KASAHARA: JAPANESE DISTANT-WATER FISHERIES 



10 





common squid ( Ommostrephes} 



40 



45 



50 



55 



60 



65 



Year 



Figure 6. — Catches of squids in Japan, 1938-69 (from 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 1962-71). 



cerning the Japanese kelp fishery in inshore 

 waters around the southernmost islands of the 

 Kurile chain occupied by the Soviet Union. 



At the moment, squid fishing by Japan has no 

 international implications, but the squid re- 

 sources in the North Pacific appear to be among 

 the most important potential resources for the 

 future. Since species similar to the common 

 squid occur in great quantities in the eastern 

 Pacific, in waters of national jurisdiction as well 

 as on the high seas, the exploitation of squid 

 might become an international issue in the fu- 

 ture. (A survey of squid resources off Califor- 

 nia is now under consideration in Japan.) 



INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 



INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS ARISING 



FROM THE POSTWAR EXPANSION 



OF JAPANESE FISHERIES 



Period of Occupation 



International conflicts arising from the pre- 

 war development of Japanese fisheries are 

 summarized by Leonard (1944). Japan was 

 involved in four major international issues con- 

 cerning fisheries: the Russo-Japanese contro- 

 versy; the North Pacific fur seal controversy; 

 international problems of Antarctic whaling; 

 and the Alaska salmon fishery issue. Except for 

 the first one, which was resolved by the war it- 

 self, these controversies remained unsettled. The 

 nature of the problems will be reviewed retro- 



spectively in connection with postwar develop- 

 ments. 



The Japanese fishing industry was half de- 

 stroyed during the war with most of the larger 

 fishing vessels sunk by American submarines. 

 Large fisheries developed by the Japanese in 

 Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, and the Kurile Islands 

 were completely lost as these areas became in- 

 dependent or were taken by the Soviet Union. 

 Japan also lost historical rights to fish in Kam- 

 chatka and other Far Eastern areas of the Soviet 

 Union. The total catch decreased to less than 2 

 million metric tons in 1945, the last year of the 

 war. The rebuilding of the industry started as 

 early as 1946. Pressed by the immediate need 

 to feed the nation and to earn foreign exchange, 

 the government provided tremendous incentives 

 for the industry to expand as fast as possible. 



The first international problem faced by Japan 

 was the area restriction imposed on her fisheries 

 by the Allied Powers. Both government and in- 

 dustry strongly urged the expansion of the au- 

 thorized fishing area. The area was expanded 

 to the west to include a substantial portion of the 

 east China Sea continental shelf (1946) and to 

 the east and the south to permit tuna and skip- 

 jack fishing in vast areas of the western Pacific 

 (1946, 1949, and 1950). As of 1950, however, 

 the authorized area was still restricted to waters 

 north of the equator and west of long 180°, ex- 

 cept for Antarctic whaling, which was resumed 

 in 1946. 



Pressure was mounting in the United States 

 and Canada to restrict Japanese high seas fishing 

 as a condition for the restoration of diplomatic 

 relations. Two international problems of the 

 prewar period should be mentioned in this con- 

 nection. During 1936-38, Japanese exploratory 

 fishing vessels appeared in the eastern Bering 

 Sea and caught salmon. This triggered tremen- 

 dous reactions from the American industry, ad- 

 ministration, and Congress. Legislation was in- 

 troduced in Congress calling for the exercise of 

 jurisdiction on the high seas, and a variety of 

 views were expressed on the legal basis for tak- 

 ing such an action. The Japanese government 

 finally agreed to keep its vessels from fishing 

 salmon in waters off Alaska, without prejudice 

 to Japanese rights under international law 



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