as to where to fish, and the processor and 
distributor must act on their predictions of the 
success of the fishermen. The system’s economic 
efficiency will be increased to the extent that 
scientific information leads to improved decisions. 
Even small improvements in the precision of 
fishermen’s predictions can effect important mon- 
etary savings in the multi-million dollar fishing 
industry. 
Predictive capabilities are closely related to 
variations in the ocean’s circulation patterns which 
are, in turn, related to variations in incoming solar 
energy, outgoing earth heat, and associated 
phenomena. The lack of regularly received data 
from large ocean areas and lack of understanding 
the energy exchange between the atmosphere and 
the ocean prevent systematic analysis. Synoptic 
environmental observation requires costly and 
extensive collaboration among oceanographers, 
meteorologists, and space scientists. Until this 
energy exchange is understood, the quality of 
ocean current predictions will be poor. 
Technology to provide the basic data is now 
available. Satellites and computers can keep the 
entire world ocean under instantaneous observa- 
tion to provide data to help manage the harvest of 
the ocean. 
(2.) Satellites for Navigation and Detection 
Ocean upwellings (where schools of surface and 
near-surface fish congregate, and plankton, the 
basic food of fish, flourish) are directly observable 
by satellite. 
The open ocean hardly has been touched by 
commercial fishermen except whalers and tuna 
long-liners. The old live bait tuna clipper did not 
range far because: (1) it was tied to coastal sources 
of live bait, (2) it traditionally remained in known 
tuna areas, and (3) flocks of birds, which do not 
venture far from land, were relied upon to indicate 
schools of tuna. However, modern tuna purse 
seiners now are working 500 to 600 miles off- 
shore. 
The fisherman frequently is led to tuna schools 
by porpoise schools that can be detected also by 
satellites. Possibly, satellites will be able to spot 
tuna schools directly. Fish school spotting by 
shipborne and shorebased aircraft has been a 
normal adjunct of tuna, mackerel, sardine, and 
anchovy fishing in the eastern Pacific and of 
menhaden in the Gulf and Atlantic for a genera- 
tion. There should be nothing that an airplane 
spotter can see with the naked eye that a low 
orbiting satellite utilizing cloud-penetrating remote 
sensors cannot detect. 
(3.) Data Collection The number of instru- 
mented platforms established in the oceans must 
be increased greatly to make maximum use of 
satellites. Instruments should be placed on re- 
search vessels and on ships of opportunity. It will 
be necessary to provide by mass production 
sturdy, simple, inexpensive and reliable salinom- 
eters, current meters, bathythermographs, plank- 
ton samplers, and water pigment measuring de- 
vices. 
Moored and drifting unmanned buoys to sense 
various ocean and atmospheric parameters and to 
telemeter the data to shore via satellite will 
revolutionize our understanding of the ocean. 
Buoys will be particularly useful in areas seldom 
traversed by ships. Production of inexpensive, 
sturdy, dependable buoys from which several 
meteorological and oceanographic parameters can 
be recorded continuously requires intensification 
of effort. Development of instrumentation for 
continuously recording biological parameters is 
strongly urged. 
Figure 13 illustrates a system of satellites and 
buoys to collect and distribute data useful to the 
fisherman. 
Figure 13. Artist’s concept showing satellites 
and buoys used for collecting and distributing 
data. (Bureau of Commercial Fisheries drawing) 
VI-147 
