Northern Kuriles Fisheries. 50/ Fishing is the most 
important industry of the northern Kuriles; in fact, it is practically 
the only industry. In the decade immediately preceding the war the 
northern Kurile fisheries were developed commercially and in 1938 the 
value of this production was almost three-fourths that of the Soviet 
waters and exceeded that of the factory ships (Table 24). Fishing of 
the northern Kuriles was conducted largely in the vicinity of the three 
northernmost islands Shunrushu, Paramushiro and Araito. In 1938, 600 
vessels were reported to he employed in this fishery; most of the vessels 
were based on Hakodate, coming north for the summer season. The boats 
were largely trawlers and small motorized salmon drift-netters but there 
were also a considerable number of unmotorized hand-line cod-fishing 
craft and a few small crab-netters and boats for line trawling of cod. 
These boats had shore bases within the area for the period of summer 
operation; these places also served as processing centers. In 1935 there 
were 34 fishing bases in the northern Kuriles, the most important being 
located at Suribachi Bay, Murakami Bay, Kashiwabara Bay and Kataoka Bay, 51/ 
Salmon, crab and cod were the basis of the northern Kurile fish¬ 
ery, salmon being the mainstay (Table 29). Salmon were caught by trawling 
and by nets placed in rivers and along the shores; trawling was particu¬ 
larly effective as it was possible to intercept schools of fish heading 
50/ The southern Kuriles are regarded for most statistical purposes-as • 
a section of the Nemuro Branch Bureau of Hokkaido and are not included 
in "the northern fisheries," For further details of the Kurile fisheries 
see Military Government Handbook, Kurile I elands, OPNAV 50 E-2, 
November 1943. 
51/ Since then a fishing base is reported to have been developed in 
the Kakumabet8u region. 
—101— 
16-031 P12 6 bu 
