Table 4. — Pooled monlhlii mean calch rales of albacore (caleh per 100 hooks) in the western South Paeific Ocean {long. 140° 



E. to ISO"), 1968-63 

 [From data provided by the Nankai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory, Kochi, Japan, and those published by the Japan Fisheries Agency (1965, 1966)] 



S. latitude 



Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Mean 



0°-5°... 

 6°-10°.. 



ir-i5°. 



16°-20°. 

 21°-25°. 

 26°-30''. 

 3r-35°. 

 36°^0°. 

 41°-45°. 

 46°-50°_ 

 Mean. . 



<0. 1 

 .3 

 1.7 

 2.3 

 1.0 

 .2 . 

 1.4 . 

 .6 . 



.4 



1.6 

 1.3 



.5 

 1.5 

 1.1 

 .0 

 .0 



2.3 

 2.5 

 1.1 

 1.0 

 1.6 



.8 



.8 

 2.1 

 3.0 

 1.3 

 3.5 

 2.7 

 1.3 

 1.2 



.2 

 1.6 



0.3 

 1.7 

 2.5 

 2.2 

 3.8 

 4.5 

 3.8 

 1.2 



0.2 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 

 .5 

 .6 

 1.7 

 .6 



1.5 

 2.9 

 2.8 

 4.2 



4.6 



1.3 

 2.4 

 3.0 

 4.1 

 4.0 



2.7 

 2.8 

 3.1 



<0.1 

 .4 

 1.3 

 1.9 

 1.2 

 1.2 

 2.3 

 1.1 

 1.2 



<0.1 



_ 2 



i!o 



2.2 

 1.4 

 .8 

 2.6 

 2.3 

 1.6 



1.6 



1.2 



2 



0.7 



.9 



1.3 



2.9 



1 



In general, the distrilnitioi; of alba<?ore is con- 

 tinuous from west to east, at least between long. 

 140° E. and 120° W. in the South Pacific Ocean. A 

 difference between the eastern and western South 

 Pacific Ocean is in the apparent abimdance of 

 albacore; catch rates are lower in the western 

 South Pacific Ocean. 



SIZE OF ALBACORE 



The albacore taken by the American Samoa- 

 based fishery generally range from aliout 70 to 

 110 cm. long; 95 percent of the fish fall between 

 80 and 105 cm. (fig. 15). Among fish longer than 



90 cm., males greatly outnumber females. The av- 

 erage length of albacore in 1905 was 88 cm. for 

 females and 93 cm. for males. 



CHANGES IN SIZE OF ALBACORE 



In 2 of the 3 years during which length data 

 were obtained, the mean length of fish declined 

 sharply during February-April (fig. 16). This de- 

 crease could have resulted from shifts in fishing 

 grounds, seasonal variation in fish sizes on the 

 fishing grounds, or both. The trend toward a de- 

 crease in lengtli from Febniary 1964 to August 

 1965 may have been caused by the entry into the 



LENGTH (CM) 



FiGVRE 15. — Composite length-frefiuency distribution of albacore landed by the American Samoa-ba.sed longline ve.ssels 



during 1965. 



ALBACORE TAKEN IX LOXGLIXE FISHERY IX AMERICAN SAMOA 



323-489 O - 69 - 5 



63 



