8hark<=bitten yellowfiiic. The total catch wag 116 yellcwfirij, 6 big=eyed, 

 and 17 sharks 5, in addition to which there were 38 shark^damaged fish 

 and 17 broken lineSo Eight hours were required for hauling in the 

 lineSj, and the ©ateh rate was l&oB without the shark^bitten fish^ ©r 

 g0o5 if these are included o This was the highest rate obtained in 

 these tests o There was also a particularly large amount of shark 

 damage at this posit ion^ being in this respect second only to the 

 ground fished in Trial So 



Tenth Trial 



The position of this fishing ground was 3® S5"Sp 131® 54«Ep east 

 ef Ceram lo After six trials in the Banda Sea the expedition had 

 completed its fishing operations and was heading baek to its base^ 

 but the lines were set just as eua experiment and nothing much was 

 expected from the grounds On July 19 at 1645 20 baskets were set in 

 a SExS direction o 



The water color on the fishing ground was bad 5 w:,th a transparency 

 of 11 meters o The catch was 4 yellowfinj, 2 sharks p and 2 shark=bitten 

 fisho The eatoh rate was 3o3 excluding the damaged fishp or 5oO if 

 these are Included » 



4o Gonclusioa 



This investigation was carried out in three sea areas j, the Timor 

 Sea, the Arafura Seap and the Banda. Sea, howeverp the number of fishing 

 trials made in the Timor and Arafura seas was small and it is fear^ed 

 that the data are insufficient for evaluating those fishing grounds o 

 The single station fished in the former showed a eateh rat© of 3o9 

 while the latter had a rate of 9oOj, showing that in general it can 

 be considered to have a certain valua as a fishing grouiado 



In the results of six ■eriais ia the Banda Sea the catch rates 

 ranged from a minimum of 80O to a maximum of 20o5f, these high rates 

 indicating that tunas occur there in considerable abundances Among 

 th tunas yellowfin were most numerous followed by big<=eyedj, and merlin 

 were pientifulo Albacore occurred in the least abundancep just as in 

 the waters of our South Sea Islands o Th© yellowfin were generally 

 large fish^ many of them being over 130 em longo An examination of 

 the gonads of the yellowfin revealed that during the period covered 

 by these Investigations they are almost completely unripenedo 



From a consideration of the relationship between oceanographie 

 coiiditions and the fishing situation it appears that the water tempera= 

 tures at the 100=meter level are far lower than in the Islands and that 

 IS*^ tc< 20° are suitable temperatures » 



.Iharks occur in remarkable abundance in the eastern part of the 

 Banda Sea;, and the investigations revealed that shark damage to hooked 

 fish is great. The rate of such damage ran from 13^ to 72^ with an 

 average of 27^o This high rate of shark damage is ample evidence of 

 the undeveloped character of these grounds, and it is expected that such 



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