Vessels Affected and their Areas of Operation 



With the growth of the tuna canning industry of southern 

 California following the first World War, United States tuna 

 fishermen expanded their range of operations ~ first to waters 

 off Mexico^ then to Central and South America as far as northern 

 Pern, and to the high seas off British Columbia during the past 

 decadeo The large area of operation is necessary in the main- 

 tenance of this year-round industry because of the migratory 

 nature of tuna and their seasonal inconsistency of appearance o 

 American fishermen have pioneered and developed this great 

 fishery to its present place in our econonor. 



Because tuna ai-'e migratory fish, not bound to shore in ary 

 phase of their life cycle, most of the actual tuna fishing 

 activities a.re carried on far outside the normal boundaries of 

 so-called "territorial seas^o There are related activities, 

 however, which have lead to our tuna fleet regularly entering the 

 territorial waters of Latin American countries; principally, 

 search for tuna bait, use of port facilities, and, to a limited 

 extent, actual tuna fishing. The three principal groups of 

 American tuna vessels (albacore boats, piirse seiners, and live 

 bait boats or clippers) have been affected in varying degrees 

 by the limitations and regulations of territorial seas of foreign 

 countries.. 



Albacore are caught seasonally (summer and fall) off our 

 own coastal States of California, Washington, and Oregon, with 

 some fishing off British Columbia and Mexico. It is estimated 

 that about 30 percent of the total albacore landings are caught 

 off Lower California =, Approximately 3,000 small craft from ports 

 in Alaska to southern California fish part-time for albacore, 

 spending the remainder of the year in other fisheries, such as 

 salmon, halibut, bottom fish, sardines, etc. Some are equipped 

 with live bait tanks (it has been estimated that one-third of the 

 albacore are caught with bait, some of which is taken in foreign 

 waters), but most employ surface trolling gear only. These vessels 

 have a limited range and the bulJc of their albacore catch is made 

 from 20 to 200 miles offshore. Therefore, these fishermen are the 

 least affected by existing foreign territorial sea claims. 



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