42 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 11 



Japan (Contd.): 



JOINT WHALE SURVEY 

 IN ANTARCTIC PLANNED 



The three whaling companies have agreed 

 to cooperate in a joint survey of the Antarctic 

 Ocean whale resources. They plan to send 

 the 750 -ton Chiyoda Maru No. 5_ to grounds 

 not previously explored or exploited to study 

 the abundance of fin and sei whales. One ob- 

 jective reportedly is to determine the reli- 

 ability of whale stock assessments. 



According to scientists, the whale stocks 

 are being seriously depleted and face extinc- 

 tion if not protected. Based on their findings, 

 the international whale catch quota has been 

 reduced over the years. For the 21st Ant- 

 arctic whaling season, December 1966-April 

 1967, the quota was slashed by 1,000 blue- 

 whale units (BWU), from 4,500 BWUs to 

 3,500 BWUs. Following a September meet- 

 ing in Tokyo to discuss quotas, the three ac- 

 tive nations, Japan, Norway, and the Soviet 

 Union, reached a provisional one -year accord 

 on quotas: Japan--1,633 (46.66 percent); So- 

 viet Union--l,067 (30.48 percent), and Nor- 

 way--800 (22.86 percent). 



The Japanese press reported that the Ja- 

 panese whaling industry feels that present 

 stock assessments, based only on catch data, 

 may not necessarily be correct because 

 there may exist unexploited resources. If 

 unexploited resources are found by the sur- 

 vey vessel, it would mean that the assess- 

 ment of stock conditions should be reevalu- 

 ated. 



The Chiyoda Maru was scheduled to de- 

 part Yokohama November 18 and conduct 

 the survey from December 11, 1966 to March 

 20, 1967. Principal grounds are Area 3 East 

 and Areas 5 and 6. ( Suisan Keizai Shimbun , 

 September 12, 1966, and other sources.) 



3j: >]i 5!< 5!< ;;« 



EXPLORES FOR SALMON IN 

 CHUKCHI SEA WITH POOR RESULTS 



The 200-ton Japanese fishing vessel 

 Dairin Maru No. 8, sent to the Chukchi Sea 

 this summer to explore for salmonjreturned 

 to Tokyo September 4 after an 80 -day trip. 

 Fifty-two days were spent on the fishing 

 grounds. She gill-netted about 25,000 salm- 



on, almost all chums, averaging 3.2 kilo- 

 grams (7 lbs.) per fish. The total catch was 

 about 80 metric tons (176,000 lbs.). Most of 

 the catch was salted; six tons were frozen. 

 The catch per shackle of net ranged from 

 0.1-1.5 fish, with average of 0.8. 



Because of the Arctic nights --darkness 

 did not set in- -it was difficult to select best 

 time to set and retrieve gear. Fishing in un- 

 familiar waters during only slightly over 50 

 days, personnel were not able to clearly de- 

 termin-e salmon migration routes and sea con- 

 ditions and got only a rough picture of condi- 

 tions on the fishing grounds. 



The Japanese firm was reported to have 

 suffered a fairly large financial loss but in- 

 tends to send a vessel to the Chukchi Sea 

 again next year. It plans to study this year's 

 data carefully and compare them with salm- 

 on landings made at nearby Alaskan shore in- 

 stallations --to determine relations, if any, to 

 timing of the runs and migration routes. 

 ( Suisan Tsushin , September 17, 1966.) 



* * >'f >i: * 



SET NEW EXPORT PRICES FOR SALMON 



The Japan Canned Salmon-Crab Sales Com- 

 pany announced on September 16 new export 

 prices for canned "tidbit" red, silver, and 

 king salmon: 



Product 



Can and 

 Case Size 



Price/Ca^e for Shipments to: | 



Europe 1/ 



Australia2/ 



New 1 Old 



New 1 Old 







.... (US$) .... 



(ShiUings/Pence)3/ 



Red. . . 



i-lb. 48's 



16.65 



16.25 



123 



121/3 



Red. . . 



i-lb, 96's 



21.20 



20.80 



156 



153 



Red. . . 



i-lb. 48 "s 



10.75 



10.55 



79/3 



77/9 



5Uver. . 



|-lb. 48's 



14.75 



13,35 



109/6 



99/6 



King. . . 



I-lb. 48's 



14.25 



12,80 



105/9 



95/9 



l/F,o.b. price, Exclu 

 IJC.&i. price. 

 3/One shilling = 12 pane 

 US$0.0117. 



des shipments to Uni 

 ,e = approx. US$0.14 



ted Kingdom. 

 . One pence = 



Shipments must be loaded on board car- 

 riers by December 31, 1966. However, trad- 

 ing firms contracting for over 10,000 cases 

 of "tidbit" reds will have until February 28, 

 1967, to ship their products--but must ship 

 over 70 percent of their contracted quantities 

 by December 31. The last day for submitting 

 buy offers was September 26. 



