population. Using both hand lines and trolling, the only fish we were able to take in any 

 quantity at all were remo ras . Altogether we trolled both feather and spoon for 18-1/2 

 hours inside the lagoon and caught only one fish, a snapper ( Aprion virescens ) 18 inches 

 long. 



At Falas Island, the reefs were searched for fish and shellfish. Fish were very rare, 

 only a few small striped surgeon fish and goat-fish under five inches were seen. None of 

 these fish was in sufficient quantity to use a throw net. On the seav/ard side of this 

 island there were many "gold ringer" shells under rocks in depths from three inches to two 

 feet, "iiionkey face" shells ( Cypraea moneta ) were also quite common, and there were some 

 small tiger cowries, ( Cypraea tigris) around two inches in length. Black sea-cucumbers, 

 both smooth and rough types, were very common, but no yellow ones were seen. Outside the 

 reef on the seaward side there vrere a fev* small crevalle (Caranx sp.) 12 to lA inches long, 

 but very wild. V.'e wei'e unable to get close enough for spearing. Small sand sharks, two 

 to four feet long, were quite common. 



On May 28 an examination was made of the outside reefs at Udot Island. The beach is 

 sandy and slopes off very gradually approximately a hundred yards to the fringing reef. 

 The depth over the flat area is approximately a foot at low tide. On this flat are many 

 black sea cucumbers and under the rocks there are many small decorative shells, such as 

 the monkey face and gold ringers used in handicraft. There were a few scattered schools 

 of mullet, approximately eight inches long. Six were caught with one cast of the throw 

 net. In general, however, all of the small fish here were veiy wild and difficult to 

 approacfi. The fish caught were given to the natives, who took even the small finger 

 mullet, two to three inches long. The chief on this island said that they have had no 

 fish to speak of since the Japanese dynamited along the reefs near shore both day and 

 night. A few trochus under three inches were also seen, but as we did not examine the 

 outer face of the fringing reef, no large ones were found. A number of small blue parrot 

 fish about six inches in length were seen, but could not be approached closely. Y»e also 

 saw several barfacuda ( Sphyraena sp.) 10 to 12 inches in length. 



Outrigger canoes were very scarce and we were told that there were no breadfruit 

 trees on the island large enough to make canoes. The Japanese had destroyed most of the 

 canoes throughout the Truk group in order to prevent the natives from communicating with 

 United States vessels. 



We also trolled on the seaward side of Udot Island, looking for schools of bonito, 

 but saw none, nor were there any flocks of birds hovering over the v/ater as is the case 

 vhen schools of fish are feeding. «Ve trolled both a feather jig and a brass spoon for an 

 hour and a half without obtaining any strikes . 



The natives need many types of fishing implements, especially throw nets. Only a 

 few are now available, as most of the nets they had under the Japanese have worn out and 

 there is no twine from trtiich to make new ones. Most of the fishing is done by women on 

 the sheillow reefs, using the small hand nets called epino with which they catch very small 

 fish, crabs, and other shell fish. 



At Fala-Beguets Island the natives are fairly well supplied with fishing implements. 

 They have a few canoes and are able to do some hand-lining inside the reef. Usually three 

 or four men fish together from one canoe. Vie found several schools of mullet eight to ten 

 inches long and near shore, but very wild. There was an ample supply of epino nets and 

 most of the natives had goggles and speaxs. In general fish are very scarce here, as two 

 men came in from hand-lining with only four fish six inches long. 



As indication of the scarcity of fish here is the fact that we spent one and a half 

 hours searching the reefs for fish and shell fish and in addition to the mullet mentioned 



32 



