D. Distant-water Salmon Vessels 



The future for this fleet is bleak. The fleet is 

 composed largely of older vessels trying to catch an 

 increasingly limited amount of fish. This fishery could 

 be phased out by the turn of the century. 



E. Distant -water Tuna Vessels 



Thanks to the high market value of sashimi-grade 

 tuna, this is one sector where the Japanese distant- 

 water fleet has been able to operate in the black, but 

 this situafion may change. Oversupply of sashimi- 

 grade tuna on the Japanese market, combined with 

 rising fuel and labor costs, may well make it 

 impossible for Japanese fishery companies to conduct 

 profitable catch operations in this fishery. Japanese 

 companies will continue to provide capital and 

 expertise, but the actual fishing will be done 

 increasingly by fleets in developing countries (e.g. 

 China and Indonesia) with much lower operating costs. 

 Tliis is particularly true for the longline and pole-and- 

 line fleets which specialize in tuna for the sashimi 

 market and are highly labor-intensive. 



Tlie Japanese purse seine fleet in the central Pacific 

 may continue to show slow growth, but this fleet faces 

 the same constraints as its longliner and pole-and-line 

 compatriots, so an extensive expansion of Japanese 

 purse seine effort is unlikely. If limits are placed on the 

 number of seiners permitted to operate in the central 

 western Pacific fishery, many Japanese purse seiners 

 will probably shift their efforts on Indian Ocean 

 skipjack and yellowfln fisheries. 



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