&&&•• THE FISHERIES BTOUSTRY OF THE COOK ISLAMS H. VAN PEL Fisheries Officer, South Pacific Commission. Noumea South Pacific Commission 1955 'J,J'OVd Hj np; ! J. u v. * ~'" ' " CONTENTS T, A«Vj,Jg| •; Page INTRODUCTION • 2 . GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATOLOGY 3 Geographical data 3 Climatological data 4 THE PRESENT FISHERIES INDUSTRY OF THE COOK ISLANDS 6 General 6 Imports and exports of fisheries products 6 Rarotonga 7 The fringing reef 7 Sea fisheries 8 Tnlnnd fisheries 9 Aitutaki 9 The lagoon 9 The reef and tidal pools 10 Sea fisheries 11 Inland fisheries 11 Penrhyn 12 General 12 Sea fisheries 12 Lagoon fisheries 12 P_i£cte^a_nmr^rjLtifera_ 13 Fish • 15 05 Pipi pearlshell 16 Cfc CL Giant clam 16 Sea weed 16 35ft Inland fisheries 16 Manihiki 16 Lagoon fisheries 17 Pearling 17 Previous transplantations of pearl oysters .20 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF FISHERIES RESOURCES 22 Rarotonga 22 Traps Reef and tidal pools Fish farming Conclusions Aitutaki Reef and lagoon Tro_chus allotious Fish farming • Conclusions Penrhyn Pearling Trochus_ nilpticus_ Seaweed Conclusions Mariihlki '• • Pearling Reef and lagoon TRANSPLANTATION OF PEARL OYSTERS TO RAKAHANGA Detailed account of operations Collectors Further recommendations Puka Puka Equipment for oyster transplantation Instructions for further transplantation Tank Oysters Water circulation Transfer from ship to lagoon CONCLUSIONS AQUATIC FAUNA OF THE COOK ISLANDS AVERAGE RAINFALL IN THE COOK ISLANDS ' r 167 165° 160°¥. 156° + Penrhyn + Rakal anera 10°S. + Man: hiki + Pul a Puka + Nassau N. + Suwarrow 15u + Palmeraton + Aitutakl + Manuae Takutea + + Mitiaro u T •*-)!* 1—_: 1 20 Atiu + MavkB + Rarotonga + Mangaia 23 COOK ISLANDS THE FISHERIES INDUSTRY OF THE COOK ISLANDS Introduction At the request of the Cook Islands Administration I have made a general investigation of fisheries in. both the southern and northern groups of that territory. My actual stay in the territory was from April 15 till June 3. The foremost interest of the Administration was the transfer of pearl-oysters from Manihiki to Puka Pulca. However, since no hoat connec­ tion with Puka Puka was available, I was requested to carry out an all-round survey of fisheries and to give directions regarding the proposed transfer of pearl-oysters. I was not quite as free as would havo been desirable to move from island to island, since I was unavoidably tied down to the schedule, of the inter-island cargo vessel on which I was travelling. My work on shore, reef and lagoon had to be done in the time it took for loading and unloading. However, the unfailing CD-operation received from officers of the. Administration,- particularly tho Director of Agriculture and'his staff, from the members of the Economic Survey Mission from New Zealand, from Mr. R. Powell, from owners of pearling-boats, from members of the island council, and generally from all Cook Islanders, made it possiblw for me to obtain quito a good picture of existing conditions and to foresee the main steps which should bo taken for the development and conservation of fisheries resources. It is a great pleasure to me that .even before the close of my visit, some concrete realizations could be achioved through the building of a trial fish pond in Rarotonga and the experimental transfer of pearl-oysters from Penrhyn and Manihiki to tho Rakahanga lagoon. Fisheries resources are of great importance for the Cook Islands and it is high time that adequate attention was paid to them. Geographical and climatolbgical data will be found in the first part of this report. The existing fisheries industry has been dealt with the noxt part} together with statistics of imports and exports and I have gone into details as much as I could. Finally, the suggestions and the recommen­ dations made for the development and conservation of the fishery resources have been embodied in part III. GEOGRAPHY-.AM .OLMATOLOGY Geographical data The territory of the Cook Islands comprises two distinct areas, the Southern and the Northern Groups. The Southern or Lower Group includes 8 islands or island clusters, of which Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Mitiaro, Maulce and Mangaia are permanently settled. The two other islands in this group are Takutea and Manuae. Seven island clusters are included in the Northern Group: Penrhyn, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Puka Puka and Palmerston which are permanently inhabited, and Suwarrow and Nassau. Some of these islands are of volcanic origin, others are a part of coral atolls. In fact the number of islands is much greater: the Manihiki atoll, for instance, includes more than twenty islands. Officially, however, there are fifteen islands with Rarotonga as the administrative headquarters. Island ' Miles from General direction Island Miles from General direction Rarotonga from Rarotonga • • Rarotonga from Harotonga Mangaia 110 E.p.Ee Manihiki 650 ' N.iW. Mauke 150 E.N.E. Rakahanga 674 N.-tW." Mitiaro 142 N.E. Penrhyn 737 •• N.3/4E. Atiu 116 N.E. Manuae 124 N.N.E. ' Aitutaki 140 Bf. Takutae 118 N.E. Palmerston 270 •N.W. Nassau 673 N.N.W. ,Puka Puka . 715 N.N.W. •Jw. Suwarrow 513 N.N.W. The3e islands are widely scattered over an area of some 850,000 ' square mile3 extending from 9° to almost 23 South and from 156 to 167 West. The total land area in the territory is approximately 100 square miles. The lagoons are Crown property below low water mark and comprise a total area of approximately 114,319 acres. A. .Area and pp-pulation of the islands as at 51 March, i| 954 Island Appr. area Total population Indigenous population in acres * Rarotonga 16,500 6,020 5,677 Mangaia 12,800 1,939 1,932 Mauke 4,600 905 902 Mitiaro 2,500 331 330 Atiu 6,950 '1,385 1,583 Aitutaki 5,900 2,555 2,539 Palmerston 1,000 95 95 Puka Puka 1,250 589 589 Manihiki 1,344 838 837 Rakahanga 1,000 281 280 Penrhyn 2,452 574 573 Manuae 1,524 20 19 Takirfcea 302 Nassau 300 124 124 Suwarrow 600 1 1 57,002 15,657 15,281 Climatological data The Cook Islands lie within the hurricaie belt. On a rough average the territory suffers damage from hurricanes once every two years. Within recent years the most destructive storms have occured in 1935, 1943 and 1946. Throughout the Cook Islands easterly winds blow roughly 60^ of the time from April to November, with a moan velocity approaching 10-12 knots. From December to March, northeasterly winds with a mean velocity of approximately 8 to 10 knots prevail at least 50$ of the time. Temperature records for Rarotonga in 1954 were as follow: Maximum temperature 86,8 F. Minimum - 54.1 P. •5. Mean of maximum, .tamperatur.es_8Q,4 F. Mean of minimum temperatures 70,1 i1. Average temperature for the year 75.3 F. These figures can be taken as fairly representative of temperatures in the islands of the lower Group, although the less elevated islands to the North East and Aitutaki to the North would have slight higher means and less pronounced extremes. In the Northern Group the mean temperature would approach 80° F. with small seasonal changes and a much lesser diurnal range. Rainfall figures will be found in the attached table (Annex II). PRESENT. FISHERIES ••IMOSTRY OP THE OOOK ISLANDS General • A large proportion of the population takes part in fisheries activities. Under this term are included all types of activity undertaken with a view to procuring aquatic foods and products. Fishing is only a part time occupation in most cases and women and children also take a hand in it. Such activities cover sea and reef areas, lagoons, brackish water ponds, creeks and swamps. The fishing craft- used include canoes with or without outriggers and sail boats, the latter mainly for pearling. With the exception of pearl shell diving, which is important in Manihiki and Ponrhyn, there is no actual commercial fishing in the whole territory. Fish and other sea foods are used for family consumption or gifts to friends and relations. Some years ago a motor fishing-boat was used for line fishing in Rarotonga, hut this activity did not prove profitable, The "Cook Islands Fishing Ordinance,. 1950" prohibits the.use.of dynamite or other explosives for patching or destroying fish. The "Cook Islands Pearl-Shell Fisheries Regulations, 1950" deals with shell sizes and diving' licenses. I am not in a position to give a detailed description of all the fishing methods used in the Cook Islands, since my stay in some of the islands was much too short, A detailed survey would take at least one year to carry out, I will limit myself to a description of the most important fishing methods and activities observed in the"centers I have visited. Imports and exports of Fisheries -products Imports of Fish and Fish •products .1952 1955 1954 Lbs. £ Lbs. £• Lb3. £ Fish products ) g 68 7 62 808 6,513 Tinned fish etc ; „ Fresh fish 1,094 110 1,094 99 808 98 The following imports of meat should also be mentioned: Fresh meat 20,802 2,358,, 67,159 5,553 101,303 8,421, Preserved meat 366,092 '65,86? 404,162 54,089 406,319 57,542 Exports of Mother of Pearl Shell ( in tons weight) 1931 16 1939 19 1947 131 1932 - 1940 . - 1948 114 1933 - 1941 - 1949* 288 1934 - 1942 - 1950* 313 1-935 12 1943 • 69 1951* 459 1936 '• - 1944 - 1952* 301 1937 4 1945 14 1953* 309 1938 24 1946 48 Mote; - The production of Penrhyn was; 1949 20 tons 1950 40 - 1951 25 - 1952 13 - 1953 ' 15 - - - Pr:Le e of shell f,.o.b .