II An Inrostlgatlon of th« Skipjack Resources of the Satsiman Aroa 



(a) Because there was no research vessel available, these data were gathered aboard 

 eommarclal fishing boatac 



(b) MeatJurenienta of fresh fish were iiadc at the Aburatsu fish market, and obeerva- 

 tions requiring dissection of the fish ror© made at dried fish-stick factories. 



(c) Reports of stjitistical data were obtained from the Fisheries Associations of 

 Kagoshlina and Miyaaakl prefectures, and the figiire« were verified insofar as 

 possible by field tripe to those arsaso 



(d) At Aburatsu and vicinity certain boats i?er« assigned the duty of reporting 

 on the fishing situation, and reports on the designated eubjeots were obtained 

 from these vessels at the conclusion of each flshJjig trip. 



Data 



(ft) The skipjack fishing situation in the Satsraan Area in 194-7 (for boats from 

 Miyasaki Prefecture) 



nw first catch was made near the Shichlto by the Shoei Mara on March 5 

 ifhen 200 kan C 1 kan z ^.27 pounds} were taken noar Suwaseshiaa C 29°38»N, 

 129® 43'S 3 . On March B a few fish were caught at GogSzone L 29° 30' M, 

 129® S' Sj , and on March 12 500 j^n vere taken at Gajanishlsone 

 [29® 55* N, 128® 50' E3 . The final fishing of the season was done in the 

 waters adjacent to the Shichit3 and at Torishina [ 27° 52» N, 1230 U* E3 . 

 Ibronghout the whole season the principal fishing grounds were around the 

 Shichito and on the shoals west of the Amami group, but a peculiar ;^noDdnon 

 was the appearance during a period of about two weeks beginning in the middle 

 of May of dense schools of fish which took the bait extremely well and which re* 

 malned about 8 miles south of the lakushioa lighthousa (30° 20' N, 130® 30 » EJ 

 providing very good fishing. If we consider the season from the point of view 

 of the various classes of boats which were fishing, the larger vessels gradually 

 cans into operation from the early part of Llarch and were almost all fishing by 

 the end of the mcxith. The majority of them continued to fish until the middle 

 of Novei^er and a few operated until the first part of December. The peak of 

 the season was from the middle of April until early June during which period 

 more than two- thirds of the year's catch was taken. Four of the larger vessels 

 fished in the Sanriku Area C Northeastern Japan2 from August to October, and 

 their oatoh has been eliminated from the statistics. 



At the beginning of the season the smaller boats kept an eye on the activi- 

 ties of the larger vessels and began to operate only after it had become clear 

 that the season was under way in the Tokara Is. area [ 29® 37' N, 129® 43' E3 . 

 Consequently their season began in the first part of April, was at its peak 

 from April to June, and generally ended early in November. The peak season for 

 the smaller boats in the southern part of the prefecture is during the period 

 when the schools migrate into the northern part of the Shichit5, the eastern 

 part of the 5sumi Kaikyo, and the waters adjacent to the Hyuga i^ada. The boata 

 from the northern part of the prefecture - Kadogawa, Taina [ ? ^^ J& ) , 

 Todoro, Shimanoura » operate in the same waters as those from "^he southern part 

 of the prefecture during the early part of the season^ but from July to September 

 meet of their fish off their home ports or in the waters west of Ashisurimisaki 

 in Shikoku. (Table 1) 



