58 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 9 



Japan (Contd.): 



SKIPJACK TUNA 



HEADING MACHINE DEVELOPED : 



The Research Department of the Yaizu 

 Katsuobushi (dried skipjack loin) Processors 

 Association conducted on June 22, 1966, a 

 public demonstration of the skipjack tuna 

 heading machine it has been developing for 

 several years. Skipjack ranging in size from 

 4-9 pounds were used in the demonstration. 

 The machine processed fish at the rate of 22 

 fish per minute or about three times faster 

 than a person could manually. 



The machine, constructed of aluminum 

 alloy, is 110 inches long, 55 inches high, 46 

 inches wide, weighs 880 pounds, and is pow- 

 ered by a 2 -horsepower engine. The diam- 

 eter of the steel blade is 12 inches. A chain 

 conveyor system feeds the fish into the header. 

 The machine sells for 270,000 yen(US$750). 

 ( Kanzume Nippo , June 22, 1966.) 



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NEW FREEZER SYSTEM INSTALLED 



ON TUNA VESSEL: 



A Japanese fishing company has installed 

 on its 400 -ton tuna long-liner Hoko Maru No. 

 51 a completely new type of freezing equip^" 

 ment designed to greatly improve efficiency 

 and fish quality. Called the 'trolley conveyor 

 automatic freezing system," it involves over- 

 head tracks and air-blast freezing equipment. 

 Tuna, hung by their tails on the trolley, are 

 conveyed into the air-blast freezer, frozen, 

 then automatically glazed and transported to 

 the cold-storage room for storage. It is re- 

 ported that only one man is required to oper- 

 ate the equipment. 



Other modifications made on the vessel 

 include a power-reel device for setting and 

 hauling long-line gear. As a result of these 

 changes, the Hoko Maru will only require a 

 crew of 23 as compared to 31 before the 

 conversion. ( Nihon Suisan Shimbun , June 24, 

 1966.) 



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PURCHASE OF ALASKAN SALMON: 



The Japanese Government on July 22, 

 1966, accepted the special invitation extend- 

 ed by Governor Egan of Alaska to send ves- 

 sels to purchase salmon from Alaskan fish- 

 ermen and approved the applications of five 

 major fishing companies to divert to Alaska 



their stern trawlers operating in the Gulf of 

 Alaska. It was reported the first Japanese 

 vessels to arrive in Alaska were the stern 

 trawlers Taiyo Maru No. 82 (2,866 gross tons) 

 and the Daishin Maru No . 12_ (2,967 gross 

 tons), which arrived at Homer, Cook Inlet, on 

 the morning of July 24. Three other trawlers 

 were scheduled to arrive in Alaskan ports on 

 July 25. They were the Akebono Maru No . 

 72 (3,500 gross tons), Takachiho Maru (3,495 

 gross tons), and the Ryuyo Maru (1,950 gross 

 tons). The five vessels were expected to en- 

 gage in fish buying, mainly pink salmon, 

 through August 10. ( Suisan Tsushin , July 25, 

 1966.) 



(Editor's Note: Early reports indicated 

 that the pink salmon run was not as good as 

 expected and that the vessels had been able 

 to purchase only a relatively small number 

 of fish.) 



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NORTH PACIFIC SALMON FISHING 

 CONDITIONS AND TRENDS: 



Salmon fishing in Area B off Japan was de- 

 scribed as good and the Japanese salmon 

 catch in Area B as of June 17 was reported 

 close to 40,000 metric tons (83 percent of 

 the 48,000-ton quota). In anticipation of the 

 quota being reached soon, the Japanese Fish- 

 eries Agency announced that the long-line 

 fishing season was to be closed June 23 in- 

 stead of June 30 as planned. The closing 

 date for issuing permits to the land -based 

 gill-net vessels to enter Area A was moved 

 up several days from the original closing 

 date of June 28. 



The 11 Japanese salmon motherships op- 

 erating in Area A as of June 18 were report- 

 ed to have caught 17,000 metric tons of fish 

 (43 percent of the 38,981 -ton quota). Species 

 composition of the mothership catch as of 

 June 14 was reported to be 52-53 percent 

 reds, 44-45 percent chums, and the remain- 

 der pinks. c3n July 12, the mothership fish- 

 ery was ended, the earliest closing date for 

 the fishery since the end of World War II, 

 the quota of 38,981 tons having been reached. 

 The season's species composition for the to- 

 tal catch was reported as 40 percent reds, 

 45 percent chums, 12 percent pinks, and 3 

 percent silvers and kings. Abundance of 

 pinks and chums was unexpectedly good and 

 the size of the chums was larger than aver- 

 age. Failure of the Bristol Bay red salmon 

 to appear in significant numbers in the Japan- 



