Bluefin have been caught by cow/ercial fishermen in Hbn England waters during 

 the summer and early fall for the past half century or more, annual production is 

 small compared to the pacific coast tuna fishery, normally ran3ing in recent years 



BETWEEN 1 AND 2 MILLION POUNDS WITH MOST OF THE CATCH COMING FROM TRAPS IN CaPE 



CoD Bayo Efforts to purse seine bluefin in the Gulf of Maine by commercial fisher- 

 men IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II AND BY THE F ( SH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE IN 1951 



resulted in good catches, but a low and unsteady local market for tuna discouraged 

 commercial developmente since the war, tuna-cann!ng activities have increased on 

 the atlantic coast, with 5 canneries in operation in 1952, the seasonal occurrence 

 of large schools of bluefin in inshore waters indicates that the fishery may 

 possibly be expamdeo further offshore, but the offshore potential is unknown now. 

 Adequate port facilities, the presence of large amounts of live bait, and a fleet 



OF fishing VESSELS WHICH COULD BE READILY ADAPTED TO LONG-LINE FISHING ARE FACTORS 



in favor of expansion of atlantic coast tuna fishing, in addition to the bluefin, 

 little tuna and bonito are present in considerable but unknown quantities from 

 Cape Cod to Florida, 



Stocks of tuna on which to base a Gulf and Caribbean tuna fishery are known 

 TO EXIST, Development by United States fishermen is likely when and if our know- 

 ledge OF seasonal occurrence and /sdaptations of fishing methods to the local 



conditions is sufficient, A LIMITED FISHERY FOR LITTLE TUNA INTC GuLF IS NOW 

 possible if MARKETING PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED, EXTENSIVE SCHOOLS OF TUNA WERE OB- 

 SERVED !N THE Central Gulf in 1951 and 1952 by the Fish and Wildlife Service ex- 

 ploratory RESEARCH VESSEL OREGON , THE EXISTENCE OF A SUCCESSFUL LIVE-BAIT FISH- 

 ERY FOR TUNA IN CUBA LENDS ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPLOITING CARIBBEAN 

 TUNA WITH LONG-RANGE VESSELS CAPABLE OF FOLLOWING THE SEASONAL MIGRATIONS OF THE 

 FISH, 



Rich nen tuna fishing grounds were recently discovered by the Service's 

 Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations in equatorial mid-Pacific waters south of 

 Hawaii, Excellent long-line catches have been made over a wide area, indicating 



THAT considerable EXPANSION OF KNOiA/N PRODUCING GROUNDS IS POSSIBLE, THE MAJORITY 

 OF THE TUNA CATCH IS MADE UP OF LARGE YELLOWFIN, WITH SOME SKIPJACK AND BSG-EYEO 



TUNA, American tuna seiners and large clippers are readily adaptable to long- 

 line FISHING, AND, ON THE BASIS OF EXPERIMENTAL CATCHES, AN AMERICAN VESSEL AND 

 CREW OF 12 MIGHT EXCEPT AN AVERAGE DAILY CATCH OF FROM 6,000 TO 13,000 POUNDS IN 

 THE MOST PRODUCTIVE AREAS, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF LIMITED EXPLOITATION OF 

 SURFACE TUNA IN ThC LiNE AND FHOENIX ISLANDS, ADDITIONAL SHORE-SIDE FACILITIES 



are needed for any use of these islands as tuna fleet bases. 



Most of the actual tuna fishing by United States vessels takes place on the 



HIGH SEAS beyond THE LIMITS OF CLAIMED TERRITORIAL SEAS, HOWEVER, THE TUNA FLEET 

 REGULARLY ENTERS FOREIGN TERRITORIAL WATERS TO CAPTURE BAIT, TO UTILIZE PORT 

 FACILITIES, AND TO FISH FOR TUNA IN SOME LOCATIONS, FOR THESE REASONS, AMERICAN 

 TUNA FISHERMEN PURCHASE LICENSES AND OBSERVE FISHING REGULAT I 0^B OF THESE COUNTRIES, 

 ALBACORE BOATS, PURSE SEINERS, tND TUNA CLIPPERS ARE AFFECTED IN VARYING DEGREES 

 BY THE FOREIGN CLAIMS AND REGULATIONS, SOME 200 TUNA CLIPPERS, WORKING FROM 



SOUTHERN California to international waters off northern Peru, are totally dependent 

 on live bait and are most affected by the limitations of territorial waters, 

 Claims to territorial seas made by Latin American counttries range from 3 to 200 



MILES offshore, ALTHOUGH ALL ARE NOT ENFORCED, TUNA BAIT USUALLY IS TAKEN WITHIN 



3 MILES OFF SHORE SO THESE COUNTRIES EXERT COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THESE BAIT RESOURCES, 



167 



