arate and rather unrelated geographical features. Paita on the south is still 

 affected by the Humboldt current sweeping up from Chile. For reasons not 

 ascertained this produces an early school of swordfish in the months of 

 February, March and April. When the southerly inshore Niiio current is 

 fairly strong here, these fish penetrate it in quantity and are caught rela- 

 tively close to the coast line. As there are no settlements or villages of any 

 importance south of Paita, nothing is known concerning the first contact of 

 this particular group of fish with the continental shelf. The 100 fathom 

 curve from Talara, which is the center of the area, is distant from five to 

 thirty miles offshore, increasing in distance in going southward from Ta- 

 lara. During the run of swordfish in the southern part of the area, very few 

 are caught in the vicinity of Mancora. This port, at the southern end of 

 the Port of Guayadjuil, has its peak production from a second school of 

 fish in the months of August, September and October. At the same time 

 the production in the vicinity of Paita is light. Why two adjacent ports 

 should have such different periods of productivity, is a mystery still to be 

 solved. 



It is the general supposition that the early season school of fish in the 

 vicinity of Paita arrives from a southwesterly direction, similar to the 

 movement of fish off northern Chile. At the height of production off Man- 

 cora the swordfish seemed to drift towards the coast from a westerly or 

 northwesterly direction, first arriving on the banks between Mancora and 

 Zorritos about thirty miles to the north. These banks, as before mentioned, 

 are from 25 to 40 miles offshore. The average size of the fish, in both 

 cases, seems to be about the same, though the Wilbur-Ellis Company re- 

 ports that there are more very small fish produced in the Paita area. These 

 little fish run as low as 25 or 30 pounds in weight and there are many 

 caught weighing about 60 to 80 pounds. This, apparently, is the only point 

 on the west coast of South America where the small swordfish are in evi- 

 dence. Southward from Paita there are reports of swordfish from American 

 tuna clippers and Grace Line freighters. These fish are seen from 40 to 

 100 miles offshore and generally from the months of April through Octo- 

 ber. In the northern end of the area, from Zorritos across the Gulf of Guay- 

 aquil to Salinas, Ecuador, there is very little recorded about the fish. While 

 a few have been taken from 40 to 60 miles offshore in the vicinity of 

 Salinas, it would seem logical to assume that the vast majoriy of fish in 

 the Mancora area retreat to the westward and toward the range of com- 

 mercial fishing observation. 



The migration of marlin to these waters, both the black and the striped, 

 is as complex as that of the swordfish. The striped marlin have an early 

 year run, roughly from January through May. Their greatest concentration 

 is from Talara to Mancora with a fair scattering of fish extending south- 



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