Women's fishing in Oceania - Springer Link

Human Ecology, Vol. 15, No. 3, 1987

Women's Fishing in Oceania Margaret D. Chapman! Women's fishing in Oceania has been overlooked in most subsistence studies in the region and, as a consequence, there are few quantitative data available upon which to base an assessment o f its importance. However, in the present study, the f ew data available on women's fishing in Oceania are e~camined, and these show that women contribute significantly to marine f o o d yields in the region. Also, it is suggested that the highly regular nature o f women's fishing makes women more reliable, and therefore more effective than men as suppliers o f protein f or subsistence. The implications o f these findings fo r future development policies in the region are then discussed. KEY WORDS: women's fishing; Oceania; protein nutrition; environmental knowledge; fisheries policy.

INTRODUCTION Protein is of paramount importance in human subsistence. Except in interior Melanesia, the bulk of animal protein for subsistence in Oceania is obtained through fishing (Kent, 1980; Pernetta and Hill, 1981). Subsistence fishing in Oceania can be divided into two basic types: that carried out by men and that by women. They are quite distinct with regard to a number of spatial, temporal, technological, productivity, and religious characteristics. All these different characteristics have a profound influence upon the human ecology of subsistence fishing in Oceania. In this paper, however, I wish to examine primarily the productivity and temporal aspects of women's fishing, particularly in relation to their importance to protein subsistence and the implications these have for fisheries development policy in the region. ~Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4067, Australia. 267 0300-7839/87/0900-0267505.00/09 1987PlenumPublishingCorporation

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THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN FISHING IN OCEANIA The most important type of fishing in which almost all women in the region participate actively is reef gleaning. This involves walking along the reefs probing with a stick, or simply with the bare hands, for octopus, shellfish, echinoderms, crabs, and other invertebrates. In Oceania, reef gleaning is primarily an activity of women, although men will sometimes also take part (Luomala, 1980). Young children of both sexes often accompany their mothers on fishing expeditions and, as indicated by Hill's (1978) study, they do contribute substantially to the total catch. However, with the exception of Hill's study and a brief mention of children's fishing activities by Mead (1942), Firth (1957), and Swadling and Chowning (1981), there is very little distinction made by observers of women's fishing between the catches of the women themselves and those of the young children accompanying them. Therefore, for the purposes of this paper, my use of the term "women's fishing" should be understood to include not only the catches made by the women themselves, but also by their young children. Women are also extensively involved in fishing other than reef gleaning (see Table I). The first column in the table refers to those societies in which there appears to be, at least from the literature, no fishing of any kind by women other than reef gleaning. The second column includes those societies in which women are mainly reef gleaners but also have been observed using equipment other than just their hands or a simple probe to catch fish on the reef. For example, Bell (1947) indicates that besides collecting mollusks and crustaceans, Tanga women in New Ireland also undertake regular trips out on the reef equipped with large cane baskets which they use as fish scoops. However, their fishing seems not to extend much beyond this. Column 3 includes those societies where women use a wide variety of techniques for fishing on the reefs including traps, nets, hook and line, etc. Societies where women use all these techniques beyond the reef appear under column 4 in the table. Such societies, however, still restrict the fishing of bonito, tuna, and turtle to men. Finally, the fifth column includes those societies in which there appears to be no restrictions upon techniques, zone, or species which women may fish. The categorization of the different societies in Table I does depend to some degree on the source consulted. For example, the information on Solomon Islands women's exploitation of the sea as supplied by Ivens (1930), indicates that they participated in little other than reef gleaning and, therefore, would warrant the placing of this society under the no fishing column in Table I. Schoeffel (1985), on the other hand, points to the use of a wide variety of fishing equipment by the Solomon Islands women she observed. However, as Schoeffel herself points out, due to the very high environmen-

Women's Fishing in Oceania

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Table I. Involvement of Women in Fishing Other than Reef Gleaning in Oceania~

Apparently no fishing 1 2. 3. 4.

Solomons Niue Marquesas Kapingamarangi 5. Mangareva 6. Ulithi

Minimal fishing 7. Raroia 8. Niuatoputapu 9. Manam i0. W. Samoa 11. Ontong Java 12. Tokelau 13. Tikopia 14. New Ireland

Some types of fishing on reef 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Kiribati Tuvalu Ponam Tongareva Carolines Samoa Mangaia Gulf of Papua Tubuai Pukapuka Truk Easter Island Uvea E. New Britain Society Gilberts Manua Tabiteuea

General fishing including off reef except bonito, tuna, and turtle 33. 34. 35.

Moala Lau Atiu

All types of fishing 36. Marianas

aSources: 1. Ivens, 1930; Forde, 1942; 2. Loeb, 1926; 3. Handy, 1923; 4. Buck, 1950; 5. Buck, 1938; 6. Lessa, 1966; 7. Danielsson, 1956; 8. Dye, 1983; 9. Wedgwood, 1934; 10. Lockwood, 1971; Schoeffel, 1983; 11. Bayliss-Smith, 1977; 12. MacGregor, 1937; 13. Firth, 1965; 14. Bell, 1947; 15. Zann, 1985; 16. Zann, 1985; 17. Carrier, 1982b; 18. Buck, 1932; 19. Alkire, 1977; 20. Buck, 1930; Mead, 1968; 21. Buck, 1934; 22. Frusher and Subam, 1981; 23. Aitken, 1930; 24. Beaglehole & Beaglehole, 1938; 25. Mural, 1954; 26. Metraux, 1940; 27. Burrows, 1937; 28. Schoeffel, 1983; 29. Handy, 1932; 30. Catala, 1957; 31. Mead, 1969; 32. Luomala, 1980; 33. Sahlins, 1962; 34. Hocart, 1929; Thompson, 1940; 35. Institute of Pacific Studies, 1984; 36. Thompson, 1945.

tal a n d cultural diversity o f Melanesia, it is h a r d to generalize a b o u t women's fishing in this region. It is also very h a r d to generalize a b o u t w o m e n ' s fishing even in the m o r e h o m o g e n e o u s societies of P o l y n e s i a a n d M i c r o n e sia (for the extent o f w o m e n ' s fishing in Kiribati, see L u o m a l a , 1980; W a t ters a n d B a n i b a t i , 1984; Z a n n , 1985; Schoeffel, 1985). These very local differences in w o m e n ' s fishing m a y explain why there does n o t a p p e a r to be a n y b r o a d c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n associated with the different degrees o f i n v o l v e m e n t of w o m e n in f i s h i n g i n Oceania, as islands r e p r e s e n t i n g the three basic c u l t u r a l groups o f Melanesia, P o l y n e s i a , a n d M i c r o n e s i a are f o u n d in each of the five different classes. Neither does there a p p e a r to be a n y o b v i o u s e n v i r o n m e n t a l p a t t e r n , for islands with highly p r o d u c t i v e m a r i n e ecosystems are listed in the same category as those less

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well endowed, for example, Kapingamarangi with the Marquesas in Column 1 in Table I, or the Gilberts with Easter Island in Column 3 in Table I. Much the same could be said for the different terrestrial environments of the islands listed (Freeman, 1951). Basic Differences in Men's and Women's Fishing

Generally speaking, women's fishing is much more restricted spatially than men's fishing being mainly confined to the reef flats and lagoon, and rarely occurring in the deepwater zone beyond the reef. Men's fishing is less restricted and can be carried out in a number of marine zones, although it usually takes place beyond the reef flats, i.e., in the lagoon or even in the deeper waters beyond the reef and lagoon. Women's fishing technology is simpler than men's. When reef gleaning, women often use only their bare hands to collect invertebrates from the tidepools of the reef flats. They may also employ small nets, basket traps, sticks for probing for octopus, and occasionally a simple hook and line. They almost never use spears or watercraft such as canoes. Men's fishing technology is much more complex and includes a myriad of different types of hooks and lines, traps, nets, spears, and watercraft (see Table II). Women's fishing is more secular than that of the men, rarely involving the use of magic or ritual. By contrast, men's fishing is often surrounded by complex beliefs and taboos because it can be risky and, at times, even dangerous. Certain types of fishing, particularly those involving high status fish such as bonito or tuna (Thunnidae), or those which involve an element of sport or ceremony are almost entirely confined to men. Indeed, women are often actively prohibited from participating in such fishing. This difference was noted by Williams (1940/1941) who, observing women diving for prawns in Lake Kutubu in Papua New Guinea, thought it a much more difficult and less amusing activity than fishing for finfish which was reserved for the men. It is also interesting to note that in two villages in Tahiti where, rather unusually for this area, invertebrates were not collected regularly for food but only for festive occasions, collection was carried out exclusively by men (Oliver, 1981). Table II. Summary of Differencesbetween Men's and Women's Fishing

Characteristics Spatial Technological Religious Productive Temporal

Men Unrestricted Diverse Highly Highly Variable

Women Restricted Simple Secular Moderately Regular


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This distinction between the fishing activities of men and women is only a general observation, however, for the degree of involvement of women in fishing, even in its more "male" aspects such as fishing beyond the reef or using spears and canoes, does vary considerably (see Table I). More importantly, in the majority of societies surveyed (22 out of a total of 36), women were actively involved in fishing of some kind on the reef or beyond. In those environments which men and women do share for fishing, the women have often shown themselves to be as skilled in fishing as the men. For example, in Tokelau, women and children as well as men swim under the water around the coral heads in the lagoon, catching by hand the small fish that live in the deep recesses of the coral (MacGregor, 1937). Women have also been observed fishing this way in the Marianas (Thompson, 1945). Women's swimming and diving skills while fishing have been compared favorably with those of men in many of the islands (Buck, 1930, 1932; Thompson, 1945). Buck (1930) observed both men and women fishing while skillfully balanced on stilts to avoid walking on sharp coral, has been noted in Pakapuka that women are as skilled as men in the art of beach angling (Beaglehole and Beaglehole, 1938), and torch fishing, i.e., fishing on the reef at night with a torch, which requires sharp eyesight and a quick hand to be effective, is frequently undertaken by women as well as men (Buck, 1930, 1934; Beaglehole & Beaglehole, 1938; Handy, 1923; Catala, 1957; Danielsson, 1956; Thompson, 1940; Loeb, 1926; Mead, 1969; Firth, 1957; Institute of Pacific Studies, 1984; Luomala, 1980). Changes in Degree of Women's Participation in Fishing The degree of involvement of women in fishing in different Oceanian societies has varied over time. On Ponam in Papua New Guinea, for instance, the beach and sea were entirely the men's territory before World War II; but, during the postwar period, women gradually took over the shallow inshore areas for fishing. Now they are allowed to fish in all the areas inside the reef using most fishing techniques. In recent times, women have even penetrated the open seas where they use all open-sea fishing techniques except those for netting turtle, which is still a male prerogative. This change in the scope of women's fishing in P o n a m has come about for two reasons. First, recent control of local warfare has reduced the fear women traditionally had of raids from hostile clans, and, second, the migration of many of the men from the villages in search of work has meant that, since the early 1960's at least, women have had to take on a greater part of the job of providing seafood (Carrier, 1982b). Similar changes have been recorded at Pukapuka in the northern Cook Islands (Beaglehole and Beaglehole, 1938, Tubuai in the Austral Islands (Aitken, 1930), and Niue (Ryan, 1981).

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This is not to say fishing by women has increased on all the islands in modern times. Indeed, in some, it has actually declined. Until recent times, women in Truk provided most of the fish consumed, the bulk of which was taken from the fringing reefs. Now, however, women are rarely seen fishing, and most fish are either caught by the men or purchased with money earned from copra sales (Alkire, 1977). This change seems to have been a recent one, for just after the Second World War women in Truk were reportedly still making regular, independent fishing expeditions, even beyond the reef, and providing substantial contributions of fish protein to the community (Murai, 1954). Other declines noted in women's fishing have been reported in Guam (Thompson, 1945) and in Easter Island (Metraux, 1940), although specific reasons for this are not mentioned.

THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN'S FISHING TO SUBSISTENCE IN OCEANIA It has long been assumed that women's fishing in Oceania was relatively unimportant to subsistence and little attention has been given it by ethnographers working among traditional societies in the region. This assumption may have arisen as a result of the difficulty of many (mostly male) researchers in obtaining information from female informants in such societies (Johannes, 1981; Bell, 1983), the inherently less exciting and thereby less attractive nature of women's fishing for research and comment compared to that of men, or some male bias in research which emphasized the importance of men's activities while overlooking that of women (O'Brien, 1984). All this means is that direct quantitative data to show the extent of women's fishing are scarce and most data available are mainly implied or qualitative in nature. However, a discussion of some of the few quantitative studies available follows.

Quantitative Evidence Indicating the Importance of Women's Fishing America Samoa. The most complete quantitative study on women's fishing in Oceania is probably that undertaken by Hill (1978) on the use of nearshore food by American Samoans. Hill found that when all their fishing activities were taken into account, the female members of the community, i.e., adult women, adolescent girls, female children, and elderly women, contributed approximately 32% of the total fishing yield of the community in a single year. Of the total yield from female fishing, approximately 68% was obtained through reef gleaning.


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Another study on the inshore fishery of American Samoa confirms Hill's data and shows that women, although constituting a minority (17%) of those engaged in fishing, are actually responsible through gleaning alone for a full one-third of the total annual catch. Because American Samoa is so highly urbanized, these substantial figures are particularly interesting (Schoeffel, 1985). Western Samoa. In Western Samoa, women's total fishing shows similar yields to those in American Samoa. Further, in one rural district, daily average consumption of invertebrate seafood alone, almost all of which is caught by women, amounted to 17~ of the daily seafood consumption (Schoeffel, 1985). Similar evidence of a significant input by women has been reported by Lockwood (1971) in Western Samoa. In four villages surveyed, it was found that in the most traditional village, i.e., the one least linked to outside markets, the time the women spent per week fishing was approximately 16% that of the men. Kiribati. In Butaritari, it was found that 40.3~ of all household meals included local proteins, i.e., fish, shellfish, octopus, and crabs. Most of this protein (84~ was supplied by fish caught by both men and women, the remainder (16O7o)supplied by the reef gleanings of women and children (Sewell, 1983). In South Tarawa in Kiribati, it has been found that 11 O7oof households are almost completely dependent upon shellfish for protein. In the official fisheries' statistics from Kiribati, many of the invertebrates such as shellfish caught by women are lumped under the category of "other foods." In South Tarawa, this particular category comprises 20~ of the total fishery catch (Schoeffel, 1985). These figures are also interesting for, like American Samoa, South Tarawa is highly urbanized. Papua New Guinea. Further evidence of the importance of women's fishing can be found in Haines' (1978/1979) study of three villages in the Gulf of Papua in Papua New Guinea. It was found that in one village, of the total of 109 fishing trips observed over the 25-day survey period, approximately 78~ were undertaken by women. In the second village, almost the same number of trips were undertaken by men and women. In the third village, it was difficult to determine exactly how much the women were catching in their fishing because many of their catches were handed over to their husbands who reported them as their own. In the total Baimaru subdistrict of which the three surveyed villages were a part, the total annual yield was 292 tons of fish and 146 tons of crabs (Scylla serrata; Haines, 1978/1979). It is likely that the bulk of this crab fishery was carried out by women (Haines, 1982). Haines also estimated that the annual prawn catch (also carried out mainly by women using simple hand

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Chapman Table IIL Percentage of Total Marine Foods Contributed by Women

Island

Percent

American Samoa American Samoa Western Samoa South Tarawa, Kiribati Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea Arnhem Land, Australia

Source

32 • 17a 20 25-50

Hill, 1978 Schoeffel,1985 Schoeffel,1985 Schoeffel,1985 Haines,1978/1979, 1982

26

Meehan,1977a

aInvertebrates only. traps) was about the same size as the crab catch, that is, 146 tons per year. So, of the total fishery yield of 584 tons, 146 tons or about 25% could be accounted for by the women's prawn fishery and up to a further 25% could be accounted for by the women's crab fishery. Thus, it appears that a minim u m of 25% of the fishing yield of the region is contributed by women with the possibility that this percentage could rise as high as 40-50% if the contribution o f women to the crab fishery is also considered. Baines (personal communication, 1986) has suggested that this minimum proportion of 25% would probably be much higher if cash income rather than weights were used as an index of women's contribution to the fishery. Australia. In A r n h e m Land on Australia's north coast, three aboriginal fishing camps were studied by Meehan (1977a) during an entire year. While A r n h e m Land is only on the fringe of Oceania, it is still of interest to this study, for here, women's roles in exploiting the marine environment are very similar to that found in some of the Oceanian island communities already examined. In these A r n h e m Land villages, it was found that women and girls were responsible for bringing 3240 Kg of shellfish to the communtiy throughout the year which a m o u n t e d to approximately 26% of the total net flesh obtained f r o m exploitation o f the marine environment by men and women. Table III summarizes the quantitative data obtained f r o m these studies on the importance of women's fishing in Oceania. Qualitative Observations

Other more qualitative observations which support the proposition that women's fishing is of significance in Oceania include that o f Couper (1973) who, commenting on women's reef gleaning, states: This inshore gathering of seafood is of immense importance, and a good piece of reef may be more important to a village than its village land (p. 239). Other similar observations are summarized in Table IV.


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Table IV. The Importance of Women's Fishing on Some Islands in Oceania Island

Observation

Source

Samoa

Women participate in many types of fishing.

Mead, 1968

Papuan coast, Papua New Guinea

On the Papuan coast, shellfish gathered by women and children are an important source of food. A skilled gatherer can collect a full saucepan in an hour.

Swadling, 1982

New Ireland, Papua New Guinea

"No inconsiderable addition to the protein content of the Tangan meal is made by the women and small girls of the group upon whom rests the task of collecting the edible crustacea and molluscs." (p. 313).

Bell, 1947

Women using only cane baskets as fish scoops often brought home larger catches than their husbands who had been using rod and line.

Bell, 1947

Lau, Fiji

Women harvested most of the seafood through gleaning, netting, and handlining.

Baines, 1982

Carolines

"A good part of the protein diet of the islanders comes from shellfish" (p. 100). Throughout the Carolines, shellfishing is primarily women's work.

Fischer, and Fischer, 1966.

Implied Evidence of the Importance of Women's Fishing There is, finally, some evidence of the i m p o r t a n t role o f w o m e n in fishing arising f r o m the archeological record. Investigations o f three archeological sites in H a w a i i have s h o w n that 62-94~ o f the meat c o n s u m e d at these sites was provided by shellfish (Kirch, 1982). It is highly likely that w o m e n were m a i n l y responsible for this shellfishing, as E u r o p e a n o b s e r v a t i o n s o n H a w a i i a n life m a d e n o t long after the sites were a b a n d o n e d indicated that w o m e n were d o m i n a n t in this p a r t i c u l a r aspect o f fishing ( T i t c o m b , 1972). E v e n t a k i n g into a c c o u n t that a n u m b e r o f these sites were possibly temp o r a r y fishing camps f r o m which preserved fish were exported to p e r m a n e n t settlements a n d n o t c o n s u m e d at the site itself, the shellfish r e m a i n s still a c c o u n t for a significant p r o p o r t i o n o f the p r o t e i n t a k e n f r o m the sea at these localities. I n fact, shellfish m a y have even been u n d e r r e p r e s e n t e d in the d a t a f r o m the analyzed m i d d e n s , for as Kirch a n d Dye (1979) have p o i n t e d out f r o m their o b s e r v a t i o n s in T o n g a , w o m e n p r o b a b l y c o n s u m e d a considerable q u a n t i t y o f the shellfish while out collecting o n the reef a n d discarded their shells there. T h u s , a significant p r o p o r t i o n o f the shellfish actually c o n s u m e d by a p a r t i c u l a r society m a y be missing f r o m the shell middens.

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These fragmentary data suggest that women of Oceania are highly significant suppliers of marine protein, if not always the main suppliers. Indeed, Schoeffel (1985) goes further and put women's fishing production on a par with that of the men: Although it is impossible to generalize about subsistence fisheries in the South Pacific, I am willing to make one large and unqualified generalization-that in Pacific communities where fishing is done, the contribution of women's fishing to the daily diet is at least as significant as that of men (p. 160). Many more quantitative studies are needed before a clear picture can be gained of exactly how important women's fishing is in the region. Nevertheless, all indications are that women's fishing in Oceania is certainly of much greater importance in subsistence than has been recognized up to now.

T H E R E G U L A R N A T U R E OF W O M E N ' S F I S H I N G YIELDS Gathered foods of any kind are highly important to general subsistence because they are abundant, predictable, and require less energy to find than hunted food. Also, when the hunt fails, gathered foods serve to fill the subsistence "gap" until hunting improves (Dahlberg, 1981). Shellfishing, for instance, helps to reduce subsistence risk because the shellfish occur in known sites at known times (Nietschmann, 1973). In the particular subsistence fishing communities investigated by Nietschmann, shellfish provided a reliable source of food when the most sought-after food, turtle, was unavailable. Such gathered foods require no special technology, they are often high in food value complementing a carbohydrate-based diet, they can be obtained during periods o f food scarcity, and they require no maintenance and only a small amount of labor input to gather (Nietschmann, 1973). In addition, because of the nature of protein metabolism in the h u m a n body, regular inputs of protein on a daily basis rather than at irregular intervals means a more efficient use of protein by the body (McArthur, 1977). Reef gleaning, the special fishing area of women, has a number of advantages for subsistence. Not only does it supply significant quantities of protein, it also supplies them much more regularly than that of the men. Although almost no quantitative data exist to support this statement, there is direct evidence that women are important as regular suppliers of protein in Oceania.

Direct Evidence of the Regularity of Women's Fishing Oliver (1961), speaking of Oceania as a whole, commented that: Fishing to most natives meant combing the lagoons, reefs, ponds, and streams for daily food- for countless kinds of fish and for shrimps, prawns, crabs, lobsters, clams,


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mussels, eels, turtles, and octopuses [with the exceptionof turtles, mainly women's fishing]. The excitingand hazardous business of capturing the deep-water tuna and bonito was usually regarded as special sport rather than daily routine ]men's fishing] (p. 296). In Arnhem Land, aboriginal men usually participated in hunting and fishing activities which involved considerable physical power and skill and resulted in high yields, but with low probability of success. On the other hand, aboriginal women, in their gathering and fishing, obtained low yields per effort invested, but highly reliable ones. Both these basic strategies were complementary and were used together daily (Jones, 1980). Similarly, among Tasmanian aboriginal communities, women provided the staple items in the diet through gleaning and gathering while the men's hunting provided larger but more uncertain items in the diet such as wallabies and other game animals (Kirk, 1981). Many studies in Kiribati and Tuvalu (Luomala, 1980; Chambers, 1984; Watters and Banibati, 1984; Zann, 1985) have pointed out the importance of women's reef fishing as a subsistence mainstay during periods of stormy weather when men are unable to go out fishing. Also, women's fishing is important where men's fishing is seasonal due to competing subsistence commitments. In New Ireland, during the months of September and October when men are completely committed to gardening, women's fishing provides a valuable source of protein until the men can return to their fishing activities (Bell, 1947). Additional direct evidence of the regularity of women's protein contributions through fishing is summarized in Table V. Implied Evidence of the Regularity of Women's Fishing

Archeological Studies. The reliable and steady nature of women's fishing made it the likely mainstay of the early settlers of Oceania. Archeological analyses of sites in Polynesia, for example, indicate that the myriad of sophisticated fishing strategies and technologies now evident in this region took some time to develop as an adaptation to a new environment. It seems likely, therefore, that reef gleaning, with its simple technology, provided these early peoples with their basic livelihood while they perfected their more specialized fishing techniques (Groube, 1971). Studies of Contemporary Societies. The regularity of women's fishing, particularly reef gleaning, may also have played an important role in the more recent history of island human ecology in Oceania. Williamson and Sabath (1982), in their investigation of the possible factors limiting human populations in the Marshall Islands, were unable to find any significant relationship between lagoon area (as an index o f marine resources availability) and the size of human populations on these islands in the census years 1935 and 1948. Although many other physical factors besides area can affect the

Women fished the reef daily. W o m e n of the Fly River delta inspected their fish traps daily. In Papuan coastal societies, shellfish have provided an almost daily source o f food for villagers for the last 2000 years. Shellfish collected by the women are a reliable fallback when other forms of protein are difficult to obtain.

Fly River, Papua New Guinea

Papuan coast, Papua New Guinea

Thompson, 1940

W o m e n procured most of the daily catch o f fish and shellfish. It was only when fishing was connected with a ceremony or sport did men take part.

Tikopia

Botkin, 1980

"Women fish or collect invertebrates on a daily basis, using a wide variety of techniques" (p. 4).

Lau, Fiji

Swadling, 1982

Specht and Fields, 1984

Firth, 1957

Sahlins, 1962

The collection o f seaslugs, prawns, mussels, crabs, and shellfish is "both constant and significant" (p. 50).

Source Zann, 1985

Moala, Fiji

Observation Reef invertebrates are a reliable fallback during times o f food shortage.

Kiribati and Tuvalu

Island

Table V. The Regularity of Women's Fishing on Some Islands in Oceania

gl"

A m o n g the T a n g a of New Ireland, the gathering of shellfish, small crustacea, squid, and octopus was part of the daily routine o f women. Men's fishing was more seasonal than the women's as it declined somewhat during the peak gardening season. "Every day saw m a n y people, w o m e n in the majority, out on the reefs for hours, searching, collecting all that was edible and desirable" (p. 4). Fishing with coconut leaf sweep forms part of daily routine of women. "Using hand lines and seine nets, w o m e n bring in the most fish and are the most consistent fishers" (p. 138). "Because shellfish were collected consistently, they provided a small, constant source of fresh protein, the importance of which should not be underestimated" (p. 526). "In s u b u r b a n N u k u ' alofa able-bodied w o m e n go gleaning a r o u n d the lagoon and reefs three or four times a w e e k . . . " (p. 161). W o m e n ' s fish trapping required a low labor input and was the c o m m o n e s t form of fishing used by women. It was also "their easiest way of replenishing the larder with fresh food" (p. 448). W o m e n went out on the reef daily in search of shellfish and octopus.

New Ireland, P a p u a New Guinea

Hawaii

Uvea

Mabuiag Island, Torres Strait, Australia

A r n h e m Land, Australia

Tonga

Samoa

Truk

Murai, 1954

Buck, 1930

Schoeffel, 1985

Meehan, 1977b

Nietschmann, 1985

Burrows, 1937

Titcomb, 1972

Bell, 1947

GIQ

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productivity of reefs and thereby their ability to support human populations, Williamson and Sabath's work suggests that it may not be so much the marine resources of the lagoon where the men fish, but rather those of the reef where most women fish, that are important in influencing the size of human populations on Pacific Islands such as the Marshalls. The relative importance of food collected on reefs in the ecology of human populations on Marshallese atolls is also discussed by Doran (1961). Circumstantial Evidence. Finally, more circumstantial evidence suggests that women's fishing may have been responsible for the difference in protein nutrition observed in the people of Udot in Truk, and Majuro in the Marshalls (Murai, 1954). It was determined that 52% of the Trukese were in the upper group (90-100%) of recommended protein intake according to the Recommended Dietary Allowances of the National Research Council (1948). This contrasted sharply with the Marshallese situation where only 29% of the people came into this group. In Truk at this time, women were mainly responsible for fishing which included daily gleaning on the reef. In the Marshalls, on the other hand, men were mainly responsible for fishing, but they did so irregularly (Murai, 1954).

Men's View of Women's Fishing

Unfortunately, it is just this steady, reliable, and low technology nature of women's fishing which makes men in some traditional Oceanian societies depreciate it. For example, when interviewing men in Niuatoputapu in the Kingdom of Tonga about their fishing, Dye (1983) observed that when those species of fish frequently caught by women on the reef were mentioned, the fishermen lost interest, declaring that they were women's fish and therefore not worth discussing further. Similarly, Zann (1985) noted in Kiribati that the men regarded the types of fishing carried out on reefs by women as activities suitable only for those unable to go out beyond the reef such as old men, women, and children, or for times when bad weather prevented normal fishing. They considered the small reef animals caught during such fishing as women's or old man's food fit for eating only during times of famine, or when fish were unavailable. Young men concerned themselves with the higher status fish such as tuna and bonito (Thunnidae) found beyond the reef in deep water. This particular attitude of men to women's fishing may be due not simply to the fact that women's fishing is so reliable, but rather to the more deeply rooted but associated feelings which relate to the essentially secular nature of such inshore fishing compared to the riskier, and thereby more ritualized fishing in which the men participate beyond the reef (Malinowski, 1918).


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In summary, it appears, although this is unrecognized by most men in these societies, that the women of Oceania are not only significant but also steady contributors of marine protein to their communities. These are important points considering the growing problem of inadequate protein nutrition in many parts of Oceania. Policy Implications of the Importance and Regularity of Women's Fishing in Oceania Let us look at two aspects of women's significant and regular contribution to protein subsistence in Oceania which could have important indications for future fisheries development policy in the region. Women's Fishing Skills in Oceania

Environmental Knowledge. The significant contribution made by women in subsistence fishing is due in part to their high degree of skill discussed previously. However, fishing skills involve not only a physical prowess in the techniques of fishing, but also considerable ecological knowledge about the marine environment. As the contact of traditional Oceanian women with the marine environment is in most cases a daily one, they have had the opportunity to accumulate considerable knowledge. Of particular importance for the success of fishing in this region, is a knowledge of the daily and seasonal cycles which affect marine organisms (Johannes, 1981). This is as important for women gleaning the reefs as it is for men's lagoon fishing, for marine life of the nearshore is as sensitive to such cycles as those species fished by the men beyond the reef. As yet, there has been very little specific research to determine what women in Oceania know about the biology of the particular marine ecosystems they exploit. What has been obtained on this aspect of women's fishing has constituted only part of larger studies devoted to men's fishing, or as part of general subsistence studies of particular societies. Nevertheless, it is clear that women do possess considerable unique information about their marine environments, fish behavior, and seasonal and other cyclical phenomena which affect marine life. For example, women in Samoa use their knowledge of fish territorial behavior to great advantage to trap considerable numbers of the black fish, "tu'u'u" (Pomacentridae), a favorite eating fish in the area (Buck, 1930). Other examples include women's specialized knowledge of the habits of various species of shellfish in the Gilberts (Catala, 1957), and of climatic factors and seasonal cycles affecting the relative abundance of different species of fish in Pukapuka (Beaglehole and Beaglehole, 1938).

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The value of such knowledge for a better understanding by biologists of the complex marine ecosystems of this region is emphasized by Johannes (1981). It could provide valuable information not only about the food web of the reef, or reef fish habitat requirements, but also about the life cycles of valuable commercial fish species. Often the fry of these species move inshore after a period spent as members of the pelagic plankton community (Johannes, 1981), or as adults depend on coastal species of fish for food as some tuna (Thunnidae) have been found to do (Grandperrin, 1978). Thus, as life on the reef where women fish is intimately bound up with life in pelagic areas where many of the commercial fish species exploited by the men are found, a greater use of the environmental knowledge of both men and women in their respective fishing spheres would seem essential for any effective fisheries management plan in Oceania. Traditionally, however, there has been generally little interchange of fishing knowledge between the sexes in Oceania. In Yap, men do not consider fishing knowledge to be women's knowledge at all (Brower, 1983). Much of this reluctance of Yapese men to share their knowledge of fishing with women may be associated with the many taboos connected with women which fishermen must observe to ensure good catches. These restrictions are found throughout Oceania and include, among others, refraining from sexual intercourse before important fishing trips, the banning of women from boarding boats and canoes or handling nets, and the prevention of menstruating or pregnant women from participating in communal fishing. Women's fishing skills and knowledge are no doubt passed down from mother to daughter, yet, with the exception of a note on the teaching of young girls by older women about the behavior and localities of fish, crabs, and mollusks on the reef flats of Fiji (Siwatibau, 1976), there is very little information in the literature about the communication by women of such traditional knowledge. Even in those societies where women are quite actively involved in fishing such as on Mangaia in the Cook Islands, no mention is made of how fishing lore and skills are passed on from mother to daughter, although such communications between father and son have been noted (Buck, 1934). Policy Implications. Traditional ecological knowledge cannot be fully comprehended nor adequately utilized unless the cultural context in which it exists is also understood (Bell, 1983). The full implications this has for outside advisers working with traditional societies to improve resource management are outlined by Carrier (1982a). The different values and preferences of the sexes is part of this cultural context. Although it is women in rural areas who are most directly affected by new development schemes, in Third World countries it is often male community leaders who decide which development plans will be accepted (Agarwal and Anand, 1983). These plans, unfortunately, do not always coincide with


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the interests of rural women. For this reason, Agarwal (1982) has recommended that, before decisions are made about the implementation of particular projects in rural areas, the women of the community be consulted as to the desirability of the scheme and how it is likely to affect them. Further, women m a y often be more knowledgeable about particular technical or ecological aspects of a project than men in the community. As Botkin (1980), commenting on women's fishing in Fiji, points out: Women's knowledge of local distribution, relative abundance, catchabilityand dailyseasonal variability of resources, appropriate procurement techniques, and the interrelationships betweenthese factors is their forte and outside the domain of most men's expertise. (Men frequently do not know even the names of fish) (p. 4). It is for this reason that Botkin has recommended that, in Fiji, women rather than men should be consulted about fisheries matters. There is some evidence that traditionally in Fiji there existed community recognition of women's superiority in certain fishing matters. In the Lau islands, for example, one clan hunted sharks during a particular season and appointed an expert, a woman, to watch out for the first appearance of the sharks. It was believed that the powers o f this expert were so great that she could even cause the fish to get stranded (Hocart, 1929). Consultation of women as fishing experts would be a complete reversal in policy for most modern fisheries development officers in Oceania, who generally consult only men in such matters. A case in point is P a p u a New Guinea where extension officers, attempting to improve fishing techniques to increase productivity, have up to now worked only with the men. The women have been largely ignored even though they are the main producers in m a n y areas (Haines, 1982). Indeed, Haines even goes so far as to say that this male bias in extension work in P a p u a New Guinea fisheries has probably altered the traditional pattern in the division of fishing methods used by men and women. To offset such male bias in fisheries development schemes there, he recommends the greater use of female extension officers.

Commercialization of Women's Fishing

Current Fisheries Development Policy. The island states of the Pacific are now looking more toward developing commercially one of their most important resources, and in some cases, their only important resource, fish, in order to overcome unfavorable balances of trade with industrialized countries and to provide much needed capital for investment. In most cases, the development of commercial fisheries has centered on tuna, a highly valuable species much sought after by foreign fishing fleets for the export market (Doulman, 1986).

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While this emphasis will no doubt help to overcome some of these economic problems, such fisheries do constitute a form of protein export from protein-poor nations to wealthy, protein-rich ones. If such fish exports expand to include species important in the subsistence of local people, the general nutritional well-being of many South Pacific islanders could be endangered, Under current economic and social conditions in Oceania, local demand for fish is increasing faster than the supply. It has been suggested (Kent, 1980', therefore, that there be a shift away from a fisheries policy of increasing fish exports toward a more balanced approach in which greater attention is given to the smaller, ldcaUy-based commercial fisheries. In this way, the high demand of island peoples for fresh fish can be met and less reliance placed upon imported protein products. In this connection, it has been advocated (Lal and Slatter, 1982; Schoeffel, 1985) that there be a greater incorporation of women into these small community commercial fisheries. Many women are already highly skilled in fishing, and, by marketing their catches, they could provide a ready source of income in those areas where few alternatives for earning cash exist. Policy Implications. While policies facilitating the entry of more women into the commercial fisheries may provide village people with a source of much-needed income, it seems this could encourage what amounts to another form of protein export, represented this time by the movement of fish from the needy rural areas to the more affluent urban centers. Although the development of local commercial fisheries is, of course, of benefit to towndwellers who are no longer able to fish for themselves, it may not be so beneficial in nutritional terms for the rural poor (Lawrence, 1983; Kent, 1986).

CONCLUSION While by no means advocating that village fisherwomen refrain in all cases from greater participation in the market economy, I believe that such plans for greater incorporation of women into commercial fisheries must be approached with as much, or perhaps even more caution than similar plans involving men, because of the key role women play in village protein subsistence in Oceania. In many parts of Oceania, particularly the smaller coral islands with few alternative sources of animal protein, women have traditionally fished the reefs and lagoons daily, providing their families a regular supply of much needed protein to supplement a high carbohydrate diet (Murai, 1954). The regularity of such contributions can be disrupted if women are incorporated into the market system to the extent that they have little opportunity to carry out their subsistence activities. The results of this are now so tragically


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evident in modern Africa where an overemphasis on the development of cash crops at the expense of basic food crops, most of which are grown by women, has resulted in drastic food shortages in some areas (Tinker, 1976). In some parts of Oceania, a similar development of cash crops at the expense of the subsistence economy is already resulting in extensive malnutrition (Kent, 1980). For this reason, the significant and regular nature of women's contribution to protein supplies in Oceania through their fishing is highly relevant to present and future policies on food production in the region. It seems now that every effort must be made to ensure that the new social and economic developments occurring in the South Pacific do not endanger the continued existence of women's subsistence fishing, at least not until there is a cheap and reliable alternative available to the marine protein which women have traditionally provided.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful to R. Johannes for first introducing me to the subject of women's fishing in Oceania. I also appreciate very much the many useful comments made about an earlier draft o f this paper by J. Carrier, R. Johannes, G. Baines, K. Ruddle, and E. Lindgren. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, David Lamb, who offered many helpful criticisms during the writing of this paper.

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