The central patrt of the Pacific Occam eastward from 150 E. longitude and south from 

 40 to about 26 N. latitude is famous as an albacore ground. In this area nnost of the catch is 

 made in the northern portion around October, but the center of the fishing grounds gradually 

 moves southward until in the latter part of March it is at around 26 to 28 N. The fishing sea- 

 son in this region ends from around the end of March to the early part of April. The various 

 fishing grounds centered respectively at 160 E. longitude, 175 E. longitude, and 175 W. longi- 

 tude all differ more or less in their characteristics, but data are scarce and a thorough analysis 

 is impossible. Besides albacore, bigeye tuna are taken rather plentifully, particularly around 

 December. Striped marlin and broadbill are also taken in some numbers, and throughout the 

 secisons scattered catches of black tuna and yellowfin are made. 



In the coastal waters of the Ogasawara chain some fish are caught throughout the 

 year. Chief among the tunas taken are the yellowfin and the bigeye tuna. The black tuna is also 

 taken, although very rarely, in the northern part of this sea region around May and June. The 

 albacore catch increases somewhat from March to May. Skipjack boats which operate in this 

 area take albacore on pole and line at about that season. The season of greatest abundance for 

 yellowfin is from May to July and there is another increase in the catch around November. A 

 tendency for the rise and decline in the bigeye catch to be about 1 to 2 months later than that for 

 the yellowfin can be discerned. The most important fish in this region are the spearfishes. 

 Among them the striped nnarlin catch in generad rises and declines at about the same times as 

 the yellowfin, but the increase in the yellowfin catch in Noven-iber is not paralleled by a similar 

 increase in the striped marlin catch. The rise and fall of the black tuna catch roughly parallels 

 that of the bigeye. Broadbill are rather abundant in the northeastern portion of this sea area, 

 the season being centered around February. In addition there is also a very large shark catch 

 which is chiefly great blue shark. 



In the Okinawa region, too, fishing proceeds throughout the year. In this region 

 schools of black tuna appear everywhere from April to June. These schools are thought to differ 

 in age from the previously mentioned schools of the Satsunan Sea area. Yellowfin are rather 

 abundant along the eastern boundary of the Kuroshio and spearfishes are plentiful from the west- 

 ern boundary of the current to the 100-fathom line of the East China Sea. The spearfish catch 

 begins to increase gradually around March and the fishing grounds gradually move northward. 

 At the beginning of the season white nnarlin are most numerous, followed by striped marlin, 

 after which comes the season for black marlin and sailfish. On the whole the seasonal changes 

 in the catch of these fishes closely resemble the pattern seen in coastal waters of the Ogasawara 

 Islands. 



Spearfishes are extremely abundant east of Formosa where the harpoon fishery is 

 very active fron-i October to April, that is, during the season of northeasterly winds. The fish- 

 ing grounds are within 30 miles of the coast. At the same season in the same aureas there is a 

 flourishing longline fishery for sharks, mainly species of Carcharhinus and hammerheads. 

 From April to June the black tuna migrate into these waters and at the same season sailfish are 

 abundant. 



In the South China Sea the most nunnerous species is the yellowfin, its fishing season 

 being the season of northeasterly winds. From March to the early part of June albacore fishing 

 is active fronn the Bashi Strait to the northeastern pairt of this sea area. Black marlin and sail- 

 fish become abundant from June to August. Albacore are rather plentiful around March in the 

 northeastern part of the sea area. 



Black marlin and yellowfin tuna are densely distributed in the waters 60 to 200 miles 

 east of the Philippines during the season of southwesterly winds, the former being more abundant 

 in the north while the latter is nnore numerous in the southern part of the area. Fishing for 

 black tuna is very active from March to June in waters comparatively close to the coast of north- 

 eastern Liuzon. 



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