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STATUS REPORT: WESTERN PACIFIC SKIPJACK TUNA 



by 



Howard 0. Yoshida 



Southwest Fisheries Center 

 Honolulu, Hawaii 



ABSTRACT 



The major fisheries for skipjack tuna are located adjacent to 

 continents and islands. In the western Pacific, the Japanese pole-and- 

 line, live-bait fishery is the largest and the oldest established fishery. 

 The stock structure of skipjack tuna in the Pacific is not \/ery well known. 

 Although no production model analyses or other analyses and simulations 

 have been attempted for western Pacific skipjack tuna, all available 

 information suggests that the resource is still underexploited. One of the 

 important research needs for skipjack tuna in the Pacific is the 

 elucidation of the population structure of the resource. 



