Decline of Tuna Landing at Misaki, a Fishing Port of Miure City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Abstract

Misaki is one of the well-known fishing ports in Japan, and in the early part of the '60s it began to be prosperous especially because tuna landing of the port showed a marked increase. The figures in tons, for instance, of tuna landed at this port rose up from 55, 000 in 1963 to 94, 000 in 1968, and reached the peak. In 1969 the tonnage began to lower and in 1974 it went down to 53, 400. This decrease can be attributed chiefly to the inadequate facilities of Misaki as a fishing port. Before 1970 tuna had usually been sold piece by piece either by auction or by tender. But according as the fish catch increased, frozen tuna came to be transacted at so much a boat-load. In trading a great deal of tuna a large-scale system of cold storage is indispensable on the port. In this regard Misaki proved to be a failure. Most of the tuna long-line boats gradually began to keep away from Misaki in spite of its geographical merits, and to land their whole catch at other ports equipped with sufficient refrigeration.