In any long-term view, neither fishery is so profitable as 

 to attract substantial new capital. The ships are small and 

 old. Few young men are entering the fleet. This situation 

 is by no means confined to Hawaii. It seems characteristic 

 of many of our fishing States. In the northwest Atlantic 

 Ocean, for example, the total catch by all nations has in- 

 creased 41 percent during the last several years, but the U. S. 

 catch has declined 17 percent. The median age for trawler 

 fishermen in Boston is 57 years. Hawaii's fishing industry 

 has few if any problems that are unique. 



Legislators of the State of Hawaii have expressed much 

 concern over the condition of the fisheries. In 1965 this 

 interest took the form of a resolution requesting Governor 

 John A. Burns to convene a conference of fishery experts to 

 review research on the fishery resources of the central Pacific 

 and to assess their potential, with a view toward taking 

 measures that would pump new life into Hawaii's fisheries. 



The conference met in Honolulu and Hilo from February 28 

 to March 12, 1966. By design, it was restricted at first to a 

 small group of scientists who reviewed current knowledge of 

 the chief central Pacific fishery resource, the tunas. Later, 

 when the deliberations of this group had been consolidated 

 into reports, conclusions were discussed with government 

 officials and members of the fishing industry. On the final 

 day of the conference, the results were presented at a public 

 meeting. 



FIGURE 2. The "oku" — Hawaiian for skipjock tuna — vessel BUCCA- 

 NEER returns to Kewolo Basin, Honolulu, from a fishing trip. At the 

 dock is one of the vessels of the longline fleet. Vessels, gear, and 

 techniques of both fleets ore scoled-down adaptations of Japonese 

 models. Together the pole-ond-line and longline fisheries lond obout 

 6,000 tons of tuna a year. The skipjack tuna catch is by for the 

 largest in the Stote and provides Howoii with its only marine product 

 for export to mainland markets. 



FIGURE 3. Twice weekly, technicians collect water somples from Koko 

 Need, southernmost point of Oohu. The advent of spring warming at 

 Koko Heod helps forecast the skipjack tuna catch for the summer 

 season. The technician wears a safety belt while working on this 

 rocky, wove-woshed shore. The water sample is returned to the BCF 

 Loborotory in Honolulu for chemical analysis. 



