Important in the diet are animals fraa trochus and cat-eye shells. Itiese are mostly 

 caught by women and children while wading on the reefs at low tide during the day. Spiny 

 lobsters are also used in large quantity, but are caught by men and boys at night by 

 torching. They use a three-pronged spear without barbs on the points. The torch was not 

 observed elsewhere. It consists of a section of bamboo approximately four feet long and 

 two to tliree inches in diameter. One end is open and the intemodal space is stuffed with 

 rags soaked in kerosene. The kerosene capacity is sufficient to burn for two to three hours. 



A specialized type of net was developed in the Marianas for gill netting at night. In 

 order to prevent phosphorescence in the v;ater from showing the position of the net and 

 frightening away the fish, the netting and floats were dipped in pig's blood. Instead of 

 ordinary leads to hold the net down, the tops were cut off of one of the cypraea shells 

 (C. caputserpentis ) . which were then tied to the lead line at intervals of 15 to 18 inches. 

 The net was a mile in length, six' feet deep, with a one inch square mesh. The floats were 

 of pago wood and were eight to ten inches by two inches in diameter, 



D. GUAM ISLAND (Population 22,783 - 19^6) 

 (June 19-27) 



The fisheries of Guam are under the jurisdiction of the agricultural division of 

 Military Government. In order to axourgge production of sea foods several steps were 

 undertaken. One was to remove ceiling prices from seafoods. A second was to designate 

 certain men in each village as fishermen thus relieving them of other eii^5loyment. A third 

 was to give exclusive trap fishing rights along certain areas of the coast to single in- 

 individuals. Finally, several vessels belxsnging to Military Government were offered on a 

 rental basis to fishermen with the hope of stimulating production of off-shore species, 

 such as bonito. These measures have been largely unsuccessful. Removing ceiling prices 

 can be effective only in cases where production is sufficient to increase incane appreci- 

 ably. The general shortage of manpower on Guam has made it more profitable for wage 

 earners to wor^ for the armed services rather than to go fishing. Consequently very few 

 of the men designated as village fishermen are actiially so enployed. Examination of the 

 traps in the vicinity of Meriso show a catch of only a few pounds per day, entirely in- 

 sufficient to v/arrant this type of fishing as a primary source of income. The rental of 

 flailing vessels has not resulted in the development of off-shore fishing for a number of 

 reasons. In the lirst place, there is no back log of expeidenced fishermen to undertake 

 this t'/pe of v/ork. In the second place, shore facilities are not available in the event 

 of a large catch. In particular, it is necessary to have ample refrigeration space to 

 handle the catch. It is also necessary to have transportation facilities in order to dis- 

 tribute the catch to consumers. Very few fishermen can afford to pay a thousand dollars 

 for a surplus weapons carrier or similar type of vehicle. 



The limited reef and inshore areas are not sufficiently large to warrant any expec- 

 tation of an increased catch from this area. In the case of an off-shore fishery for tuna 

 and bonito it seems probable that it would be necessary to bring in experienced fishing 

 crews from other islands, such as Saipan, and to subsidize them heavily over a period of 

 possibly six months by furnishing vessels, equipment and refrigeration space at no cost 

 in order to develop the fishery. Unfortunately,, one of the limiting factors in the estab- 

 lishment of an off-shore fishery for tuna and bonito is the availability of live bait. 

 Our limited observations can throw no conclusive light on the abundance of bait fish 

 airound Guam and if a successful off-shore fishery is to be established, a thorough in- 

 vestigation must be made of this supply. However, our impression is that there is not an 

 ample supply of bait fish around Guam which would warrant the encouragement of a large off- 

 shore fishery, 



Tlie most common type of fishing gear is the throw net. The usual size is seven feet 

 in length and there ai* two common sizes of mesh, one of 1/2 inch bar or one inch stretch 

 mesh and the other about half that size, approximately I/4. inch bar of 1/2 inch stretched 



56 



