The photo (and the capture theory) falls apart whether or not the recollections of the elders were correct. The press release says that the dock was built in 1936. It does not say that the dock was built in 1936, then rebuilt in 1964 or 1988. The current Jabor dock is a concrete structure, and not the same dock seen in the "Earhart" photo (a coral and wood jetty). If the elders remembered correctly, the press release confirms that the photo was taken before the dock was built in 1936. If the elders remembered incorrectly, there is nothing to contradict the date of the book in which the photo appeared.
The Japanese built up the base at Emidj with a pier and 2 seaplane aprons, just a few miles away, before the war. It's likely that they built the concrete pier at Jabor at the same time. With no ice or snow, the pier will probably last a hundred years or more.
To recap, we are talking about 3 docks in this location.
1. The old German "coal pier", which was destroyed in the Typhoon of 1905.
2. The rebuilt pier (presumably rebuilt in 1906), photographed in 1928 and circa 1935.
3. The concrete pier, built in 1936, per the government of the Marshall Islands.
Thanks Christian. Note that the only sources cited by the Ministry are the recollections "of our eldest citizens." Someone old enough (say, 10 years old) to remember the construction of a dock built in 1936 would be 91 years old in 2017.
The photo you cite proves their recollections to be in error.
This is a great illustration of a basic rule in historical investigation. Anecdotal recollections are not reliable unless corroborated by contemporaneous written documentation or datable photographs. When that rule is applied, the entire Japanese Capture theory falls apart.
