As the demand for tuna continued, it "became necessary for the fishing 

 vessels to make longer voyages south of the Mexican toundary in search of 

 fish. This required larger "boats and raised the prolDlem of keeping the 

 fish fresh. A niunter of methods were used to prevent loss of fishing time 

 and to insure the quality of the tuna. In 1917} one company outfitted a 

 floating tuna cannery which was towed to the fishing grounds where the 

 fish could he canned a few hours after they were caught o In 191B it was 

 reported that a second floating cannery operated inMagd^ena Bay and other 

 Mexican ports in lower California. In the following years, a niunher of 

 firms hegan operating refrigerated "barges at Turtle Bay and other Lower 

 California ports where fishermen could land their catch and take on ice 

 and supplies. The tima were then shipped to San Diego or San Pedro "by 

 tender^ 



Tuna, like other foods, felt the stimulation of the World War I demand 

 for food, and catch data indicate that a pack of about 1 inillioJii standard 

 cases (^ 7-ounce cans) was canned in 1920 « The industry, in common with 

 many others, passad through a period of residjustment in the post World 

 War I periodo Production declined sharply and many packers discontinued 

 tuna canning. However, those who remained soon found it necessary to 

 expand their operations. 



Following 1920, the production of the light -meat varieties of tijina, 

 particularly skipjack and yellowfin, increased rapidly, Al"bacore remained 

 the dominant species through 1925 when the catch totaled 22,207,000 pounds. 

 In the following year, apparently as a result of a change in oceanographic 

 conditions, al'bacore largely disappeared from the inshore areas where they 

 had previously "been taken and the catch declined to only 2, 469!, 000 pounds. 

 The conditions which caused al'bacore to leave the inshore areas caused 

 skipjack and yellowfin to move further north, acd these varieties became 

 the principal species taken^ 



Since the cons-umption of canned tiina had "been developed largely v/ith 

 the al'bacore or "white-meat" pack, it now "became necessary to educate 

 cons\imers to use the "•light-'meat" varieties. As a result of promotional 

 activities "by canners and distri'butors, this clriange was mads, and yellowfin 

 "became the dominant species, with skipjack in second pla.ceo 



13 



