THE FISHERIES OF THE FAR EAST 



The inshore fisheries include weirs of a sort, together 

 with a system of dip-nets not unlike those in use among 

 the Chinese river-fishers. The fisherman erects a rough 

 scaffolding above the water, over which a thatched roof 

 is placed as a shelter from the sun ; and from here he 

 lowers a huge, oblong net which is drawn into concave 

 form by cords, and kept open by a framework made of 

 two curved, intersecting poles. Connected with the 

 framework is a wooden lever, by means of which the 

 whole net can be quickly weighed out of the water. 



As soon as the net is down, the fisherman waits 

 patiently till the fish collect over the spot where he has 

 lowered his tackle, and then suddenly jerks the edges of 

 the net above water ; then, like the Chinaman, he ladles 

 his catch out with a smaller dip-net, hauls the fish up to 

 his platform, and packs them away in his basket. 



But the Japanese are by no means mere stay-at-home 

 fishers ; almost all the Corean coast-fishery is in their 

 hands, and sealing boats put off every season from 

 Hakodate for the Kurile Islands at the far north, and 

 even for Kamchatka. Moreover, the little country's 

 exportation of fish-oil is steadily on the increase. 



In their river-fishing, too, Western principles have 

 come largely into use, though the cormorant is still very 

 popular among the peasantry and the old-fashioned 

 native sportsmen. Trout are found abundantly in all the 

 streams, and in the north, salmon are exceedingly plenti- 

 ful. In angling for the ai (a large kind of trout) and the 

 rnasu, or Japanese salmon, before the tackle is thrown, 

 the native fishermen catch a handful of small fry, some- 



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