SEA PRODUCTS OF MINDANAO AND SULU, I: FOOD FISHES 

 AND SHARKS 



By Alvin Seale 



(From the Section of Fisheries, Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, 



Manila, P. I.) 



TWO PLATES 



During 1900-1902 I made a study of the fisheries of the Pau- 

 motu and Gambler Islands In the eastern Pacific. From these 

 Islands I went to Australia and to the Solomon Islands, paying 

 especial attention to the pearl fisheries of these places. After- 

 ward it was my privilege to make a short but interesting 

 investigation of the fisheries in Japan. In 1908 my first prelim- 

 inary study of the fisheries of Sulu waters was made while 

 on the United States Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross. 

 Extensive dredgings were conducted over the pearl and sponge 

 beds of this region, but the results have not yet been published. 



In 1909 I spent five months in Jolo, Siasi, and Sitanki in the 

 study of the commercial fishes and pearl and sponge fisheries. 

 In 1914 this work was again taken up, and six months were 

 given to a preliminary survey of the pearl and sponge beds. 

 This survey was continued during December, 1915. 



It is obvious that these reports, considering the short time 

 given to the actual field work — less than two years — are of a 

 preliminary nature, and some of the conclusions may be changed 

 in the hght of future and more extended investigations. 



In December, 1914, at the request of the Governor of the 

 Department of Mindanao and Sulu, I was detailed for six months 

 to study the pearl shells, fishing banks, and other sources of 

 sea products in that region. In December, 1915, I was detailed 

 to proceed to Zamboanga to cooperate with the Governor of the 

 Department of Mindanao and Sulu in preparing drafts of pro- 

 posed laws for the protection of marine Mollusca and sponges. 

 In order to do this work intelligently, a second survey, similar 

 to the first but less extended, was necessary. Eight weeks were 

 consumed in the latter study, and laws were prepared which 

 were subsequently passed at the session of the Legislature on 

 February 4, 1916. 



235 



