July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



73 



Japan (Contd.): 



Table 2 - Yaizu Fish Landings and Values, 

 January- April 1966 with Comparisons 



Species 



I una : 

 Bluefin 1^/ 

 Albacore 

 Skipjack . 



Mackerel . 



Other fish . 



Total I 60,807 



Quantity 



1966 



1965 



.(Metric Tons). 



24,977 



5,788 



15,146 



11,998 



2,898 



lyincludai yellowfln and blg-oyed tima. 



23.809 

 7,082 

 7,111 

 7,281 

 2,732 



48,015 



Value 



1966 



1965 



(US$1,000). 



13,192 



2,472 



4,164 



1,274 



776 



21,878 



9,855 



2,290 



1,609 



838 



663 



15,255 



of the catch was being purchased by Katsuo- 

 bushi (dried skipjack loin) processors. In 

 early May they were reported paying prices 

 ranging from 70 to 100 yen a kilogram($176- 

 252 a short ton). ( Kansume Nippo , May 1 ; 

 Suisan Keizai Shimbun , May 5, 1966; and oth- 



er sources.) 





TUNA FISHERMEN PLAN TO MEET 

 WITH KOREANS AND CHINESE : 



The Japan Federationof Tuna Fishermen's 

 Associations (NIKKATSUREN), as one of its 

 major projects for the year, plans to meet 

 with representatives of the tuna fishing in- 

 dustries of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and 

 Taiwan to discuss problems affecting the 

 three countries. NIKKATSUREN considers it 

 necessary to maintain close communication 

 with the industry members of those twocoun- 

 tries in view of their rapidly developing tuna 

 fisheries, and to resolve commonproblems re- 

 lating to resources, stabilization of tuna prices, 

 labor, and wages. The organization's Vice 

 President reporcedly has already sounded out 

 the views of the ROK and Taiwan fishery rep- 

 resentatives during their earlier visits to Ja- 

 pan and has received their pledge of coopera- 

 tion. ( Suisan Keizai Shimbun , April 12, 1966.) 



***** 



ATLANTIC TUNA FISHING 

 AND MARKETING TRENDS: 



The number of Japanese tuna vessels op- 

 erating in the Atlantic Ocean totaled 74 ves- 

 sels, as of March 31, 1966, compared to 155 

 vessels in March 1965 and 159 vessels dur- 

 ing the peak of operations in 1964. Based on 

 April 1966 operating plans, the Japanese tuna 

 fleet was expected to further decline to about 

 62 vessels in May-June and 59 in July. The 

 withdrawal of Japanese vessels from the At- 



lantic Ocean was expected to greatly affect 

 the supply of Atlantic tuna available for ex- 

 port to the United States. Landings at Atlan- 

 tic bases were down to around 5,000 metric 

 tons per month, with the number of vessels 

 landing fish averaging about 20 a month. It 

 was anticipated that at that rate, transship- 

 ments of Atlantic tuna in business year 1966 

 (ending March 31, 1967) may not exceed 

 60,000 metric tons, or 80 percent of the 1965 

 transshipments of 75,000 tons. 



Composition of the Japanese Atlantic tuna 

 fleet and export trends during the past three 

 years were: 



Year 



No. Vessels Operated 



Transhipm ents 



1965 

 1964 

 1963 



Hiqli 

 152 

 159 

 105 



Low 

 74 



110 

 86 



Metric Tons 

 75,027 

 94,640 

 86, 868 



In view of the reduction of the Atlantic tuna 

 fleet and indications of further vessel with- 

 drawals, observers in Japan foresee a supply 

 shortage of Atlantic tuna more acute than that 

 which occurred in late 1965. Thus, despite 

 the tuna price decline, they anticipate a def- 

 inite upswing in prices again in the near fu- 

 ture. Cessation of United States buying of 

 Japanese albacore for direct export from Ja- 

 pan since the beginning of April was viewed 

 as only a passing phenomenon attributed to 

 the temporary decline in canned tuna sales 

 in the United States and to the withholding of 

 buy offers by United States packers pending 

 further development of the Japanese summer 

 albacore fishery. ( Suisan Tsushin , April 23 

 and 26, 1966.) 



■^ ■J^ -ip. lif. •/p. 



MARKET VALUE OF TUNA 

 FISHING LICENSES INCREASES: 



Japanese tuna fishing licenses, which are 

 freely sold at a premium on the open market 

 in Japan, were reported selling for around 

 240,000 yen (US$667) a vessel ton, compared 

 with a low of 120,000 yen ($333) in late 1965. 

 The rise in premium, which began in early 

 1966 (average of $417 offered in January and 

 $500 in February-March) was attributed to 

 improved economic conditions in the fishery. 

 The highest postwar premium paid for a tuna 

 license was 420,000 yen ($1,167) a vesselton 

 in late 1962. ( Suisan Keizai Shim bun, April 

 12, 1966.) 



