Cross Seamount is a seamount far southwest of the Hawaii archipelago, about equidistant from the cities of Honolulu and Kona. It is one of the numerous seamounts surrounding Hawaii, although unrelated to the Hawaiian hotspot. It is notable for being one of the best studied of the numerous seamounts surrounding Hawaii, as it has been included in numerous biological surveys, most recently in 2007. It is also a site of offshore fishing, for its abundant tuna. The fishery management problems at Cross Seamount are typical of management problems in many fisheries, and its small size makes it a scientifically useful model for the analysis of fishery management. Geology Cross Seamount, a landform arising from the ocean floor, is one of the more distant lesser seamounts surrounding the island of Hawaii. The NOAA has taken advantage of Cross Seamount’s position, and planted several weather buoys on the seamount. Very little is known about Cross Seamount's geology, as all of its studies as of March 2009 were of its ecology; however, it was mapped in 1996 by a four-year effort to map all of Hawaii's seafloor in detail. Biology History of fishing Cross Seamount is well known in fishery and scientific communities for its small but abundant biologic community. Longline fishing ships occasionally fished at Cross Seamount for many years prior to the development of handline fishing, in 1976. The level of fishing remained fairly constant up until the mid 1980. In the late 1980s, the amount of fishing activity at Cross Seamount more than quadrupled; however, it is hard to tell because of limited data. Local tuna populations belong to the same general stocks of tuna that are widely distributed throughout the Pacific. There are no accurate size data collected on the catches from fishing, aside from limited port sampling by the National Marine Fisheries Service. However, it is known that the largest percent of the catches are juvenile tuna between 10 and 35 pounds. These fish are probably somewhere between one and two years of age, well below sexual maturity. Fishermen report that the offshore fishing grounds are productive year-round. However, during summer months, large Yellowfin tuna are more abundant. The weight of the catches are estimated to be about 75% Thunnus obesus (Bigeye tuna), and 25% T. albacares (Yellowfin tuna). According to estimates, about 1 million pounds of Bigeye tuna and 400,000 pounds of Yellowfin were fished from offshore