EXPERIMENTAL SURFACE GILL NET FISHING FOR SKIPJACK 

 (Katsuwonus pelamis) IN PIAWAIIAN WATERS 



By 



Vifalter lie Matsumotc 

 Fishery Rfc-sesirch Biologxst 



The tuna canning industry of Hawaii,, utilizing the skipjack 

 or striped tunac Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus 1758), is limited 

 by its bait si^jply t^elsh 19W^) and by the seasonal fluctuations 

 in the catch„ Recognizing the possibility that any drastic bait 

 shortage could seriously curtail the skipjack fisheryo local 

 members of the Tuna Industry Advisory Committee for the Pacific 

 Oceanic Fishery Investigations suggested a trial of gill nets as 

 a possible means of taking these fish in commercial quantities 

 without the use of baito Accordingly 5, experimental fishing with 

 gill nets was done intermittently during the period from July 2 

 to October 19? 1951 ^ on the Territorial Division of Fish and 

 Gajne's vessel Makua and the Fish and Wildlife Service's vessel 

 John Ro Manning o This experiment was a cooperative venture of 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Di-i/ision of Fish and Game 

 of the Territory of Hawaii » 



The author wishes to thank the Division of Fish and Game, 

 Territory of Hawaii for their cooperation and the use of the 

 Makua-i, and Dro William F„ Royce, who offered valuable advice and 

 encouragement in planning the experiment and in preparing the 

 manuscriDto 



HISTORY OF GILL NETTING FOR TUNA 



Although the g-^ll net is one of the oldest forms of nets 

 en^iloyed in commertd al fishing, the available literature on its 

 application to fishing for tuna contains only meager information,, 

 and there is no report of Its being used to any extent in this 

 fishery until the early part of the twentieth centuryo 



In northern Japan drift net fishing for black tuna^, Thunnus 

 ori entails (Temminck and Schlegel);, began in 1905 at Kushiroj 

 Urakawaj and Muroran_ when this species was first captured in 

 drift nets set for sharks „ By 1527 the commercial fleet exceeded 

 200 vessels with a reported catch of over 8 million poondSo In 

 the 1930*s the fishery reached a flourishing condition at Kushiro 

 and Urakawa (Kawana 193U)j, but in recent yeajrs it has died out 

 almost completely with the failure of the black tuna runs and a 

 shift to longliningo 



