August 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



63 



Japan (Contd.): 



the northeastern part of Honshu from fishing 

 vessels engaged in fishing in the southern 

 area have recently shown a large increase. 

 Though salmon prices at first received much 

 attention because of the big reduction in the 

 catch quota this year, prices were staying 

 about the same, even dropping to about 5 per- 

 cent below those of last year. Pink salmon 

 was the only exception and the price quoted 

 was about 10 percent higher than last year. 



The wholesale price at fish markets was 

 substantially lower than last year, and it was 

 likely that salmon would be sold at retail also 

 at a rather low price. 



In Area B south of 45° N., about 1,700 

 small drift-net fishing vessels were engaged 

 in salmon fishing, and quite a number of ves- 

 sels were delivering salmon to ports such as 

 Kushiro, Akkeshi, Nemuro. Hachinoe, Miyako, 

 and others. Most of the salmon, either salt- 

 ed or fresh, landed by those vessels were 

 consumed at home. 



Although at first salmon prices were ex- 

 pected to be fairly high because of the re- 

 duced catch quota, the wholesale prices per 

 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) on June 1 at various 

 ports were as follows: 



Salted salmon: 

 410 yen (US$1.14), about 200 yen (56<?) 

 below last year. 



Salted pink salmon: 

 300 yen (83(;;), about 30-40 yen higher 

 (8-ll(;i). 



Fresh salmon: 

 420-428 yen ($1.17-1.19), ahnost the 

 same as last year. 



Fresh pink salmon: 

 304-318 yen (84-88^), 30 yen (8(?) higher. 



(Extracted from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 

 June 2, 1966, by Fisheries Attache, United 

 States Embassy, Tokyo, June 3, 1966.) 



FIRM EXPLORES FOR 

 ARCTIC OCEAN SALMON : 



A Japanese fishing firm dispatched to the 

 Arctic Ocean in July 1966 a 200-ton fishing 



vessel, the Dairin Maru . to explore the salmon 

 resources of that Ocean. The vessel planned 

 to test -fish with gill nets from July to Septem- 

 ber and was mainly after chum salmon. 



Japan had informed the Soviet Government 

 at the March 1966 annual meeting of the Pa- 

 cific Northwest Fisheries Commission of 

 her intention to explore the salmon resources 

 in the Arctic Ocean, and the U.S.S.R. had 

 given approval to the plan. The Fisheries 

 Agency of Japan was said to look favorably 

 on this plan. ( Nihon Suisan Shimbun , May 

 25, 1966.) 



***** 



EXPORTS OF CANNED MACKEREL 

 TO UNITED STATES INCREASING: 



Exports to the United States of Japanese 

 canned mackerel (natural) were reported to 

 totalasof mid -May 1966 about 190,000 cases 

 as compared with about 80,000 cases at the 

 end of March. The large demand inthe United 

 States this year for Japanese canned mackerel 

 was attributed to the shortage of South African 

 supplies and to the poor mackerel season in 

 southern California. ( Suisancho Nippo, May 

 18, 1966.) 



EXPLORING BOTTOMFISH RESOURCE 



OFF EAST AFRICA: 



The Fisheries Agency planned to dispatch 

 in July the 474 -ton fishing vessel Eitai Maru 

 to explore the fishing grounds in the east- 

 ern Indian Ocean. The Eitai Maru will carry 

 portable fishingboats, and will fish with bot- 

 tom long-line gear primarily seeking bottom- 

 fish species, such as sea bream. She was 

 scheduled to depart Japan on July 10 and re- 

 turn December 10. (Shin Suisan Shimbun 

 Sokuho, June 7, 1966.) 



FISHING VESSELS LICENSED 

 BY FISHERIES AGENCY: 



Following are the fishing vessels licensed 

 by the Japanese Fisheries Agency as of 

 March 31, 1966 (1965 figures are in paren- 

 theses): 



Offshore trawlers: 1,091 (1,111) 

 Trawlers west of 130° E.: 768 (779) 

 Pelagic trawlers: 272(213) 

 Long-liners and gill-netters in the North 

 Pacific: 19 (19) 



