It is not known when or by whom the set-net was invented and put into actual use. 

 However, it is certain that the invention and application of this gear took place an extremely 

 long time ago. The tuna trap shown in the figure is extracted from the Nippon Suissin S'"'.ihoshi— 

 and the outline of its construction is as follows. 



1/ 



"A large net in the county of Kochika in the province of Rikuzen is designed chiefly 

 to take tuna, however, as it is a fixed fishing gear snappers, yellowtail, sardine, skipjack, tuna, 

 and sharks all enter it. , . , The fishing ground is at the point of a cape where trees grow luxuri- 

 antly and where the coast line forms a rounded bay. It is located over 400 ken (200 yards) from 

 shore in waters 25 - 26 fathoms deep and is set up in such a way as to embrace the mouth of the 

 bay. The local tradition concerning the origin of this net ascribes its invention to one SaburO 

 Torimi of the Abe clan, who taught the nnethod to the fisher-folk. Under the old Sendai feudal 

 lords, the net was insured by a grant of nnoney from the local ruler for the repair of the net 

 when it was damaged by stormy weather. " 



The catch of tunas by fixed gear according to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture 

 and Forestry for 1941 amounted to a total of 9,258, 324 pounds. According to the same statis- 

 tics, regions in which the catch anaounted to over 10, 000 kan (82, 700 pounds) were as shown in 

 the following table. From 1942 on the migrations of black tuna into Japanese coastal waters 

 dropped off markedly, and for this reason the catch of tunas by fixed gear has diminished to 

 almost nothing. 



Table 1. --Catch by fixed gear in various 

 regions (in pounds) 



Notes: (1) According to Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 

 statistics for 1941. 

 (2) Only those prefectures having a catch over 10, 000 

 kan (82, 700 pounds) are shown. 



2. DrJit-net fishery 



In this fishery, unlike the trap fishery, the nets are loaded into the fishing boat and 

 carried to the place where they are to be used. Consequently, it has the characteristic of 

 mobility, and can be saiid to be of a more positive character than the trap fishery. 



In catching snnall birds a so-called "mist net" is used, and the drift-net may be 

 thought of as a mist net used in the sea. In short, the net is stretched across the path of the 

 fish, and waits for passing fish to be caught in it. 



Tuna generally swinn in the direction of flow of the current, and therefore the net 

 must be set roughly at right angles to the current. Furthermore, as the depth of the net is quite 



_1_/ Published by the Fisheries Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce in 1910. The 

 author has supplied suitable diacritical marks to assist in the reading of the Chinese-style 

 text of the description. 



