The peak United States catch was made in 

 1950 when li03 million pounds were landed. 

 Since then, the annual catch has fluctuated 

 above the 300-million-pound level in all 

 years except 1955, when it fell to 282 

 million pounds. 



In most of the postwar years yel- 

 lowfin was the leading species, followed 

 by skipjack. In 1953 and 19514 the posi- 

 tions of these two species were reversed. 

 These tropical tunas make up 80 to 85 per- 

 cent of the United States catch. Albacore 

 and bluefin are the other species landed. 



Bluefin is at present the principal 

 species landed on the Atlantic and Gulf 

 Coasts. Little tuna, yellowfin, and bonito 

 are lumped in the "Other" category in fig- 

 ure 11. "Other" also includes small quanti- 

 ties of yellowfin and albacore in 19U8. 



UNITED STATES: TUNA CATCH BY SPECIES 



IN MILLIONS 

 OF POUNDS 



OTHER 

 BLUEFIN 



ALBACORE 



i SKIPJACK 



YELLOWFIN 



1948 W53 »57 



Figure 11.— United States: Tuna catch 

 by species (1948, 1953, 1957). 



Table 6. 



Species 



—United States: Tuna catch by 

 species, 1948, 1953, and 1957. 

 (in millions of pounds) 



1948 



1953 



1957 



Albacore 

 Bluefin 

 Skipjack 

 Yellowfin 

 Other h/ 



Total 



1/ Bigeye, 

 include 

 1948. 



49.5 



9.5 



68.6 



199.4 



11.9 



338.9 



34.7 



U. 7 



135.0 



134.0 



6.2 



321.6 



46.7 



21.3 



97.0 



138.3 



2.0 



305.3 



little tuna, and bonito. Also 

 s some albacore and yellowfin in 



Table 7. — Peru: Tuna catch by species, 

 1948, 195 3, and 1957. 



(in millions of pounds) 



Species 



1948 



1953 



1957 



Skipjack 

 Yellowfin 

 Bonito 

 Total 



67.5 



113.8 



115.2 



PERU: TUNA CATCH BY SPECIES 



Peru 



The most important species in the 

 tuna catch of Peru is bonito (figure 12) . 

 In 1957 bonito accounted for 82 percent of 

 the total catch. Skipjack and yellowfin are 

 also caught in considerable quantities. 

 Total landings have been increasing rapidly. 



Sizable amounts of bonito are con- 

 sumed locally. Most, however, is canned 

 for export. The United States and the 

 United Kingdom are the principal markets 

 for Peru's canned bonito. 



The largest part of the skipjack and 

 yellowfin catch is frozen and exported to 

 the United States for canning. The remain- 

 der is either consumed locally or canned for 

 export. 



IN MILLIONS 

 OF POUNDS 

 200 1 



mm 

 ill 



mm 



YELLOWFIN 

 SKIPJACK 



BONITO 



A. 



Figure 12. —Peru: Tuna catch by species 

 (1948, 1953, 1957). 



25 



