It is reported that the Japsinese GovemnBnt will continue its 

 policy of developing the tuna fisheries » Since the country has sur- 

 plus trade credit with the sterling bloc and with some of the soft 

 currency countries, the only market for high-priced tuna are believ- 

 ed to be the United States and Canada. Even the Far Eastern coun- 

 tries, which took sizable amounts of seasoned tuna before World 

 War IIj, no longer import this lower priced tuna product in any 

 quantity. The industry is continuing exploration of new tuna fish- 

 ing areas and is planning the construction of larger size beats 

 (300 gross tons or more) for distant offshore fishing. Experiments 

 are continuing with raothership operations, particularly in tropi- 

 cal waters. Future expansion of the industry, however, will depend 

 mainly on the export trade in tuna and tuna products. 



FORMOSA C TAIWAN) 



Tuna fishing from Formosan ports has been carried on tradition- 

 ally in the seas east of Formosa, principally for skipjack. During 

 the Japanese control of Formosa, however, an important fishery for 

 the black tuna was developed in the deeper waters between Formosa 

 and the Philippine Islands, As boats became larger, operations were 

 gradually extended to the South China, Sulu, and Celebes Seas, for 

 yellowfin tuna primarily. During the 1930 's operations became more 

 intensive, and lA, 764, 680 pounds of tuna and tunalike fishes were 

 landed at Formosan ports in 1936; one-third of the catch was skip- 

 jack, the remainder being black tuna, yellowfin tuna, and others. 

 The postwar tuna fisheries have not changed appreciably. Production 

 in 1948 was 15,121,890 pounds. Since Formosa is situated favorably 

 for expanding its tuna fisheries, it can be expected that produc- 

 tion will increase if vessels are available for offshore operations, 

 and foreign markets can be developed for tuna products surplus to 

 the needs of the local population. Most tunas, with the exception 

 of skipjack, are consumed fresh by the local population; the skip- 

 jack is usually processed into katsuobushi , principally for export 

 to Japan. Nothing is known about Formosan facilities for canning 

 tuna. 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



Tunas are among the most abundant of the marine resources in 

 the waters surrounding the Philippine Islands. Of the 21 tuna and 

 tunalike species found in these waters, the main species are the 

 yellowfin, the skipjack, and the black tuna (closely allied to the 



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