for their larger catches ; hence the moderate catch per house and per 

 boat. It is certain on the other hand that the statistics are only 

 minima; e.g., considering that the fishermen aic taxed it is possible 

 that they understate their catches; it seems impossible that statistics 

 can already be correctly gathered from so vast a length of coast and 

 so many individuals — notwithstanding the statistical value of associa- 

 tions — and it is certain that there are lacuuio in the tables which; 

 moreover, give very different and much losver figures than the state- 

 ments of persons who enquire into particular yields, as for instance 

 Dr. Smith's and Prof. Mitsukuri's figures for carp and horiculture 

 round Tokyo. 



5. Statistics apart it is clear that the industry is of vast 

 importance ; even 640,000 tons means about 30 Ih. per head of a 

 population of 48,000,000 ; in Madras the catch probably does not 

 exceed one-fifth of this yield for a population just one-fifth less, or 

 say 7^ lb. per head. Moreover an immense subsidiary business is 

 carried on in the subsequent manufacturing processes applied to vast 

 quantities of produce and to its packing and transport. 



6. The case for the Japanese fisheries is put by Dr. Smith in a 

 too brief paper of 1905; he says, "The fisheries of Japan are less 

 valuable than those of several other countries, but they take first rank 

 over those of all other nations (1) in the actual number of people 

 making a livelihood ; (2) in the relative number of persons engaged 

 in and dependent on the industry ; (3) in the quantity of products 

 taken annually from the water; (4) in the relative importance of 

 fishery products in the domestic economy ; (5) in the ingenuity and 

 skill shown by the people in devising and using fishing appliances 

 and preparing the catch for use ; (6) in the extent to which all kinds 

 of water products are utilized; (7) in the extent to which the 

 fisheries of foreign countries have been studied and the best methods 

 adapted to home conditions ; (8) in the extent to which aquiculture 

 has been carried ; (9) in the zeal and intelligence displayed by the 

 government in promoting the development of the fisheries and the 

 welfare of the fishing population.'^ 



Items (1) to (4) have been sufficiently dealt with above though, 

 as will be seen, statistics do not seem to bear out item (3), since the 

 fishery outturns of Great Britain and of America are considerably larger 

 than that of Japan as recorded ; item (8) may also be open to doubt. 

 With the others I fully concur, and propositions (5) to (9) will be 

 demonstrated in the following notes. 



7. The conditions and characteristics of fishing and fishermen. — 

 Perhaps the qualities most patently noticeable in Japanese fishermen 

 are their skill, hardihood, and self-reliance, these characteristics being 

 obviously the product of their climate and seas. For Japanese seas 



