in 1946 to 2, 193,000 pounds in 1952. The years 1953 and 1954 

 similarly show. high catches of 2, 826, 000 pounds and 2, 759, 000 pounds 

 respectively.— 



The bigeye tuna is also important in the Japanese high seas 

 longline fishery, which covers vast areas of the western and central 

 Pacific Ocean, extending as far east as Hawaii. Following World War 

 II, Japanese mothership expeditions, described by Shinnada (1951a and 

 b), Ego and Otsu (1952), Van Campen (1952), and Murphy and Otsu 

 (1954), landed considerable numbers of bigeye tuna. These expeditions 



GO O O 



Operated from about 1 to 10 N. latitude and 134 to 179 E. longitude. 

 Farther to the north there is a Japanese longline fishery for deep- 

 swimming tunas, including bigeye, which has been described by Shapiro 

 (1950). The area covered by this North Pacific fishery is usually north 

 of 26 N. latitude and between 130 E. and 165 W. longitude. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



Appreciation is extended to the individuals, too numerous to 

 mention, who have aided in the collection of measurements and offered 

 direction in preparing this report. To the Hawaii Fishing Co. , Ltd. , 

 and the United Fishing Agency indebtedness is acknowledged for per- 

 mission to examine sales records. To Mr. T. Nakata thanks are ex- 

 tended for the preparation of figures in this report. 



MATERIAL AND METHODS 



For most of the Hawaiian specimens only the weight (obtained 

 from market sales slips) is available. Length measurements taken on 

 the Japanese mothership expeditions were in millimeters from the tip 

 of the snout with jaws closed to the median portion of the caudal fork 

 (with fleshy flap depressed) as described by Marr and Schaefer (1949). 

 Additional length frequencies were obtained from Japanese reports. 

 Prior to analysis length measurennents were tabulated in 2-centimeter 

 intervals, and weight measurements in 10-pound intervals. When it 

 was necessary to convert from length to weight, the relationship log 

 weight (pounds) = -7. 1167 + 2.9304 log total length (millimeters), 

 based on Hawaiian samples, was used. To smooth data, a moving 

 average of three was applied. 



2/ 



— From unpublished records of the Division of Fish and Game, 



Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, Territory of 



Hawaii. 



