T — i — i — i — i — I — I — I — i — I — i — I — I — I — I r 



o^i As 



77 87 97 107 117 127 137 147 157 167 177 187 



LENGTH (CM ) 

 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 



APPROX WEIGHT (LBS) 



rv-H 



-[ — I — I — I — I — I — i — i — i — I — I — I — i — ! — i — i — i — i — i — r 



ALBACORE 



sfiiCt. i SX~i „f 



80 

 20 



90 95 



LENGTH (CM ) 



40 

 APPROX WEIGHT (LBS) 



Figure 12.--Bigeye and albacore size distribution 

 by sex, 1953 (data in appendix table 15). 



Improvements in Construction 



Experience with longline gear equipped with six 11 -fathom drop- 

 pers (10 fathoms of cotton and 1 fathom of leader) per basket suggested 

 that much labor during hauling and considerable fabrication expense 

 would be saved if the droppers could be shortened without reducing the 

 catch. Accordingly, droppers consisting of 1 fathom of 26l-thread cot- 

 ton line and 1 fathom of leader were tested on two cruises. 



During the first experiment 20 baskets of short-dropper gear 

 were fished at each of 12 stations. The total catch on this gear was 



21 



