nights of fishing effort in the course of purely- 

 exploratory operations (not to be construed as 

 equivalent to commercial or production type 

 operations). In May, averages were lower 

 (one lobster per 5 trap nights fishing), but one 

 72-trap set, fished 2 nights, took 72 lobsters. 

 Again, this was in the course of exploratory 

 fishing, and actual commercial catch rates 

 should be higher. 



Catch rates in the San Bias area were con- 

 sistently low during the brief period of in- 

 vestigation allotted. This period, however, was 

 devoted to gear trials as well as explorations, 

 and additional coverage should be given this 

 area. At least in the fall, present indications 

 are that the potential of the San Bias area is 

 lower than that of the Bocas area and the 

 potential for trap fishing in that season may 

 well be limited to small-scale operations. 



Pacific Explorations 



Cruises 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 were 

 in the Pacific waters. Areas surveyed include: 

 The waters off Panama City and Balboa (cruise 

 6); the Chiriqui Gulf (cruises 7, 9, 10, and 11); 

 near the Perlas Islands (cruises 6 and 8); from 

 Cape Mala to Montuosa Island (cruise 7); in 

 the Gulf of San Miguel (cruise 8); in Pinas 

 Bay, and in the Gulf of Panama (cruises 11 and 

 14). In the Pacific, two areas appear to stand 

 out as having the highest potential for lobster 

 trap fishing. These are the Gulf of Chiriqui 

 and the northwestern portion of the Gulf of 

 Panama in the Pacific. 



Gulf of Chiriqui .-- The potential of the Gulf 

 of Chiriqui was examined during October, 

 November, January, February, March, and 

 April (a cruise to the Gulf in September was 

 devoted to gear and equipment familiarization 

 only). Average catch rates per cruise varied 

 from slightly over one lobster per 2 trap 

 nights fishing, to about one lobster per 7 trap 

 nights fishing. These averages, however, were 

 the result of pure exploratory fishing, not 

 commercial trials. In the small amount of 

 simulated commercial fishing that was ac- 

 complished in the time allotted, the catch 

 rates resulting rose to averages of one to 

 one and a half lobsters per 2 trap nights, and 

 even these averages are not actually indicative 

 of the best that a commercial venture could 

 do, for such factors as the effect on catch of 

 variable spacing of traps were being investi- 

 gated during the simulated commercial trials. 

 Best season in the Gulf of Chiriqui appears 

 to be fall (October- November), although more 

 work must be done in the months not surveyed. 



Gulf of Panama .-- The potential of the portion 

 of the Gulf near Rio Hato-San Carlos was 

 surveyed in June 1963. At this time, during 

 purely exploratory fishing, catch rates ap- 

 proached one lobster per trap day. InSantelmo 



Bay, Perlas Islands, a rate of slightly less 

 than one lobster per 2 trap nights was achieved 

 in limited fishing in December. 



Other Pacific areas . --Catch rates in other 

 portions of the Pacific investigated for short 

 periods ranged from nothing to one lobster 

 per 15 days. Areas not producing lobsters, or 

 only producing them in small numbers, and 

 the months in which they were investigatedare 

 as follows: Off Panama City and Balboa 

 (October and November); off Point Chame, 

 Cape Mala, Jicaron Island, and Montuosa Island 

 (October and November); near San Jose Island 

 in the Perlas group, and in San Miguel Gulf 

 (December); Pinas Bay (December); and near 

 the Rio Hato-San Carlos area, Gulf of Panama 

 (June). 



Explorations for Lobsters with Trawls 



An insufficient amount of trawling was ac- 

 complished during the first year to allow 

 proper evaluation of the trawl potential. Thirty 

 drags with 40-foot shrimp trawls in the Gulf 

 of Panama caught 82 spiny lobsters (P. gracilis ) 

 (figs. 13 and 14), and 326 sand or Chinese 

 lobsters ( Evibacus princeps ) (Fig. 15). The 

 latter were found to be of excellent eating 

 quality and are caught infrequently in traps. 

 Best trawling area found to date appears to be 

 in the Rio Hato-San Carlos portion of the Gulf 

 of Panama where 241 sand lobsters and 62 

 spiny lobsters were taken in 10 drags aver- 

 aging 75 minutes each. 



Trawling for Bait 



Bait for lobster traps is a serious problem 

 in many of the areas of Panama where lobster 

 trapping has been carried on. Indeed, in some 



Figure 13. — Pacific spiny lobster ( Panulirus gracilis ). 



12 



