206 



The National Geographic Magazine 



Photo by Hugh M. Smith 



A Cormorant Trainer and Fisherman 



teenth of the entire population is em- 

 ployed in the fisheries, as against one 

 five-hundredth in the United States. 

 The annual tribute which the seas, 

 the rivers, and the lakes now pay to 

 the Japanese fishermen is worth about 

 $30,000,000. The value of the United 

 States and British fisheries is about half 

 as much more ; but while our fisheries 

 produce less than 1,000,000 tons of 

 products and the British only half as 

 much, the Japanese yield the prodigious 

 quantity of 3,000,000 tons. 



A preponderating proportion of the 

 fishery products is consumed at home, 

 but certain articles are, nevertheless, 

 exported in large quantities, and some 

 products of the Japanese fisheries may 



be found in almost every civilized coun- 

 try. Over 80 per cent of the exports 

 go to China, these consisting chiefly of 

 prepared seaweeds, dried trepang, dried 

 cuttle-fish, shark fins, and abalone. 

 Strange to say, the country which ranks 

 next to China is Italy, to which the ex- 

 ports comprise only coral. This is like 

 "carrying coals to Newcastle," for 

 Italy has been preeminently the coun- 

 try for corals. Hereafter when an 

 American Hdy purchases a coral brooch 

 or necklace in Naples or Rome or Venice, 

 she may be reasonably certain that it 

 was some hardy Japanese fisherman off 

 the southern coast of Kiushiu or Shi- 

 koku who drew the rough coral from 

 the sea. To Germany the Japanese ex- 

 port agar-agar and fish oils ; to Korea, 

 salt and kelp ; to Asiatic Russia (for- 

 merly), marine salt; to Belgium, fish 

 oil ; to France, abalone shells ; to Kng- 

 land, fish oil, agar-agar, and sealskins ; 

 to Hawaii, dried fish and cuttle-fish. 

 The exports to the United States are at 

 present insignificant, and consist mostly 

 of agar-agar, abalone, and dried fish, 

 for the use of Chinese and Japanese. 



The Japanese high-sea fisheries for 

 whales, fur-seals, cod, halibut, etc., are 

 important, and the lake, river, and pond 

 fisheries yield large quantities of prod- 

 ucts ; but the coastwise fisheries alone 

 are sufficiently extensive to give Japan 

 its prominent position as a fishing nation. 



THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES 



Some of the most valuable objects of 

 the fisheries are similar to or identical 

 with ours. The sea herring is king of 

 fishes in Japan, just as it is in some 

 European countries and in the world at 

 large. It is worth $4,000,000 yearly to 

 the Japanese, and is particularly abun- 

 dant in Hokkaido. Next in importance 

 is the sardine, valued at $3,700,000. It 

 is extensively canned and also eaten 

 fresh and sun dried. The bonito ranks 

 third in value, the annual sales being 

 $2,000,000. It is preserved in a peculiar 



