It is estimated that approximately 65 percent of the fresh- and saltwater products taken are utilized for food, the remainder being used in the manufacture of fish oil and fish meal. The prepared products in 1932 were valued at about 62 million dollars. The drying and salting of fish and the preparation of fish pastes are old industries in Japan; canning and freezing are relatively new developments. Salmon and crab meat were the first products to be extensively canned; more recently tuna and clams have been canned.

PRODUCTION AND TRADE IN FISHERY PRODUCTS

Fish is a food staple of the Japanese; the per capita consumption exceeds that of any other country. The catch, including shellfish, amounts to about 10 billion pounds annually, with a value to the fishermen of about 82 million dollars (at the rate of exchange of 1932). Herring, sardines, cod, flounders, tuna, salmon, mackerel, cuttlefish, shrimps, octopuses, lobsters, and abalone, are the chief species landed. Other marine products, principally seaweed, have a value to the fishermen of about 6 million dollars.

Japanese imports of fishery products are relatively small, amounting to about 7 million dollars in 1934 as compared with exports of about 23 million dollars in the same year. Approximately one-half of the imports are salted fish. About 60 percent of the exports in value consist of canned products, mainly salmon, tuna, crab meat, and clams; the remainder is mainly fish meal, dried fish and shellfish, salted fish, and fish oil.

The annual average rate of exchange of the Japanese yen for the United States dollar during recent calendar years, in cents per unit of foreign currency, has been as follows: 1929, 46.0997; 1930, 49.3898; 1931, 48.8509; 1932, 28.1112; 1933, 25.6457; 1934, 29.7153; 1935, 28.7067.

In the following discussion and tables pertaining to the Japanese fisheries, values of production, of imports, and exports, which are on a calendar-year basis, are converted into United States dollars at the above rates. With regard to governmental expenditures, which are on a fiscal-year basis (April-March), the following average rates of exchange are used: 1930-31, 49.4439; 1931-32, 45.0532; 1932-33, 24.8208; 1933-34, 27.7932; and 1934-35, 29.2884.

The following tables show (1) the catch of Japanese fisheries and fishery products prepared therefrom in 1932, (2) imports and exports of fishery products in 1934, and (3) the number of persons and vessels employed in the fisheries in 1933.

1 The recent variations in Japanese exchange rates affect materially the dollar equivalent of all yen values.

TABLE 38.-Japan: Catch of fish, shellfish, and other marine products, and products prepared therefrom, 1932

1 Not included elsewhere, as no quantities are available.

Source: The Statistical Abstract of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Japan.

TABLE 39.-Japan: Imports and exports of fishery products, 1934

TABLE 40.-Japan: Persons and vessels employed in the fisheries, 1933

44, 166, 761

1,578, 726
2,488, 659

955, 382

936, 132 46, 260 534, 972

316, 312, 785 6,075, 656

Source: The Statistical Abstract of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Marine Foods Canning Industry in Japan.

BOUNTIES, SUBSIDIES, AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AID

The characteristic feature of governmental assistance to Japanese fisheries is that in major part it is extended to fishermen's organizations or group undertakings rather than to individual fishermen. In general, the law provides that the contribution of the Government shall be to partnerships or corporations owned exclusively by Japanese and that in each case it shall be limited to a specific percentage of the original cost of the undertaking. In certain cases the law even stipulates that all employees shall be Japanese nationals.

Direct bounties and subsidies are granted for (a) pelagic fisheries; (b) repair of vessels; (c) to the fishing industry of Sakhalin; (d) coldstorage facilities; (e) fish-meal manufacture; and (f) certain specified activities undertaken cooperatively. In recent years this direct

assistance ranged from 985,251 yen ($443,887) in 1931-32 to 1,600,486 yen ($397,253) in 1932–33. In 1934-35 the total amount expended by the Government for direct assistance was 850,867 yen ($249,205) and represented 0.3 percent of the value of fish caught in 1932.

Indirect assistance is given to fisheries enterprises in the form of (a) promotion of exports; (b) promotion of the home market; (c) grants to prefectural governments for regional fisheries appropriations; and (d) exemption from customs duties on mineral oil used in fisheries. Total governmental expenditures for these purposes have ranged from 432,091 yen ($213,642) in 1930-31 to 166,585 yen ($46,299) in 1933-34. In 1934-35 these expenditures amounted to 172,785 yen ($50,606) and represented less than 0.1 percent of the value of the catch of fish in 1932.

By far the major part of the aid given by the Japanese Government to fisheries is for facilitation services such as (1) research and investigations; (2) establishment of port facilities; and (3) promotion of fish propagation. Smaller amounts are appropriated for (4) the enforcement of international conventions; (5) the protection of seals; (6) promoting cooperative activities among guilds and associations; and (7) repair of departmental ships and warehouses. In 1930-31 these items constituted 57 percent of Japan's total fisheries expenditures, and reached 88 percent in 1933-34. The largest single expenditure was for port facilities.

Finally, the purely administrative expenditures incidental to the maintenance of the fisheries branch ranged from 422,088 yen ($190,164) in 1931-32 to 611,910 yen ($170,069) in 1933-34.

Other governmental aid (facilitation and administration services) in 1934-35 represented a total expenditure of 6,093,770 yen ($1,784,768) and amounted to 2 percent. of the value of fish caught by Japanese fishermen in 1932.

Appropriations for fisheries are made chiefly in the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The subsidy to the aquatic industries of Sakhalin, provided for in the budget of the Ministry of Home Affairs is partly for port facilities and regional assistance.

Total governmental expenditures for fisheries from 1930-31 to 1934-35 fluctuated between 4,571,643 yen ($2,059,671) in 1931-32 and 14,627,942 yen ($4,065,573) in 1933-34. In 1934-35 they amounted to 7,117,422 yen ($2,084,579).

Table 41 shows governmental expenditures for fisheries for 1930–31 to 1934-35.

I. Bounties and subsidies

Total governmental expenditures for bounties and subsidies, both direct and indirect, to Japanese fisheries enterprises from 1930-31 to 1934-35 are shown in table 42.

Bounties and subsidies:

Other governmental aid:

1 Ratios computed on the basis of the national currency.