_Jur seals regain during the summer breeding 
season in a few locations in high latitudes where it is cool and very 
foggy. In late fall they migrate long distances southward having a 
cruising radius of 1,500 - 2,000 miles. The only breeding place in 
Japeiiese territory is small Robben Island (also known as Seal Island) 
off the coast of Karafuto. Formerly the Kurile Islands were the habitat 
of many seals but these were slaughtered off many years ago. The south¬ 
ward migrations which begin in late fall come as far south as Chosi in 
the Pacific and as far as Genzan Bay (Korea) and Utsuryoto Island in the 
Sea of Japan. 56 / From 1911 until 1941 this "fishery" was regulated 
by an international agreement (see pages 193-194. A report in 1941 
indicated that pelagic sealing had been revived along the Pacific coast 
of northern Japan (Aomori, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures). 
Pearl Culture . The cultivation of pearls is one 
of the most spectacular and widely-publicized of Japan's aquatic indue* 
* \ 
tries though it is of relatively minor importance. The industry did* 
however, provide an annual production of pearls and pearl shell valued 
at more than 2 million yen and is of importance in the export trade. 
Statistics from various sources differ considerably as to the 
number and size of farms and the quantity of production. The publica¬ 
tion Japan's Fisheries Industry 1939 in one article gives the number of 
farms as 12 (including one in the South Seas) with an area of 41,000 
567 Japan's Fisheries Industry 1939 (Special issue of Japan Times and 
Mail, 1939). 
- 116 - 
18-031 Put 
