Studies on Mackerel Angling Fisheries-II

The Effect of the Consumption of Ground Baits on the Catch of Mackerel Pole and Line Fishery

Abstract

It is obvious in the previous paper¹⁾ that the catch of mackerel pole and line fishery is affected remarkably by the consumption of ground baits scattering on the illuminated water by attracting fish lamps.
In the present paper, to know the effect of ground baits on the catch more detail, the daily catch and daily consumption of ground baits were compared among twenty boats belonging to the same tonnage class, based on Toyohama harbour, Chiba prefecture.
They were divided into three groups in due consideration of the catch and the consumption of ground baits: good fishing (occupied over or mean catch by mean or less bait consumption), ordinary fishing (over or mean catch by mean or much bait consumption), and poor fishing (less catch) groups. Good fishing group has the crew experienced on the fishing for a longer year than other groups (Table 4) and thus, it seems to have a nicer skill to select a good fishing ground and also to save the ground baits, because the boats located just on the migration route of mackerel, its selection must chiefly due to a longer year experienced of crew are not necessary to shift from place to place and scatter a lot of baits but to make the fish stay in the illuminated region of the water.