^ 20 



1959 I960 



1964 1965 



Figure 6. — Average number of days fished per trip by ves- 

 sels based in American Samoa, 1959-65. 



In fitriire 8 are shown tlie total number of fishing 

 trips and the average catch of albacore per fishing 

 trip, along with the annual landings of albacore, 

 for 1954-65. Annual landings have fluctuated with 

 fishing effort. Between 1958 and 1960, however, 

 landings increased despite a decrease in fishing ef- 

 fort. This increase was due to increased average 



5 10 15 



MONTHLY AVERAGE CATCH PER DAY (METRIC TONS ) 



Figure 7. — Relation between monthly average catch of al- 

 bacore per trip and monthly average catch per day by 

 American Samoa-based vessels, 1959-65. 



1 \ 1 ] 1 \ \ r 



• ANNUAL LANDINGS 

  TOTAL TRIPS 

 AVERAGE CATCH PER TRIP 



400 fe 

 tr 



UJ 



320 1 



H 

 _I 



240 p 



1954 



1958 



I960 



1962 



Figure 8. — Total annual number of fi.shing trips, average 

 catch of albacore per trip, and annual albacore land- 

 ings, by American Samoa-based vessels, 1954-65. 



catch of albacore per trip during the period. The 

 rather sharp decline in landings in 1964 resulted 

 from the combined effects of a decrease in average 

 catch per fishing trip and a drop in fishing effort. 



From 1954 through 1960 the catch per trip in- 

 creased, then tapered off and stabilized at a lower 

 le\el in 1963-64, and finally increased slightly in 

 1965. The upward trend in 1965 was attributable 

 primarily to the increased length of the average 

 trip (fig. 6) . The cat^h per trip, in metric tons, av- 

 eraged 35.7 in 1961-62, 30 in 1963-64, and 31.6 in 

 1965. 



The total annual landings declined in 1964 al- 

 though the size of the fleet had increased since 

 1963. The number of fishing trips, however, de- 

 clined sliarply, from 451 to 359, and the average 

 number of days fished per trip increased only 

 slightly, from 24.9 to 25.7 days. 



The Japan Fisheries Agency (1966), in its pub- 

 lication of the 1963 Japanese tuna longline data, 

 pointed to a rather marked decline in albacore 

 catch rates tliroughout the South Pacific Ocean 

 during 1963, with the possible exception of the 

 "newer" grounds east of long. 130° W. (table 1). 

 It noted that although fishing effort had increased 

 16 percent, from 58.2 million hooks fished in 1962 



52 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SESVICE 



