ward to the vicinity of Paita. There are occasional fish caught every month 

 of the year but they are most plentiful in this particular period of time, 

 which is the summer season and the calmest period of the year. The great- 

 est predominance of black marlin is in the winter season and also the 

 roughest. Why these two species should be so different in their seasonal 

 occurrence along this coast is not known. Food conditions are excellent in 

 any season of the year, so apparently this has little or no bearing on the 

 question. 



Fishing Methods. The commercial production of billfish off the coast 

 of Peru is solely through harpooning. Due to American training and equip- 

 ment since the war, fishing methods are the best encountered along the 

 west coast of South America. Before the war there was little, if any, sword- 

 fishing, and the fishermen concerned themselves with casual harpooning of 

 marlin and sharks in the course of their general bottom fishing operations. 



While the fishermen have not been harpooners by nature, they have 

 developed skill rapidly in the past seven or eight years through the oper- 

 ations of the Wilbur-Ellis Company. The primitive methods encountered 

 off northern Chile have never been used here and consequently the fisher- 

 men have readily adopted modern techniques. 



The average size of craft employed is from 25 to 30 feet in length. It is 

 equipped with a conventional harpooning pulpit or plank of about 8 to 

 12 feet in length. The length of the plank is restricted because of the rough 

 water encountered in the winter season. These boats are powered with two 

 or four cylinder engines and have relatively low horsepower. They do not 

 have the required speed for full efficiency, but are fairly adequate. All the 

 gear and equipment relative to harpooning is of local manufacture but of 

 American design, the only exception being that most of the line is im- 

 ported. This reduces considerably the number of fish broken off, in com- 

 parison with Chile. 



Methods of approaching the swordfish are strictly conventional and dif- 

 fer from those employed in Chile. The fish is approached from the rear, 

 and the vessel is kept on the outside of the fish if it shows a tendency to 

 circle. The only apparent weakness observed in this operation is that the 

 harpooners show a tendency to throw the pole a little prematurely instead 

 of waiting an extra few seconds until they are in effective striking range. 

 The fishermen are rather light and small in stature, but seem to prefer a 

 very long, heavy, wooden harpoon pole. Probably their efficiency could be 

 much improved if they were provided with one of hollow metal construc- 

 tion. They show a strong inclination to start hand lining the fish from the 

 vessel as soon as he has been struck, instead of allowing it to tow a float 

 with a flag attached until it is tired. This wastes a sizeable amount of the 



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