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INITRODUCTION 



The National Marine Fisheries Service's Southwest Fisheries Center's 

 (SWFC) second Workshop on Tuna and Bill fish Research was held at the San 

 Clemente Inn, San Clemente, California, on December 15-17, 1980. This 

 report summarizes the results of that workshop and reproduces the reports 

 on the status of tuna stocks that were presented at the workshop. 



A total of 26 persons participated in the meeting, including 24 from 

 the SWFC and two from the NIMFS Office of International Affairs. A list of 

 attendees and their organizational affiliation is given in the Appendix. 

 David Mackett, Planning Officer for the SWFC, was the Workshop Coordinator. 



The purpose of the Workshop was to review the situation regarding a 

 number of tuna and billfish stocks of importance to the U.S. and to improve 

 the Center's near- term and long-range research plans. Before the Workshop 

 began, 16 Status Reports written by SWFC staff and collaborators, covering 

 some 25 different species or stocks of Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean 

 tuna and billfish, were distributed to the participants. These reports 

 give a short description of the fishery, present an overview of the nature 

 and degree of U.S. and foreign interest in the fishery, and discuss the 

 current status or condition of the stocks. Recommendations for further 

 analyses, data collection, or research programs regarding the fishery are 

 also given. The Status Reports include most of the world's tuna stocks of 

 direct and indirect interest or importance to the U.S. commercial and 

 recreational fishermen, canning industry, and consumers. The full reports 

 are presented in this document. 



Authors presented highlights of their reports to the Workshop 

 participants and questions and comments were solicited from the group. In 

 addition to the Status of Stocks Reports, the Director of the Office of 

 International Fisheries Affairs presented an overview of the status of 

 international tuna fishery problems and the state of international and 

 bilateral negotiations concerning them. On the basis of the reports, 

 presentations, discussions, and rapporteurs' summaries, the Center 

 Director, Honolulu Laboratory Director, and the Chief of the Oceanic 

 Fisheries Resources Division (OFRD), meeting as the Tuna Program Board 

 (TPB), made a number of decisions regarding future SWFC program emphasis 

 and direction. These decisions were discussed in the Workshop and 

 subsequently assignments were given to SWFC staff for completing and 

 documenting the work plans . 



The Workshop concentrated on the stock assessment and fishery 

 evaluation aspects of the Center's tuna research program, but some time 

 also was devoted to a discussion of the tuna-environment interaction 



^The first Workshop was held September 11, 1979, at the same location. 



