TABLE 66, - OPERATING RANGE OF UNITED STATES TUNA BAIT VESSELS 



Capacity (Tons) Number of Vessels Operating Range 1/ 



1/ Means vessels fish the high seas to as far as the geographic 

 references given. They also fish seaward up to 2^0 - 300 miles 

 within this range. 



Records of the total amount of bait used to catch tuna are 

 unavailable, although such studies are presently underway. In the 

 absence of appropriate statistics, it has been estimated that in the 

 year 19^0 the United States fleet used more than 26,000,000 pounds 

 of baito Of this amount it is estimated that only 3?000,000 pounds 

 ■was taken from United States waters. The amount of bait actually 

 used does not necessarily correspond with the amount needed, since 

 yihen bait is in good supply it is used liberally and when in short 

 supply, frugally. 



The basis of this estimate follows, Fishennen use "scoops" 

 as a unit for counting bait, (A dip net is used to transfer bait 

 fish from the bait net to the tuna boats' bait tanks. Each dip net 

 load is counted as a "scoop.") According to a former Fish and 

 Wildlife Service official who studied the matter, a '»scoop'» will 

 average about 10 poimds of bait fish and an average of about 20 

 ••scoops"' of bait are used to catch one ton of yellowfin or skipjack 

 (with considerable individual variations from average due to season, 

 availability, and biting habits of the tuna)o This yields a 1- 

 pound-of-bait to 10-pounds-of-tuna ratio for the skipjack and the 

 jrellowfin caught by the bait fleet. Live bait is also frequently 

 used in the albacore fishery, but they are also taken in large 

 amounts vdthout the use of bait. Statistics are not available to 

 accurately segregate the amount of albacore takon with bait. It 

 has been assumed here that one-third of the total albacore landings 

 are fish caught with the use of bait and that the amount of bait 



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