Commission's director, Dr. Schaefer, has 

 suggested that the Commission might make 

 these data available to the Bureau if 

 required for studies of optimum fishing 

 strategy. We believe the data could pro- 

 vide information useful to the fleet for 

 planning fishing trips. 



Those are the areas of study in ocea- 

 nography and biology which we believe can 

 make substantial contributions to the 

 fishermen in their search for knowledge 

 that will reduce costs of catching tuna. 

 They are areas in which the Bureau is well 

 equipped to operate. 



Gear Research 



Assistance will come, as we have 

 pointed out, from improved vessel and gear 

 design and from the development of auxil- 

 iary aids. The impact of new materials, 

 new instrumentation, new power plants, and 

 new refrigeration techniques has the in- 

 dustry thinking of new vessel design. 

 Numerous technological advances are being 

 made which must have application in the 

 fishing industry to reduce manpower and to 

 catch fish faster. Automation may even 

 have its place in some operations aboard 

 fishing vessels. These may be fields in 

 which the Bureau can assist the industry; 

 they may be areas which the industry can 

 best handle itself. Let us list a few of 

 the things that might be done and which 

 might contribute to catching fish more 

 quickly. 



1. Echo ranging equipment for the 

 detection of fish schools as now 

 manufactured is unsatisfactory 

 for detecting and following 

 schools of tuna. It does not 

 have sufficient range and we are 

 told that equipment now used in 

 other fisheries will have to be 

 completely redesigned to be use- 

 ful to tuna fishermen. Suitable 

 echo sounding devices would aid 

 tuna fishermen and are essential 

 to scientists studying tuna 

 behavior. 



electrical fishing may have pos- 

 sibilities for the tuna fishermen. 



3. Ways to integrate the bait 



and purse-seine fishing methods 

 on the same vessel. Bait boats 

 run onto schools they cannot catch 

 but which would be productive for 

 purse seiners and vice versa. 



h- Methods of minimizing or avoiding 

 shark damage to nets. 



CONCLUSION 



Our discussion of the problems of har- 

 vesting which are faced by the domestic 

 tuna fishermen clearly points out two 

 things: (l) Under terms of its authority, 

 whatever the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 can do to assist tuna fishermen in solving 

 their present economic difficulties must of 

 necessity be long-range and will, there- 

 fore, take time before becoming effective. 

 (2) Because reducing the time required to 

 catch full loads of fish is the key to re- 

 ducing production costs and increasing 

 sales, we must concentrate our efforts on 

 research and services which will contribute 

 to this end. We believe that the Bureau 

 can make its maximum contribution through 

 studies of oceanography, fish behavior, and 

 improved fishing strategy, and by collecting 

 and disseminating current information which 

 will assist fishermen to make their opera- 

 tions more efficient. 



These are the areas of endeavor which 

 appear to be the most promising. The Bureau 

 will assist the industry in every way pos- 

 sible within its authority and available 

 resources. It is well to point out, however, 

 that scientific work can proceed no faster 

 than data are accumulated, men are trained 

 to interpret them, and funds are made avail- 

 able for research. 



2. Experiments in electrical fishing 

 are underway on the east coast and 

 are already assisting menhaden 

 fishermen to brail their catches 

 more rapidly. Some of our col- 

 leagues in the Bureau think that 



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