332 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



Mankind has nearly always passed from the stage of collection, of 

 harvesting what was available in nature, to the stage of cultivation; 

 from collecting and hunting to growing and raising. 



In fisheries we see the same picture, on the one hand fish catching, 

 the harvesting of what is available in nature, and on the other hand 

 fish culture, or controlled production. 



The abundance of fish in the Pacific Ocean and the fact that the 

 largest ocean in the world furnishes food for only a few million people 

 could lead to the idea that there is no need of fish culture in addition 

 to fish catching. But reality seems to point in a different direction. It 

 is a strange fact that the fish production in the South Pacific area is not 

 sufficient to meet the needs of the population. Instead of being a fish 

 exporting region the Pacific islands are importing fish. New Guinea's 

 imports of fish and fish products in 1952 amounted to a quantity of 

 more than 1,744,000 lbs. with a value of nearly £Aust. 186,000; the 

 figures for Fiji are 1,748,000 lbs. with a value of £F. 154,500; Western 

 Samoa 1,280,000 lbs. with the value of £NZ.46,2oO; American Samoa 

 405,000 lbs. having a value of $47,380. Other territories such as Papua, 

 Tonga, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, French Oceania, Gilbert and 

 Ellice Islands Colony and Netherlands New Guinea also have an ap- 

 preciable import of fish. Although complete figures of fish imports are 

 not available, a rough estimate gives a value of £400,000 Sterling per 

 year for the region. The available figures indicate furthermore that 

 imports are increasing. Thus it seems possible that fish production in 

 the region has not kept pace with the increasing population. It was 

 stated at the Fisheries Conference that coastal populations sometimes 

 abandon fishing and prefer to buy their food, even including fish in tins. 

 Especially the deep-sea fishing (for pelagic fishes) seems to be declining. 

 The report of the Fisheries Conference refers to: 



"A declining interest among the local populations in the 

 conduct of fishing operations at market-fisheries level and some- 

 times even at subsistence level." 



Fish Resources 



The resources within the region can be divided into: 



(a) marine fisheries; 



(b) inland fisheries. 



The marine fisheries are generally divided into: 



(a) coral reef and lagoon resources; 



(b) mangrove and estuarine resources; and 



(c) oceanic resources. 



