FISHING THE PACIFIC 



will come from investigation in pure science, and it is im- 

 portant not to fall into the trap of directed and applied re- 

 search to the extent that over-all advances in the solution of 

 biological problems of the ocean suffer. To this argument for 

 pure science (that it often leads in wholly unpredictable 

 fashion to matters of practical significance) must also be 

 added the satisfaction and pleasure to be derived from new 

 knowledge— satisfaction and pleasure to those who make the 

 discovery and to those who subsequently learn about it. . . . 

 One other point needs to be made under the head of knowl- 

 edge for its own sake in connection with our work: ichthy- 

 ologists seldom have the opportunity to study big game fish 

 in quantity, hence there is more to be discovered in this area 

 of fisheries research than any other. 



The other answer to the original question, "Why study 

 ocean game fish?" can be introduced by the old adage that 

 there are as many fish in the sea as ever came out of it. Like 

 most of its kind, this aphorism is only half true. When dif- 

 ferent fishing areas receive the full impact of modern tech- 

 nology, our marine resources can be depleted to an incredible 

 degree. A good example is the Pacific coast soupfin shark, 

 a species which provided only a short-lived industry once the 

 high Vitamin A content of this shark's liver was discovered 

 and intensive fishery operations were undertaken. . . . The 

 fact is that we know less than nothing about most of the 

 oceanic game fish— their migrations, growth rates, places or 

 times of spawning, age at maturity, quantity of eggs laid, sex 

 ratios, feeding habits, parasites, longevity, etc. Until these 

 matters are understood there is no basis for inteUigent utiliza- 

 tion or conservation. When a scientist on the Yale-New Zea- 

 land Expedition takes all sorts of measurements on each 

 striped marlin, why does he do it? To establish the maxima, 

 the mean, and the minima of the different body proportions 

 to see how they compare with other populations of the same 



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