804 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Fish are chiefly taken by spear, net, and trap. The net is neither a 
drag seine nor a gill net. Attached to poles, a piece of cotton web- 
bing, 8 by 4 feet, is used as a barricade and scoop, in conjunction with 
a string of cocoanut leaves. Four men repair to the reef, two carry- 
ing the net and the other two the string of leaves. The leaves are 
about a foot long, split into shreds, one end fastened to a sennit rope 
about 60 feet long. In the water the leaves swing back and forth like 
seaweed attached to a rock. A school or a number of fish being seen, 
the men carrying the string separate and endeavor to get between the 
fish and the outer edge of the reef. This being accomplished, they 
draw together and at the same time approach the men holding the net, 
dropping the fringe-work of leaves behind them. The object is to drive 
the fish toward the men with the net, they frequently shifting their 
position according to the way the fish move, either to the right or left. 
Fish once inclosed in the circle of leaves will not attempt to pass under 
Fish-trap, Jaluit. 
it. The circle is gradually made smaller and smaller by drawing the 
string together. At last the fish are forced over the net and lifted up 
in it, taken out and placed in baskets. Repeated hauls are made, and 
frequently a distance of 2 or 3 miles is covered in a single tide. 
The original spear of bone has given way to one of iron. 
Another simple device for catching fish is with a braided rope of 
cocoanut leaves 10 to 12 feet long. These ropes are operated at high 
water on the beach in the lagoon near the village, men, women, and 
children taking part. In the evening, when the tide serves right, a 
dozen or more people may be seen sitting on the beach attentively 
watching for signs of fish to appear. Not until the school is within a 
few feet of the beach is any attempt made to secure it, at which time 
the natives rush into the water, surround the school, and frighten it to 
the beach by pushing the leaves through the water. In this way the 
fish are crowded to the shore and thrown on the beach with dip-nets, 
several people being stationed at the water’s edge for that purpose. 
