escape from the difficult situation in which the scarcity and high price 

 of fish in Japan had placed it„ An example of the advance of the proces- 

 sing industry into the area is the establishment_of a cannery in April of 

 this year by the East Indies Fisheries Company / To Indo Suisan Kabushiki 

 Kaisha_7 (with main offices at Palau) at Bitong (near Menado) in Celebes 

 in Dutch territory. 



Thus the tuna fishery of the South Seas has been making great forward 

 strides during the past two or three yearsc The author has been in the 

 area since 1932 and has had an opportunity to take part in investigations 

 of fisheries and particularly of the tuna fishery in the Marianas, Carolines, 

 Marshalls, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, Flores Sea, Banda Sea, and the Arafura 

 Sea. Among these various areas those about which the present investiga- 

 tions of South Seas tuna fishing grounds are centered are the tuna grounds 

 Triiich lie near the EquatoTo The following information is here recorded 

 as reference data for the investigation and study of these groundSo If th6 

 data should serve as a guide in the investigation of the southern tuna 

 grounds, the author will be very happyo 



Equatorial Tuna Gi'ounds 



Areas where the tuna congregate 



(I) Good fishing grounds from the point of view of currents (form of water 

 systems) 



As stated above, the tuna fishery is the bright star of the fisheries 

 world and is a main subject of discussion^, but it is often not made clear 

 irtiether the tuna referred to is the big-eyed, the albacore, the yellowfin, 

 or the spearfisho Naturally the fishing grounds are different depending on 

 the specieso When the South Seas tuna grounds are spoken of, one can 

 usually tell which species is meant because of the fact that in the 

 vicinity of the Equator the yellowfin occurs in the greatest abundance* 

 This species will therefore be made the object of our discussion here, and 

 when the word "tuna" is used in the following pages the yellowfin tuna ia 

 meant o 



In equatorial waters the tuna grounds are comparatively numerous in 

 the area from about 7-8° north latitude to around 8"^ South » The northern 

 limit is in the vicinity of the northern boundary of the Northern Eq\iatorial 

 Currento The accompanying chart of Catch Density and Oceanographio Condi- 

 tions on South Sea Tuna Grounds (Chart 1) shows the data which have be«n 

 gathered and examined for the grounds which have been most active up to 

 the present time. In simple terms we can answer the question of where ths 

 tuna of the South Seas congregate by aaying that they are most abundant in 

 the Equatorial Counter-current, 



If it is asked irtiere within the Counter-current the best catehes art 

 made, we can recognize the following types of areas as good fishing 

 grounds by the form of the current area, 



lo The outer edges' of bends in the Equatorial Counter^current 

 For esonnple, the fishing grounds southeast of Palau 



