60 



gear for distant waters, etc. The tendency is, as elsewhere, to the 

 disappearance of the small, independent fishermen in favour of the 

 capitalist system of modern times, although, as mentioned above, s.y., 

 " Associations," the legal obligation on the fishermen to form associa- 

 tions to whom alone, in many cases, fishery licenses will be granted, 

 tends to counteract this tendency by the introduction of co-operation. 



130. Data are largely wanting in regard to the financial position 

 of the fishermen ; in "Japan in the 20th Century" it is stated that 

 the average capital is Rs. 40 per family, a sum which includes the 

 value of boats, nets, lines, etc., and all other gear. Boats in Japan 

 are very cheap and fragile and wear out in 10 or 12 years, so that the 

 above capital though perhaps unduly small is not so absurd as it 

 seems at first sight; anyhow the average individual capital is very 

 small. Obviously, however, fishermen with such finances cannot of 

 themselves build deep-sea boats and supply the costly gear and stores 

 necessary for the deep sea and distant fishing which is now a 

 necessity. 



131. With such small capital, frequent losses, bad seasons, and 

 periods of inactivity, the Japanese fisherman is largely in the hands of 

 money-lenders who are spoken of in much the same terms as in India ; 

 the report above mentioned says (of Hokkaido fishermen) " they are 

 obliged, in order to obtain their working funds, to have recourse to 

 loans at exorbitant rates of interest, and often they have to pledge 

 beforehand the anticipated catch of the season. Under the circum- 

 stances the lion's share of the profit coming from the fishery goes into 

 the pocket of money-lenders, and it is hardly possible to expect the 

 development of the industry while things continue in this condition.'' 

 Out of about Rs. 145 lakhs required by the fishermen of 88 associations 

 (out of 124) in Hokkaido as working funds, no less than 80 lakhs were 

 borrowed money. Other accounts give similar statements regarding 

 the want of own capital, the high rate of interest demanded, and the 

 more or less dependent position of the isolated fishermen. It is for this 

 reason that both the Fisheries Society and the Council of Directors of 

 Experimental stations (and many others) lay stress upon the necessity 

 for establishing (a) facilities for the promotion of saving, so that the 

 fishermen may have a safe place in which to put by against bad 

 seasons, etc., any surplus when, as happens, he gets unusually heavy 

 catches ; {b) credit associations among the fishermen where small loans 

 may be obtained, e.^., for repairs, replacing gear, working funds, etc. ; 

 (c) regular lending banks on the syatem of the Agricultural mortgage 

 banks where men can get large loans for building boats, buying large 

 nets, erecting pound nets and traps, etc., on mortgage of the goods 

 obtained by the loan ; {d) relief funds for assisting men who have 

 lost boats, nets, gear, etc , by the storms so frequent in Japanese seas 

 or have met with other misfortune. A few years ago in the Hokkaido* 



