•172- 



capacity). The logged effort began increasing in 1970, reaching 41,400 

 days in 1976 and 41,200 days in 1978, then declined to 39,200 days in 1979. 

 The actual effort is considerably greater than the logged effort. During 

 the past 10 years the actual skipjack effort has been estimated to average 

 90% greater than the logged effort. No trend is apparent in the logged 



effort. 



I.e. Value of Catch 



Ex-vessel values for major fishing countries other than the U.S. in 

 the ETP are unavailable. U.S. ex-vessel prices paid for skipjack tuna in 

 1979 were approximately $l,000/short ton for skipjack tuna weighing less 

 than 4 pounds and $l,100/short ton for skipjack tuna greater than 4 pounds. 

 Based on the 1979 catch of skipjack tuna in the CYRA of 142,600 short 

 tons, the value of the 1979 skipjack tuna catch in the CYRA was 

 approximately $149,730,000. Based on the 1979 catch of skipjack tuna from 

 outside the CYRA and the average 1979 U.S. ex-vessel price, the value of 

 the skipjack tuna catch from outside the CYRA (3,000 short tons) was 

 approximately $3,150,000. The total 1979 eastern Pacific catch of skipjack 

 tuna was worth approximately $152,880,000. 



I.D. Current Management of the Fishery 



There are currently no regulations for skipjack in the Pacific 

 Ocean. The State of California had required a minimum weight of 4 pounds 

 (1.8 kg) since 1939, but this was repealed in 1975. 



II. NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF U.S. AND FOREIGN 

 PARTICIPATION IN THE FISHERY 



The fishery for tropical tunas in the eastern tropical Pacific was 

 started by American fishermen, and the skipjack and yellowfin tuna 

 resources continue to be a U.S. concern. Areas of particular interest 

 include: the catch of the domestic fleet, imported catch, and processing 

 and consumption in the United States. 



United States tuna cannery receipts for tunas during 1978 were 581,418 

 short tons, whole weight. Approximately 35% of the raw cannery product 

 (catch plus imports) was skipjack tuna which originated in the Pacific. In 

 addition, the Pacific skipjack tuna catch comprised 42% of the total 1978 

 U.S. tuna catch available on the imports from the eastern Pacific. Imports 

 for 1978 were dominated by skipjack tuna (56%) and yellowfin tuna (22%). 



catch 



In 1979, American flag vessels caught 76,707 mt or 53.8% of the total 

 I of skipjack tuna in the eastern Pacific. The carrying capacity of 



