DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION OF TUNA FISHERIES 161 



period of early development of the fishery are fragmentary or unobtain- 

 able. In the case of the tropical tunas, we have, then, a unique op- 

 portunity for the study of the dynamics of a large, oceanic fishery, the 

 results of which will be of far-reaching value not only to the welfare 

 of the tuna fisheries, but to the knowledge of the dynamics of com- 

 mercial fisheries in general. 



The investigations of the Commission have, so far, centered on the 

 compilation and analysis of the records of the fishery in order to derive 

 quantitative measurements of changes in the fish population in re- 

 sponse to changes in intensity of fishing and catch, both currently and 

 historically. For the adequate interpretation of such data, there is, of 

 course, required considerable knowledge of the life histories and biology 

 of the species concerned, and a fair start has been made on obtaining 

 this. Knowledge of the relation of the behavior of the tunas to the 

 spatial and temporal changes in the oceanic environment is also essen- 

 tial to understanding of their population dynamics. Investigation of 

 these matters is a costly line of research, requiring work at sea with 

 large, expensive vessels. The budget of the Commission has been in- 

 adequate as yet to do as much in this direction as is desired, but, with 

 the assistance of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the California 

 State Fisheries Laboratory, and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 a good deal of work in this direction has been gotten underway. 



Most of the investigations of the Commission are yet unready for 

 announcement of results. Intermediate studies along some lines of re- 

 search are, however, nearing completion and will be published in the 

 near future. Scientific contributions of the Commission will be pub- 

 lished in a series of Bulletins. Staff members also publish minor papers 

 in standard journals. Annual progress of investigations is reported on 

 to the member governments and to the public by means of publication 

 of a series of Annual Reports. 



Literature Cited 



Fraser-Brunner, a. 1950. The fishes of the family Scombriciae. Ann. Mag. 



Nat. Hist., Ser. 12, vol. iii, pp. 131-16S. 

 GODSIL, H. G. and E. K. Holmberg 1950. A comparison of the bluefin tunas, 



genus Thunnus, from New England, Australia, and California. Calif. 



Div. of Fish and Game, Fish. Bull. no. 77, 55 pp. 

 GoDsiL, H. C. and E. C. Greenhood 1951. A comparison of populations of 



yellowfin tuna, Neothunmts macropterus from the eastern and central 



Pacific. Calif. Div. of Fish and Game, Fish. Bull. no. 82, 32 pp. 

 Kishinouye, K. 1923. Contribution to the comparative study of the so-called 



scombroid fishes. Jour. Coll. Agriculture, Imp. Univ. Tokyo, vol. 8, 



no. 3, pp. 293-475. 



