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DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY 



More skipjack tuna are harvested on a world basis than any other tuna 

 species; most of these are taken from the Pacific Ocean. The estimated 

 annual average catch in the western Pacific Ocean from 1965 to 1972 was 

 220,000 metric tons (mt); 80,000 mt was the average for the eastern 

 Pacific. Estimates from 1973 to 1978 indicate that catches for the western 

 Pacific (420,000 mt) and the eastern Pacific (108,000 mt) had increased 

 greatly. 



The skipjack tuna fishery in the eastern Pacific is an outgrowth of 

 the California albacore fishery. It is a multi species fishery where 

 yellowfin and skipjack tuna comprise the major species harvested. 



I. A. History of the Fishery 



The industry originated in California near the turn of the century; 

 the initial target was albacore, which was first successfully canned in 

 1903. The fishery for yellowfin and skipjack tunas developed when the 

 California albacore fishery could not satisfy the demands of the tuna 

 canners. The high-seas tuna fishery expanded rapidly as abundant yellowfin 

 and skipjack tunas were found in the warmer v/aters of the eastern Pacific; 

 by 1930 the fishery had expanded south to the Central American coast and 

 outlying islands. In 1979 the fishery extended from about 33° N to 19° S 

 latitude and from the North and South American coast to 150° W. longitude. 

 Substantial fisheries occur in the northeastern Pacific Ocean near Baja 

 California, the Revillagigedo Islands, and Clipperton Island, and in the 

 southeastern Pacific Ocean near Central America, northern South America, 

 Cocos Island-Brito Bank, and the Galapagos Islands. 



In the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 80°^ to 95?o of the catch is 

 taken by purse seiners. A few baitboats remain in the fishery, catching 

 most of the remaining S% to 20%. Only small amounts of skipjack are caught 

 by longliners, as incidental catch. 



In 1979 vessels from Bermuda, Canada, Colombia, Congo, Cost Rica, 

 Ecuador, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, 

 Peru, Senegal, Spain, United States, and Venezuela engaged in the eastern 

 Pacific tuna fishery (Table 1). Ten of the 18 countries made significant 

 catches of skipjack tuna in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission 

 (lATTC) Yellowfin Requlatory Area (CYRA). The vessels of three countries 

 caught over 70% of the skipjack: United States, 53.8%; Ecuador, 13.2%; and 

 Netherlands, 6.9% (Figure 1). 



