Norwegians for their bluefin tuna fishery. After the con- 

 ference, a group of interested legislators and scientists 

 formed a committee to draw up a concrete program for the 

 encouragement of the Hawaiian fishing industry. The 

 Laboratory in Honolulu is represented on this committee 

 and will make some of the scientific studies required for the 

 revitalization of the Hawaiian fisheries. 



It was pointed out at the Governor's Conference how fish- 

 ing vessels and techniques have evolved in response to 

 different aspects of the behavior of the tuna species. Japan, 

 Howard O. Yoshida said, has several types of vessels, several 

 types of gear, each rather narrowly specialized to catch 

 certain species behaving characteristically at certain stages 

 of their life history. A large part of the Japanese tuna catch 

 is taken by the longliners. In a generation, the longline fleet 

 has grown to encompass the globe. The Japanese longline 

 fleet alone accounted for a substantial share (31.4 percent) 

 of the world tuna catch in 196.3. Two types of vessels are 

 used by the longliner. One is a special longline vessel, the 

 other a combination boat built for pole-and-line fishing but 

 adaptable to longline operations. Most of the longliners are 

 relatively small, 250 to 350 gross tons. A few, however, are 

 much larger. 



Longline gear is enumerated in baskets, the term coming 

 from the fact that in the old days the coiled lines were 

 actually stored in bamboo baskets (fig. 25). A ship of 250 

 to 350 tons will fish about 400 baskets. When the lines 

 are tied together and cast overboard, they form a single 

 continuous mainline about 50 miles long. Attached to the 

 mainline are branch lines that terminate in baited hooks. 



FIGURE 24. Little tunny, or kowokawa, ottocks a school of nehu in 

 o research tank. Scientists ot the Loborotory in Honolulu ore studying 

 ospects ot the behavior of tunas and of their prey. The kowokawa is 

 often used in such studies because it is sturdy ond plentiful Bait 

 studies will be given further emphasis at the Loborotory during the 

 coming year. 



FIGURE 25. Joponese longline fishermen work on their gear. Long- 

 liners set as many as 400 boskets of the gear, forming o continuous 

 momline about 50 miles long. Dropper lines with boited hooks fish 

 for large tunos ond billfishes severol hundred feet beneath the surface. 

 The glass floats mork the junction of two lines. 



37 



