Table 31. --Comparison of fishing conditions on either 

 side of the line of 5 N. latitude (southern 

 part of former South Seas Mandate) 



Note: Longitude is not taken into consideration in this table. 



The above table shows the existence of a rather conspicuous difference in fishing 

 conditions in the two areas. However, the reason for this difference is the difference in the 

 catch rate for yellowfin. The catch rates for bigeye tuna and speaurfishes do not differ greatly 



between the two areas, and, contrary to what occurs with the yellowfin, there is some tendency 



o 

 for the catch rates to improve for these species in the area north of 5 N. latitude. Consequent- 

 ly it appears that the significance of this area as a fishing ground differs somewhat north and 

 south of the line of 5 N. latitude. The reason for this is that south of 5 N. latitude most of 

 the area is in the Equatorial Countercurrent, while north of 5 N. it is partly in the Counter- 

 current but mainly in the North Equatorial Current. Thus the two areas are in different current 

 systems. From the foregoing facts it can be seen that the yellowfin are distributed in a very 

 great density in the Equatorial Countercurrent and that their density of distribution falls off 

 sharply in the North Equatorial Current. 



If this region is divided into four pcirts, each comprising 10 of longitude, and if the 

 fishing conditions within these divisions are compared as in the following table, it appears that 

 there is also some difference in fishing conditions from east to west. 



Table 32. --Fishing conditions in the region divided 

 into areas of 10 of longitude (southern 

 part of former South Seas Mandate) 



Note: The albacore are included in the figures for yellowfin. 

 four areas from top to bottom are 4, 2, 136, «ind 0. 



Their respective numbers in the 



68 



