Miller, F.R. Sea surface temperatures in the eastern 

 tropical Pacific during 1974 and the tropical 

 fishery. Unpubl. manuscr. Southwest Fisheries 

 Center La Jolla Laboratory, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, 

 CA 92038. 



Reviewed published sea surface temperature 

 data and tuna distribution. The 79 F iso- 

 therms in the eastern tropical Pacific envel- 

 oped areas where most yellowfin were captured 

 in 1974. Composited annual negative SST 

 anomalies of 2°F and greater coincided with 

 areas of poor tuna fishing in 1974. Most 

 active tuna fishing was found where seasonal 

 temperatures remained in the range of 79° to 

 84°F. 



KEY WORDS: tuna, sea surface temperature, 

 season, catch, distribution. 



Miller, F.R., and E.D. Forsbergh. 1978. North Equa- 

 torial Countercur rent , a possible path for skip- 

 jack migration in the eastern tropical Pacific. 

 Proceedings of the 29th Tuna Conference May 22-24, 

 1978, p. 3-5. 



Sea surface temperature, zonal current 

 strength and Southern Oscillation index all 

 were correlated; and significant correlation 

 existed between skipjack abundance, the index 

 and sea surface temperatures in the spawning 

 area as well as the Southern Oscillation 

 index at earlier times. They hypothesized: 

 1) more spawning occurs in warm years; 2) 

 more larvae survive in warm years; 3) migra- 

 tion of young skipjack from the spawning 

 areas to fishing areas is influenced by the 

 strength of the eastward flow of the North 

 Equatorial Co unte re ur r ent and the South 

 Equatorial Countercur rent . 



KEY WORDS: tuna, oceanography, skipjack, sea 

 surface temperature, currents. Southern 

 Oscillation index, spawning, migration, 

 season, abundance. 



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