Reef Fishing
Beginning - Description
Traditionally, early Samoans spent much of their time fishing on the reef flats or near the reef edge. This practice offered a means of providing food for the family and a source of recreation. Customarily, only men fished and the women and children would wade on the reef at low tide with sharp sticks and knives to gather small fish and invertebrates. Women were not permitted, by Samoan custom, to fish outside the reef. Today, with increasing technology and westernization of the islands, traditional methods have changed.
Monitoring System
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| Rod and Reel Fishing (Click on picture for a larger picture) |
The Samoan Department of Marine and Wildlife Sources (DMWR) began monitoring the shoreline fishery fronting 22 villages along the southern shore of Tutuila Island in 1990. The shoreline survey study involved rod-and-reel fishing, handline and bamboo pole fishing, reef gleaning, and spearfishing.
By 1991 the shoreline activities was monitored by an Inshore Creel Survey expanded to include rod-and-reel fishing, handline fishing, bamboo pole fishing, reef gleaning, spearfishing, gillnetting, throw netting, mining, and swimming.
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| Coconut Crab (Click on picture for a larger picture) |
The Inshore Creel Survey data was stratified by day and night periods, type of day, five major fishing methods (rod-and-reel, bamboo pole, handline, gleaning, and spearfishing), and by calendar quarters. Line fishing methods were often clumped during seasonal fishing. Gleaning and spearfishing were most likely to be aggregated on good weather days.
The Inshore Creel Survey was discontinued in 1996 with 1995 being the last year that complete data are available on this fishery.
Monitoring Results
The estimated harvest of the shoreline resources was approximately 20% of the offshore fishery annual estimated landings in 1991.
An evaluation of the Inshore Creel Survey data collected from July, 1990 to December, 1993 showed that day fishing activity rates were higher than night. One factor might be the closure of some night fishing spots such as the harbor area. Night fishing was limited to the outer harbor and exposed reef areas. Like rod-and-reel, handline fishing was not observed in the inner harbor area. During the day, fishing with bamboo poles typically occurs on the exposed reef and outer harbor areas, but occurs only on the outer harbor areas at night. It is clear that because the inner harbor areas were without any significant and productive reefs, gleaning was not observed there. Spearfishing was observed in all three habitats within the survey area.