JAPAN’S FISHERIES

New Zealand Mail, 5 February 1902, Page 29

JAPAN’S FISHERIES

A VISITOR TO, NEW ZEALAND. Dr Nishikawa, who is in New Zealand as a Commissioner from the Eisheriea Bureau of J apan, arrived in Wellington. on Wednesday from the South, where ha' has visited the fish hatcheres at Hakaterainea, various freezing works, and other places of interest. He is investigaing the methods of the fishing industry in this_ colony, and has already visited Australia for a similar purpose, so that he may report to his Bureau.

Are the Japanese "beginning to taka some interest in us, then i” a representative of the “New Zealand Times” asked Dr Nishikawa, when the latter had explained his mission.

‘Well, there lias been some ignorance in our country concerning you in this part of the world,” he replied. “The fishing industry in Japan is very extensive, and we have been anxious to know something of the methods adopted hero.” The number of people employed in the fisheries of Japan is more than two miL lions and a half, and the number of vessels about 400,000. Fish is the principal diet of the people. There have been some cattle imported into the country from Corea, but cattle-breeding is not carried on extensively, and there are no sheep at all. There are extensive rice field’s which could be put to more valuable use as grazing pastures if there were, hut owing to the moist character of the climate, sheep-breeding cannot be carried on profitably. Hence the importance of fish in the dietary scale of the Japanese.

Dr Nishikawa is especially interested in the trawling experiments which have been, carried on in New Zealand, and hopes to see the acttial working of a trawler when he visits Napier in a few days. Trawling is not unknown in Japan, but the work is carried on with sailing vessels, and is therefore very unsatisfactory. It is only a matter of time, however, for the introduction of steamers for this duty.

1 The headquarters of tlie Fisheries BurI eau are at Tokyo. The Bureau is in | three departments—the biological, which I is devoted to the scientific investigation of | aquatic life on the Japanese coasts; the ! chemical, which deals with fish-oils, maj nures, etc.; and the practical fishery de--1 partment, which regulates the fishing I seasons, grounds, and the conditions uni der which fish may be taken. There are ! forty-five Fisheries Boards, each controlling a certain district. The principal l methods of curing fish in these colonies are smoking and canning; but in Japau there are several ways, and even the method of smoking is peculiar to the country. The fish is first boiled in water, and having been deprived of bones, is smoked and dried. When it is partly dry, its surface is smoothed, the rugged parts being taken off with a knife. After this process, it is dried quite thoroughly. It is then known as “fushi,” and may be kept for years. In such a condition, the fish becomes as hard as a piece of board. Fusbi is very widely used throughout Japan for soup. The schnapper, well-known on the New Zealand. coast, is also one of the best known of the Japanese varieties. The schnapper in Japanese waters is a species slightly different from that in New Zealand, but is very much the same in flavour. In Japan it is known as the tai. The principal kinds there are the sardine and anchovy, and bonito, a fish resembling the English mackerel, is likewise wellknown. Large quantities of cured fish are exported every year from Japan to China.

With regard to the prospects of trade between New Zealand and Japan, Dr Nishikawa, though unable to speak from any close study of the subject, suggested that a very good market for New Zealand wool would he found in liis country. Already considerable quantities of wool are exported by the steamers of, the Nippon Yuson Kaisha from Australia to Japan, there to be made up into cloth, and the demand is increasing. In reference to frozen meat, Dr Nishikawa says that the want of a direct line of steamers from this country would render such a trade difficult.

There is one remarkable industry carried on in Japan, of which Dr Nishikawa spoke. It is that of pearl culture. Ho showed the interviewer a pearl shell, in the centre of which is what is known as a “pearl blister.” This pearl blister looks like a lialf-formod pearl rising from the shell, and is produced by artificial means. The process is a secret, the property of Mr Mikimoto, to whom it was suggested in the first instance by Professor K. Mitsikuri, -of Tokyo University. At periodic intervals the shell of the oyster is opened and treated by the secret process. This treatment lasts for four years, and the percentage of losses is considerable. Those concerned in the process are now studying the problem of forming a complete pearl.

Dr Nishikawa is charmed with New Zealand, which ho describes as a prosperous country, with a splendid climate. Mr Ayson has given him a great deal of information about tho New Zealand fisheries, and is to accompany him on his trip northward. Dr Nishikawa proposes to leave for Napier in a day or two, and will then visit the Hot Lakes, proceeding thence to Auckland. He will endeavour to see the scenery of the Wanganui river before he leaves New Zealand.