Translation of 

 AVERAGE YEAR'S FISHING CONDITION 

 OF TUNA LONGLINE FISHERIES, 1952 EDITION 

 /introduction and ALBACORE SECTION? 



By 

 Staff, Nankai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory 



Foreword 



This publication, the "Atlas of Average Year 's Fishing Conditions 

 in the Tuna Longline Fisheries, " is the work of the staff of the Nankai 

 Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory of the Japanese Government 

 Fisheries Agency, headed by Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura. Together with 

 Dr. Nakamura's previously published "The Tuna Longline Fisheries 

 as Seen from the Data of the Past, " this is a presentation in a bird's- 

 eye view fashion of a large amount of data collected in the past. 



As Dr. Nakamura states in his preface, this book is not a finished 

 work. It is, however, worthy of specicd note and can become a milestone 

 both for guidance to those engaged in the fishery and for providing a scien- 

 tific basis for administration. It is a milestone in the sense that it is a 

 start from which hereafter, from year to year, data will be collected and 

 further analyzed, and more complete editions will probably be published 

 successively. 



Among Japan's fisheries, the tuna fisheries, because of the 

 geographical conditions of their fishing grounds, are those from which 

 the most is to be expected in the future. In order that the Japanese tuna 

 fisheries may be more amenable to planning and may have a healthy 

 industrial development, they must by all means be based on broad, sci- 

 entific studies. The investigation of fishes like the tunas, of which there 

 are a large number of species migrating over broad areas of the ocecuns, 

 cannot attain its objective solely by reliance on government research 

 vessels, but can only do so through the understanding cooperation of the 

 commercial operators. It is hoped that the publication of this book will 

 stimulate closer cooperation between research workers and commercial 

 operators so that by their combined efforts the tuna fisheries may be 

 further developed. 



In closing, I wish to express my deep admiration for the efforts 

 of Dr. Nakamura and the staff of the Nankai Regional Fisheries Research 

 Laboratory, and I also wish to warmly thank Director Yokoyama and 



