August 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



61 



Japan (Contd.): 



idated for "export" to overseas bases in busi- 

 ness year 196 5 (April 196 5 -March 1966), ac- 

 cording to data released by the Japan Frozen 

 Foods Exporters Association. This repre- 

 sents increases over the previous year's ex- 

 ports of 22 percent in quantity and 28 per- 

 cent in value. ( SuisanTsushin, May 18, 1966.) 



NEW CANNED TUNA EXPORT 

 VALIDATION STANDARD ADOPTED: 



The Japanese Ministry of International 

 Trade and Industry (MITI), following conclu- 

 sion of an exporters' agreement in April 1966 

 between packers and exporters on exports to 

 the United States of canned tuna in brine, an- 

 nounced on May 17 the adoption of a new 

 canned tuna export validation standard for 

 the period May 14, 1966-March 31, 1967. 

 Under the new standard, MITI will approve 

 for export during the 11 -month period a to- 

 tal of 2.54 million cases of tuna packed in 

 brine, 70 percent to be allocated to exporters 

 on the basis of past perform.ance and 30 per- 

 cent to be reserved as adjustment quota. A- 

 doption of the new export validation standard 

 resolves the 6 -month long controversy be- 

 tween packers and exporters over canned 

 tuna in brine exports to the United States. 

 ( Suisancho Nippo, May 18, 1966.) 



FISH LANDINGS IN YAIZU, MAY 1966: 



May 1966 landings of fish at the Japanese 

 port of Yaizu (principal tuna port) totaled 

 19,919 metric tons valued at 2,530 million 

 yen (US$7 million) as compared to April land- 

 ings of 20,197 metric tons valued at 2,288 

 million yen ($6.4 million), according to data 

 compiled by the Yaizu Fishermen's Cooper- 

 ative Association. Albacore landings were 

 up slightly (187 tons) from April, but com- 



Table 1 



- Yaizu Fish Landings and Average Values, 

 May 1966 with Comparisons 



Species 



Quantity 



Average Value 



1966 



1965 



1966 



1965 



May 1 April 



May 



May 1 April 



May 



Tuna: 





. (M 



etric T 



Dns) . 



4,956 



10,272 



2,706 



1,858 



555 



. (US$ 



/Short 



Ton) . 



394 



280 



287 



97 



Bluefinl/. 



Albacore . 



Skipjack . 

 Mackerel. . 

 Other fish . 



6,823 

 2,834 

 6,825 

 2,698 

 739 



6,373 

 2,647 

 5,293 

 5,234 

 650 



522 



477 



250 



73 



521 



376 



265 



88 



Total ..... 



19,919 



20,197 



20,347 



_ 



- 



- 



lyincludes yellow 



in and big-eyed tuna. 1 



Species 



Table 2 - Yaizu Fish Landings and Values, 

 January-May 1966 with Connparisons 



Tuna : 

 Bluefin^/ 

 Albacor"e . 

 Skipjack . 



Mackerel . 



Other fish . 



Total 



Quantity 



1966 



1965 



.(Metric Tons). 



31,800 



8,622 



21,971 



14,696 



3,637 



80,726 



^Includes yellowfin and big-eyed tuna. 



28,765 



17,354 



9,817 



9.139 



3,287 



68,362 



Value 



1966 



1965 



(US$1,000). 



16,752 



3.825 



5,868 



1,471 



991 



28,907 



10,050 



5,170 



2,387 



1,018 



818 



19,443 



pared to May 196 5 were down 7,438 tons. 

 The average price paid per ton of albacore 

 (about $477) was $99 above the April 1966 

 price and $197 above the May 1965 price. 

 ( Kanzume Nippo, June 4, 1966.) 



POLE -AND -LINE TUNA 

 FISHING TRENDS: 



On May 15, 1966, about 130 metric tons of 

 pole-and-line albacore were landed at Yaizu. 

 This was the first time since the beginning 

 of the summer albacore fishery that over 100 

 tons of fish were landed in any one day. They 

 sold for 170-185 yen a kilogram (US$428- 

 467 a short ton) ex-vessel. 



Species 



Skipjack 

 Albacore 



Tuna Landings at Yaizu, Japan, May 1-10 



1966 I 



1965 



1964 



2,346 

 225 



(Metric Tons) 

 1,202 

 1 434 

 J7(45|000) 



1,276 



489 



lyj[32,000) 



lyEstimated total albacore landings tor season. 



Note: Japanese sources earlier forecast a poor siunmer albacore 

 season in 1966. The general feeling was that this year's catch 

 wQl not exceed 20,000 tons, and possibly will fall far below 

 that figure unless fishing picks up. The fishery ends in early July. 



Albacore fishing was reported to have pick- 

 ed up in mid-May, with about 25 vessels con- 

 centrated inthe areaboundedby latitudes 34°- 

 35° N. and longitudes 151°-153° E. (about 

 700-800 miles due east of Tokyo). The catch 

 in that area was as high as 40-50 metric tons 

 a day, but the fish were small, mostly aver- 

 aging 3-4 kilograms (6.6-8.8 pounds). 



As of mid-May, Japanese canned tuna 

 packers were reported unable to compete for 

 the small quantities of albacore landed by 

 the pole-and-line fishery due to high ex-ves- 

 sel prices, but were packing some skipjack, 

 the landings of which were averaging about 

 200 tons a day. The skipjack were reported 

 also to be small, less than 2 kilograms (4.4 

 pounds) in weight, and selling for over 80 yen 



