Western Samoa Offshore Bottomfishing Project F-V Tautaimatap :: The University of the South Pacific Library

WESTERN SAMOA OFFSHORE BOTTOMFISHING PROJECT

F/V TAUTAI MATAPALAPALA TRIP REPORT

TFIP NO. 2. Dec. 6 - 9, 1988. Stations 9 - 17, savaii 1. Apolima

Manono Banks. PuaPua, Falealupo, Fagaloa and Gaitaivai.

Moon Phase: Last Quarter, waning crescent.

Crew:

savali Time, Sr. counterpart

Ueli OBrien. Counterpart

Iosefa Leaoaniu, Sr. Fisherman

Siitia Amituanai, Fisherman

Totive Aloina, Data Collector

Stanley Weinberg, capt.

�auta1• Matapalapala cleared Apia Harbor at 1025 on Dec. 6th 198&, and

headed NW toward savai 1. Weather was a N. w. breeze nnd a 1 i_ght chop.

First ...,.,on (station 9) was made on the North side of Apolima Straits

i� 140 - 200 fathoms. Wind and current were not right for this spot.

station 10 off Puapua, Savaii, was relatively sheltered but not product

ive so on the morning of Dec. 7th we headed for Falealupo, despite the

.. relatively unfavorable N.W. weather. We dropped anchor in 180 fathoms

off Falealupo at 1440 and fishing began. Shortly after, wind and curr-

: ent swung the boat into shallow (65 - 80 fm) water. we decided to wait

�since we were picking up some fish) and see if the turn of the tide

would bring the boat back of

would bring the boat back over better depths. Fishing continued fair

.,

.. .•_..

while the weather worsened, seas built to

noon-and more in the evening. By morning

8-

the

10 feet during the

wind had slackened

after-

but

• the seas were rather larger. The lowering of the wind did allow the

: boat to $Wing back.over deep water, but the morning bite brought only

6 fish so we picked up and moved along the Savaii South coast looking

for more sheltered waters. Two stations were made off Fagaloa and three

off Gaitaivai, but none were very productive. Fishing ended at 0710 on

Friday and the boat returned to Apia, arriving at the fisheries dock

at 1220.

•

The Tables and charts give the details of the Stations. Some problems

were encoun-t.ered in positioning the anchor sc, the boat would "hang" where

desired. Fishing technique and gear still. need some thought. Fishing

results were better tt1an on Trip 1, but most of the increase was in

shallow water fish. Terminal gear this trip was made up in the same

pattern as before, but made of 150# test monofilament. This is an im-

provement in that if hung up, the terminal gear will part before the

-�

•

m....ain line.

Short

(4 tt )

wire

leaders are

still

in

use.

which

I

thind gives

the fish too little freedom of moveme11t while chewing the bait. Overly (t

my eye) large baits are the norm, some fish would probably have to chew

quite,a while before getting near the hook. Use of chum bags was more

general than beforeand often seemed Lo make the difference between fist1

and no fish. These were sometimes put at the top of the terminal gear

and-sometimes at the bottom by the �inker, hard to say what difference

.._·it"· makes in the effectiveness.

�. we tried a couple of drifts (stations 13 & 15> this trip and 1 would

like to work more on this technique. especially wher1 first approaching

-- �- new_ a�,

-_.,w...e have been having some ctlfficult0 reconciling our Satnav positions

• with our distance offshore given by radar. Occasional discrepancies of

•

1 � 1½ miles have been observed, but½ mile (as at Gaitaivai) is more

.·common. Table 4. gives 20 satnav fixes obtained over Dec.22 - 23, 1988

while the vessel was moored to the Fisheries Dock at Apia. the extreme

-•range of the--·20 fixes was 1.9 nautical miles along an axis of about 029 °T

,,a,; .... ".fl!' ....

..,·The charted position of the dock is about 0.2 nm to the N ot the most

---- - ' ,

-Northerly fix and about 0.65 N.E. of the mean and average of the fixes.

�see Chart No.2. Future fishing reports will include position by bearing

--......

and

-�.

·range

wherever

applicable.

Tl1e shorelines are rather featureless

,.. in many areas, however, and tt,e method would of course be useless •on

.·the offsh?re banks.

TABLE 1. TRIP 2. SUMMARY

--- ---·--· ----�---·-----

--------·-- ·-·--- ---

Depart Apia

101� hrs. Dec. 6, 19:"<8

Rec.urn Apia

1220 i-.r·s. Dec. 9, 1988

To Lal Tl' i IJ H(Jllr"S

71,,. l hr·s.

NCJ. stations f'i.shed

9

No. Hours Fished

23.7

l�O. Li n1:�-hou1·s Fislled

93.0

No. f-1sh Caught

8-4

.[(g. Fish C�ught

.-....-.·-Kg. Fish caught

... t-{o. Fish per Line-hr

.-AV. Hrs per Station

,

--Blocks Ice used

220. 15

220.15 Kg. (484.3 lbs.)

0.90

2.6

35 roughly crusJied

. ., Bait Used

12 Sktpjack

�.,.

Fuel

,.

Used

... Lube Qj l lJ.r::ect

160 l!SGallons

Ni 1

Engine Hours

35.3

Hours Traveled

24 . '.3

Hours Slept

26.l

t:

. t.

t; I

t,

,:<'.

Ett.:> -.t111-- --.....,- --..;.============= == = = = == = = " ' - - - - - - -- - - - - -

o ·,,.

~

(",

...:!

c:;

~

::, -p

IA

0

'

2�

0�

r-alealupo Rd

."

. (.,,i

Puava

. .-..

Y:.

�

.',4-,"'

::,, ·-.

.·,,.,,"

,_•,;_;_.-,

....(.>

·~

....,;.·,

~

•!

;�.•-

, ... ,!'·

:•·.

-�•• I>.!

. ...,_

.. ~ .

"..'.v. .:-~

.:...~.

.~1-,

:,'

_.,.;._.�

,•· (n>

·~•·

,__.

-..i \\

,:;;

0

~1~~~

Taga

en

J><.,

- ·t;

S"~

I

Gataivai

.'.-.'.

....

(:)

-<l

\\)

II>

(\\

Palauli B.

\\o

.,. d

I.

Q-.n

g.,Jr

~

0

D

,-r

ro

b. 1::1

~

�

Cf;)

CD

0

l�

r,.;..,

\\.0

lg;

TABLE 2. TRIP 2 STATION D.tiTA

---

STATION

DATE

➔I

s. LAT.

w. LON.

DEPTH start

DEPTH erv:I

TIME start

TIME end

,.N. O,., FISH

LINE 1

LINE 2

--. •

,.L. INE

LINE

3

4

T.,OTAL FISH

HOURS FCSHED

Lll'cE/HRS

FISH/LI NE-IIR

TYPE STATION

WEATifER

9

Dec .6

l-'1 ° .'.;1'

172···04. 1'

l 1 '.3fm

200 frn

1.1� l 0

15:38

10

DEiC . b

13 ° 37.7'

1 72'' l 1 . 6'

1 r35 f'm

l '30 f'm

1725

2000

0

1

·O

1

2

1. 4 7

5.88

0. 3.!,

An.cttor-ed

l

1

0

(J

·2

2.5B

10.'.1:J

0. 19

Anchored

HVJ,/ Rain

10

Dec.

�an1e

5ame

'/'30 fm

l50 I'm

0530

Ol�O

--�---------

11

Dec . 7

172 ° 50. 1'

6:i frn

lU:J fm

l 4 '•S

2215

not. u�ect

0

ij

l

')

0

A11�horect

o·

Sq u.::il l ).·

13

17

l�

(1

'5

-

20:3

, 11:hor·0.rJ

'w 10-12 )'. I-

,'.::>t:as 8-10·

1'10(1. l�ougti

TABLE 2. (Con > TRIP 2. ST�fION DATA

ST TI-ON

DATE

S. LAT .

W. LON.

DEPTH slart

DEPTH end

TIME start

v

-·.... TIME end

-NO. FISH

"

LINE 1

LINE 2

LINE 3

LINE 4

.-TOTAL FISH

,,.HOURS FISHED

•LINE-HRS

FISH/LINE-HR

TYPE STATION

--..WE,..A. T., HER

... .,ff

-.....·,•..,...,

•,.

12

Dec. 8

13 ° 29.1

172 ° 49.1

52 fm

126 Fm

0500

0700

13

Dec. 8

13 ° 47'

172° 35'

116 flll

120 fm

1040

1115

l

1

3

6

2

8

0.7�

Anchored

Lt. NW

seas 9-11'

O'cast

Lt. Rain

0

l

0

1

0.59

2. 36

0.42

Drift

N/A

14

Dec . 8

l 'j O t, 7 I

172"3li'

74 fm

90 fm

1 J 40

1245

0

1

0

1

1. 09

4.36

0.23

,,nct1or·ed

Fresh NW

15

Dec . 8

13••43_ 4'

172 ° 23. -4.

109 fm

155 Fm

1430

1450

not used

l

2

0.33

0.66

3

Drift

N/A

TABLE ' (Cont.) TRIP t

�'TA"'"ION 1......._f...,_A_____�

- STAT ION

•· DAiE

....,. S. LAi.

W lON

D

DEPTH end

TIME start

TIME. -.:nd

"NO. ·FISH

---·""I..INE 1

......,_-r.INE 2

---i.:INE 3

- . .-· ""'LINE 4

�. .,.TOTAL FISH

-·HOURS FISHED

_.,,LINE-HRS · -,-

-·,.'"'FISH/LI NE-HR

TYPE STATION

WEATHER

H,

D c.;. 8

13 48. ;:,

17- 23.4'

1ot, m

130 fill

1454

2045

17

Dec. 9

13 ° 48.6'

172°22'

103 fm

l/-1 7 fm

0555

0710

0

1

0

4

0

B

l

5.85

1.25

23.4

5.0

0.34

0.20

Anchored Anello red

Nearly Calm N/A

TABLE 3. DEPTH WHERE FISH CAUGHT. (Depth below vessel)

----•·--------- -·----·-·-·---. -·--...·-----

-TY-PE- -OF- -FI-S-H

DEPTll.,__fat.hom

Aphareus rutilans

caran)( lugubr�s

05

carangoides orthogrammus

65

Cephalopholis sonnerati

69

Epin<?phcli:-:- sp.

65

Etelis c�rbunculus

108

Etelis coruscans

1 •-;)'I+

Gymnocri:,nius r lvulatus

fn

� Lethrinus amboinensis

.. ...,.

'1

•

70

� Lethrlnus elongatus

80

- Lutjanus &rgentimaculatus

115

.y

Lutjanus bolu:-i.r·

(>5

,. .L,. ut.Janus sangu111eus

'.-.'. ,.

·�· J:>aracaesi o kusakar i

77

• P.• ristipomoides amoenus

1' 0

E.- f 1 lameritosus

80

·� P. f_lavipi nni s

88

· P. typus

78

P. zonatus

I •~,.:.'i

seriola ctumerili

82

Sphyraena sp.

52

Taractichthys �l•:>i ndacllneri

l :l.5

I/ 7

Yl

157/S1.�,

- ··l-

.- - - &f//

· -··-1, ··-----·--- I ------· · l-------1

I

-···--t--

__._r.,

-•-Z

I

----·- - - --- -·-,·

--- -

-:1-,

I

111'1 CL-,ia-1-,c/i Po s ,/,,,~ P,, 1

F,sJ.,:,.. , <'

fps/ .. ;. l e,J, ✓ .... -,. , c ,.~ ,. ,-:;~

/.i ,ft.'J.,, ...,,:1.. s

I

.J),, rl<

~r

-,

A i'ilA

I;' c-,,..o,,/.-cJ' f',,,,-1,,,,,. ,,.{' P.�i <!:v ,,-�JJ,.

L / (' C: .... .,. I ,, ,

s 'j 0.., I- ·,. I 1 /., � 1,..

<. '

S .. f ,.,.,v .C,><.�r , P0 1-!. A., O,t:,S ,..;l,r

P.., m.:'Q" o-f .2.o .C,,. t.!

r. M+•J" -f:J.O r·,.,,

I

Py. >,-o I' o.r,.sw.,I

I

~ .,

.

• ,; , � /, c-f {,,.

'j,.,., ,/r.s :;,/".,) """'-

y s ,, o;:i.

-

CHAR

...--.-....--...- . -

NO. 2.

i

ATNAV FI ES COM PAf<ED TO CHARTED

-!2'.3, DOCK AT APIA,! DEC.22

1988.

O .I fI

f l;::;Hf I IE-

....

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,,

llf-

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