FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



extent, but the hake stocks have also been fished 

 intensively by the Soviet Union. The potential 

 of the herring stocks in the eastern Bering Sea, 

 the cod stocks in the Bering Sea, and the sablefish 

 stocks in southern areas are not well known, but 

 it is not very likely that the catch of any of 

 these species will substitute for a substantial 

 portion of the present catch of pollack. As do- 

 mestic markets for fish meal and minced fish 

 meat remain strong, fishing pressure on pollack 

 is bound to increase further." 



Certain actions by the Japanese government 

 appear necessary in order to avoid a possible 

 economic disaster: full assessment of the status 

 of important stocks in the Bering Sea, Kam- 

 chatka, and the Gulf of Alaska; the establish- 

 ment of catch quotas for pollack and a few other 

 important species, in each of the three regions, 

 in collaboration with the Soviety Union if fea- 

 sible; and reallocation of fishing grounds among 

 different sectors of the industry to make best 

 use of the allowable catches. International prob- 

 lems arising from the development of trawl fish- 

 eries in the northern Pacific will be summarized 

 in a later section. 



Traivl fishery off west Africa. — The trawl fish- 

 eries in areas other than the northern North Pa- 

 cific are licensed under the category "Far Seas 

 Trawl Fisheries." The most important of these 

 is the fishery along the west coast of Africa. The 

 Soviet Union started trawl fishing off northwest 

 Africa in the late 1950's and a few Japanese 

 trawlers began fishing in 1959. In addition to 

 local African vessels and Spanish and Portu- 

 guese boats, trawlers from a large number of 

 non-African countries have fished in waters 

 along the west coast of Africa. They include 

 the Soviet Union. Japan, Poland, Italy, Israel, 

 Greece, France, East and West Germany, Nor- 

 way, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, South Korea, 

 and China (Taiwan). The best trawl grounds 

 occur in waters off northwest Africa and south- 



' A 5,000-ton factory stern trawler has come into 

 operation and several more in the same class are under 

 construction, all to fish in the northern North Pacific. 

 The Soviet Union has greatly increased fishing for pol- 

 lack. South Korea has also begun pollack fishing in the 

 northern areas. 



west Africa, more or less corresponding to the 

 areas of strong coastal upwelling, that is, along 

 Spanish Sahara and Mauritania in the north, 

 and Angola, South-West Africa, and South Afri- 

 ca in the south. Trawl fishing in west Africa 

 is very selective as to species caught, except in 

 the south where hake predominate in the catches 

 of most fleets. Japanese fishing has been mainly 

 for cuttlefish (mongoika), octopus, and porgies 

 (sparids) in the north; hake, porgies, and jack 

 mackerel around the Cape; and mostly hake in 

 waters off Angola and South-West Africa. 



In the early years, the Japanese government 

 was reluctant to increase the number of licenses 

 for fishing in Africa. As it became obvious that 

 other nations were intensifying their effort rap- 

 idly, the government relaxed its licensing policy 

 and the number of vessels increased to about 70 

 in 1967, most of them large stern trawlers. The 

 total catch in 1969 was roughly 240,000 metric 

 tons. The Japanese fleet has been facing diffi- 

 culty due to a decrease in the catch per unit of 

 effort of high priced species and the expansion 

 of national jurisdiction by the coastal states. 



Vessels operating in the north are mostly 

 based in Las Palmas, and Cape Town is the main 

 fishing base for those in the southernmost area. 

 Catches have been sorted out at these bases for 

 transshipment to Japan or export to other na- 

 tions. Ghana, Italy, Nigeria, Greece, and Ro- 

 mania have been among the main importers of 

 trawl fish caught by Japan. Substantial amounts 

 have also been landed directly in African ports 

 for local sales — Lagos, Monrovia, Tema, Free- 

 town, etc. 



Trawl fishery in the North Atlantic. — Japan 

 has made a substantial effort to develop a trawl 

 fishery in the main international fishing area of 

 the northwest Atlantic, particularly ofl^ New- 

 foundland, but the attempt has been an almost 

 complete failure. She has, however, established 

 a fishery in waters farther south, mainly off New 

 York, as an attempt to divert seasonally some 

 of the vessels operating in African waters. Some 

 trawlers now plan to stay there almost year 

 round. Main species are squid, butterfish, and 

 argentine, with a total catch of 9,000 tons in 

 1969. Exploratory fishing has also been con- 



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