Use of indigenous plants as fish poisons in samoa

Abstract

Polynesian cultures in general have been very adept at discovering and utilizing native plants to provide food, shelter, clothing, transportation, medicine, and articles of cultural or religious value. As a result of the great antiquity of the Samoan culture, the plant lore of the Samoan people has been developed to a high degree. Unfortunately the rapid westernization of the Samoan islands has led to a loss of specialized knowledge of plants and their uses among many members of the general populace; however, a considerable body of plant lore still exists among the aged chiefs and inhabitants of the outer villages and islands of the Samoan group. The objective of the present study has been to investigate and document the use of native plants to poison fish. Interviews and field observations of the actual techniques in use were made in the villages of Taga and Fa'ala on the island of Savaii, and Malaela and Si'usega on the island of Upolu between December 1978 and February 1979. Some of the early European inhabitants of Samoa directed attention to the plants used as fish poisons in Samoa. Rev. Pratt listed 'Avasa (Tephrosia piscatoria Pers.) as a fish poison in his 1862 dictionary of the Samoan language (Pratt, 1862). Reinecke (1898) recorded the use of T. piscatoria and Barringtonia speciosa Forster. He also recorded the use of Phyllantus simplex Retzius; this, however, is probably an error arising from the fact that both P. simplex and Tephrosia piscatoria have the same Samoan name: 'avasa. Only the latter is used as a fish poison while the former is used medicinally (Parham, 1972). A. F. Kramer (1903) described in some detail the techniques used with T. piscatoria but unfortunately characterized them as being used with Barringtonia asiatica rather than T. piscatoria. As will be described shortly, the techniques used with these two fish poisons differ significantly. More recent workers have also directed some attention to the Samoan use of plants as fish poisons. The use of Barringtonia asiatica as a fish-stupefying agent is mentioned in one floristic work (Setchell, 1924) while both B. asiatica and T. piscatoria are mentioned in three other treatises (Lloyd and Aiken, 1934; Christopherson, 1935; Parham, 1972). A brief account of the use of B. asiatica may be found in Samoan Material Culture (Buck, 1930). The only plants currently used for fish poisoning in Samoa are Tephrosia piscatoria Persoon and Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz. One chief on the island of Savaii reported that the fruits of Meryta sp. (lau fagufagu) were used anciently as fish poison; his report is substantiated by a notation I found on a herbarium sheet of Meryta capitata Christopherson (Garber #622) at the Bishop Museum which reads "'supposed to be useful for fish poisoning." Other than these two reports, however, I have found no evidence for the use of Meryta sp. as fish poison and have been unable to find any native informants who are knowledgeable in the techniques of its use.