Foreign Fishery Developments

Japan's 1981 FisheryProduct Imports High

(Source: FFIR 82-7.)

Table 1.-Japanese imports 01 lishery products,1972-81

Amount CIF val- Amount CIF val-Year (t) ue (106 ¥) Year (t) ue (106 ¥)

1972 480,649 190.338 1977 1,045.610 657.7131973 658,425 300,074 1978 1.012,351 674.7901974 604,141 323,239 1979 1,151,174 930,7381975 710,414 385.529 1980 1.037,350 764,2721976 814,516 563,468 1981 1,129.068 879,881

Top 70 fishery product imports (quantity)

CIFvalue

Metnctons

30,50727,58325,96017.27614,701

42,75731,03929.55725,93724,561

CIFvalue Commodity

MetriCtons Commodity

161 .724 Frozen bigeye100,400 Crab70,341 Frozen yellowlin68,776 Frozen smelt50.117 Frozen Jack mackerel

269,151 Salted salmon roe74.161 Frozen big eye tuna43,278 Live eel39,871 Frozen yellowfin33,075 Frozen herring-- -------

Top 10 fishery product imports (value)

Frozen shrimpFrozen octopusFrozen salmonFrozen squidFrozen herring

Frozen shrimpFrozen salmonFrozen squidFrozen octopusCrab

Commodity

Commodity

categories set a new record in 1981.These were shrimp, salmon, herring,salmon roe, octopus, sea bream, jackmackerel and live eel. Compared with1980, significant gains in quantity wererecorded in the imports of frozen jackmackerel ( + 331 percent), frozen alba­core ( + 162 percent), frozen sea bream( + 93 percent), frozen salmon (+ 81percent), frozen herring (+ 66percent), octopus ( + 58 percent), salt­ed herring roe (+41 percent), andsalted pollock roe (+ 36 percent),whereas sharp decline occurred insquid ( - 27 percent), whale meat ( - 25percent) and smelt (- 18 percent).

Japanese imports of fishery prod­ucts in 1981 were the second higheston record both in quantity and value at1,129,068 metric tons (t) with Y879,881million ($3,999 million), according tothe customs clearance data released bythe Finance Ministry (Table I). Thehighest imports on record, 1,151,174 twith Y930,738 million, occurred in1979.

Frozen shrimp imports totaling161,725 t worth $1,223 million, led allother products both in quantity andvalue, accounting for 14 percent inquantity and 31 percent in value of thetotal fishery imports. Imports in eight

Table 1.-Japan's fisheries catch, by major fisheries for 1977·81 and a comparisonfor 1980-81.

Catch (x 1.000 t) Percent

Fishery 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 change 1

MarineDistant-water 2,657 2,134 2,035 2.121 2,040 -3Offshore 4,924 5,559 5,488 5,751 N.A. N.A.Coastal 2,107 1,990 1,953 2,037 NA N.A.Aquaculture 861 917 883 992 955 -4

Total 10,549 10,600 10,359 10,901 11,120 +2

InlandAquaculture 82 90 95 94 92 -2Other 126 138 136 128 124 -3

Total 208 228 231 221 216 -2

Grand (otal 10,757 10,828 10,590 1t ,122 11,336 +2

Whales taken (no.) 9,299 5,924 4,918 5,191 4,887 -6

'Percentage change from 1980 to 1981Source: U.S. Regional Fisheries Mache, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo.

60

Japan's 1981 FisheriesCatch Up 2% Over 1980

Japan's fisheries catch for 1981 to­taled 11,336,000 t according to pre­liminary statistics released by the Japa-

nese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,and Fisheries on 31 May 1982. Japan's1981 catch was the largest in the worldand represents a 2 percent increaseover the 1980 catch of 11,122,000 t(Table 1).

The marine fisheries catch, repre­senting 98 percent of the total,amounted to 11.1 million t, an increaseof about 2 percent from 1980. Thetotal increase in the marine fisheriescatch was achieved despite decreases inthe catch of distant-water fisheries andmarine aquaculture. Offshore andcoastal fisheries easily offset the lossesin the other two sectors of marine fish­ing.

The decreasing distant-water catchreflects the continued effect of theestablishment of 200-mile fisheryzones in many countries, especially inthose where catch quotas for Japanesefishermen have been imposed. How­ever, the rate of decline in the distant­water catch, which was as high as 20percent in 1978, decreased to only 3percent in 1981.

Japan's inland fisheries catch, com­posing only 2 percent of the total,decreased by 2 percent. The harvest ofwhales declined by 6 percent in 1981,offsetting an increase in 1980. (Source:IFR-82/88.)

Marine Fisheries Review

Ecuadorean FisheriesResearch Progresses

The Ecuadorean Fisheries Institute(Instituto Nacional de Pesca or INP),is managing eight research projectsranging from biological studies ofmarine fish populations to the devel­opment of new fishery products as partof the government's 1980-84 fisheriesdevelopment plan. The INP, throughthe South Pacific Permanent Commis­sion, is also cooperating with Chile,Peru, and Colombia in several impor­tant marine research projects. Theseinclude an analysis of the El Nmo phe­nomenon and a study, funded by theUnited Nations, on the environmentalpollution in the Eastern Pacific.

Marine Species

The first three projects are biologicalstudies of pelagic species: Mackerel,thread herring (pinchagua), and sar­dine. Three other INP projects dealwith a variety of environmental andfishery subjects. The first of these is amarine geological study of coastalsediments, but this project is still in apreparatory stage. The IN? hopes toget funding from the state oil monopo­!y (CEPE) for this project. CEPE is in­terested, but has made no definitecommitment.

The second project is an aquaculturestudy focusing on the pond culture ofmarine shrimp, Ecuador's single mostimportant fishery. Shrimp pond cw­tllie has grown spectacularly since 1975arJd now produces over half of the $80million worth of shrimp exported tothe United States in 1981.

A third study will survey environ­mental pollution in the Gulf of Guaya­quil. This area of mangrove estuaries isof crucial importance, both as a nur­sery ground for shrimp and as a sourceof newly discovered offshore naturalgas. The INP Director, Roberto Jime­nez, is particularly interested in this lastproject which will examine the trade­offs between management of renew­able natural resources and develop­ment of coastal oil and gas resources.The study will also suggest ways toharmonize the potentially conflictinguses.

September-October 1982,44(9-10)

Processing Technology

Under the INP processing technolo­gy project, a "pilot plant," in essence asmall factory producing new or non­traditional fishery products, will beconstructed. This project, of all theeight INP projects, has perhaps thegreatest potential social impact. INPresearchers are studying a wide varietyof subjects including the use of solarfish dryers, the production of fishsilage for use as a high protein animalfeed, and the development of an in­expensive salted fish cake for humanconsumption.

Research on new methods of saltingand smoking fish is particularly inter­esting to the INP since these techniquesof preservation were in widespread usein the 1940's and 1950's, but lost favorwith the advent of freezing technology.Much of the project will be carried outby extension workers in an effort toconvince producers and low-incomeconsumers to accept the appropriatetechnology and new products.

Freshwater Rivers

The last of the eight INP projects iscalled Proyecto Aguas Interiores (In­land Fisheries Project) and is con­cerned principally with water quality inrivers. The INP's research programsare widely diversified and offer nu­merous opportunities for scientific co­operation with United States researchinstitutes, either directly or under vari­ous regional programs. Both INPDirector Jimenez and his assistant,Lucia Solorzano, have studied in theUnited States and are extremely en­thusiastic about their work. They haveboth expressed an interest in develop­ing contacts with U.S. scientists andresearch institutes and have alreadyestablished cooperative progra.ns withother countries.

The INP has received at least twoseparate donations of scientific equip­ment from the Goverrunent of Japan.It has also used a vessel and scientificpersonnel under the United Kingdom'sforeign aid program. The INP is nowtransforming its laboratory facilities inGuayaquil into what it believes will beone of the best fishery research labora-

tories in Latin America. (Source: IFR­82/64.)

Shrimp Bycatch DataBank at Hull College

The Hull College of Higher Educa­tion in the United I<Jngdom (U.K.) isestablishing a data bank on shrimp by­catch. Researchers from many differ­ent countries have been studying waysof utilizing the incidental finfish by­catch of the shrimp trawler fleet foryears. The Center for Fisheries Studiesat the college plans to develop a majorinternational data base on this subject.

Center officials are currently re­searching the topic and contacting ex­perts. The project will accumulate dataon shrimp fisheries, the quantity andspecies composition of the fmfish by­catch, and the potential and currentutilization of the bycatch. The Centerhopes eventually to produce global sta­tistics on the bycatch.

The Center has already prepared acomprehensive listing of referencesources and some statistics, using bothcomputer and manual searches, andhopes to make its reference lists andstatistics available to other researchersby rnid-1982. U.S. researchers inter­ested in exchanging information cancontact the Center by writing to: Pau­line Godkin, Center for FisheriesStudies, Hull College of Higher Edu­cation, Queen's Gardens, Hull, NorthHumberside, England HUI 3DH.

EC "Guide Prices" Setto Protect Fishermen

The European Community (EC)Council has adopted regulations estab­lishing 1982 guide prices for selectedfishery products, intervention pricesfor fresh or chilled sardines and ancho­vies, and producer prices for tuna in­tended for canning. These new pricesare part of an EC program to protectits fishermen from an unstable marketfor fishery commodities and competi­tion from cheap foreign imports.

The program is based on guide

61

prices which are detennined by averag­ing the EC wholesale prices of the pro­duce during the last 3 years. This guideprice is then used as a base price todetennine other support prices such asreference, intervention, and producerprices. Reference prices are minimumimport prices calculated as percentagesof the guide price. When the importprice of a product falls below the

reference price, intervention measuresare automatically triggered.

The EC regulations extend the 1981guide prices for mackerel, anchovyand herring, and increase guide pricesfor other species from 2 to 6 percent.There were, however, some points ofcontroversy among the EC membercountries. Belgium, Ireland, and theUnited J(jngdom indicated interest in

protecting their domestic markets fromcheap imported fish and consequentlyfavored higher guide prices than thoseoriginally proposed by the Commis­sion. The Federal Republic of Ger­many, Denmark, and the Netherlandswere generally satisfied with the pro­posals. After considerable debate, thenew proposals were adopted. (Source:IFR-82/15.)

West European, Canadian Fisheries Ministers Listed

The NMFS Division of ForeignFisheries Analysis, which regularlymonitors fishery developmentsthroughout the world, has preparedthe following list of West Europeanand Canadian fisheries ministers anddirectors. Five independent fishery

BelgiumKarel MichielsonInspector in Chief-DirectorFishery DepartmentMinistry of AgriCUltureMinister: Albert LavensRue de Stassart 35B-1 050 Brussels. Belgium

CanadaRomeo LeBlancMir-ister of FisheriesDepartment of Fisheries and OceansOnawa. Ontario, Canada KIA OE6

DenmarkKarl HjortnaesMinister of FisheriesMinistry of Agriculture and FisheriesBorgergrade 161300 DK.KCopenhagen, Denmark

European Economic CommunityGiorgios KontogeorgisFisheries CommissionerCommission of the European CommunitiesRue de la Loi. 2001049 Brussels, Belgium

Faroe Islands 1

Peter ReinurtFisheries MinisterMinistry of Foreign AffairsStormgade 10-12DIC-1470 Copenhagen, Denmark

'The Faroe Islands are part of the Danishrealm.

62

ministries exist in Denmark, France,Iceland, Ireland, and Norway. In Swe­den, the National Board of Fisheriesalso functions independently. In theother European countries, the agenciesresponsible for fisheries are under dif­ferent ministries, usually the Ministry

FinlandHeikki SuomusDepartment of Fisheries and GameMinistry of Agriculture and ForestryHallituskatu 300170 Helsinki 17, Finland

FranceLouis Le PensecMinistre de la MerMinistere de la Mer3 Place de Fontency75007 Paris, France

Germany (FRG)Gero MoecklinghoffMinisterial DlrigentMinistry for Food. Agriculture

and ForestryRochusstrasse 153 Bonn, FRG

GreeceConstine SimitisDepartment of AgriCUlture and Fisheries22 Menandrou StreetAthens, Greece

IcelandSteingrimur HermannsonMinister of FisheriesMinistry of FisheriesLindarbae, LindargataReykjavik, Iceland

IrelandPatrick PowerMinister for Fisheries22 Upper Merrion StreetDublin 2, Ireland

of Agriculture where their titles rangerom Minister of State and Under Sec­retary, to Director General. The fish­ery ministers and directors in WesternEurope and Canada, as of April 1982,are listed below.

ItalyDonato delli BoviDirector General for Maritime FishingViale Asia; 0144 Rome, Italy

NetherlandsJ de KoningMinistry of Agriculture and FisheriesPO. 204012500 EK. The Hague, Netherlands

NorwayHallstein RasmussenDirector General of Norwegian FishingMinistry of FisheriesRaadstuplass 10Postboks 185-1865001 Bergen, Norway

PortugalGoncalves VianaSecretary of State for FisheriesRua do Ouro 181-1, Lisbon, Portugal

SpainGonzalo VazquezDirector General of Maritime FisheriesRuiz de Alarcon 1, Madrid. Spain

SwedenLennart Hennarz. Director GeneralNational Board of FisheriesFack, 403 10; Gotenburg, Sweden

United KingdomW. E. Mason, Fisheries UndersecretaryFisheries DepartmentHorseferry RoadLondon SW1P, 2AE: England, UK

Marine Fisheries Review