Quantity of Ttma Cau.'^t mth Bait 



Albacore, highly variable in abundance, ^ constituted 18 percent 

 of the total landings of tuna by weight by domestic vessels and 22 per- 

 cent of the value in 195C 49^on the United States Pacific coast (see 

 table 62). In addition to representing a relatively small percentage 

 of the Pacific coast tuna landings, albacore is subject to a high 

 degree of fluctuation in yearly catches. 



On the other hand, skipjack and yellowfin, tropical tunas, con- 

 stituted 80 percent of the weight and 76 percent of the value of sim- 

 ilar landings in 1950. Equally as iji^Dortant, skipjack and yellowfin 

 do not possess the seasona-J-ty or wide swings in yearly abundance as 

 in the case of albrcorel]/. Because of the fr.ctors of quantity and 

 dependability, skipjack and yellowfin together form the backbone of the 

 United States tuna fishing industry. 



9/ During the 21 years from 1927 through 1947, the landings of alba- 

 core by the Californin fleet in any one /er-'r varied from a lov of 

 487 pounds to a liigh of 21,000,000 pounds (Jalifornia iJepartment of Fish 

 and Game, 1949). In 1950 at San Diego nlbacore were landed in only 7 

 of the year's months, and the bulk of the landings vjere in the 4 months 

 July through October (California Department of Fish and Game, 1952). 



ipy The year 1950 has been selected for reference and discussion pur- 

 poses, since in 1951 <3xtensive fleet tie-ups occurred because of in- 

 dustry economic factors and 1952 figures are not complete at the time 

 of this report. ^ 



11/ In 1950 at San Diego in each month of the year, landings of skip- 

 jack and yellowfin occurred in fairly regular and consistent amount 

 (California Department of Fish and Game, 1952). During the period 

 of 1927 t-o 1947, altuough fluctuations occurred in the landings of 

 yellowfin and skipjack by the California fleet, these were much less 

 pronounced than in the case of albacore (California Departnent of Fish 

 and Game, 1949! 



210 



