In America, as has already been stated, purse seining and pole and line fishing are 

 the main methods employed in catching tuna, there being no longline fishery. It appears that 

 plans are already being made for the advance of this fishery into the former South Seas Mandate 

 area, and studies are being made of the distribution of bait and of tunas and skipjack. 



Compared to the tuna longline fishery, this method has the advantage on the score of 

 the exertion required of the individual fisherman, however, the essential weakness of this fish- 

 ing method lies in the fact that it always requires live bait. According to the above-mentioned 

 report of American explorations in the waters of the former South Seas Mandate, the establish- 

 ment of this fishery in that region appears doubtful because of the bait problem. However, as 

 everyone knows, the waters of that region are an excellent fishing ground for the longline 

 fishery. The value of those fishing grounds will be discussed in a later section. 



3, Drift line (nagashiyoma) fishery 



This fishery has been carried on in the past, but it is not known whether it is at 

 present. A brief account of it is given here because its concept contains some very interesting 

 features. It is called nagashiyoma in the Nagasaki area ajid nagashinawa in the Izu region. 



The fishing gear consists of a barrel, line, and hook. The barrel performs a 

 double function as a float and a reel, with the line wound around it. A hook is attached to the tip 

 of the line exactly as in the case of the longline, which will be described later, with a wire leader 

 and a sekiyama. For bait sardines and squid are mainly used, and the gear is chiefly employed 

 with the object of catching albacore (Translator's note: figure 6, depicting this gear, is onnitted.) 



When the hook has been baited, the line is paid out to a suitable length and allowed to 

 hang down into the sea, the remainder of the line being then secured either to the barrel or upon 

 itself with a thin string so that no more will unreel off the barrel. The string used for stopping 

 the line must be neither too strong nor too weak. When a tuna takes the hook and begins to 

 fight, it is necessary that the string be strong enough to set the hook thoroughly in the fish's 

 mouth. When the hooked tuna attempts to dive deep, the string must be of such strength that it 

 will break from the combined force of the buoyancy of the barrel and the pull of the fish. 



When a tuna is hooked, the string breaks ajid the barrel spins violently, paying out 

 the line. The fishing boat, which is standing by, immediately is rowed to the barrel and the line 

 is pulled in by hand. The spinning of this barrel is described in old books as being just like a 

 mill wheel. 



Ordinarily one boat operates about 8 tubs, which are set in a line at suitable 

 intervals. This is thought to have been the origin of the longline, which will be described later, 

 but the relationship is not well known. 



When the tunas are hooked, they tend to dive violently and deep. If the tub with its 

 great buoyancy were acting directly as a float, there would be danger of the line's parting. On 

 the other hand, if a float of small buoyancy were employed, there would be danger of its being 

 pulled under by the fish. The idea of fastening the line to the barrel with suitable string, having 

 this string broken by the pull of the tuna, and having the barrel revolve and pay out the line is 

 the same in principle as the modern reel. 



The catch of the hook and line fishery was mentioned earlier, the amount exceeding 

 the catch by all net fisheries for the sanne year. Prefectures with a catch of over 10, 000 kan 

 (82, 700 pounds) and the amount of their catch are given in the following table. 



Large catches are shown for Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Shizuoka, and Okinawa prefec- 

 tures. This pattern corresponds at many points with the skipjack landings, shov/ing the re- 

 latedness of these two fisheries. 



