﻿366 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [14] 
  

  

  Causes 
  of 
  exhaustion. 
  — 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  name 
  the 
  following 
  prin- 
  

   cipal 
  causes 
  of 
  this 
  depletion 
  : 
  

  

  1. 
  The 
  abusive 
  fishing 
  which 
  the 
  Tuaniotu 
  fishermen 
  have 
  carried 
  on 
  

   for 
  the 
  last 
  fifteen 
  or 
  twenty 
  years, 
  at 
  the 
  instance 
  of 
  ignorant 
  mer- 
  

   chants, 
  and 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  young 
  oysters. 
  

  

  2. 
  Absence 
  of 
  all 
  supervision. 
  

  

  3. 
  Insufficiency 
  of 
  the 
  administrative 
  measures 
  intended 
  to 
  regulate 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  in 
  the 
  arcbipelago. 
  

  

  4. 
  Absence 
  of 
  efficacious 
  provisions 
  for 
  restocking 
  the 
  lagoons. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  supervision 
  in 
  the 
  fishing 
  placet;, 
  and 
  no 
  officers 
  to 
  super- 
  

   intend 
  the 
  fisheries. 
  Since 
  France 
  took 
  possession 
  of 
  Tahiti 
  the 
  succes- 
  

   sive 
  governors 
  had 
  their 
  hands 
  full 
  in 
  providing 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  necessities 
  

   of 
  establishing 
  French 
  rule 
  in 
  these 
  islands. 
  Since 
  then 
  the 
  condition 
  

   of 
  our 
  mother-of-pearl 
  fisheries 
  has 
  remained 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  under 
  

   the 
  protectorate, 
  and 
  the 
  fisheries 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  subject 
  to 
  any 
  restric- 
  

   tions. 
  At 
  present 
  this 
  question 
  is 
  seriously 
  occupying 
  the 
  minds 
  of 
  all 
  

   men 
  who 
  have 
  the 
  future 
  of 
  this 
  colony 
  at 
  heart. 
  They 
  know 
  that 
  if 
  

   the 
  mother-of-pearl 
  was 
  to 
  disappear, 
  the 
  colony 
  would 
  at 
  once 
  lose 
  a 
  

   great 
  portion 
  of 
  its 
  commercial 
  importance. 
  

  

  A 
  plan 
  for 
  preventing 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  these 
  oysters 
  consists 
  

   in 
  working 
  the 
  lagoons 
  in 
  regular 
  turns, 
  subjecting 
  to 
  prohibitory 
  meas- 
  

   ures 
  those 
  in 
  which 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  indiscriminate 
  fishing 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  

   of 
  years. 
  This 
  prohibition 
  is, 
  in 
  the 
  language 
  of 
  the 
  islands, 
  called 
  

   " 
  rahui." 
  The 
  " 
  rahui 
  " 
  may 
  be 
  ordered 
  by 
  a 
  decree 
  of 
  the 
  governor, 
  for 
  a 
  

   period 
  varying 
  from 
  two 
  to 
  five 
  years, 
  in 
  any 
  given 
  island 
  of 
  the 
  archi- 
  

   pelago 
  ; 
  either 
  because, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  rank 
  it 
  occupies 
  among 
  the 
  

   islands, 
  its 
  turn 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  have 
  fishing 
  prohibited, 
  or 
  because 
  the 
  

   condition 
  of 
  the 
  oyster-beds 
  renders 
  such 
  a 
  measure 
  imperative. 
  The 
  

   decree 
  ordering 
  prohibition 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  determines 
  in 
  which 
  islands 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  shall 
  be 
  free. 
  

  

  The 
  periods 
  of 
  prohibition 
  and 
  of 
  free 
  fishing 
  may 
  be 
  calculated 
  in 
  such 
  

   a 
  manner, 
  as 
  to 
  have 
  fisheries 
  going 
  on 
  in 
  nearly 
  the 
  same 
  number 
  of 
  

   islands 
  every 
  year. 
  All 
  this 
  is 
  very 
  well 
  understood, 
  and 
  the 
  principle 
  

   in 
  itself 
  is 
  good. 
  According 
  to 
  this 
  system 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  in 
  the 
  

   Indian 
  Ocean 
  and 
  the 
  Persian 
  Gulf 
  are 
  managed. 
  But 
  with 
  due 
  regard 
  

   to 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  Tnamotu 
  lagoons, 
  which 
  really 
  constitute 
  in- 
  

   closed 
  fisheries, 
  and 
  in 
  which 
  oysters 
  could 
  easily 
  be 
  propagated, 
  and 
  

   also 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  Tahiti 
  pearl-oyster 
  differs 
  very 
  much 
  from 
  the 
  

   small 
  pearl-oyster 
  of 
  Ceylon 
  and 
  the 
  Persian 
  Gulf, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  presumed 
  

   that 
  the 
  method 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  open 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Ocean 
  will 
  

   not 
  be 
  the 
  one 
  best 
  suited 
  to 
  our 
  oyster-cultural 
  establishments. 
  

  

  Under 
  the 
  "rahui" 
  system, 
  when 
  an 
  administrative 
  measure 
  prohibits 
  

   fishing 
  in 
  an 
  island, 
  the 
  divers 
  have 
  left 
  there 
  only 
  those 
  oysters 
  which 
  

   are 
  at 
  too 
  great 
  a 
  depth, 
  or 
  which 
  have 
  escaped 
  their 
  constant 
  researches. 
  

   The 
  " 
  rahui" 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  principle 
  of 
  the 
  hermapbrodism 
  cf 
  the 
  pearl- 
  

   oyster. 
  The 
  persons 
  who 
  inaugurated 
  this 
  system 
  thought 
  that, 
  in 
  view 
  

  

  