Typical gear used tor sablefish by commercial fishermen off the north 



coast. Fisherman is baiting a long-line set. The department conducted 



tagging operations from this and similar boats. 



ery is dependent on resident fish or whether they move 

 from areas of abundance to the heavily fished Cali- 

 fornia grounds, where spawning and nursery grounds 

 are located, and relationship of oceanic conditions to 

 abundance. 



Current yellowtail investigations have been desig- 

 nated as Dingell-Johnson Project F-l-R, one of the 

 few D-J projects in the Nation devoted to the better- 

 ment of an ocean fishery and certainly one of the most 

 extensive. The yellowtail, as well as being a commer- 

 cial fish, is one of the most prized ocean sport fish and 

 sportsmen travel hundreds of miles in its pursuit. Once 

 plentiful along the entire Southern California coast, it 

 now is seldom taken except in the San Diego area. 



Other phases of the program include development 

 of marking devices, study of movements and measure- 

 ments for descriptive purposes, as well as population 

 studies. 



Sablefish 



Sablefish form the basis of a minor but steady fishery 

 along the Pacific Coast, primarily because of the popu- 

 larity of the product in a smoked form. Since 1946 the 

 average annual Pacific Coast landings have been 10,- 

 000,000 pounds, with California accounting for about 

 2,000,000 pounds annually. The fishery is exploited by 

 both longline and otter trawl fishermen. 



An investigation of the sablefish resources along the 

 Pacific Coast was started during the previous bien- 

 nium, upon recommendation of the Pacific Marine 

 Fisheries Commission. Joint studies have been con- 

 ducted along the coast by trained biologists in Califor- 

 nia, Oregon, Washington, Canada (British Columbia) 

 and Alaska. Most phases of this investigation were 

 completed during this biennium and the results are to 

 be included in Bulletin No. 3 of the Pacific Marine 

 Fisheries Commission. 



Some of the results of this investigation in which 

 California participated are as follows: 



Results of fish tag recoveries are in agreement with 

 the results of the racial study based on meristic counts 



—namely, that the greatest proportion of tag returns 

 were from fish that were taken in the same general 

 localities where they had been released. 



Studies of the abundance of this species, by analysis 

 of fishing returns, indicate that the catch-per-trip 

 appears to have remained constant since 1941 in 

 California. Furthermore, the fluctuations in seasonal 

 catches are quite closely correlated with economic 

 factors. Inasmuch as the greatest portion of the catch 

 along the Pacific Coast is placed in cold storage for 

 future smoking, abnormally large cold storage hold- 

 ings at the start of a year are associated with relatively 

 low catches in the ensuing year, and vice versa. 



In addition, considerable life history information 

 was obtained during the course of this investigation, 

 such as spawning season and size at maturity, growth 

 rates, length-weight relationships, and relationship be- 

 tween size of fish and depth of water. 



To discourage the landing of small, immature fish, 

 a minimum size of 25 inches total length or three 

 pounds dressed, head off, was recommended as a regu- 

 lation for the Pacific Coast, north of Pt. Arena, Cali- 

 fornia. 



RESEARCH VESSELS 



A^. B. Scofleld: Cruising Pacific waters from oflF 

 Guayaquil, Ecuador, at three degrees south latitude, to 

 Neah Bay, Washington, at 46 degrees N., the de- 

 partment's research vessel N . B. Scofield covered dis- 

 tances of 2,200 miles south of its home port, 700 miles 

 north, and about the same distance west in a varied 

 and versatile two-year program. No more graphic il- 

 lustration can be presented of the far flung nature of 

 marine fish populations, and the vast biological re- 

 search necessary to administer these fisheries. 



During the biennium the Scofield and her crew 

 spent 389 days at sea, with tuna research of various 

 types receiving the most attention. 



Varied work done by this vessel is equally indicative 

 of how versatile marine research vessels and marine 

 biologists must be. In southern and off-shore waters 

 the Scofield operated longline gear to search deeper 

 water layers for populations of yellowfin tuna, bigeye 

 tuna and albacore. This experimental fishing made 

 contributions toward delimiting the distribution of 

 these species and aided fishermen in assessing use of 

 longline gear in the eastern Pacific. Physical and chem- 

 ical oceanographic data were also collected. On other 

 cruises in Mexican and California waters albacore, yel- 

 lowfin tuna and skipjack were tagged. 



Yellowtail Tagging 



One trip was made to the Southern California Chan- 

 nel Islands where kelp bass, caught at San Clemente 

 Island, were tagged and released off Santa Catalina 

 Island, a part of the ocean sport fishery studies. The 

 yellowtail program was aided by two trips along the 

 coast of Baja California where yellowtail were caught, 



