neither numerous enough nor well enough distributed throughout the 

 year to permit formulation of conclusions concerning seasonalityo 

 In the Hawaiian area the skipjack exhibit marked seasonal fluctu- 

 ations, with the bulk of the catch made during the summer months 

 (Matsumoto 1952 )« Fishing by the Oregon , CalistaTj and Trade wind 

 indicates that at least moderate supplies of yellowfin are available 

 at the Line Islands during the Hawaiian off-season (northern winter )o 

 Fishing by the Smith and C'Malley at the Line Islemds during the 

 Hawaiian season (northern summer) indicate that the yellowfin are also 

 available during that periodo 



THE SHARK PROBLEM 



In the vicinity of the Line Islands the working of 10 of 

 the 36 schools for v/hich we have records was hampered by sharks. In 

 most instances the tuna were beginning to take chum and were being 

 caught and brought aboard the vessel when the sharks moved in^, 

 causing the tuna to become wary. This either forced a cessation of 

 fishing or reduced the catch„ ' There is little doubt that the tuna 

 catch from this area can be increased if means can be found to 

 eliminate or discourage interference by the sharkSo 



Possibly related to the shark problem is the belief of some 

 fishennen that the tuna shy away from the vessel after a few fish 

 have been hooked and their blood has washed into the water. It may 

 be that the tuna blood is a repellent or more likely that the tuna 

 associate bloody water with sharkSo Cleaver and Shimada (1950) 

 report that the Japanese live-bait fishermen stop the deck scuppers 

 **oo«oooo with rags and waste to prevent blood from dripping into the 

 water and discouraging fish from biting," 



DISCUSSION 



The limited number of observations on hand at the present 

 time indicate that live-bait fishing at the Line Islands is fairly 

 good but not as highly productive as off the American west coast. 

 The Smith and O'Malley fishing at the Line Islands during May, June, 

 and August were able to catch tuna at the rate of 29,45 tons to 64,3 

 hours of scouting and fishing. At this rate, it would take approxi- 

 mately 43 days of scouting and fishing to catch a 200- ton load. This 

 does not include the time spent baiting or the time spent traveling 

 to and from the Line Islands, By v/ay of comparison, in the West Coast 

 live-bait tuna fishery it takes approximately 7 to 8 weeks (Ck)dsil 

 1938) for the clippers to come back to their home port with a load of 

 tuna^Z, This total time includes the time spent baiting, traveling to 



9/ A load is estimated as approximately 200 tons. This is a rough 

 ~ estimate derived from figures quoted in the Pacific Fisherman 

 during the fall of 1951, 



16 



