YALE UNIVERSITY'S RESEARCH 



fish; if they are similar a common spawning area is indicated, 

 but if they differ significantly a separate race with different 

 habits that must be treated as a distinct entity in problems 

 of its conservation is indicated. Why does the scientist pre- 

 serve the stomach contents of these marlin? Because these 

 game fish are perhaps the best biological samplers of the small 

 fish in the area; the scientist has a better chance of finding in 

 their stomachs small marlin or other game fish that may pro- 

 vide clues to spawning areas and growth rates than he has by 

 towing any gear yet devised by man. . . . The answers to these 

 and a host of similar questions are essential to the solution of 

 the practical side of the question, "Why study ocean game 

 fish?" Most fisheries investigations are begun only when a 

 stock shows an alarming decline. This was not so serious in 

 times gone past when fishing methods were relatively con- 

 servative. But with modern technology fishing methods give 

 promise of being such that concerted effort (as in the soupfin 

 shark industry) can deplete a species almost to the vanishing 

 point in the space of a few years. Might it not pay with 

 ocean game fish to lock the barn before the horse is stolen? . . . 

 Hind-sight once allowed a chance for recovery. Now-a-days 

 it is likely to be synonymous with oblivion. 



More and more young people are taking an interest in the 

 problems discussed above by Dan Merriman. More and more 

 are fishing. More money is spent on fishing in the United 

 States than on any other sport, and that includes all spec- 

 tator sport. And more fishing licenses are being sold each year. 



On the New Zealand Expedition, in 1948, Dr. Morrow 

 took data on and went into the insides of approximately 1 00 

 big game fish. On the 1953 trip to Ecuador and Peru he not 

 only made similar studies but also collected several thousand 

 smaller fish, which were sent back to New Haven for further 



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