When I was in the Marshall's in the 1970's, it was amazing to see atolls away from the two urban centers nearly devoid of working age men and women.   Fishing in the lagoons was rare and the swamp taro pits were abandoned.  People ate rice and canned meat, which they bought with money relatives had earned working for one of the US funded government agencies.  Working age people were all at the urban centers.

My understanding at the time was that the subsistence lifestyle changed when US funds began to arrive after WWII.

Micronesia was first settled about 2000 years ago, and the islands and atolls have continuous cultural sequences since then.  It is sad to see their sustainable former lifestyle replaced by poverty and hopelessness.