a. Palau waters 



In November, there were unit sea areas with high catch rates in 



the waters southwest of Palau, and in December there is a row of unit 



o o 



areas with high catch rates to the south of Palau at 1 N. to 4 N. , between 



130°E. and 140°E. 



For this sea area as a whole the albacore catch rates show wide 

 fluctuations, with a coefficient of variation of almost 100 percent. This 

 fact is thought to indicate somewhat of a difference in character between 

 the schools here and those in the Okinotorishima fishing ground and the 

 North Pacific fishing ground. It is cdso thought that the topography may- 

 have something to do with this phenomenon, but under present conditions 

 an adequate explanation is impossible. 



There are few data on the size of the fish, but as shown in the 

 following table they are somewhat smaller than those on the Okinotorishima 

 grounds^ 



Table 19. --Albacore size composition in waters south 

 of Palau Is., 1950-1951 



The table shows that the fish are generally larger than those of 

 the North Pacific fishing ground, but smaller than those of the Okinotori- 

 shima fishing ground. It will also be noted that, as compared with the 

 Okinotorishima fishing ground, the range of distribution of the lengths 

 appears broader. 



b. Caroline Islands waters 



Although they are extremely limited, in comparison with the area 

 south of Palau, the waters around Kapingamarangi Island show some areas 

 of catch rates of 2.0 or more, and the data indicate a possibility that at 

 times there may be rather concentrated catches. We have very few data 

 on the size of the fish, but five which we were able to weigh have an 

 average weight of 7. 08 kan /58. 5 lbs. /, so they are rather large. 



c, Marshall Islands to south of Hawaii 



This region, as will be noted in a later section, is a fishing 

 ground principally for bigeye, the fishing grounds in general running 



54 



