KASAHARA: JAPANESE DISTANT- WATER FISHERIES 



greater amount of protection against Japanese 

 fishing for groundfishes and shrimp. Pollack, 

 the main species for the trawl fisheries in the 

 Bering Sea and Kamchatka waters, might be- 

 come a serious international problem in the near 

 future. Japanese fishing pressure is still mount- 

 ing ; the Soviet catch is increasing; South Korea 

 is building a number of stern trawlers in Japan 

 with a view to rapidly increasing her participa- 

 tion in pollack fishing. The Japanese trawl fish- 

 ery along the west coast of Africa will face fur- 

 ther international problems as more African 

 nations take measures to extend fishery jurisdic- 

 tion. Most of the bilateral agreements Japan 

 has concluded in recent years are of short dur- 

 ation, and it may be difficult to continue these 

 on the same terms. 



The Japanese tuna industry might still be 

 able to compete with the Taiwanese and Korean 

 fisheries by taking advantage of rapidly expand- 

 ing domestic markets, but a substantial increase 

 in the catch of the longline fishery is not likely. 

 Major eflforts are being made to develop a purse- 

 seine fishery similar to that of the United States 

 and to increase the production of skipjack, which 

 is at present an underexploited resource; but 

 international regulations will gradually be ap- 

 plied to many of the tuna fisheries. In the east- 

 ern tropical Pacific, the present pattern of tuna 

 fishing is hkely to lead to a system of national 

 quotas. Tuna fisheries in the Atlantic will also 

 be subject to some international regulatory sys- 

 tem in the future. Eventually there might be a 

 regime of worldwide regulation covering all ma- 

 jor tuna fisheries. Trawl fishing in the North- 

 west Atlantic will also be subject to further re- 

 strictions through bilateral and multilateral 

 arrangements. Whaling both in the Antarctic 

 and the North Pacific will have to be further 

 curtailed. 



International fishery problems faced by the 

 Soviet Union are not too different from those 

 confronting Japan, except in the Northwest Pa- 

 cific where the Soviet Union finds herself in the 

 position of a coastal nation seeking protection 

 against Japanese fisheries. It is interesting to 

 note that their responses to unilateral claims 

 have not been too difl^erent from those of Jap- 

 an. 



FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY 



The phenomenal growth of the Japanese econ- 

 omy has greatly increased demand for high- 

 quality foods, particularly animal protein pro- 

 ducts. The per capita consumption of animal 

 protein increased by 19 ^r in the 5-fiscal year pe- 

 riod of 1963-68. About 58% of the animal pro- 

 tein intake is still from seafoods, including whale 

 meat. During the same period, the per capita 

 expenditure for fishery products increased by 

 10% per annum in cities and 13.2% per annum 

 in rural areas (Anonymous, 1969). Markets 

 have also developed for a greater variety of fish- 

 ery products. Imbalance between demand and 

 supply has been increasing constantly, pushing 

 up prices sharply. Pressure for increased fish 

 supply is still quite strong in Japan. 



Domestic Production 



What alternatives are available for Japan to 

 meet this problem? First, let us examine the 

 possibilities of increasing the domestic supply 

 of fish. Figure 16 indicates the trend for pro- 

 duction by four sectors of the Japanese marine 

 fishing industry. Divisions between the sectors, 

 except aquaculture, are somewhat arbitrary. 



4n 



<o 



3- 



^ 1- 



CoaslaUor offshore) 



— .^^fisheries ^ -' 



Distant-water fisheries 



Marine aquaculture.-- . 



"1 I 1 I I I 1 1 1 1 1 



60 62 64 66 68 



Year 



Figure 16. — Production of four sectors of the Japanese 

 fishing industry 1959-69 (from Ministry of Agriculture 

 and Forestry, 1971). Division between inshore fisheries 

 and coastal (or offshore) fisheries is somewhat arbi- 

 trary. Distant-water fisheries include trawl fisheries in 

 the China Sea. 



271 



