SUMMARY 



First connnercial landings of albacore were made at Oregon and Washington 

 ports in 1937. The catch reached an all-tirae high of 3k million pounds in 19A4, 

 but has decreased to less than 15 million poiands annually since 1945. In the sun- 

 mer of 1948, the commercial range was extended northward, and good fishing was 

 found off the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia. One of the main ob- 

 jectives of the 1949 survey by the Fish and Wildlife vessel Oregon was to determine 

 if albacore reached Alaskan waters in commercial quantities. Although a few scat- 

 tered albacore were caught up to three hundred miles cff Dixon Entrance, no con- 

 centrations of the tuna were found; and water temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska 

 were noted to be generally colder than those in which albacore are usually taken. 



Main objectives of the 1950 exploration by the John N, Cobb were to ob- 

 tain information on the inshore migration pattern of the albacore; to test various 

 types of gear on albacore; to further investigate the possibilities of establish- 

 ing a tuna fishery off Alaska; to record environmental conditions affecting the 

 availability of albacore; and to assist the commercial fleet throiigh radio broad- 

 casts of fishing results. Related biological and oceanographic information was 

 also collected. 



The Cobb left Seattle on June 12, and steered a southwesterly course 

 from Cape Flattery. The first albacore were caiight June 18, shortly after reach- 

 ing 58° F. water 480 miles off Cape Blanco, Oregon. Catches during the following 

 days indicated the albacore, along with the extension of the warm surface-water 

 zone, were moving inshore and northward along the Oregon coast. Commercial catches 

 were made 60 miles southwest of the Coliombia River on July 16, off Willapa Bay on 

 July 19, and 90 to 100 miles off Cape Flattery during the final week of July. 

 After the middle of August, vihen the albacore seemingly disappeared from the Wash- 

 ington and Oregon coasts, the fishery shifted northward to the Queen Charlotte 

 Islands. The Cobb caught scattered albacore off the southeastern Alaska coast on 

 August 24 and 26, but over 2 weeks of intensive fishing from Dixon Entrance to 

 within 100 miles of Cape St. Elias revealed no sign of commercial quantities of 

 the tuna in Alaska waters. During this time, surface water temperatures in the 

 Gulf of Alaska were low (51.2° to 55° Fo), and stormy weather curtailed fishing 

 activities to some extent. In the last 2 weeks of September, the Cobb twice 

 covered the waters from Cape Blanco to Cape Flattery, and although water tempera- 

 tures were favorable and some feed was observed, no albacore were seen or caught 

 during this time. 



Surface-trolled jigs were used as the main gear for locating albacore, 

 and gill nets and long line were fished experimentally. Both linen and nylon gill 

 nets were used in mesh sizes of 7^ inch, 8^ inch, and 95 inch (stretched measure- 

 ments). The linen and nylon were equally effective in catching albacore, over a 

 ton being taken in one night-time set of the nets. Some damage to the gill-net- 

 caught albacore was observed, especially when the nets v/ere hauled in choppy seas. 

 Four sets made in daylight with long-line gear using frozen squid and herring for 

 bait caught only one albacore, and results with this experimental gear were con- 

 sidered very inconclusive. 



Best fishing was usually found in the warm (53° to 60° F.) blue water, 

 with occasional catches being made in blue-green or green water. Although alba- 

 core were taicen in waters from 54° to 62° F., only 3.5 per cent of the total catch 

 occurred in waters below 57° F. Good fishing frequently was experienced in fingers 

 of warm, blue water extending into the coastal green zone cr along the edge of the 



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