Japan by the Japanese/Chapter 18.6

Fish and other marine products have constituted from olden times the most important article of food used by the Japanese people, a partiality also shared by the Chinese, who have for centuries been the principal purchasers of this product of Japanese industry. Owing to geographical position and to the direction of marine currents in the vicinity, and also to the abundance of suitable indentations along the well-wooded coast, Japan is an ideal country for the fisherman, and it is not surprising, therefore, that there are 900,000 families of fishermen or persons engaged in the marine industry, making a total of over 3,000,000 individuals, and using over 420,000 fishing-boats.

With the steady increase of population, and the greater perfection of transportation facilities in the interior, the demand for fishing products is showing a striking advance, a condition still further accelerated by the increasing demand from abroad. Under these circumstances the fishermen can no longer remain satisfied with coasting work alone, but are ​obliged to a greater extent than ever before to venture into the open sea and even to the distant coasts of Corea and the South Sea Islands.

The presence of two different sets of sea currents along the coasts, while affecting the distribution of sea life, also contributes to its diversity, for although the habits of the fauna are closely related to the condition of the bottom of the sea, the relative density of the brine, the nature and quality of the food, etc., the temperature of the sea exerts above all the greatest influence in this respect. This applies with especial force to the habitat of the migratory fish, which change their abode with the movement of the sea currents.

One side of the whole length of Japan faces the Pacific Ocean, covering, including Formosa, 29 degrees of latitude; but not only in climate are these two extremes of Japan widely distinct, but in the temperature as well, as in the depth of the sea itself, there exists a great diversity. To the north of Kinkazan, in the north-east part of Honshu, is situated the greatest sea depression in the world, Tuscarora. A warm current passes to the south of this part, so that the vicinity is very rich, both in fauna and flora. A cold current runs to the north of this depression, in consequence of which the fauna and flora living to the north of Kinkazan are quite distinct from those living to the south. In the sea between the southernmost archipelago of Japan and Formosa there exists a strong warm current. The result is that in this vicinity there is abundance of migratory fish of many varieties. The Pacific shore of Formosa is precipitous, with no good anchorage for ships, and the sea is, moreover, very deep. On the other hand, the sea on the western side is of moderate depth. Through the Sea of Japan runs a branch of the Black Stream. At high tide the current moves northward through the Straits of Corea, but on the coasts of Japan the tides are very weak, and their movement irregular. Migratory fish, such as tunny, bonito, etc., enter this sea along the course of the southern warm current, but in the northern part of the sea, where the influence of a colder current predominates, the principal fish are herring, cod, and the like. Of the inland sea fisheries the largest and most important is the Sea of Okhotsk, which is generally shallow, and as the temperature varies considerably, according to the seasons, many fish which come in during the summer leave as autumn advances. The river fishing, which is also good, furnishes salmon in the northern districts of Honshu and in Hokkaido, while of fresh-water fish there are carp, eels, etc.

The fishing-boats, both for inland and deep-sea fishing, are all open and without decks, and even the largest do not exceed 50 feet in length, while the great majority do not measure ​over 28 feet. Owing to the fact that fishing-boats are for the most part propelled by oars, they are without keels, and are generally flat-bottomed. The peculiar shapes of these craft are the result of long experience of the seas with which they must contend, and of the different kind of fisheries to which they are devoted. The whalers and bonito boats are made doubly strong, so that even when the masts and sails are blown away the occupants generally succeed in saving themselves by taking to their oars. Still, it is generally recognised that the boats are not built on scientific principles, and the proper authorities have recently begun to take the subject under consideration, with the effect that the European method of decking and air-tight compartments is already coming into vogue.

The different kinds of fishing-gear used are too numerous to mention, but broadly speaking they may be divided into the two usual divisions of netting and angling. The large pound net is used for capturing herring, salmon, tunny, etc., while seine nets are employed for sardine and other shoal-fish. Drift nets are used for surface-fish, and the gill net is set at the bottom of the sea for herring, cod, shrimps, etc. Dredge nets are the rule for shell-fish and sea-cucumber, and there 1s a contrivance called shiki-ami, or spread-net, which is laid out over the bottom and lifted up when fish happen to enter it. Angling gear is of the variety used the world over. The total number of nets used in 1891 was estimated at 1,103,978. The value of the fish taken in the year 1900 is given in the official returns as about £5,683,315, which was derived from more than forty varieties of sea life. The average number of whales taken per year during the five years ending with 1897 was 121, placed at an average value of £22,000. The value of the fishermen’s investments in boats and gear was computed at about £1,240,000 in 1891, and has since increased. One of the hardest features of the fishing industry is that since the abolition of an old custom of Government loans at a low rate of interest, in order to carry the workers over from season to season, an enormous proportion of them have been obliged to have recourse to moneylenders, who extort exorbitant rates of interest, and who demand a pledge of the anticipated catch of the coming season. Under these circumstances, the lion’s share of the profits goes into the coffers of the moneylenders.

Fish culture is now extensively carried on, and extends to carp, snapping turtle, gray mullet, eel, oyster, salmon, and trout. During the ten years ending with 1901 more than 17,000,000 of salmon spawn were liberated in three districts.