31 



before the net is thrown into the sea. When the net is thrown 

 in, it surrounds the shoal of fish, at the entrance of the net a 

 weight is lowered, while the drawing net passing through 

 the ring attached to the pocket is hauled up together with 

 the net, which completes the process of this branch of fishing. 

 The fish is prepared as food stuffs but when there is an abund- 

 ant catch, tt is dressed as a fertilizer and also as material for 

 fish oil. 



(5) The Bonito Angling Drawings Exhibited by the 



Fishery Bureau. 



Since the bonito live chiefly in the deep seas they ap- 

 proach the shore very seldom so that they are chiefly caught 

 by means of angling. 



In some few places purse seine and gill nets are in use while the 

 use of a drifter is still under experiment. The annual output 

 reaches some six or seven million yen ; bonito angling forms 

 certainly one of the most important branches of fishery in Japan. 



Bonito are caught in the warm current. The fishing season 

 extends from April to October. 



Bonito fishing was done by means of angling by fisher- 

 men who embark on a Japanese fishing boat to the number of 

 some 20 or 30, take with them as bait anchovy or sardines 

 which they have previously cultured. Formerly the angling was 

 done in seas near the land, but the number of fish ap- 

 proaching the coast have greatly decreased within recent years. 

 In 1906 in Shizuoka prefecture an oil motor was installed in 

 the fishing boat which increased the average, speed of the boat 

 so that both by the increase in the number of those cruising 

 and also owing to the active and brisk manipulation of the 

 boat, the output was greatly increased. During one fishing 



