Table 4. --Size and number of landings according to the time since the last catch of live 

 bait, Hawaiian skipjack tuna Vessel A and Vessel B, 1952-531.' 



Metric tons 



< 



0.9 



1.8 



2.7 



3.6 



4.5 



5.4 



6.3 



7.2 



8.2 



9.1 



10.0 



10.9 



11.8 



12.7 



13.6 



14.5 



15.4 



16.3 



9 



1.8 

 2.7 

 3.6 



4.5 

 ■5.4 



6.3 



•7.2 



■8.2 



■9.1 



■10.1 



•10.9 



•11.8 



•12.7 



•13.6 



•14.5 



•15.4 



-16.3 



17.2 



No. 



29 

 16 

 10 



9 



3 



6 



1 

 1 



No. 



38 

 37 

 18 

 17 



8 

 10 



6 



5 



3 



3 



period . 



There may be unrecorded catches of night bait, a factor which would extend length of fishing 



Availability of Live Bait 



Essentially , any small fish will serve as bait, 

 some more effectively than others. In general, 

 however, Hawaiian skipjack tuna fishermen are 

 firmly convinced that nehu is the best baitfish. 

 Knowledge of the characteristics that make it 

 an excellent baitfish would be most useful. 

 Finding a supplemental baitfish with qualities 

 similar to those of the nehu would be an im- 

 portant step toward removing some of the 

 limitations ef the fishery. 



The availability of bait affects the operation 

 of the skipjack tuna fleet importantly. The 

 crew of a sampan may spend as much as half 

 of their time fishing for bait (Yamashita, 1958), 

 with the result that there is less time for tuna 

 fishing. Tables 1 and 2 show the percentage of 

 total time spent in catching bait and table 5 

 gives the percentage spent in day baiting by 

 season during 1952-53 for Vessel A and Vessel 

 B. In general, the time spent day baiting is a 

 little less than half of the total daytime activity, 

 except for winter baiting of Vessel A. 



Table 5. --Percentage of time spent by two 

 Hawaiian skipjack vessels in day baiting, 

 by season, 1952-53 



Obviously, a reduction in hours spent taking 

 bait by day provides more time for fishing; 

 however, bait would have to be provided by 

 other means. The yield from the greater fish- 

 ing effort should increase in direct proportion 

 to the time spent fishing. An increase in the 

 efficiency of night baiting might provide more 

 bait. Another approach would be to separate 

 bait catching from fishing. The net value of 

 the increased catch of skipjack tuna should ex- 

 ceed the costs of maintaining a separate bait 

 fishery. Furthermore, if nehu is the bait 



