93 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



olines 



10 



During the Japanese administration, a large commercial fish- 

 ing industry developed. Manned mostly by Okinawans, with little 

 participation by indigenous people, this industry flourished, 

 supplying food for the large foreign population of the Marianas 

 and exporting to Japan. The Saipan bonito fishery alone produced 

 from 2,000-4,000 tons per year prior to World War II. Indige- 

 nous fishing was largely confined to the subsistence economy in 

 those days. 



The Hopkins Committee, visiting the Pacific shortly after 

 the Second World War, noted that ocean fisheries were highly de- 

 veloped throughout Micronesia during the Japanese administration 

 and that 18 3 fishing vessels of various categories were based on 

 Saipan alone. There were large installations for handling the 

 catch, for storage, and for repairing vessels. More than twenty 

 state-of-the-art fisheries research vessels cruised the Western 



10 Id. at 9. 



11 Letter, March 9, 1995, A.D. Lewis, Oceanic Fisheries Coordi- 

 nator, South Pacific Commission, to D. Woodworth, attorney for 

 the Commonwealth. 



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