gross ton boat and about 54 kg/day for an 11 -gross ton 

 boat. Auxis rochei, being smaller, are very rare in drift 

 net catches. 



5.43 Catches 



Total catches of frigate and bullet tunas by various 

 countries in the Atlantic (including the Mediterranean 

 Sea), Pacific, and Indian Oceans in 1953-76 are given in 

 Table 26. By far, the total catch in the Pacific was the 

 largest among the three oceans, averaging 40,700 t an- 

 nually. The Atlantic and Indian Ocean catches, on the 

 other hand, averaged about 13.8 1 in each ocean or about 

 a third of the Pacific catch. 



In the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting of 

 Specialists to Review the Biology and Status of Stocks 

 of Small Tunas, it was pointed out that the catches of 

 Auxis reported by the various countries do not truly re- 

 flect the abundance of the two species in the world's 

 ocean. For example, purse seine fishermen avoid 



catching Auxis because they are a nuisance as many 

 become gilled in the net and require considerable time 

 and manpower to remove. Furthermore, the catches of 

 Auxis by tuna seiners are often discarded at sea. Other 

 difficulties noted with Auxis catch statistics are that ar- 

 tisanal catches are usually not fully reported and that 

 there is confusion and inclusion of Auxis with other 

 spwcies. 



Pacifc Ocean 



Japan lands, by far, more Auxis than any other 

 country and is, in fact, the only country that has a well- 

 established commercial fishery. In 1953-76, the catch of 

 Auxis averaged 24,300 t, varying from 14,900 1 in 1975 to 

 48,300 t in 1963 (Table 26). 



In Taiwan, the catches of frigate and bullet tunas in 

 1961-73 varied between 600 and 1,200 t and averaged 

 1,000 t (Table 26). Perhaps it should be pointed out that 

 there is a discrepancy in the catch statistics for frigate 



Table 2(i. — Estimated catches of Auxis sp. by countries, l!).5.!-76 (in units of 1.(1(10 metric tons). (Data compiled from FAO 1959, I9()4. 19fi9, 1974. 

 1977; Lamboeuf 1972; Miyake and Tibbo'; Miyake et al.": Sivasubramaniam'; Hagborg.') — = data not available; 0.0 = magnitude negligible or 

 insignificant. 



Atlantic Ocean (including Mediterranean Sea) 



Pacific Ocean 



Indian Ocean 



Z coo 



O ii •? S S 



£ 23 



'Miyake. M. P., and C. G. Tibbo (compilers. 1972. Statistical bulletin. 

 International Commission for the Conservationof Atlantic Tuna ST/Total/'72/2-10-ll. [No pagination.) 



'See text footnote 12. 

 See text footnote 11. 



'D. W. Hagborg, Fishery Resources & Environment Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, pers. commun. 

 February 1975. 



^Includes bluefin tuna. 



'Includes Atlantic bonito. 



'Includes catches from Ceuta in 1954-58. 



'includes Atlantic bonito in 1965-67. 



^Probably includes several other species of tuna and tunaliite fishes in 1964-70. 



54 



