74 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 7 



Japan (Contd.): 



EX -VESSEL PRICES FOR TUNA 

 AT INDIAN OCEAN BASES: 



The company which operates the cannery 

 at Penang, Malaysia, and the Japanese asso- 

 ciation representing vessel owners operating 

 tuna long-line vessels out of overseas bases 

 reached a new price agreement on tuna de- 

 livered to Penang, Malaysia, and Port Louis, 

 Mauritius Island. The agreement covered 



Prices for Tuna Delivered to Penang, Malaysia, and Port Louis, 

 Mauritius Island, AprU 1-May 31, 1966 



Species 



Penang 



Port Louis 



Albacore, round, 

 over 25 lbs. 



Yen/Kg. 

 160 



US$ 

 Short Ton 



403 



Yen/Kq. 

 145 



US$ 



Short Ton 



365 



Ifellowfin, 

 G. &G. , all sizes 



150 



378 



135 



340 



the period April 1-May 31, 1966, and pro- 

 vided for an increase in price of 15-20 yen a 

 kilogram (US$38 -50 a shortton)for tuna land- 

 ed at the two bases. ( Suisancho Nippo , March 

 26, 1966, and other sources.) 



>J: 3^ ^ ;J: :^ 



TUNA FEDERATION PLAN TO STABILIZE 

 EX-VESSEL ALBACORE PRICES: 



At a meeting held March 15, 1966, the Na- 

 tional Federation of Tuna Fishermen's Asso- 

 ciations (NIKKATSUREN) adopted a plan 

 aimed at preventing a collapse of ex -vessel 

 albacore prices during the 1966 summer 

 pole-and-line fishing season. Under the pro- 

 posed plan, NIKKATSUREN would purchase 

 albacore when there should be very heavy 

 landings and if there is danger that prices 

 might drop suddenly. The fish would beheld 

 in cold storage and released either for ex- 

 port or for domestic use at such time when 

 their release will not disrupt market condi- 

 tions. NIKKATSUREN planned to approach 

 the Fisheries Agency and those engaged in 

 the tuna business to seek support for its plan. 

 ( Katsuo-Maguro Tsushin , March 18, 1966.) 



***** 



TUNA FEDERATION RECOMMENDATIONS 

 FOR GOVERNMENT ACTION: 



The Japan li'ederation of Tuna Fishermen's 

 Associations' (NIKKATSUREN) Vice Pres- 

 ident presented two recommendations to the 

 Liberal Democratic Party's Distant -water 

 Fisheries Promotion Subcommittee Chair- 

 man, urging enactment of favorable admin- 



istrative measures for the tuna fishing in- 

 dustry. The gist of the recommendations was 

 reported to be as follows: 



I. Priority Measures to Promote Stable Growth of the 

 Tuna Fishery 



A. The Government should lower interest rates on 

 existing fishery loans from the current 7.5 percent to 

 6.5 percent and should reduce interest rates on new loans 

 from purchase, construction, or conversion of vessels 

 from 7.5 percent to 5.5 percent. It should also raise the 

 loan ceiling of 60 percent of the total cost of the vessel, 

 or a maximum loan of 80 million yen (US$222,222) per 

 vessel, to 70 percent of the cost or a maximum amount 

 of 120 million yen ($333,333) per vessel. Loan inter- 

 est chargedby the Agriculture-Forestry Center Coop- 

 erative Bank (semi-government controlled) should be 

 reduced from the current 8.7percent on existing long- 

 term loans (totaling about 270 billion yen or $75 million) to 

 7.5 percent and on new long-term loans to 6.5 percent. 



B. To facilitate incorporation and business expan- 

 sion of independent fishery enterprises, the Govern- 

 ment should withhold assessment of incorporation tax, 

 establish a separate category for government loans, 

 and adopt other tax reducing methods. 



C. The Government should provide NIKKATSUREN 

 with funds needed to purchase vessels and equipment 

 of enterprises faced with bankruptcy, thereby prevent- 

 ing the occurrence of successive bankruptcies among 

 other financially-distressed enterprises. 



n. 



Basic Plan (Preliminary) to Promote Development 

 of the Tuna Fishery 



In order to stabilize and strengthen the management 

 of the tuna fishery, it is essential that the fishery re- 

 sources be effectively utilized, operations be modern- 

 ized and rationalized, and the structure of the industry 

 be developed to a higher degree, thereby strengthening 

 Japan's international competitive position. To attain 

 these objectives, the following is recommended: 



A. Tuna Production and Export Targets for 1971 



1. Tuna production target: 



Fishery 



Quantity 



Value 1 



Tuna, long-line • • • 

 Skipjack, pole 6 line 



Metric Tons 

 360,000 

 211,000 



Million Yen 



US$1,000 



74, 160 

 26, 800 



206,000 

 74, 444 



Total 



571,000 



100,960 



280, 444 



2. Tuna export target: 



"Product 



Quantity 



Value i 



Frozen 



Canned 



Metric Tons 

 263,000 

 121,000 



Million Yen 



US$1,000 



38, 250 

 20, 150 



106,250 

 55,972 



Total 



384,000 



58,400 



162,222 



3. Principal measures to be implemented: 



a. A total of 155 tuna vessels to be trans- 



ferred from the long-line fishery to the 

 skipjack pole-and-line fishery. 



b. The number of tuna motherships carrying 



1-2 portable boats to be increased by 50. 



