FORTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 43 



TUNA 



Heavy exploitation of t lie t iiiut I't'soin'ccs mai-ktMl t liis lui'iiniuin. Tlic 

 general expansion of the tuna industry was on a eautious note, howevei', 

 as prices to the fishermen deelined soinewiuit in .lauuary of lO.")!). Aftei- 

 reaching ^'^M) for yellowHn and >^'V2.() for skipjack, the price di-opj^ed to 

 $310 and $290 respectively Anioimts juiid foi' oihci- s|)ccics were reduced 

 proportionately This was caused hy tlic lai-ge holdings of canned tuna at 

 the end of 1940. Apparently the fast ex]>an(ling industry had at least 

 temporarily supplied the market demand for tuna. Some of the sinalh-r 

 canneries fell victim to this situation ami were cauglii with no workini^' 

 capital to continue operations until their case pack carry-over was sold. 

 Larger units in the industi-y with the advantage of national advertising 

 had little difficulty. 



Other items contributed to the anxiety of the industry, such as: 

 relaxation of the Japanese fishing restrictions which jiermitted ex])ansion 

 to practically the full area which that nation formerly exploited; ship- 

 ments of tuna and tuna-like fishes fi-om Austi-alia, South America ami 

 the Central Pacific, besides those from Jai)an; talk of canneries being 

 built on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico; and threatened restriction of 

 bait fishing by ^Mexico and Central American countries. This was m(»re 

 than a threat in Panama where our vessels were not allowed to take bait 

 for some months. 



The stocks of tuna held good, although long trips to Central America 

 and the Calapagos Islands Avere necessai-y as tunas on tln^ banks closer 

 to California failed to supply a large (iuautity of fish. 



The size of the tuna bait fleet increased from !:>() vessels and an 

 aggregate of 27,526 gross tons in 1946 to 225 vessels and api)roximateIy 

 45.540 gross tons in 1950. In addition to the purse seiners that fish t\nia 

 during the spring and sunnuer mouths, thert^ wei-e about 20 purse seine 

 vessels that pursued the tuna for the entire period. 



Throughout the biennium the skipjack and albacore landings in- 

 creased; yellowfin showed a slight decline in 1949 and the blnefin fishery 



FiGURE 7. California landings of albacore, bluefin, skipjack and yellowrm, V.)4()-VJ 



