46 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 8 



BLUEFIN TUNA: A total of 3 1 sets (total of 

 8,620 hooks) was made alongthe Great Baha- 

 ma Bank and off Cay Sal Bank in the Florida 

 Straits for bluefin tuna. The hooks were 

 baited with mullet, blue runners, and thread 

 herring and were fished on drops varying 

 from surface to 50 fathoms. Only one blue- 

 fin (a 3 50 -pound specimen) was taken which 

 was caught off Brown Cay on a 20 -fathom 

 drop. Considering the effort expended with 

 long lines and the negative results, there 

 appears to be a strong indication that mi- 

 grating bluefin are not available to long -line 

 gear at that time within the region investi- 

 gated. A large number of troll-caught blue- 

 fin were tagged by cooperating sportsmen 

 during the cruise period in the area, and blue- 

 fin landed at Bimini during the sports tour- 

 naments were examined by Woods Hole co- 

 operators. 



OTHER SCOMBRIDS: Two big-eyed tuna 

 (Thunnus obesus ) were taken on nighttime 

 swordfish long-line sets --one off South Bi- 

 mini on a 20 -fathom drop and the other off 

 South Cat Cay on a 50 -fathom drop. One 

 skipjack ( Katsuwonus pelamis) and 4 black- 

 fin tuna ( Thunnus atlanticus) were also taken 

 on long lines. 



Numerous surface schools were observed 

 along the Great Bahama Bank during the first 

 3 weeks of the cruise. Sampling with trol- 

 ling lines showed these to be blackfin tuna 

 and painted mackerel or cero (Scomberom- 

 orus ragalis ). Two troll-caught blackfin 

 were tagged. No surface schools were seen 

 after the passage of Hurricane Alma. 



SWORDFISH: Five swordfish (Xiphias glad - 

 ius) were taken during the cruise on night- 

 time long-line sets. One small fish caught 

 off North Bimini on a 20 -fathom drop was 

 tagged. Of the remaining specimens, 2 were 

 taken on 10 -fathom drops off South Bimini, 

 1 on a 10 -fathom drop off Matanilla Bank, 

 and 1 on a 10 -fathom drop off Cape Canaveral, 



BILLFISH: A total of 7 white marlin(Tet- 

 rapterus albidus ) and 1 sailfish (Istiophorus 

 albidus )~were tagged during the cruise. One 

 white marlin was given to the Bureau's Trop- 

 ical Atlantic Biological Laboratory for mount- 

 ing in their new facility. 



SHARKS: Long -line catches of sharks were 

 moderate, with the principal species caught 

 being dusky sharks ( Carcharhinus obscurus ), 

 silky sharks ( C. floridanus ), night sharks 



( Hypoprion signatus ), hammerhead sharks 

 ( Sphyrna mokarran ), and mako sharks (Is_- 

 urus oxyrinchus) . About 500 pounds of shark 

 meat and liver, representing 50 -pound sam- 

 ples from each species and sex, were col- 

 lected for the Bureau's Technological Lab- 

 oratory at Seattle, Wash. 



A 300 -pound sample of dolphin ( Coryphaena 

 hippurus ) was caught for test marketing by in- 

 dustry. Samples of hake( Merluccius albidus ) 

 were takenby trawl on the royal-red shrimp 

 grounds off St. Augustine, Fla., for the Bu- 

 reau's Biological Laboratory, La JoUa, Calif. 



OCEANOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS: Bathy- 

 thermograph and Nansen bottle casts were 

 made by WHOI participants at each long-line 

 station for determination of temperature 

 structure, dissolved oxygen, salinity, nitrate, 

 and nitrite concentrations. Vertical and hor- 

 izontal plankton tows were made for investi- 

 gation of zooplankton structures and chloro- 

 phyll levels. 



U. S. Fishing Vessels 



FISHERIES LOAN FUND 

 AND OTHER FINANCIAL AID 

 FOR VESSELS, APRIL 1-JUNE 30. 1966 : 

 From the beginning of the program in • 

 1956 through June 30, 1966, a total of 1,830 

 applications for $46,458,719 was received by 

 the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 the agency administering the Federal Fish- 

 eries Loan Fund. By that date, 957 appli- 

 cations ($21,119,566) had been approved, 

 581 ($13,414,413) had been declined or found 

 ineligible, 260 ($9,141,502) had been with- 

 drawn by the applicants before being proc- 

 essed, and 32 ($697,608) were pending. Of 

 the applications approved, 347 were approved 

 for amounts less than applied for --the total 

 reduction was $2,085,630. 



The following loans were approved from 

 April 1, 1966, through June 30, 1966: 



New England Area : Earl L. Brewer, 

 Boothbay, Me., $7,100; Arthur Reposa, Nar- 

 rangansett, R. I., $17,000; Arthur Reposa, 

 Narragansett, R. I., $35,000; James J. Mello, 

 Wakefield, R. L, $58,000. 



South Atlantic and Gulf Area: John Jo- 

 I seph Ross, Moss Point, Miss., $29,332. 



