I. BO^aTO INDDSTRT 



A. STATISTICE OF THE BONITO USHERY 



Maximum production of bonito was reached 1937 (Table I) with a catch of 7.i,983,780 

 pounds valued at 5958, /i.76 (¥4.. 00 to $1.00), or 1.3 cents per pound average to the fisher- 

 men. The price of fresh bonito varied from place to place (Table 2), cind fluctuated 

 according to local abundance, but basically it was a percentage of the market price for 

 bonito sticks in Japan. Tlie 1937 price of fresh bonito v/as 9 percent of tlie ma.rket price 

 of bonito sticks in Tokyo. The local price in the Palaus, for example, was established 

 monthly, calculated at 9 percent oi the price which Palauan bonito sticks sold for in 

 Tokjro the preceding month. 



In 1938 the catch dropped to 32,703,981 pounds, and to 25,'U.l,'ib6 pounds in ig-il. 

 This the last year lor whicti statistics are available from the South Seas Government 

 records, but it is known that the catch declined abruptly in subsequent years. 



The extra heavy catch in 1937 seems to have resulted from :.he operations of an 

 unusually lar^e nuriber of fishing vessels, some of which were withdrawn the following 

 year. Table /i lists the number of iishing vessels at bases in the mandated area in 1937. 

 Figures for the following years are not available, but the number is knoTm to oe less. 



Japanese recommendations are that the number of vessels in the bonito fishery should 

 be 25 at Koror in the Palaus; 20 at Truk; and 10 at Ponape. In addition, AO vessels of 50 

 to 60 tons could be used for tuna, 20 each at Koror and Truk. 



Table 5, from South Seas Government fig\ires for 1941, shows the production from the 

 more important^ marine fisheries at centers in the Mandated Islands. In the case of white 

 pearl shells (Gold-lip pearl oyster), it is believed that most of the catch was taken in 

 tiie Arafura Sea. In using this table, note that bonito and tuna sticks are processed 

 from the fresh fish, consequently the vertical column totals for weight are incorrect. 

 Also, the figures for shark fin production in the Palaus are confusing. It is obvious 

 that 42,858 kg of sharks would not yield anything like 22,028 kg of fins. Quite probably 

 fins were removed from captured sharks, and the carcasses discarded. This, however, is 

 mere speculation. In any event, the figures are the only ones available for the last 

 pre-war year, and are sufficiently valuable to be included in this report. 



No figures could be found on the extent of the canning industry. The only information 

 is that the Palau cannery at Koror, with a capacity of 500 cases a day, was completed in 

 1939, and operated at capacity for a short tiioe in 1940. It packed tana in oil, and was 

 the only operating cannery on a commercial scale in the Mandated Islands, 



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