SOME OBSERVATIONS ON PRESENT AND FUTURE JAPANESE TUNA FISHERIES 



by 

 Wilvan G. Van Campen 1/ 



In the brief time available, I cannot expect to present many factual data. I 

 will try only to express some generalities about the present and future of the Japanese 

 tuna fisheries, based on opinions I have heard from persons close to the Japanese industry. 



Of the various speakers you will hear at this meeting, I am the only one who 

 does not represent the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries or some other organization devoted 

 to the welfare of the American fishing industry. I work for the Department of State. I 

 therefore consider it appropriate for me to take on to some extent the role of the Devil's 

 Advocate, if not to defend the Japanese fisherman, at least to show you some of his strong 

 points and his point of view. 



First, how do the tuna fisheries look 

 in Japan today? 



The ancient live-bait fishery for 

 skipjack and albacore is not growing. New 

 vessels are being built, it is true, but no 

 one expects any spectacular expansion. 

 Rather they foresee a decline in the size 

 of the fleet. This fishery is a rather 

 passive onej it simply waits for the skip- 

 jack and albacore to migrate into its oper- 

 ating range, which is limited by the 

 distance that the vessels can move from 

 their livebait supply. In years when the 

 schools do not become available, the catch 

 goes down. The applicable fishing power, 

 assuming no drastic change in price levels, 

 remains about the same from year-to-year. 

 Last year the skipjack catch increased 

 strongly from 97 thousand tons to 11*7 

 thousand tons — but the albacore catch 

 fell off badly. This season again, the 

 skipjack catch is shaping up well, and the 

 albacore season lo6ks, if anything, worse 

 than last year. 



The catch of the livebait fishery last 

 year was only about twice that of 19h0, the 

 last prewar year of full operation. The 

 fishery is thus in a pretty bad way, as 

 Japanese tuna fisheries go. But given op- 

 erating bases near bait supplies in the 



1/ Fishery Attach!, American Embassy, 

 Tokyo, Japan. 



Trust Territory or in Southeast Asia, there 

 is little doubt that production could be 

 greatly increased. 



One of the reasons this fishery is 

 losing popularity is that a large 150-300 

 ton boat, which can follow the full range 

 of migration of the skipjack and albacore 

 through the fishing grounds during the 

 season, must, to make ends meet, go tuna 

 longlining during the winter. This neces- 

 sitates cutting the crew down to half, from 

 about 50 to 25 men. In Japan the obliga- 

 tions of employer to employee are not 

 easily thrown off, and fishing boat crews 

 tend to have strong local and family ties, 

 the boat being in a sense an instrument of 

 social welfare in addition to being a pro- 

 duction unit, and as a result this seasonal 

 reduction of the crew is difficult and pain- 

 ful, and the boats are often overmanned. 



What about the longline fishery? 



By 1957 its production had increased 

 6-fold over 19U0. How is it regarded in 

 Japan? It is the show-piece, the glamor 

 star of the Japanese fisheries. In the 

 past few years almost an entire new fleet 

 of beautiful modern vessels has been 

 created. They are equipped with the finest 

 navigational aids and with refrigeration 

 machinery, with conveyors for handling the 

 skates of gear — why some, I understand, 

 even provide each fisherman with a bunk 



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