PACIFIC TUNA BIOLOGY CONFERENCE 



AUGUST 14-19, 1961 



HONOLULU, HAWAII 



Edited by 



John C . Marr 



U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



Biological Laboratory 



Honolulu, Hawaii 



INTRODUCTION 



An informal Pacific Tuna Biology Confer- 

 ence, arranged by the U. S. Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries Biological Laboratory at Honolulu, 

 was held at the University of Hawaii, August 14- 

 19, 1961. Fifty papers were contributed to 

 the Conference; 79 persons attended from 

 11 countries. 



The informal nature of the Conference 

 was stressed for at least three reasons: First, 

 so that it would be evident that this was in no 

 sense a government-to-government meeting but 

 rather a gathering of scientists with common 

 interests. Thus, any decisions taken would in 

 no way be binding upon governments but rather 

 would represent working arrangements between 

 individuals or between laboratories. Second, it 

 was hoped that the informal nature of the pro- 

 ceedings would encourage discussion and con- 

 tribute to the free exchange of ideas. This was 

 either not a real problem or the arrangements 

 achieved their intent, since discussions were 

 spontaneous from the start. Third, the infor- 

 mality allowed me, as organizing chairman, and 

 as a matter of convenience, to draw upon the 

 talents of my colleagues in the preparation and 

 conduct of the Conference, without regard to 

 representation by national groups or by special- 

 ties. This would not have been possible under 

 a more formal organization. 



Virtually all of the contributed papers 

 were reproduced and distributed to the partici- 

 pants well in advance of the Conference. It was 

 thus not necessary for any papers to be given 

 orally at the Conference. Rather, the papers 

 were grouped according to the following subjects: 

 (1) Distribution, (2) Migrations, (3) Subpopula- 

 tions, (4) Behavior, (5) Tuna Oceanography, (6) 



Taxonomy and Nomenclature, and (7) Background 

 Papers, and there were half -day discussions of 

 each subject, except (7). Each discussion group 

 was provided with a Discussion Leader and a 

 Rapporteur. Summary records of each discus- 

 sion were available on the following day, when 

 they were read, modified if necessary, and ac- 

 cepted by the Conference. 



Resolutions were based upon problems 

 and needs identified during the course of the 

 Conference and upon the findings of the two 

 Working Groups, one on Taxonomy and Nomen- 

 clature and the other on Identification of Larval 

 and Juvenile Tunas. The Resolutions were read 

 on the last day of the Conference, modified if 

 necessary, and accepted by the Conference. 



The physical record of the Conference, 

 i.e., the Discussion Summaries, the Resolu- 

 tions, and the Abstracts of Contributed Papers, 

 contained in the following pages may be judged 

 on its own merits. It is more difficult to judge 

 the intangible benefits which will accrue over 

 the years from the personal contacts established 

 during the course of the Conference, with re- 

 sulting improveme nts in communication between 

 widely separated laboratories. 



The success of a Conference of this na- 

 ture is dependent upon those who participate in 

 it. I wish to express my appreciation to all who 

 found it possible to attend and who contributed 

 so freely to the discussions. I wish also to ac- 

 knowledge my debt to all of my immediate col- 

 leagues in the Bureau, without whom it would 

 have been impossible to arrange and carry out 

 the Conference. 



