JAPANESE WHALING INDUSTRY

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5312, 27 January 1947, Page 3

JAPANESE WHALING INDUSTRY

WATCHED WHH LNTEREST AUSTRALIANS SURP.RISED AT MacARTHURS' PERMISSlON. As Japanese whalers leave Tokio, Osaka, and other Japanese ports for their long- journey t- the Antarctic, the Nippon Times, a leading Japanese daily printed in (E!nglish, runs a. magazine featnre story on the harvest Jafcan soon hopes to reap*from the sea, writes Frank Ryland in the 'Sydney Morning Herald.. . "The Nippon Times" opens the subjeet 'by stating that it ivill come as a surprise to many Japanese people that the Supreme Gommand has givep such "liberal directives" as will enable the newly-constituted Japanese fishing "fleet to harvest about three million tons of fish. The article goes on to state that it will also come as a surprise to many readers that one year after the occupation, their production may he 80 per cent. of the total fish caught in the area in which they may now operate. It then gives as a third surprise the fact that their three million ton goal is actually half as mueh again as the annual average catch of the United States. But it does not state the fourth surprise, and that is the surprise of the Australian people on learning that General MacArthur had given the Japanese permission to go whaling in Australian waters in the Antarctic. Japs Good Whalers. The Japanese are goocl whalers, having learned /evy quic'kly, for it is not much more than 10 years since they entered the whaling field. Japan tfirst entered the Antarctic as recently as 1934. In pre-war days the Japanese were steadily increasing their whaling catch. The 1937-38 season was a better sea -harvest for them than the 193637 by over 5500 whales and 55-,00'0 tons of oil. And just before the wai', in the season when all other ships operating in the Antarctic showed poor results, d'je to storrns, fogs and generally bad weather, the Japanese whalers were reporting good catches just the same. From humble beginnings the Japanese entered into competition with Norwegian, British and German factory ships, and in a very short time were reporting record catches and selling their entire output of whale oil on the London and Hamburg markets. Skin, meat, bones, etc., were brought to Japan, where they were made to serve many useful purposes; #the whale meat for food, the whale hide for leather and leather si'bstitutes (especially during the China "incident"), glue and gelatine, and the viscera and other organs for medicines ancl powdered whale meat and blood. .No Waste. In 1939' the Japanese Polar Whaling ancl Fishery Cv,. was advocating the necessity of conserving and protecting young whales, and of eradicating wasteful methods in "the interests of the industry and so as to advance the interests of mankind." How sincere they were in this regard is a matter for conjecture. One thing is certain: The Japanese did not waste any of their catch. Their record catch was in 1938-39, when their pelagic whaling fleet of six factory ships and 48 catchers returned from a seven mor.ths' expedition (five months being spent in the Antarctic Ocean) Avith a catch of 7500 whales and some 80,000 tons of oil. This was far in excess of what the most optimistic Japanese had expected. One factory ship alone, the Tonan Maru, had a total whale oil gain (exceeding by far those of any of the conventional whalers) of 20,000' tons. Dozens of powerful floodlights illuminated the working quarters, .and the workshops were the last worcl in moclern equipment and efficiency. Geographically, Japan is the Great Britain of Asia. As an island people the Japanese have taken to the sea ancl to fishing. They normally accounted for a quarter of the catch of the entire world. It is not surprising, therefore, that they should have made such a success of whaling. If the Chicagoan meat packers nse every part of the pig except the squeal, Japan can he expectecl to | squeeze the last ounce from a whale. Now they .are bac/.c 'on ihe job again. Australia will Avatch the results Avtih lively interest.