As I do not have at hand statistics for the years from 1937 on I cannot show the 

 situation in recent years, however, the catch in 1940 appears to have been around 37, 215, 000 

 pounds. As will be described later, the catch at Formosan bases had a very high proportion 

 of spearfishes, in many cases over half. In addition the catch of sharks by longlines was around 

 4, 000, 000 to 4, 500, 000 pounds. 



With the beginning of investigations by the former South Seas Government-General, 

 the waters of the so-called Inner South Seas area were gradually revealed as superior fishing 

 grounds. From around 1936 on this area was fished by large boats based at the port of Misaki 

 in Kanagawa Prefecture in addition to the boats based within the South Seas. The following 

 table shows the operations and catch of Misaki-based boats. 



Table 8. --Number of vessels operating 

 in waters of the South Seas 

 Government -General and their 



catch (Ministry of Agriculture 



and Forestry statistics) 



Note: (1) The above figures are the total for 

 tunas and spearfishes but do not 

 include sharks. 

 (2) About 75 percent of the catch was 

 yellowfin. 



With this extension of the fishing grounds the actual number of fishing days grad- 

 ually decreased in relation to the number of days required for a cruise. In other words, the 

 number of days required to go to and from the fishing grounds increased until it was equal to 

 or greater than the number of days during which fishing was actually carried on. In single 

 vessel operations this sort of situation arises naturally, and in such a situation the overhead 

 expenses naturally rise. Furthermore, as the China Incident gradually became more serious 

 the supply of materials required for the fishery became very uncertain due to preparations for 

 the Pacific war. In particular the strengthening of controls on fuel and strong demands for its 

 conservation made it very difficult for vessels to operate singly in the southern region. The 

 so-called mothership-type tuna fishery was conceived as a device to overcome these difficulties. 

 Within Japan proper its chief proponent was the Kaiyo Gyogyo Kyokai, which began a campaign 

 to interest all parties concerned. 



The plan proposed by the Kaiyo Gyogyo Kyokai, as can be seen from the following 

 summary, combined the mothership-type operation with advance base facilities and therefore 

 can hardly be called a pure mothership-type ofieration. However, the plan is presented here 

 for the reader's reference because in these postwar days the necessity of mothership-type 

 tuna fishing is again being strongly urged. Under the completely changed conditions of the 

 present day it need hardly be said that the part of the plcin relating to base facilities is out of 

 the question. 



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