Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline
Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline
Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline
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Appendix 5<br />
Japan <strong>Pelagic</strong> Longl<strong>in</strong>e Fisheries:<br />
Industry Practices <strong>and</strong> Attitudes towards <strong>Shark</strong> <strong>Depredation</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Bycatch</strong><br />
Shelley Clarke, scclarke@biznetvigator.com<br />
A5.1. Introduction <strong>and</strong> Methods<br />
This description of the shark depredation <strong>and</strong> bycatch situation <strong>in</strong><br />
Japanese longl<strong>in</strong>e fisheries is based on <strong>in</strong>terviews, catch records<br />
held by the National Research Institute for Far Seas Fisheries<br />
(Japan Fisheries Research Agency), <strong>and</strong> other published <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
as cited. The Organization for Promotion of Responsible Tuna<br />
Fisheries (OPRT), the Global Guardian Trust (GGT) <strong>and</strong> the National<br />
Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF) provided essential<br />
assistance <strong>in</strong> data access <strong>and</strong> compilation. The <strong>in</strong>terviews were<br />
conducted from April-July 2006 <strong>in</strong> the ports of Kesennuma <strong>in</strong> Miyagi<br />
prefecture (15 <strong>in</strong>terviews), Kii-Katsuura <strong>in</strong> Wakayama prefecture (8<br />
<strong>in</strong>terviews), Yaizu <strong>in</strong> Shizuoka prefecture (2 <strong>in</strong>terviews) <strong>and</strong> Misaki<br />
<strong>in</strong> Kanagawa prefecture (1 <strong>in</strong>terview) by Shelley Clarke of NRIFSF<br />
(all <strong>in</strong>terviews), Toshikazu Miyamoto of GGT (Kesennuma <strong>and</strong> Kii-<br />
Katsuura) <strong>and</strong> Ziro Suzuki of NRIFSF (Yaizu <strong>and</strong> Misaki) (Fig. A5.1).<br />
These ports were chosen from a subset of Japanese ports with high<br />
numbers of registered longl<strong>in</strong>e vessels <strong>and</strong> substantial catches of large<br />
pelagic fishes (Table A5.1), <strong>and</strong> because it was possible toarrange<br />
<strong>in</strong>terviews <strong>in</strong> these areas dur<strong>in</strong>g the timeframe of the study (see below).<br />
In addition to aim<strong>in</strong>g to conduct <strong>in</strong>terviews across a range of ports<br />
<strong>and</strong> areas, a variety of different longl<strong>in</strong>e vessel types were targeted.<br />
Longl<strong>in</strong>e vessels <strong>in</strong> Japan are divided <strong>in</strong>to three classes:<br />
• Enyo ( 遠 洋 ), or distant water, vessels are >120 metric tonnes<br />
(mt), have crews of 15-20, are at sea for periods of two to three<br />
months, <strong>and</strong> range throughout the world’s oceans.<br />
• K<strong>in</strong>kai ( 近 海 ), or offshore, fish<strong>in</strong>g vessels are 10-120 mt, have<br />
crews of less than ten, <strong>and</strong> are at sea for periods rang<strong>in</strong>g from<br />
one week to one month <strong>in</strong> fish<strong>in</strong>g grounds generally west of 180 o<br />
longitude.<br />
• Engan ( 沿 岸 ), or nearshore, vessels are less than 10mt, with as<br />
few as one fisherman onboard mak<strong>in</strong>g trips of 1-7 days.<br />
Fig. A5.1. Map of Japan show<strong>in</strong>g the location of the four <strong>in</strong>terview ports.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce enyo vessels may be absent from Japan for periods of 6-9<br />
months (i.e. they are reprovisioned <strong>in</strong> foreign ports), they are only<br />
<strong>in</strong>frequently <strong>in</strong> their home ports <strong>and</strong> are difficult to contact. For<br />
this reason other major longl<strong>in</strong>e ports with a high proportion of<br />
enyo vessels, e.g. Nich<strong>in</strong>an <strong>in</strong> Miyazaki prefecture on Kyuushu <strong>and</strong><br />
Kochi <strong>in</strong> Kochi prefecture on Shikoku, could not be <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> the<br />
<strong>in</strong>terview program.<br />
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