the south where bait fish are scarce. Besides the milkfish, the ginkagami ( Mene maculata ) was 

 used, particularly where spearfishes were the objective of the fishery. 



Considerable attention is given to the selection of bait because of the idea that the 

 type of bait will cause variation in the species mcuking up the catch and in the success of the fish- 

 ing. However, in actuality the effect that the type of bait has on fishing success is not well under- 

 stood and it cannot be thought that it makes such a very great difference. For example, in the data 

 from investigations of yellowfin grounds in southern waters it is difficult to perceive any note- 

 worthy differences in the catch rate whether squid, frozen sardine, frozen herring, or salted 

 sardines were used. Furthermore, when we examine the stomach contents of tunas and spear- 

 fishes, we find that they are quite heterogeneous, the foods which are most abundant in the area 

 of catch or those which are thought to be comparatively easy to capture being predominant. It is 

 considered that these facts indicate that these fishes have a low degree of preference or selectivi- 

 ty with regard to their food. 



The suitability of a bait, though of course it varies with the species, is determined by 

 whether it keeps well on the hook, whether it is of a handy size, and whether it will easily catch 

 the eye of the tuna. The matter of the keeping qualities of the bait, of course, means the state 

 of its preservation. As far as ability to catch the eye of the fish is concerned, the optimum con- 

 dition is probably a bait which is alive and moving about. 



It is not known when the longline fishery began nor who started it. It is said however 

 that it has been carried on since quite ancient times. The author has not yet had an opportunity 

 to investigate its history and consequently knows none of the details about it. 



The fact that the tunas have borne a deep relationship to the inhabitants of the 

 Japanese archipelago since very ancient times is clearly shown by the fact that tuna bones are 

 often discovered in shell mounds. 



We have no way of knowing by what method the tunas were taken in those times. It' 

 is very hard to believe, however, that in that period v/hen dug-out canoes were used the people 

 were carrying on a very large scale fishery. It is imagined that the fish were taken by simple 

 hooks, perhaps by some sort of fixed gear along the coast, or by harpooning. As far as the hook 

 and line fisheries are concerned they probably developed on a gradually increasing scale from 

 pole and line or hand line gear to trolling and drift lines, the tuna longline finally being devised as 

 a development from the drift line or the bottom longline. 



It has been recorded that longlines of the same type of construction as those in use at 

 present were fished in the Boso area well over 200 years ago and that they had considerable suc- 

 cess even at that time. The tradition in the Izu region is that the gear was originated by one 

 Fujii in the Kaei Era (1848-53). In any case, considering the size of the fishing boats of that time, 

 it seems certain that the fishery was on a small scale and that the fishing grounds were limited to 

 coastal waters. 



From the beginning of the Meiji period (1868) to about the 40th year of the Meiji Era 

 (1907), when engines first began to be employed in fishing boats, the course of development of 

 the fishery as given in the Awa Suisan Shi was generally as follows. 



The tuna longline boats used in the Boso region before the Meiji period were rarely 

 of greater than 6-foot beam. In the early years of Meiji the boats increased somewhat in size, 

 but even so the maximum was about 6-foot 3 to 4 inches beam. The standard gear in use before 

 the Meiji period had a trunk line of 300 fathoms with 15 branch lines per skate. The amount of 

 gear employed by a boat at one time appears to have been about 5 skates. This would be about 

 75 hooks. As the years passed the si-ze of the vessels and the number of crew members gradu- 

 ally increased. 



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