KASAHARA: JAPANESE DISTANT-WATER FISHERIES 



being handled under three separate bilateral 

 agreements, Japan-Soviet, United States-Japan, 

 and United States-Soviet. Two of the three 

 states, the Soviet Union and the United States, 

 are parties to the 1958 continental shelf con- 

 vention, which came into force in 1964, while 

 Japan is not. The Soviet Union and Japan have 

 developed a unique system to allocate tangle-net 

 fishing grounds between their mothership fish- 

 eries both in Kamchatka and in the eastern Ber- 

 ing Sea. 



As has been mentioned in the section on Re- 

 view of Selected High Seas Fisheries, Japan 

 planned to resume the mothership crab fishery 

 during the 1952 season but did not proceed with 

 the plan in fear of political repercussions from 

 the United States. The fishery began in 1953 

 with one mothership jointly operated by the 

 three biggest companies, each taking an equal 

 share of interest and obligation, with a produc- 

 tion quota of 50,000 cases (one case equals 48 

 cans of one-half pound each) set by the Japanese 

 government, along with various restrictions on 

 the fishing area and gear. This pattern of op- 

 eration continued until 1956, when the produc- 

 tion quota increased to 57,000 cases (plus some 

 allowance) . There were some U.S. crab vessels 

 (trawlers) fishing in Bristol Bay from time to 

 time, and arrangements were made for mini- 

 mizing gear conflicts, but the U.S. catch was 

 very small then. The rapid expansion of the 

 Japanese crab fishery in Bristol Bay began in 

 1959, when the quota was raised to 70,000 cases. 

 It was further increased to 80,000 cases in 1960, 

 and in the same year a new mothership oper- 

 ation was authorized under an exploratory fish- 

 ing license.'" The Soviet crab fishery in Bristol 

 Bay also started this year with one mothership. 

 Thereafter expansion continued at an increasing 

 rate. 



By 1962, the fishery had grown to include three 

 motherships in the spring season and two in the 

 autumn. In 1963, the government consolidated 

 the operations of diff"erent motherships and au- 

 thorized only two, each managed jointly by sever- 

 al companies, with a total production quota of 



^* The catch was processed to frozen crab meat, with 

 a production quota of 180 tons. Fishing was conducted 

 with three deck-loaded boats and one independent boat. 



235,000 cases (including frozen meat at a con- 

 version rate of 100 tons of crab meat to 10,000 

 cases). The Soviet Union sent three mother- 

 ships to the same area, resulting in some inci- 

 dents of gear damage. During the period of 

 expansion, the United States and Japan con- 

 ducted research on the king crab stock in the 

 eastern Bering Sea as part of the INPFC pro- 

 gram, and the United States repeatedly ex- 

 pressed its concern over the condition of the 

 stock. 



In 1964, the United States enacted a law to 

 prohibit exploitation of resources of its conti- 

 nental shelf by foreign nationals (the Conven- 

 tion on the Continental Shelf was ratified by the 

 United States in 1961 and came into force in 

 1964). In a statement by the President, how- 

 ever, the United States indicated that due con- 

 sideration would be given to the historical 

 interest of Japan in king crab fishing in the 

 eastern Bering Sea. Official negotiations were 

 carried out during October-November 1964. As 

 expected, Japan held the view that the king crab 

 stock under question was a high seas resource, 

 while the United States claimed the stock as a 

 resource of the continental shelf over which the 

 coastal state had exclusive jurisdiction. Al- 

 though there was no agreement on the legal basis 

 for regulating the exploitation of the stock, the 

 two governments agreed to take certain mea- 

 sures for the seasons 1965 and 1966, including a 

 reduction of the quota for the Japanese fisheries 

 to 185,000 cases and various conservation mea- 

 sures applicable to the nationals of both nations. 

 Fishing gear other than the tangle net and the 

 pot was prohibited, and a large area was reserved 

 exclusively for pot fishing. 



A second round of negotiations was held in 

 late 1966 and the agreement was extended, with 

 the Japanese production quota further reduced 

 to 163,000 cases for 1967-68. The agreement 

 was revised again in 1968 for another 2 years, 

 reducing the Japanese quota to 85,000 cases on 

 the ground that the condition of the stock was 

 deteriorating. For the first time, the need for 

 paying attention to the condition of the tanner 

 crab stock was discussed, and the Japanese gov- 

 ernment set a catch limit for tanner crab for the 

 season 1969. 



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