Outline of the progress of the investik'stion 



The vessel left Palau for 7?oleai April 3. On the way 100 drift 

 bottles were released at 7°- 23' N. 14.2°-2/i' E. in order to make a study 

 of the ocean currents. '.York was hegun on the investigation on the 10th. 

 The first test '.^as run about 3S railes "."S'T of 'Voleai, and the next 7 sets 

 were !rade 10 to 25 miles off 'fcleai. Three trials were made north of the 

 Ifalik Is., and one each at Olinarao and La^otrek. Altogether 13 tests 

 were r.ade and the investigation "/as concluded en April 25. (See the 

 acccinpanying table for a summary of operations.) 



The fcllo?n.ng is an outline of the results achieved on this voyage: 



Days sailed 15 -lays operated 13 



Number of sets 13 Number of catches 8 



Total baskets 503 Total hooks 3,04-8 

 Ratio of tuna catch (per 100 hooks) 0,33 

 Fish caught by species 



Yellowfin' /,. Eig-eyed 1 Spear fish 5 

 Skipjack 2 Sharks, etc. 12 



Fishing Situation 



On the whole these trials showed a poor fishin-- situation with no 

 remarkable catches. Out of 13 sets, tuna were taken 6 times. For a total 

 of 3,0^8 hooks fished, only 4- yellowfin, 1 big-eye, and 5 snearfish were 

 taken. The --atio of tuna taken per 100 hooks was only 0.33, a very poor 

 figure . 



Breaking these figures down by areas fished, the ratio for the area 

 33 miles XT of 77oleai (A) was the highest with 1.25, and the Ifair- (K) 

 and Lamotrek (^") areas followed with 0.33 each. Almost no catches were 

 made in the areas 10 to 20 miles off TJolcai, but in these areas the highest 

 catch ratios appeared farthest from shore, indicating perhaps that all of 

 the fish of these species fo'ind in the waters adjacent to Tfoloai are 

 migratory fish engaged in periodic migrations in search of food. (See 

 the attached table of fishing operations.) 



Considering the catch ratios for t>:e various branch lines, which on 

 the gear used were of 15 and 7^ fathoms length, no fish at all were taken 

 on the short branches. 



An examination of the catch by species shov/t. a peculiar phenomenon 

 in that spearfish were taken east of Ifali> while tuna v/ere ta'-en to the 

 west of that island. The sharks were all caught in the area between 

 Ifalik and Lamotrek, nonp being taken near 'SToleai. 



The tuna schools, rare as t^ey were, appeared to be distributed to 

 the vrest of Ifalik, ^ffhile the spearfish were distributed to the east. 



The yellovi'fin were all from 66 to 33 pounds weight, while the spear- 

 fish v/ere all about 99 pounds. 



15 



