16 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 13, No. 7 ' 



Unfavorable weather conditions were encountered bythis exploratory vessel of 

 the Service's Branch of Coinmercial Fisheries during the first few days of the cruise. 

 Poor visibility and easterly winds ranging from force 4 to 5 (moderate to brisk breeze) 

 with accompanying surface chop made it difficult to spot surfacing fish. 



On June 28, the weather improved and the vessel sighted school tuna inside Boon 

 Island. However, the fish were inl2 fathoms of water anditwas deemed inadvisable 

 to set the vessel's seine, which measures 34 fathoms in the deepest section. The 

 following morning a large school of tuna were sighted southeast of Boon Island in 

 about 18 fathoms of water, but this was still too shallow for a set, 



A school of small tuna were sighted southeast of Boon Island Buoy in 34 fathoms 

 of water late in the afternoon of June 30. Although a set was made, the school es- 

 caped from the seine before it could be pursed. The fish passed between the end of 

 the seine and the boat. About 10 bushels of squid, on which the tuna had evidently 

 been feeding, remained in the seine after pursing. 



" liESTSRN EXPLORER " UNDS FIRST CATCH OF BLUEFIN TUNA AT aOUCESTER : The Serv- 

 ice' s New England exploratory vessel, Western Explorer , landed after eight days at 

 sea a catch of 11 tons of bluefin tuna at Gloucester, Massachusetts, on July 14. 

 Taken on the vessel's second trip in two sets of a West Coast-type purse seine, 

 these tuna ranged in size from 25 to 50 pounds. Since the fish averaged about 35 

 pounds each, they were an ideal size for seining and canning. The Western Explorer 

 is conducting tuna explorations in New England waters for a period of four months 

 in an attempt to locate commercial concentrations of bluefin tuna and to detennine 

 their pattern of abundance, and potential quantities for ccmmercial use. 



The two successful sets made on this second cruise were in the vicinity of 

 Provincetovm. Eight tons were taken in the first set in 18 fathoms of water. The 

 second set was made in 15 fathoms and, although the net was "hung-up" in mud bottom 

 for several hours, approximately three tons of tuna were captured. Several other 

 schools of small tuna were seen in the Provincetown area and the net was damaged 

 slightly in attempting to make another set in shallov/ waters. Many small schools, 

 contairdng about a dozen tuna, were sighted between Cape Cod and southern Maine. 



Because the majority of tuna seen were in relatively shallow water, the seine, 

 which is now 34 fathoms deep, is being cut down in depth before the vessel returns 

 to the fishing grounds. 



North Pacific Exploratory Fishery Program 



FIRST ALBACORE GILL-NETTED BY "JOHN N. COBB ;" The first albacore of this sea- 

 son were taken in gill nets by the John N. Cobb , the exploratory fishing vessel of 

 the Service's Branch of Commercial Fisheries. The vessel left Seattle on June 11 

 to attempt to intercept the tuna while they are still in the offshore waters of the 

 states of Washington and Oregon, and to trace the speed and direction of their move- 

 ments. This season's first albacore were caught on July 14 by the John N. Cobb 

 95 miles west of the Siuslaw River on the central Oregon coast. 



On this cruise, the vessel through mid-July fished continuously an area rang- 

 ing up to 500 miles offshore from the coast lines of Oregon and Washington. Since 



