obtedned by the Fuji Maru also seem to show the position of the albacore 

 in June as being not very far north, but rather just on the north side of 

 the Convergence. 



The Fuji Maru also made an investigation in August 1937 of the 

 waters west of Midway Island. According to their results, the catch rate8_ 

 were extremely low, and the fish were still about 3 to 4 kan /25 to 33 lbs. / 

 in weight. (The same vessel, fishing south of 30 N. , that is, on the south 

 side of the Convergence, captured large cdbacore, but more will be said 

 about this later.) 



To sunnmarize the above, the movements of the albacore from June 

 to August are such that longline fishing is extremely dull, and although fair 

 catch rates appear in rare cases, the fishing is extremely unstable. 



Judging from the fact that albacore pole -ajid- line fishing is flourish- 

 ing in Japanese waters in June, it is thought that the northward - mo vi ng 

 albacore schools are distributed slightly to the north of the Subtropical 

 Convergence. The occasional high catch rates recorded from the waters 

 west of Midway Island and the fact that albacore still sometimes remain 

 in the Kinan Sea Area are thought to result from this situation. However, 

 the very small longline catches and their instability are thought to indicate 

 the effect of some ecological factors. We have hardly any data for July, 

 but judging from the movement of the pole-and-line fishing grounds, it is 

 clear that the northward movement continues. In the last 10 days of July 

 the pole-and-line fishing grounds fade out in the vicinity of 4 N, and 

 although it is believed that in August the albacore reach even nnore northern 

 sea areas, the details of this situation are not known. 



(2) Grounds South of the Subtropical Convergence 



In general these grounds are inactive, but there is a scattered 

 occurrence of albacore over the whole area. No longline fishing aimed 

 at taking albacore is being carried on, and the only ones taken are those 

 caught incidental to fishing for other species. Since little change in fish- 

 ing conditions is shown for the period of May to August, it will be summarized 

 here. 



For convenience in the explanation, the area will be divided into 

 sections north and south of 10 N. , and the areas north of that latitude 

 will be further divided into those east and west of the line of the Izu, 

 Ogasawara, and Mariana archipelagoes. 



126 



