BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 343 



no efforts which amount to anything have been made in the direction 

 of propagation. Notwithstanding these circumstances the annual yield 

 of the fisheries is $5,000,000 to $7,000,000 ; and, with the recent steps 

 taken by the Government to introduce more enlightened aud economical 

 methods of carrying on the industries, and the enthusiastic eftbrts which 

 the recently organized society of fishermen is making, it is to be hoped 

 that the fisheries of the island will yield a much larger return in future. 



STATUS OP SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES OF HOKKAIDO. 



Herring fisheries. — Herring (Glupea harengus Linn.) are caught mostly 

 along the western or Japan Sea coast of Hokkaido during their spawn- 

 ing season, which commences generally in the first part of April and 

 continues until the latter part of June. Two kinds of net are used for 

 their capture, namely, the moored trap-net and the gill-net. The larger 

 part of the herring caught is worked up into scraps and oil, while the 

 remainder is split and dried upon scaffoldings. Bones, gills, and milt 

 left after the split herring is made, are separately dried and sold for 

 manure; while roes are dried or pickled and used as an article of food. 

 All products of the herring fisheries are used in the home market, ex- 

 cept the oil, which is exported, when low prices i^re vail in the island, to 

 a certain extent to the United States. 



Fall-salmon or ^^ saJce^^ fisheries. — Fall salmon {Oncorhynchus haberi 

 Hilgd.) or " sake," as it is called by the Japanese, ascend several streams 

 in Hokkaido, after the middle of September, for the puri^ose of spawn- 

 ing. It is caught both in seas and rivers; in the former case traps and 

 gill-nets being used, while in the latter drag-seines are employed. The 

 salmon are mostly cured and sent to southern markets, although they 

 are canned to some extent in the province of Nemuro. 



Sirring -salmon fisheries. — Spring salmon {Oncorhynchus perryi Hilgd.), 

 known in the island as " masu," ascend the rivers in Miij. They are 

 not so abundant as the fall salmon, but somewhat superior in flavor. 

 The methods of capture and curing are materially the same as those 

 for the fall s])ecies. 



Cod fisheries. — Cod [Gadns hrandtii Hilgd.) are caught mostly during 

 winter and early spring with trawls. The fish of early in the season 

 are slightly salted and sent to the southern market for immediate con- 

 sumption ; while those of the later season are split and " thorough cured," 

 boned, and "hard dried." The liver is utilized for the manufacture of 

 codliver oil, and the heads and bones are made into fertilizers. 



'■'■ IicashV fisheries. — "Iwashi" {Glupea mclanosticta Schleg.) is a small 

 species of herring that ap[)ruaches the eastern coast in rather small 

 schools during summer for the purpose of seeking food. The school is 

 mote or less mixed with "seven-spots" {Etrumeus micropus Bleek.) and 

 the young of spring herring {C. harengus). It is caught with drag- 

 seines, and worked into oil and scraps. 



