FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



ola), and common squid (Ommastrephes) , was 

 about 2.7 million metric tons in 1969'' out of 

 the total Japanese catch of all marine fishes and 

 shellfishes of 7.7 million tons (round weight, not 

 including aquaculture) , indicating the impor- 

 tance of this group of species. 



After the catastrophic decline of the sardine 

 catch (Kasahara, 1961) fishing for other pelagic 

 species, particularly those mentioned above, be- 

 came increasingly intensive. Saury fishing with 

 "boke-ami" (stick-held lift net with fish-attract- 

 ing light) started in 1947, and the catch soon 

 reached to a level of 500,000 metric tons a year. 

 It has been on the decline since 1962 (Figure 4) . 

 The catch of jack mackerels started to climb 

 sharply around 1949, with some signs of an in- 

 crease in abundance, and exceeded 500,000 tons 

 (Trachurus alone) in 1960; it has since been 

 decreasing. The mackerel yield began to rise 

 also in the late 1940's and it is still going up. 

 The catch of anchovies has been fluctuating at 

 around 300,000 to 400,000 tons a year since the 

 early 1950's (Figure 5). The yield of squids, 

 mostly common squid, also rose markedly after 

 the war and has shown rather violent fluctua- 

 tions in recent years (Figure 6). All of these 

 species have been under intensive fishing for the 

 last 20 years or so, but their catch trends have 

 been rather different from each other. A variety 

 of biological problems are involved, many of 

 which are poorly understood. The catches of 

 the Soviet Union and South Korea are also in- 

 dicated in the figures wherever data are avail- 

 able. 



The rapid development of fishing for mackerel 

 and jack mackerel resulted in a serious conflict 

 with the South Korean fishermen, which will be 

 mentioned later. The Soviet vessels have been 

 catching an increasing amount of mackerel in 

 waters off northern Japan. The decline of the 

 saury catch has prompted some of the Japanese 

 companies to apply for exploratory fishing in 

 waters of the eastern Pacific, particularly off 

 Canada and the United States. In 1969, about 

 38 applications were approved by the Japanese 

 government, but only about half of them con- 

 ducted fishing, mainly off Canada and the United 



" Perhaps 3 million metric tons if miscellaneous spe- 

 cies are included. 



Year 



Figure 4. — Catches of saury and jack mackerel in Japan, 

 1938-69 (from Ministry of Agriculture, 1962-1971). 



12-1 



n - 



10 

 9 



8- 

 7- 

 6- 

 5- 

 4 

 3 



2i 



t 



MACKERELS (Scomber) 



5-1 



4- 



3 



2H 



1 



ANCHOVY 



40 



— I — 

 45 



50 



55 



60 



— I — 

 65 



Year 



Figure 5. — Catches of mackerels and anchovy in Japan, 

 1938-69 (from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 

 1962-71). USSR mackerel catches are only rough 

 estimates. 



States. The result was not very encouraging, 

 but exploratory fishing will continue, depending 

 to some extent on the saury catch in waters off 

 Japan (there was a slight recovery in 1970) and 

 the trend of the saury market. The Soviet catch 

 of saury in waters off northern Japan and the 

 Kuriles, in competition with the Japanese, has 

 become substantial in recent years. A compli- 

 cated international situation has developed con- 



244 



