44 



I ISII AM) GAME COMMISSION' 



was almost a failure. The 1 •).")() simiinor fishery for bluefiii was equally 

 poor with ])raeti('ally no (isli landed by niid-sumiiier. 



Because of better facilities and an enlarged staff "we were able to 

 expand onr tuna iiivesti<>-ations. One tri]) with the M. V. N. B. Scofield 

 was made to tlie Hawaiian Islands where nnich nuitei'ial was collected 

 for an analysis of any ditferences between the mid-Pacific populations of 

 skipjack and yellowfin and these fishes taken oft' the coasts of the 

 Americas. 



Several ti-ips were made oft'shore and along- the California coast to 

 determine conditions which govern the presence or absence of albacore. 

 Fish were located oft'shore and just pi-ior to the regular season but no 

 albacore have yet been taken during the w inter months. On these cruises 

 gill net and long line fishing methods were used as well as trolling. 



.V regidar system of sam])liiig the catch of albacore, yellowfin and 

 skipjack has been set up to determine the sizes of fish in the catch. Pre- 

 liminary studies of tagging methods have been made. In October, 1949, 

 a meeting of all investigations studying tunas in the eastern Pacific was 

 held at our Termiiud island laboratory. Similar meetings are planned 

 annually to coordinate the work of all the agencies working on these fishes 

 in tlie Pacific area. 



SALMON 



After the peak years of 1945-46, the salmon catches of California 

 have dropped. The commei-cial catches of 1948-49 have been about the 

 avei-age <<\' the periods since 1916 (Figure 8). The ocean catches of these 



KKifKK >>. (.'aliforni;! landiiiK.'i of fiimni»Tci:Uly cauglit salmon, 1940-1949, showing 

 IKjunrtagtM taken from the ocean and from the Central Valley rivers 



