APPENDIX III APPENDIX TIT 
overcapitalization of the purse-seine fleet, and (3) effects 
of the Marine Mammal Protection Act on purse seining for 
tuna. 
The skipjack tuna, an underdeveloped resource in the 
western Pacific, is caught by U.S. fishermen in the eastern 
Pacific by two techniques, bait fishing or purse seining. 
Bait fishing throughout the western Pacific is hindered by 
the lack of adequate bait supplies. An NMFS report stated 
that, a large expansion of aU.S. Jom Gusit) erator, bait 
boat fishery in this region is predicated upon development 
of a reliable supply of good bait. 
The other technique, purse seining, is used effectively 
to catch yellowfin and skipjack tunas in the eastern Pacific, 
but it appears that harvesting methods used in other regions 
are not transferable to the western Pacific. Pacific skip- 
jack tuna exist in very clear water with complex currents. 
Clear water increases the chances that the tuna may evade a 
conventional net and complex currents hinder the net's sink- 
ing rate. Additionally, the skipjack's movement patterns 
are hard to predict, making it extremely difficult to 
position a vessel to drop a net. These characteristics make 
it difficult to purse seine skipjack tuna. NMFS officials 
feel that skipjack catches will increase, and perhaps sub- 
stantially so, if fishing techniques can be altered. A 
joint industry-government program was established in 1974 
to develop new techniques. 
The buildup of more vessels than needed to harvest the 
tuna resource in the eastern Pacific is an example of how 
overcapitalization occurs in a fishery. The rise in tuna 
prices during the 1960s resulted in excellent profits which 
encouraged new vessel construction. This new construction, 
primarily large purse seine vessels, expanded the U.S. fleet 
from 41,400 tons of catch capacity to 124,300 tons over the 
period from 1967 to 1975. A consultant reported that for- 
eign interests also expanded their fleets. The additional 
vessels resulted in the fleet capacity being substantially 
larger than required for harvesting of the tuna stocks in 
the veastern Pacitve.) Sihis led Gtopaidzopyan catch permcon 
of U.S. fleet, capacity from) 5.03 42ons, ing L967. £0, 22064cens 
in 1975, a 59-percent decline. 
Fuel costs doubled between 1972 and 1975; considering 
the great distances the tuna fleet travels (thousands of 
miles to Central and South America, and even further to 
eastern Africa), fuel costs greatly affect the fishery. NMFS 
reported that a 1,200-ton capacity seiner will use around 
$200,000 worth of fuel a year. In the past, yearly tuna 
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