The American Samoa longline fishery, 1966-71

Yoshida, Howard

Aspects of the longline fishery based at American Samoa covering the period from 1966 to 1971 are described. The fishery is discussed primarily as it relates to the albacore, Thunnus alalunga, and to a small extent the yellowfin tuna, T. alhacares. The landings of albacore fluctuated between 17,722 and 28,310 metric tons from 1966 to 1971. Although no downward trend was evident in the relation between total landings and total effort, the relation between CPUE (catch per unit of effort) and effort showed a definite downward trend. Generally, fishing effort was confined to the north of lat. 20°S in the first and fourth quarters. In the second and third quarters large amounts of effort were also expended south of lat. 20°S. The length-frequency distribution of albacore showed that albacore sizes were stratified by latitude. North of lat. 20°S the size of albacore was rather uniform, in that only a single mode was evident in the length-frequency distributions. South of lat. 20°S two or more modes were evident.

The American Samoa longline fishery, 1966-71

Series