found. 



In general, the catch made with seines was very small and scarcely paid for the 

 labor involved. For example, one set of the net brought the seven men who fished it 



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