64 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 9 



Japau (Contd.): 



factoryships and for the further promotion of 

 the industry. Recently, two of the factory- 

 ships changed the production process, re- 

 ducing the amount of sugar added by half and 

 adding a solution of grape sugar. This new 

 process reportedly reduces the sweetness, 

 extends the usage, and prolongs storage life. 

 The first of this improved product, about 600 

 metric tons, was to be brought intoport about 

 mid-July 1966. 



The Central Research Laboratory of a 

 major Japanese company has succeeded in 

 producing minced fish from fresh-water spe- 

 cies. This work was done for the Fish "Ham" 

 Association. (It was reported that heretofore 

 there was a taste problem when fresh-water 

 fish were used.) 



Production of minced fish in Hokkaido is 

 suffering from a price decline. Production 

 includes 30,000 metric tons of Alaska pollock 

 and about 15,000 tons from factoryships. In 

 addition about 4,000 tons have been produced 

 from croakers and horse mackerel caught in 

 the East China Sea. The Hokkaido industry 

 is finding it difficult to keep up the quality 

 comparable to that produced at sea. (Fish- 

 eries Attache, United States Embassy, Tokyo, 

 July 8, 1966.) 



* * * * * 



SOVIETS FISHING OFF 

 JAPANESE COAST: 



On July 10, 1966, two Soviet fishing ves - 

 sels were reported fishing about 15 miles off 

 the northern coast of Honshu. The vessels 

 were reported to be of steel construction and 

 about 500 gross tons in size. They were fish- • 

 ing with long lines for squid --the first time 

 the Soviets have been observed fishing for 

 squid near the coast of Japan. Earlier an- 

 nounced plans for 1966 by the Soviets indi- 

 cated that they would fish for saury, squid, 

 and mackerel near the coast of Japan. (Fish- 

 eries Attache, United States Embassy, Tokyo, 

 July 15, 1966.) 



i^ ■:^ i^ ^ 1^ 



CENSUS OF POPULATION 

 ENGAGED IN FISHERIES : 



The continued decline in the Japanese en- 

 gaged in the fisheries appears to have been 

 halted in 1965, according to census figures 

 released by the Japanese Government. The 



census shows that the fishery population in 

 1965 totaled 612,000, the same as in 1964. 

 Compared to the 1961 population of 699,000, 

 the 1965 population is down 12 percent. The 

 number of households engaged in fisheries 

 in 1965 for a period of over 30 days during 

 the year totaled 389,000, as compared to 

 392,000 in 1964, and household members to- 

 taled 2,050,000. Self-employed households 

 numbered 258,000. Of the total population, 

 24 percent was engaged in shallow -water 

 culture, 68 percent in the coastal and off- 

 shore fisheries, and 8 percent in the distant- 

 water fisheries. ( Nihon Suisan Shimbun. 

 July 20, 1966.) 



^ Ji* Jj Jj Jc 



NEW KNOT LESS NET: 



New knotless nets ("clemona F"), inDanish 

 seines, have been in use for 1 to 2 years in 

 the fishery for mackerel and horse mackerel. 

 Catches were good. The fishermen have 

 stated that the net proved to be extremely 

 durable (even when sharks were taken in the 

 net). One company has used the net for 26 

 months without any noticeable decrease in 

 the tensile strength. They plan to use the 

 nets for some months more. (Fisheries At- 

 tache, United States Embassy, Tokyo, July 

 28, 1966, from Suisan Keizai, July 18, 1966.) 



i 



Republic of Korea 



TRAINING VESSEL SURVEYS 



NORTH PACIFIC: ^__ 



The Republic of Korea's Pusan Fisheries 

 College dispatched to the North Pacific in 

 July the 389 -ton training vessel Paik Kyung 

 Ho on a three-month exploratory and train- 

 ing cruise. Reportedly, the vessel was to 

 seek such species as salmon, flatfish, and 

 Alaska pollock. 



The vessel's crew included a scientific 

 party of 1 and 34 trainees . The vessel called 

 at the Japanese port of Fukuoka before de- 

 parting for the waters off Hokkaido to test 

 fish for salmon with gill nets. She was sched- 

 uled to later proceed to the Aleutian Islands, 

 call at Dutch Harbor, and to survey the ad- 

 jacent waters. 



This is the first year that the Republic of 

 Korea sent a vessel to the North Pacific. It 

 was reported that the vessel was assigned to 



