An Overview of Guam's Inshore Fisheries REBECCA A. HENSLEY and TIMOTHY S. SHERWOOD Introduction families or shared with the community Mariana Island Archipelago with over and were harvested from three main 130,000 people on about 550 km2. Background areas of the sea: The coral or nearshore Much of the change in Guam's fisher- shallow adjacent areas, nearshore ies, from traditional subsistence fish- Since long before the first contact of slopes to about 100 fathoms and the eries to the more modem subsistence, Westerners with native Guamanians (or surface ocean waters. Much of the ua- commercial, and recreational fisheries Chamorus') in 1521, fish has been the ditional use of fish for social obliga- has occurred since World War 11. primary source of protein for the is- tions in the form of fiestas (large Johannes (1978) maintained that the landers. Little is known about tradi- gatherings for funerals, weddings, decline.of the Pacific island fisheries tional management of Guam's christenings) is still practiced. was due mostly to change in the eco- fisheries, but fishing was and has re- Guam is a U.S. temtory located in nomic system of the Pacific Islands to mained an important part of life and the western Pacific (Fig. 1). It is the a more western one which has eroded culture. In the past, subsistence fishing southernmost and largest island in the the ancient marine tenure laws and tra- provided Guam's residents with an ample supply of fish. Most of the fish caught were consumed by fishermen's 'ChamON, previously Chamorro. is the cur- rently accepted spelling of the indigenous people of Guam. The authors are with the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources. Government of Guam, P.O. Box 2950, Agana, Guam 96910. Corre- spondence to them may be addressed as fol- lows: R. A. Hensley. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1231 Agnes St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401; and T. S. Shewood, 3245 Austin Dr.. Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Views of opinions expressed or implied are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice, NOAA. 145' ABSTRACT-Guam 's nearshore reef fishery is a muiti-gear, multispecies fish- ery that has undergone major changes through the years. Methods have evolved and become more modem. This. along with the changing economic status of Gum, has severely stressed the fishery. Top tar- geted species are being overexploited and "growth overharvesting " is occurring: the more serious form of "recruitment over- harvesting," is happening to some of the key species. Major management concerns are discussed with respect to overfishing and habitat destruction. Management rec- ommendationsfor this fishery include gear restrictions, size restrictions, and the es- Figure l.--Guam (13'30"; 144'50E) is the southernmost of tht tablishment of man'ne conservation areas. Mariana Archipelago. 55(2),1993 129 ditional island conservation ethics. Guam’s Inshore Fisheries portions going to the owner of the net, This, along with the introduction of the village where the fish were caught, more modem, manufactured fishing Historic Fishing Methods and those who helped harvest the catch. materials (monofilament nets, steel books, poles, reels, spearguns, scuba Detailed fishing techniques from Contemporary Fishing Methods gear, etc.), has changed the complex- prehistoric times have been described ion of Guam’s inshore fishery and aided by Amesbury et al. (1986) and will be Many of the currently used methods in the decline of the nearshore reef only briefly described here. Early fish- are very efficient because the technol- fishery. Ikehara et al. (1970) stated that ing techniques (prior to the 1930-40 ogy and materials used are readily Guam’sshallow inner reefs appeared period) employed gear composed of available at a minimal cost. Contem- ta be fully exploited and showed signs natural materials. Today, inshore (or porary methods include hook and line, of overfishing. Katnik (1982) found reef and lagoon) methods have incor- net fishing (cast, gill, drag, and sur- that two heavily fished areas on Guam porated modem equipment and have round net), spear fishing (snorkel and were overfished and stated that other been modified in some manner from scuba), hook and gaff, and “other” accessible areas on Guam could be the traditional form of fishing. Some methods (a miscellaneous category that equally overexploited. What was once form of hook and line fishing, usually includes mostly gleaning for inverte- a well stocked, complex fishery with handline, has been done since the ar- brates). These methods, modified diverse fishing methods has changed rival of the Chamorus on Guam around through time, are described below and to a fishery under serious fishing 1500 BC (Amesbury et al., 1986). Net account for the harvest of over 100 pressure. fishing has included forms of dip net- species of finfish and 40 nonfinfish species (3 lobster, 9 crab, 24 mollusk, Scope ting, bag seining, throw netting, sur- round netting, drag netting, and gill and 4 echinoderm)’ (Amesbury et al., Because of the increased efficiency netting (a more recent form of net fish- 1986, 1991). of fishing techniques due to introduc- ing). Fishing with traps and spears has Currently, the most popular fishing tion of modem materials and because occurred throughout the history of method on Guam is hook and line. This of the increase in fishermen and the Guam. Women historically harvested technique ranges from the use of island population, the Guam Division the seagrass parrotfish (Scaridae) and handlines to rod and reel with lures or of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources some wrasses (Labridae) by hand. All baited hooks. Recently, we have ob- (DAWR) recognized the need to pro- social classes of Chamorus harvested served fly fishing in Guam’s waters. tect the fishery from overharvesting. eels with iron spears and crabs with The majority of the fish harvested Lnitial monitoring of the resources be- multipronged spears. Gleaning for in- are taken by net fishing. All types of gan In the 1960’s, and it had evolved vertebrates has always occurred, espe- net fishing done today, except gill net- by 1982 into the current creel survey cially for mollusks and algae for use as ting, have long histories on Guam. Net methodology adapted from Malvestuto either bait or food. The Spaniards mesh sizes range from 1/4-inch stretch et al. (1978). Because of the different gleaned for sea cucumbers. (for seasonal juveniles) to greater than usage and the different areas of the sea Several types of fishing no longer 3-inch stretch. The cast net or throw utilized for the multispecies, multigear occur. Two of these are the opelu or net (talaya) is one of the few nets that fisheries, Guam’s fisheries monitoring hachuman fishing (for Decupterus sp.) are still hand woven (using mono- was divided into two projects. These and the decoy method of fishing filament) by the uaditionai talaya fish- were the “inshore” (or nearshore reef ) (Amesbury et al., 1986). Turtles were ermen3. These nets vary in mesh size fisheries and the “offshore” (small harvested until 1976 when it was pro- and number of pockets depending on boat) fisheries (Myers, 1993). The in- hibited. Other currently prohibited the fish targeted. shore fisheries discussed here will en- methods include fish weirs, fish poi- Other than the modem equipment, compass the coral or nearshore shallow soning from root extract (Burringroniu drag netting has changed very little adjacent waters which consists mostly usiuticu tree), chlorine bleaching, and through time. It still is the simplest o€fringe reefs. dynamiting. These are still practiced form of net fishing where the net is This paper describes inshore fisher- illegally on a small scale. ies, concentrating on data from 1982 Traditional fishing practices are still *This identifies all information, unless other- through 1991. We discuss fishing tech- observed routinely on Guam. One prac- wise cited, obtained by the authors from Guam niques and data collection and cornpi- Fisheries Investigations-ProjectFW-2R-26 Job tice is the fishing for seasonal juve- Progress Reports (Jobs: F-FI-2 Inshore Fisher- Lation for landing and effort estimates niles recruiting to the reef flats ies Survey; F-F1-3 Fisheries Data Processing; of Guam’s fishery. The harvest com- (discussed below), while the other prac- F-FI-8 Studies of Recreationally Imponant Reef Fish). Information can be obtained from ponents (finfish, nonfinfish, and sea- tice involves sharing the catch. The the Division of Aquatic & Wildlife Resources sonal juveniles or traditional fishery) catch from the surround net or chen- (DAWR), Dept. of Agriculture, P.O. Box 2950. and current management practices are chulu (when used for catching seasonal Agana, Guam 969 IO. described with suggestions for conser- ’D. Narcissi, Talaya fisherman, Guam Envi- mackerel or Selur crumenopthalmus) ronmental Protection Agency, Harmon, Guam vation of the fishery. is still divided up into thirds with the 96912. Personal commun. J 30 Marine Fisheries Review pulled through the water as the fish are or little-used techniques like dip net- records all active fishing participation driven into the net. Today, this method is ting and mantis shrimp traps fall into (time of day, location, number of most often, but not always, used at night. this miscellaneous category. people, number of gear units, fishing The use of the surround net or chen- methods, reef zone fished, weather con- Inshore Creel Survey chulu has occurred for many years. ditions, and surf conditions). Counts Today, two types of surround netting The primary objective of the inshore are made of fishermen and gear and occurs. In the first type, two people fisheries survey was to obtain the most are used to estimate effort in terms of transport the net through the water on accurate estimate of the total annual person-hours (p-hr) and gear-hours (g- two large inner tubes.