Baitfish research in New Ireland Province

Abstract

The Papua New Guinea skipjack tuna fishery is the sixth largest in the world in terms of tonnes of fish caught. Almost all of these skipjack are taken using the pole-and-line method as described in HARVEST 5(2): 109-118. The pole-and-line fishery is totally dependant on supplies of live baitfish. Without these, the fishermen cannot encourage the skipjack into the feeding frenzy in which they swim close enough to the boat . to be caught easily. The baitfishery is therefore very important to the tuna industry in Papua New Guinea and so to the country as a whole.