"In fishing o the vessels cruise in likely areas at a speed of six to eight 

 or more knots, ^hen a fish is caught the respective line is pulled in im- 

 mediately while the vessel continues under way„" Trolling gear is used largely 

 for the taking of albacoreo About 70 percent of the albacore catch is mad* 

 with this gsaro 



LIVE BAIT 



The principal method used by United States fishermen in taking tuna is 

 on live-bait gear. Its success results from the habits of certain species of 

 tuna which feed in compact schools on sardines, anchovies, and other small 

 lisho When feeding tuna locate small fish,, they become avaricious and rush 

 to capture the fish or any object that has the appearance of a small fisho 

 To take advantage of this characteristic j, the large California tuna clippers 

 fishing yellowfin and skipjack, and some of the smaller craft fishing albacore, 

 are equipped with live-bait tanks in v/hich the bait fish are carried alive to 

 the fishing grounds. On locating a school of tuna;, liv® bait is thrown overboard 

 to attract the tuna to the vesselo When they inish in to take the bait^, 

 feathered lures concealing barbless hooks attached to short lines, which are 

 in turn fastened to stout bamboo poles, are 2aat into the water near the tuna. 

 In their desire to capture the bait, the tuzia take the Itires permitting the fisher- 

 men to heave them over the rail of the boat and onto the deck. Live bait is 

 continually cast over the side to hold the school in the vicinity of the vessel 

 and fishing continues as long as the school remains >, or until the fishermen 

 are obliged to discontinue operations in order to care for the fish that have 

 already been taken. 



Since yellowfin tuna vary considerably in size, and fish ranging up to 150 

 pounds each are taken, it is necessary to vary the number of fishermen taking 

 this species according to the size of the fish in the school being fished. 

 This is done by changing the number of lines attached to a single lure. If 

 the tuna average under 30 poiinds in wei^t, one m.ftn can take and land the 

 individual fisho However, if the school is found to range from 30 to 50 

 pounds per fish, two men are req^oii-edj if above 50 pounds, three men are u»ed| 

 and in some instances fish are taken by four-pole teams „ When two, three, 

 or four men are reqiiired to boat an individual fish, the lines from the pole 

 handled by each fisherm^jn are attached to a single lure, so that when a fish 

 is hooked, all the fishermen can assist in lifting it from the water and 

 aboard the vessel. The major portion of the skipjack and yellowfin catch, 

 «>bout one third of the albacore catch and a large portion of the bonito and 

 yelloKtail catch is tak«n on live-bait gear. 



27 



