50 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 7 



Large schools of bait were common in that 

 area. These fish survived well and proved 

 to be good bait. Samples of the fish used as 

 bait were preserved for future study. 



COOPERATIVE (ADP) FEASIBILITY 

 STUDY: During the fishery-oceanography 

 survey from Miami to Trinidad hydrographic 

 data, including uncorrected temperatures and 

 salinities, were relayed by radio message to 

 Miami. Temperature data were corrected 

 and the corrected temperatures and salinities 

 were transmitted by teletype from Miami to 

 the National Oceanographic Data Center 

 (NODC) in Wahington, D. C, for comparison 

 with historical records for the area. Quality 

 control messages were returned to the ves- 

 sel. The feasibility study was successful. 



Meteorological and bathythermograph (BT) 

 data were taken daily throughout the cruise 

 and transmitted respectively to the U. S. 

 Weather Bureau and Anti- Submarine War- 

 fare and Environmental Prediction System 

 (ASWEPS). 



Note: See Commercial Fisheries Review , April 1966 p. 38. 



s[c ;|c 5lt ^ ;[c 



R/V " Undaunted" Cruise 2 (February 7- 

 April 9, 1966): To investigate (1) the biology 

 and ecology of surface tuna and other pelagic 

 predators and (2) the biology and ecology of 

 fish suitable for use as live bait for sampling 

 tuna and other pelagic predators were the ob- 

 jectives of this cruise by the research vessel 

 Undaunted of the U. S. Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries Tropical Atlantic Biological Lab- 

 oratory. The areas of operation were the 

 western Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the Lesser 

 Antilles, and the Caribbean Sea. 



Fig. 1 - R/V Undaunted operated by the U. S. Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory, 



MISSION 1: Investigations of the Biology 

 and Ecology of Surface Tuna: A total of 44 

 fish schools was observed during the cruise 

 and 18 of those were sampled by live bait fish- 

 ing or by trolling techniques. From those 

 schools, 508 tuna (25 yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus 

 albacares ), 483 skipjack tuna ( Katsuwonus 

 pelamisX 1 frigate mackerel (Auxls sp.), 43 

 dolphin ( Coryphaena hippurus) , 3 wahoo (A- 

 canthocybium solanderi ), 1 crevalle jack (Ca- 

 ranx hippos) , 1 horse-eye jack (C. latus), 1 

 rainbow runner ( Elagatis bipinnulatus) , and 

 1 almaco jack ( Seriola rivoliana ) were caught. 



Fig. 2 - Shows a deck sample of skipjack tima caught by R/V 

 Undaunted auring cruise 2. 



The majority of the tuna schools sighted 

 were in the southern Lesser Antilles between 

 Martinique and Trinidad. No schools were 

 sighted in the Bahama Islands and only 2 

 schools were sighted off the southwestern 

 coast of Puerto Rico. 



Seven large schools of skipjack were sam- 

 pled in a 45 -by 30 -mile area west of St. Vin- 

 cent Island. Individual fish ranged in size 

 from 5 to 35 pounds; most fish weighed be- 

 tween 5 and 12 pounds. The schools varied 

 in size from 5 to 200 tons. In the same area 

 one mixed school of yellowfin and skipjack 

 tuna was sampled. The fish were located at 

 12°56' N. 62O04' W. and ranged in size from 

 30 to 160 pounds. A conservative estimate of 

 the size of the school was 500 tons. 



Biological data collected from each speci- 

 men included length, weight, sex, and stomach 



