Deep sea fishing - Enyogyogyō

A general term for fishing that is conducted far from the base area and remains in the fishing ground for several weeks to several months or more, as opposed to coastal fishing and offshore fishing. Representative types include deep-sea bottom trawl fishing (which also included southern trawl fishing, northern trawl fishing, and in the past, northern fishing boats), western bottom trawl fishing, deep-sea skipjack and tuna purse seine fishing, deep-sea tuna longline fishing, deep-sea skipjack pole and line fishing, and deep-sea squid angling fishing. Many of these are designated fisheries as defined by the Fisheries Law, and they play an important role in Japan's fishing industry.

In 1897 (Meiji 30), the Law for Encouraging Ocean Fisheries was enacted to improve the fishery system that had been dependent on coastal fisheries up until the mid-Meiji period. Subsidies were provided for motorized and larger fishing boats to promote development in ocean fishing grounds. The results began to appear from the end of the Meiji period to the Taisho period. The motorization of the Fujimaru in Shizuoka Prefecture (1906) led to the expansion of bonito and tuna fishing grounds, and the purchase of British trawlers and the introduction of their technology (1908) led to the development of overseas fishing grounds, including the North Pacific and the South China Sea. The factory ship crab fishery, which is said to be the forerunner of Japan's mother ship fishing, got on track (1921), and the commercialization of mother ship salmon and trout fisheries was promoted one after another. Furthermore, mother ship whaling in the Antarctic Ocean began in 1934 (Showa 9), and the modernization of Japanese fishing meant that ocean fishing reached its peak in the Showa period. However, the Second World War dealt a major blow when the country lost 70% of its fishing vessels (in tonnage), and fishing production plummeted.

After the Second World War, resolving food problems and reviving the fishing industry became major concerns, and efforts to build fishing boats and replenish fishing supplies bore fruit, and the industry quickly returned to its prewar strength. In 1952 (Showa 27), when the MacArthur Line was abolished, fishing production exceeded prewar levels, and records were broken every year. With the addition of new fishing species such as mother ship and on-board tuna fisheries, frozen surimi factories, and Antarctic krill fisheries, the total fishing production exceeded 10 million tons in 1972, and the following year, 1973, the deep-sea fishing production reached 3.96 million tons. Thus, in just seven years, production doubled, but after that, the production of North Pacific demersal fisheries gradually decreased. In the early 1980s, under the influence of the global 200-mile system, economic zones and exclusive fishing zones were established for coastal countries. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulated exclusive economic zones, and coastal countries were given the right to determine their allowable catches in consideration of the conservation of living resources. After that, the area of ​​Japan's fishing grounds was narrowed at once, and furthermore, the tightening of fishing regulations (fishing grounds, fishing seasons, fishing gear, fishing methods, catches, etc.) caused production to drop sharply and continue to decline. In 1996, Japan also established and implemented a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, and the production volume of deep-sea fishing in the following year of 1997 was only 11% of the total production, about one-fifth of the peak. In 2001, the United Nations Agreement on Fisheries of the High Seas came into effect, and the use of marine resources in the high seas is managed based on scientific evidence by coastal countries and deep-sea fishing countries through international frameworks (regional fisheries management organizations, etc.). Japan's total fishing production volume has fallen below 6 million tons since 2004 due to a decrease in catches of high-yield pelagic fish such as sardines, and deep-sea fishing accounts for only about 9% of that. In 2011, due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, total production was only 4.77 million tons, while deep-sea fisheries produced a catch of 430,000 tons.

In recent years, interest in marine biological resources has increased in countries around the world, and emphasis is being placed not only on maintaining and managing resources within the 200-mile waters of each country, but also on international management of various resources under the idea that the entire ocean is a globally shared asset. In addition to resource issues, the protection of whales in the Antarctic Ocean and other marine mammals and seabirds that are caught as by-catch in drift nets has become an international issue. Furthermore, the suspension of commercial whaling in the Antarctic Ocean since 1988, the ban on offshore fishing of salmon and trout in the North Pacific Ocean since 1990, and the ban on squid drift nets in the high seas since 1992 are also thought to reflect international public opinion. In tuna longline fisheries, measures to avoid by-catch of seabirds and sea turtles have been made mandatory since the beginning of the year 2000, and in other fisheries, coexistence with by-catch species and the conservation of fragile ecosystems has become a major issue.

[Seiichi Mishima, Toyomi Takahashi, and Miki Ogura]

"New Introduction to the Law of the Sea" by Takanashi Masao (1985, Seizando Shoten) ▽ "Japan and the Law of the Sea" by Mizukami Chiyuki (1995, Yushindo Kobunsha) ▽ "Japan's Fisheries Industry and Overseas Fisheries Cooperation in the Age of Globalization" by Satake Goroku (1997, Seizando Shoten) ▽ "Poplardia Information Center: Japan's Fisheries Industry" edited by Komatsu Masayuki (2008, Poplar Publishing) ▽ "Law of the Sea and Ship Passage" revised edition edited by Japan Maritime Center and edited by Kuribayashi Tadao (2010, Seizando Shoten) ▽ "New Edition: What You Need to Know About Fisheries Law" by Kaneda Yoshiyuki (2010, Seizando Shoten) ▽ "Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Industry 4: Fisheries Industry" edited by the Japan Fisheries Association (2011, Suzuki Publishing) ▽ "Fishing Cooperative Organization Research Group, ed., 'Explanation of the Fisheries Cooperative Law and Fisheries Law,' 20th edition (2013, Fisheries Cooperative Management Center)" ▽ "Kaneda Yoshiyuki, 'New Edition: Detailed Explanation of the Fisheries Law,' 4th revised and expanded edition (2013, Seizando Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

根拠地より遠く離れ、数週間から数か月またはそれ以上にわたり漁場に滞留して行う漁業の総称で、沿岸漁業、沖合漁業に対していう。遠洋底引網漁業（南方トロール漁業、北方トロール漁業、過去には北転船(ほくてんせん)等もこれに区分されていた）、以西底引網漁業、遠洋カツオ・マグロ巻網漁業、遠洋マグロ延縄(はえなわ)漁業、遠洋カツオ一本釣漁業、遠洋イカ釣漁業などが代表的なものである。その多くは漁業法に定める指定漁業に含まれており、日本の漁業生産の重要な部分を担っている。

　1897年（明治30）、沿岸漁業依存の明治中期までの漁業体質改善を目ざす遠洋漁業奨励法が制定され、遠洋漁場への進出開発を促進するため、漁船の動力化や大型化に対して奨励金を下付した。その成果は明治末期から大正時代にかけて現れ始めた。静岡県の富士丸の動力化（1906）を契機としてカツオ・マグロ漁場が拡大し、イギリス製トロール船の買入れと技術導入（1908）によって、北洋、南シナ海をはじめ海外漁場が開発され、日本の母船式漁業の先駆けといわれる工船カニ漁業が軌道にのり（1921）、相次いで母船式サケ・マス漁業の企業化が促進された。また、1934年（昭和9）には母船式南氷洋捕鯨が始まるなど、日本漁業の近代化によって遠洋漁業は昭和年代に入って盛期を迎えた。しかし、第二次世界大戦のため、保有漁船の70％（トン数）を失う大打撃を受け、漁業生産は急落した。

　第二次世界大戦後、食糧問題の解決と漁業復興が重大関心事となり、漁船建造、漁業資材充足への努力が実り、短期間のうちに戦前の勢力に復活した。マッカーサー・ラインの撤廃された1952年（昭和27）の漁業生産は戦前の水準を超え、年々その記録を更新した。母船式および搭載艇式マグロ漁業、冷凍すり身工船、南氷洋オキアミ漁業などの新たな漁業種も加わり、1972年には漁業総生産量は1000万トンを超え、翌1973年の遠洋漁業生産は396万トンに達した。このようにわずか7年間で以前の2倍の生産をあげたが、以後、徐々に北洋底魚漁業は生産減となる。1980年代前半から世界的な200海里体制による規制の影響を受け、沿岸国の経済水域、漁業専管水域が設定されていく。1982年国連海洋法条約により排他的経済水域が規定され、沿岸国は生物資源の保存を考え、その許容漁獲量を決定する権利をもつことになった。その後、日本の漁場面積が一挙に狭められ、さらに漁業上の規制（漁場、漁期、漁具、漁法、漁獲量など）の強化によって生産量は激減し、下向線をたどってきた。1996年（平成8）日本も200海里排他的経済水域を設定、実施し、翌1997年の遠洋漁業の生産量は総生産量の11％余りにとどまり、最盛期の5分の1程度となった。2001年（平成13）には国連公海漁業協定が発効し、外洋の水産資源の利用に関しては沿岸国と遠洋漁業国が国際的な枠組み（地域漁業管理機関等）を通じて科学的根拠に基づく管理が行われている。日本の漁業総生産量はマイワシ等の多獲性浮魚類の漁獲減少等で2004年以降は600万トンを割り込み、遠洋漁業もそのうち約9％を占めるに過ぎない。2011年には東日本大震災の影響もあり総生産量は477万トンにとどまるなか、遠洋漁業は43万トンの漁獲量となった。

　近年、世界各国の海洋生物資源に対する関心が高まり、自国200海里水域内の資源の維持管理のみならず、海洋全域にわたって世界共有の財産であるとする思想のもとに、各種の資源に対する国際管理が強調されている。資源問題はもちろん、南極海のクジラを始め、とくに流し網などで混獲される海産哺乳(ほにゅう)動物や海鳥類の保護が国際世論となった。さらに1988年（昭和63）からの南極海商業捕鯨休止、1990年からの北洋サケ・マスの沖取り禁止、1992年からの公海イカ流し網の禁止などが国際世論を反映しているとも考えられる。マグロ延縄漁業では、2000年に入り海鳥・ウミガメの混獲回避措置の義務化が進められ、その他の漁業でも混獲種や脆弱(ぜいじゃく)な生態系の保全との共存が大きな課題となっている。

［三島清吉・高橋豊美・小倉未基］

『高梨正夫著『新海洋法概説』（1985・成山堂書店）』▽『水上千之著『日本と海洋法』（1995・有信堂高文社）』▽『佐竹五六著『国際化時代の日本水産業と海外漁業協力』（1997・成山堂書店）』▽『小松正之監修『ポプラディア情報館　日本の水産業』（2008・ポプラ社）』▽『日本海事センター編、栗林忠男監修『海洋法と船舶の通航』改訂版（2010・成山堂書店）』▽『金田禎之著『新編　漁業法のここが知りたい』改訂版（2010・成山堂書店）』▽『大日本水産会監修『日本の農林水産業4　水産業』（2011・鈴木出版）』▽『漁協組織研究会編『水協法・漁業法の解説』20訂版（2013・漁協経営センター）』▽『金田禎之著『新編　漁業法詳解』増補4訂版（2013・成山堂書店）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例