in which bait throws obstacles in the way of fishingo The solutions to 

 these difficulties are being studied as pressing problems in all areas, 

 but on a common sense basis the following suggestions are madeo 



(1) Direct management of bait catching and holding. 



At present, the bait supply is uneven because of the shortage of 

 live-pounds^ Dishonest suppliers of bait are taking advantage of this 

 situation and the bait supply business often falls into a state of 

 confusion. The following remedies are suggested: 



(a) Supplying one's own baito 



This method should be advantageous in large-scale operation where 

 three or more skipjack boats are run on a planned basiSo Bait can be 

 taken with small-scale gear, bait fish of the desired size can be selected 

 and kept, the excess can be disposed of elsewhere, and the boats can 

 concentrate on catching skipjack without having to worry about obtaining 

 baitc If lack of capital or other causes make it impossible to establish 

 a private bait supply set-up, a live-pound could be lent to a bait supplier 

 and a contract made for a steady supply of baito 



(b) Dispatch of bait boats to the fishing grounds. 



Bait supply boats could be stationed on the grounds 'vhere the fishing 

 boats are concentrated to provide a suitable supply of bait for each boat. 

 These vessels could also buy the catches of the fishing boats or else 

 take over the task of transporting the fish back to port in order to save 

 the time required for each fishing boat to go back and forth. This would 

 be one plan to increase the efficiency of operations. This method would 

 enable the fishing boats to seek more distant grounds and remain continu- 

 ously on a good fishing ground, and would open a new field for the expan- 

 sion of the industry. In addition to carrying bait, the boats would have 

 to be equipped '/dth fish holds and ice or refrigeration machinery, and they 

 would probably have to be prepared to supply marine supplies, fuel, pro- 

 visions, and so forth. This is thought to be a problem for the skipjack 

 fishery of the future. 



(2) A step further could be taken and the skipjack fishery could be run 

 on a tender and fleet basis. 



Section 2 Net Fishing Methods for Skipjack 



A thorough consideration of the bait problem leads to the inves- 

 tigation of fishing methods which do not require bait. With such methods 

 the problem of whether or not the fish take the bait well would naturally 

 disappear and the restriction of operations to the daylight hours vculd 

 be broken through, making it possible to develop night fishing. To fish 

 at any time and in any place, we must consider the use of nets, parti- 

 cularly the purse sein^^. These have been tried out before, but in every 

 case, failed to produce the expected results. With a thorough cognizance 

 of the conditions, we should make a detailed study of the reasons for 

 failure and then make a fresh start, 



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