July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



19 



fish catch for all sets was one spearfish (Te- 

 trapterus sp.) and one marlin ( Makaira sp.). 

 Additional species caught included 11 white- 

 tip sharks (average 160 pounds), barracuda 

 ( Sphyraena barracuda ), snake mackerel 

 ( Gempylus sp.), and lancetfish ( Alepisaurus 

 sp.). Three sharks were tagged and released 

 in cooperation with American Institute of Bi- 

 ological Sciences (AIBS) tagging studies and 

 samples of flesh and liver were frozen from 

 the remaining catch for analysis by Bureau 

 technologists. 



Deep-set lines of 41 hooks each were 

 equipped with magnesium anchor releases 

 and fished in 200 fathoms off Dominica and 

 in 400 fathoms off St. Lucia. The Dominica 

 set surfaced on schedule with a catch of 2 

 small sharks. The St. Lucia set failed to 

 surface. 



Species caught while trolling between sta- 

 tions were: 25 dolphin ( Coryphaena hippurus 

 and Coryphaena equisetis ) average 12 pounds 

 each, 4 skipjack tuna ( Katsuwonus pelamis ) 

 average 4 to 19 pounds, 3 little tuna ( Euthyn - 

 nus alletteratus ), 4 blackfin tuna ( Thunnus 

 atlanticus ) average 8 pounds each, 1 wahoo 

 ( Acanthocybium solanderi ) 37 pounds, 13 great 

 barracuda ( Sphyraena barracuda ), 1 king 

 mackerel ( Scomberomorus cavalla ) 23 pounds, 

 2 Spanish mackerel ( Scomberomorus macula - 

 tus) , and 1 cero ( Scomberomorus regalis) . 

 Stomach contents and gonads of tuna and 

 mackerel were preserved for the Bureau's 

 Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory. Of 

 unusual interest was a juvenile mola ( Ran - 

 zania sp. ) which was found in a dolphin's 

 stomach. 



Eight surface-tuna schools were seen be- 

 tween Puerto Rico and Tobago and identified 

 as blackfin and skipjack tuna. Attempts to 

 sample those schools by trolling from both 

 the skiff and the Oregon were unsuccessful. 



Fourteen trawl and 28 dredge stations 

 were m.ade on limited grounds in the vicinity 

 of Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, 

 and Tobago. Catch rates of brown shrimp 

 ( Penaeus brasiliensis ) in 30 to 40 fathoms 

 off Tobago ranged from 5 to 16 pounds (heads 

 on) per hour with a 40 -foot trawl. Shrimp 

 varied from 11-15 to 26-30 count. Catches 

 in this depth range were dominated by grunt 

 ( Haemulon melanurum ) 4 per pound. Grunt 

 and small vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites 

 aurorubens) were filleted and frozen for taste 



tests by the Bureau' s Branch of Marketing Test 

 Kitchen at Pascagoula. Deep-water shellfish 

 of potential commercial value caught in 2 50 

 to 450 fathoms off Dominica included scarlet 

 prawns ( Plesiopenaeus edwardsianus )--17 

 pounds per hour (heads on), striped shrimp 

 ( Plesionika longipes ), Penaeopsis megalops — 

 12 pounds per hour, and lobsterettes ( Eune - 

 phrops bairdii ) and Nephropsis rosea). Dredg- 

 ing operations throughout the survey area were 

 unproductive due to heavy accumulations of 

 limestone rubble and rock. 



Hand-line catches off Dominica, St. Lucia, 

 Grenada, and Tobago were low and included 1 

 silk snapper ( Lutjanus vivanus ) 2 pounds, 4 

 croaker ( Ophioscion sp.) ^ pound each, 1 

 southern tilefish ( Caulolatilus sp.) 2 pounds, 

 2 yellow -edge grouper ( Epinephelus flavolim- 

 batus) 10 pounds each, 1 Warsaw ( Epinephelus 

 nigritus ) 12 pounds, and several wenchman 

 ( Pristipomoides sp.) 1 to 2 pounds each. 



Note: See Commercial Fisheries Review , January 1966, p. 23. 



Central Pacific Fisheries Investigations 



FORECAST FOR SUMMER 1966 

 HAWAIIAN SKIPJACK TUNA FISHERY : 



The skipjack tuna (aku) fishermen of Ha- 

 waii, who had their best year in history in 

 1965, are probably not going to fare as well 

 in 1966, according to scientists of the U, S. 

 Department of Interior's Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries Biological Laboratory, Hono- 

 lulu, Hawaii, who predict whether the summer 

 1966 skipjack tuna catch will be average or 

 above average. 



The Bureau's Honolulu Laboratory ocea- 

 nographer, who has been preparing the skip- 

 jack forecasts for 10 years, says that 1966 

 promises to bring "below average landings, 

 as did 1960." The annual average skipjack 

 catch from 1948 through 1965 has been 10 

 million pounds. The catch in 1960 was 7.4 

 million pounds, 2.6 million pounds below the 

 long-term average and less than half the rec- 

 ord high catch of 16 million pounds in 1965. 



The forecast is based on the time of the 

 year when the surface water at Koko Head be- 

 gins to warm up. When the water warms up 

 in February and when "favorable" water of 

 low salinity bathes the islands during the sum- 

 mer, the skipjack catch increases. 



