Report of Results of /JLbacore Fishing 

 Ground Development 



Iwate Prefecture Fisheries Experiment Station 



1. Vessel - Iwate Mam 



2. Type of operation - Albacore fishing ground exploration 



3. Outline of operations 



First Cruise 



The vessel departed P/dsaki in Kanagawa Profecture on June 5 ^nd on June 

 15 arrived at 33° si'N, 175° lA'E in Area II nhorc the linos nore sot for 

 the first trial. Thereafter lA stations '.7ere fished before the vesc-ol began 

 its return voyage on June 24-. At 7:15 A.M. on July 6 the vessel arrived 

 at Misaki and the catch was landed and sold. The catch and the proceeds 

 of its sale are shov.'n in the summary table of operations. 



Second Cruise 



After the return to Tilsaki fishing gear '.vas constnicted '^nd various 

 preparations v7ero made. On Jul/ 12 at 8:00 A.M. the vessel left Mis'^ki and 

 headed for the fishing grounds. After nine d'ys and nights of sailing the 

 fishing grounds in Area II were reached on July 21 and the search for rlba- 

 corc was begun. Fishing operations 'A'cre continued for 10 days after :7hich 

 the trials were called off and the vessel headed back to port on July 30. 

 On August 15 at 2:20 P.M. the vessel arrived at Kamaishi where the catch 

 was landed and sold. The c^tch for this cruiso and the proceeds from its 

 sale were as shown in the table of results. On this cruise fishing was 

 done, as indicted by the results of the preceding cruise, in zones of 'rater 

 having temperatures of about 13° at tho 50-metGr level, but tha albacore 

 catch was very small. 



Third Cruise 



After the completion of the preceding cruise the vessel '-ms docked 

 for repairs to the hull and fishing gear was constructed. On September 21 

 at 5:10 P.M. the vessel sailed from Kamaishi in Ir/ato Prefecture and headed 

 for the offshore areas. On this cruiso, in view of the results of the 

 preceding two cruises, the vessel proceeded gradually northeastward from the 

 zone of 15° surface temperatures. The lor/est temperature in which test 

 fishing was carried out was 13. A°, and in the latter part of the cruise 

 surface tem.poratures of about 17° I'tere so'jght. The catch and the proceeds 

 from its sale were as shovm in the table of results, illbacore fishing •'•as 

 unexpectedly good in the cold v.'atcr zones. 



4.. Conditions on the fishing grounds 



(a) Currents on the fishing grounds were in general comparatively slo'- with 

 the highest velocities encountered about 1 knot and one-half knot the most 

 common. On the first cruise the cvirrent was southwesterly one day and 

 easterly the rest of the time. On the second cruise the currents -TOre 

 southeasterly on the eastern side of the survey area and northerly on the 



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