From January to March, when the northeasterly winds prevail, the ocejin currents 

 are almost completely opposite to their pattern during the period of southwesterly winds. They 

 flow in a clockwise direction in the Bay of Bengal, flow south along the islands, and turn to the 

 westward in the vicinity of the northern tip of Sumatra. 



As we have no data for the season of southwesterly winds, it is impossible to explain 

 the situation as regards water temperatures and salinity. Combining the data for the period from 

 December - January, it is indicated that the surface water temperature is slightly less than 

 28 C. , the temperature at the 50-meter level about 27.5 C, at 100 meters 23 to 24 C. , ind 

 at 200 meters about 14 C. Tremsparency shows rather low values, within the range of 9 to 18 

 meters. The water color is generally III on Forel's scale. 



During the season of northeasterlies, strong winds blow from time to time and it is 

 thought that it would sometinnes be difficult for small vessels to operate. However, in general, 

 fine weather prevails and it is believed that weather would prove no obstacle to the operation of 

 large vessels. As the season of southwesterly winds corresponds to the rainy season in this 

 region, there are nnany squalls and typhoons attack the region from time to tinne, so there would 

 probably be not a few cases in which the weather would interfere with fishing operations. 



In the investigations of the Hakuyo Maru frozen squid were used as bait, frozen 

 herring and squid having been used by the Haruna Maru. The Hakuyo Maru adso investigated 

 local bait supplies and concluded that while it would not be impossible, it would be extremely 

 difficult for a fishing boat to obtain its own supplies of bait in the area. 



The surveys of the Hakuyo Maru and the Haruna Maru were made between 1930 and 

 1933. The investigations were carried on only during December and January, so that there sire 

 no data at all for any other seasons of the year. Consequently the oceanographic conditions at 

 other times are completely unknown. Table 10 shows the fishing conditions revealed by these 

 explorations. The figure in the table is the number of fish captured per hundred hooks fished. 

 This will be referred to herezifter as the catch rate. 



Table 10. --Fishing conditions in the AndamaJi and 

 Nicobar islands 



The combined catch rate for tunas and spearfishes is 7.44, indicating a rather 

 superior fishing ground. 



As for the composition of the catch, yellowfin tuna were most important, being more 

 than 91 percent of the total tuna and spearfish catch. Bigeyed tuna were slightly more than 3 

 percent and spearfishes slightly less than 5 percent. If these values are compared with those for 

 other sea arceis, they indicate that at the season when the survey was made, the catch of big- 

 eyed tuna and spearfishes in this area is remarkably low. As we have no data, we know abso- 

 lutely nothing of the fishing conditions and the composition of the catch at other seasons. 



Looking at the variations in the fishing situation by areas, it is clearly indicated that 

 the catch rates tend to be high in the south and low in th" north. On the other hand, a trend is 



43 



