THE FISHERIES OF JAPAN. 435 



large demand for home use, its exportation has recently increased. In 1891 the 

 exports alone amounted to 454,000 yen. 



The species of Glceopeltis are employed in the manufacture of glue. They grow 

 on rocks near the coasts of the warmer parts of Japan. The glue is made indis- 

 criminately from the two species, and is largely used to impart luster and stiffness to 

 various textile fabrics. It is also used for various other purposes, according to which 

 it is refined in various degrees. The price of a single sheet (about 5 feet by 3 feet) of 

 the most refined form is 50 sen. 



THE FISHERIES OF NORTHERN JAPAN. 



By K. ITO. 



Fish constitutes the chief article of food in Japan, and the fishing industries are 

 necessarily the most important pursuit of the Japanese. It gives employment to 

 1,654,178 men, aud yields $35,000,000. The peculiar features of the country afford 

 every kind of fishing, and a great many varieties of the marine animals and plants 

 are collected and utilized. It is not possible, however, without some previous prepara- 

 tion, for me to enumerate them or to give any account of the methods used for catching 

 and curing them. I will, therefore, limit my subject to the fisheries of northern Japan, 

 or Hokkaido, with which I am more familiar. 



Hokkaido, more familiarly known to you under the name of Yesso, is one of the 

 islands constituting the Japanese Empire, and is situated between 40° 21' and 45° 30' 

 north latitude. It covers an area of about 319,000 square miles. The fisheries indus- 

 try is the oldest and most important of the island. I will give a brief description of 

 some of the principal fisheries of the Hokkaido. 



First in the order of importance are the spring herring fisheries. The spring 

 herring (Clupea harengus) approaches the western coast of the island in tremendous 

 groups in the spring and early summer, and fishing is carried on from the first part 

 of April to the last of June. The implements used for the capture of this fish are of 

 two kinds — the gill net and the moored trap net. The fish caught are gutted, and the 

 bones and head taken off and dried upon the scaffoldings. They are then made into 

 bundles and sent to the southern part of Japan for food, while the roes, which are left, 

 are dried on the flake or pickled aud used for food. The head, bones, and gills left, 

 after making the boneless herring, are also dried and used as fertilizers. But since 

 the introduction of traps, about thirty years ago, and also the introduction of the 

 pocket attachment, after that, the catch became so enormous that all the fish caught 

 could not be utilized in the old way, and so the guano and the oil industries were 

 inaugurated. This industry has grown from year to year and at present is the most 

 important of the fisheries of Hokkaido. At present the total amount of the dried 

 scraps manufactured reaches the enormous quantity of 90,000 tons. 



