■275- 



4) The California Department of Fish and Game is analyzing data 

 on the California drift gill net fishery for swordfish. 



IV. C. Future Research Meeds 



Research relative to the needs of management for the total oceanic 

 resource of swordfish is needed for: 1) definition of areas and seasons of 

 spawning in the eastern Pacific, 2) age and growth rates, 3) determina- 

 tion of catch composition, 4) relation of sub-surface and surface 

 distribution to the physical and biological environment, and 5) analysis 

 of CPUE data shifts to determine migratory trends. For the southern 

 California swordfish fishery and resource, the following research is needed 

 for further development of management advice: 



* 

 1) Sampling program for both the commercial and recreational 



bill fish fishery. 



2) Survey of effective effort and economic significance of the 

 southern California recreational and commercial fleet. 



3) Determination of near surface and subsurface abundance and 

 size distribution of swordfish off southern California. 



4) Determination of migratory patterns and exploitation rates 

 (southern California fishery) using both long-term and short-term (diel) 

 studies. 



IV. D. Status of SWFC Data Base 



Swordfish logbook data for 1979 are being placed into the Coast- 

 wide Data System at SWFC through a cooperative program with the California 

 Department of Fish and Game. Swordfish tagging data will also be placed 

 into the system, which will update the 1963-1980 data base. 



More detailed basic catch and effort data are needed to make more 

 precise stock assessments. Data presented in closer grid spacing (less 

 than 5° area) would be desirable for determining stock movements within 

 areas of high CPUE. 



The U.S. fishing industry supplies good to excellent effort data 

 from the California logbook system for commercial catches; California and 

 Hawaii both supply a fair coverage of catch data for the commercial 



^A cooperative effort with the California Department of Fish and Game, 



