Palolo hunters waited with buckets ready
Last night was the second and final night for local palolo hunters to break out the dippers, flashlight, and buckets in hopes that the local delicacy will make a strong appearance before having to wait a whole year for another rise.
This past Thursday was the seventh day after the full moon, which is the usual predicted date for the palolo swarm and local palolo hunters were ready, lining the shores and anticipating a bigger catch than the weak showing in October.
Dept. of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) fisheries biologist Alice Lawrence told the Samoa News yesterday that their office has yet to receive any reports about the palolo rise, but indicated that if the rise was weak on Thursday evening, there is a chance that last night’s swarm would net better results.
(Samoa News was not able to get any official statistics from DMWR regarding last night’s palolo rise as of press time).
Last month, a huge rise of the sea worm occurred in independent Samoa and the Big Island of Savai’i where news reports indicated that people were selling an ofu (fist-sized portion) in Apia for $30SAT, with some being sold as high as $50SAT.
In Savai’i, half-full buckets of palolo were being sold for $1,000SAT and containers full of the sea delicacy were priced at $50SAT at the Salelologa Market.
Local residents also reported receiving generous portions of palolo that were shipped to them from family members and friends residing in the Manu’a Islands last month. At the same time in the territory, the thousands of local residents who went palolo hunting went home with nothing more than wet clothes and empty buckets.
A strong smell coming from the ocean this past Thursday led many to believe that the palolo would show up in large quantities but that didn’t happen. Locals were hoping that last night’s swarm would produce better results.
Predictions on the rise of the palolo have been around for a long time. Years ago, calculations on when the palolo would rise were based on the full moon. If the full moon occurs during the first and second week of October, chances are, the palolo rise would be strong in November. However, if the full moon occurs during the last two weeks of October, then the palolo swarm would be strong that month.
Other predictions claim that if the swarm is strong in Samoa in October, it will make its way to the territory in November. Last night’s results will determine if this is true.
The general consensus is - palolo will rise every year either in October or November, sometimes during both months. Some years, there is no rise at all.
Based on answers from 60 people who were interviewed by DMWR last year, an estimated 461lbs. of palolo was collected last October, which averages out to about 7.7lbs. of palolo catch per person.
No palolo survey was conducted by DMWR in 2012 because of the weak swarm. The palolo survey, according to an initial interview with DMWR’s Yvonne Mika, “is to collect data on the relative harvest of the palolo spawning in volume.” She added, “this information will assist DMWR’s long term monitoring of fisheries and the palolo trends through the years.”
Palolo is the edible part of a polychaete worm (Eunice viridis) that lives in shallow coral reefs in the south central pacific area where it uses its sizable jaws to dig itself a burrow in the limestone substrate. Most of the year it lives quietly, feeding on algae and microorganisms, small crustaceans, and even its own young.