Mother ship fishing - mother ship fishing

A fishing operation style in which several or several dozen independent ships or fishing boats on board the mother ship form a fleet around one mother ship. Depending on the species of fish targeted, there were fisheries for salmon, trout, crab, whaling, bottom fish, bonito, and tuna, but this is no longer practiced. In mother ship fishing, the fleet also included several intermediate ships (carriers) that transported manufactured and processed products and necessities for the fleet. The mother ship processed and stored the catches of the independent ships or fishing boats, replenished them with fuel, fresh water, food, and other necessities, and also provided health care for the members of the fleet. When many fishing boats set out alone to distant fishing grounds, fishing activities were restricted by the number of days it took to travel to and from the fishing grounds, refueling, and processing the catch, which was disadvantageous for the fishing business, the mother ship system was able to increase production efficiency.

It is said that the origin of mother ship fishing in Japan was factory ship crab fishing. In 1914 (Taisho 3), the training ship Unyo Maru of the Fisheries Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry attempted to can king crab off the coast of West Kamchatka, and then in 1920, the training ship Kureha Maru from Toyama Prefecture attempted to use seawater to wash crab meat and succeeded in canning, which became the opportunity for the commercialization of mother ship fishing. This was followed in 1934 (Showa 9) by the adoption of the North Pacific salmon and trout fishery, which became fully operational. Mother ship whaling was first carried out in 1934 when a fleet was purchased from Norway and a trial trip was made to the Southern Ocean on the way there, and by 1938, six fleets had set out. It was suspended during World War II, but was the earliest to resume after the war. Fishing in the North Pacific began in 1940, with the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean as fishing grounds. Mothership bottom fish fishing has a long history, with two fleets setting out to Bristol Bay in 1958, but was discontinued due to a trade slump. Since two fleets of frozen flounder trawlers set out to fish in 1954 (Showa 29), it has developed significantly, but due to excessive competition, it has been gradually declining since 1964, and was discontinued in 1987. Mothership fishing for skipjack tuna and tuna was attempted in the early Showa period, but was unsuccessful. After World War II, fleets of fishing boats and independent fishing were organized in 1954, and a complete shift to fishing boats was made in 1965, but fishing grounds became smaller and it almost disappeared in the early 1970s. Mothership fishing was a driving force for the overseas development of Japanese fishing, but as coastal countries successively implemented 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones, each fishery was subject to fishing restrictions and high fishing fees, and was discontinued.

[Mishima Seikichi and Takahashi Toyomi]

"Saito Ichiro, 'Deep Sea Fishing' (1960, Koseisha Kouseikaku)" ▽ "Katsuragi Tadao, 'Mothership-Type Factory Ship Fisheries' (1965, Seizando Shoten)" ▽ "Okamoto Nobuo, 'The History of the Development of Modern Fisheries' (1965, Suisansha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1隻の母船を中心に、数隻ないし数十隻の独航船あるいは母船に搭載した漁艇とが船団を組んで漁業を行う操業形態。対象魚種によって、サケ・マス、カニ、捕鯨、底魚、カツオ・マグロなどの漁業があったが、現在は行われていない。母船式漁業では製造・加工した製品の運搬や船団の必需品の運搬にあたる数隻の仲積船(なかづみせん)（運搬船）も船団に含められ、母船は、独航船あるいは漁艇の漁獲物を処理加工して保蔵する役割をもち、燃油、清水、食糧およびその他の必需物資を補給するほか、船団員の保健にもあたった。遠く離れた漁場に、多くの漁船が単独で出漁する場合、漁場への往復日数、燃料補給、漁獲物処理などによって、漁業活動が制約を受け、漁業経営上不利な場合、母船式によって生産効率をあげることができたわけである。

　日本の母船式漁業の創始は工船カニ漁業であるといわれる。1914年（大正3）農林省水産講習所の実習船雲鷹(うんよう)丸が、西カムチャツカ沖合いでタラバガニの缶詰製造を試み、ついで20年富山県実習船呉羽(くれは)丸が、カニ肉洗浄に海水を用いうることを試み、缶詰製造に成功したことが、母船式漁業の事業化への契機となった。これに次いで34年（昭和9）北洋サケ・マス漁業にも取り入れられ、本格的に操業されるようになった。母船式捕鯨は、34年、ノルウェーから船団を購入して回航の途次、南氷洋に試験出漁したのが最初で、38年には6船団の出漁をみた。第二次世界大戦中は中断したが、戦後もっとも早く再開された。北洋では40年から出漁し、ベーリング海、北氷洋海域を漁場とした。母船式底魚漁業の歴史は古く、33年ブリストル湾へ2船団出漁したが、貿易不振のため中止された。54年（昭和29）トロール船による冷凍カレイ2船団が出漁して以来著しい発展をみたが、過当競争のため64年以降漸減傾向をたどり、87年に中止された。カツオ・マグロ母船式漁業は、昭和初期に試みられたが不成功に終わり、第二次世界大戦後の1954年から漁艇搭載型、独航型の船団が組織され、65年に漁艇搭載型へ完全移行したが、漁場が狭くなって70年代はじめにほぼ消滅した。母船式漁業は日本の漁業の海外発展への原動力となったが、各沿岸国が相次いで200海里排他的経済水域を実施したことによって、各漁業とも漁獲規制や高い入漁料を課せられるなどして、中止となった。

［三島清吉・高橋豊美］

『齋藤市郎著『遠洋漁業』（1960・恒星社厚生閣）』▽『葛城忠雄著『母船式工船漁業』（1965・成山堂書店）』▽『岡本信男著『近代漁業発達史』（1965・水産社）』

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