FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



The total production of inshore fisheries has 

 stayed about the same for the last 10 years, a 

 little less than 2 million metric tons. The total 

 catch of coastal fisheries (called "oflFshore fish- 

 eries" in Japan) has shown a substantial in- 

 crease, but has been influenced by fluctuations 

 of a few pelagic species. (Mackerels and com- 

 mon squid, for example, account for a sharp in- 

 crease in 1968.) Distant-water fisheries have 

 contributed greatly to a general increase in pro- 

 duction during the last 10 years, but pollack ac- 

 count for the largest portion of the growth. In 

 fact, many of the other distant-w-ater fisheries 

 have shown a decline in the most recent years. 

 Pollack are largely processed into minced meat 

 and fish meal. The domestic production of fish 

 meal has also increased rapidly during the same 

 period." Fish meal is manufactured on factory- 

 ships, now mainly from pollack, as well as on 

 land, from mackerel, some other coastal pelagic 

 species, and pollack. 



Inshore fisheries. — This sector consists of 

 fishing by small vessels (particularly draggers), 

 coastal traps, beach seines, and other miscel- 

 laneous methods including collection of bivalves 

 and seaweeds. Virtually all stocks in inshore 

 waters are exploited very intensively, and no in- 

 crease in production would be possible by further 

 intensifying fishing eff"orts. Theoretically it 

 might be possible to improve the fisheries in this 

 category by introducing better management 

 measures, but it would create enormous social 

 and economic problems. The fisheries are tightly 

 controlled by the long-established fishing right 

 system largely operating through cooperatives. 



This sector of the industry has always pre- 

 sented difiicult social problems due to low pro- 

 ductivity (efficient fishing methods are usually 

 outlawed) and overemployment. Unlike farm- 

 ers around urban areas, who have become rich 

 by selling their land for industrial or residential 

 use, these fishermen have nothing to cash in. 

 Social problems of small fishing communities 



' As in most other industrialized countries, demand 

 for fish meal as animal feeds has risen sharply and has 

 been met mainly by domestic supply and partly by im- 

 ports. Domestic producers have been protected by an 

 import quota. 



along the Japanese coast will only be solved grad- 

 ually by young people being absorbed in man- 

 ufacturing industries. The industrialization and 

 urbanization of the coastal zone is becoming a 

 real threat to inshore fisheries, particularly those 

 in bays and estuaries. Inshore fisheries are still 

 important in Japan for providing consumers 

 with fresh, high-priced seafoods, but the possi- 

 bility of increasing their total production has to 

 be written oflE". 



Coastal {or offshore) fisheries. — This category 

 includes all fisheries carried out by medium- 

 sized vessels. They include Danish seining, pair 

 trawling, purse seining, saury fishing, tuna long- 

 lining by smaller vessels, salmon fishing by smal- 

 ler vessels, skipjack fishing by smaller vessels, 

 pole-and-line fishing for mackerel, squid fishing, 

 and others. Some of these fisheries are con- 

 ducted in fairly distant waters, for example, tuna 

 and skipjack fishing or offshore saury fishing. 

 Except in the last 2 years, this sector has pro- 

 duced the greatest proportion of the total catch 

 of the entire Japanese fishing industry. 



While the catches of groundfishes around the 

 Japanese islands have been relatively stable, 

 under very strong fishing pressure, the catches 

 of coastal pelagic species have fluctuated greatly 

 as outlined in Other Fisheries, pages 243 to 245. 

 All of these species have been exploited very in- 

 tensively. Although Japanese scientists do not 

 agree on the causes of the declining catches of 

 some of these species, particularly sardines 

 {Sardinops) and saury, overfishing is a strong 

 possibility. The causes of a rapid increase in 

 jack mackerel during the late 1950's and early 

 1960's and in mackerels (mainly Scomber ja- 

 ponicus) in the late 1960's are also unknown. 

 This sector of the industry will continue to face 

 large fluctuations in the catches of major pe- 

 lagic species, but a long-term increase of 

 the total catch is unlikely. The total production 

 of major coastal pelagic species, including mack- 

 erels, jack mackerel, anchovy, saury, sardines 

 (now very insignificant), and squids during 

 1956-69 is shown in Figure 17. (The figure in- 

 cludes catches by inshore fisheries.) The intro- 

 duction of better methods of resource manage- 



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