Progress in Exploratory Fishing and 

 Gear Research in Region 2 



Fiscal Year 1967 



By 



JOHN R. THOMPSON, Assistant Base Director 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Exploratory Fishing and 

 Gear Research Base, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567 



ABSTRACT 



Accomplishments of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Exploratory Fishing 

 and Gear Research Base in Pascagoula, Miss., and its Station in St. Simons Island, 

 Ga., are documented for fiscal year 1967 (July 1, 1966-June 30, 1967), Area covered 

 in the explorations is the tropical and subtropical western North Atlantic, including 

 the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. 



INTRODUCTION 



As the years pass, changes occur in tech- 

 nological research that must be reflected in 

 the thinking and action of the research staff. 

 The past year has been one of great change in 

 the progress and thinking of the staff of the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Exploratory 

 Fishing and Gear Research Base at Pascagoula, 

 Miss. This annual report deviates somewhat 

 from previous reports to emphasize the changes 

 that are occurring and have occurred. 



Outstanding annong the changes have been 

 the launching of Oregon 11, a vessel designed 

 from the keel up for exploratory fishing and 

 ultimately to be equipped with the latest 

 electronic, laboratory, and fishing equipment; 

 development of a concept of eventual "space 

 monitoring" of the world ocean for fish schools 

 and preliminary steps leading to its realiza- 

 tion; and the preparatory steps toward com- 

 puterization of operational data. 



In all of this modernistic thinking and pre- 

 liminary action, however, we have kept our 

 feet planted firmly and have been cognizant 

 of the meaning of the fisherman's old adage 

 that "nets not in the water don't catch fish." 

 Sea-going operations in the Gulf of Mexico 

 have led to the successful development of an 

 electric shrimp trawl, which allows daytime 

 fishing for brown and pink shrimps and repre- 

 sents a significant breakthrough in use of 

 electricity for harvesting in marine waters. 

 A small "crash program" in the Gulf devoted 



to attracting schoolfish to lights and capturing 

 them with purse seines has so far proved in- 

 conclusive. 



On the east coast, the original Oregon spent 

 over 200 days at sea while searching for new 

 shrimp grounds, investigating the swordfish 

 resource of the waters off the Southeastern 

 States, providing direct aid to the North 

 Carolina scallop fishermen, and looking at 

 bottom-trawl fish stocks. The Oregon also 

 made two cruises into the Caribbean and found 

 excellent possibilities for a yelloweye snapper 

 fishery over wide areas and encouraging signs 

 of a large blackfin tuna resource. 



All these activities are discussed in detail 

 in the text that follows, with emphasis on our 

 attempts to be forerunners in the technological 

 revolution for fisheries. 



FISHERIES LOOK TO SPACE 



Why should fishery scientists be occupied 

 with attempts to enter space? Isn't the world 

 of water vast enough to contain our interests? 

 Everyone has seen by now some of the beautiful 

 photographs that pioneer spacemen have taken 

 with rather simple equipment. Many of these 

 photos show vast expanses of the world ocean 

 and our continental shoreline--areas that we 

 as fishery workers are interested in. For years 

 we have been examining various portions of the 



