TRANSNATIONAL FISHING - JAPAN CHANGING STRATEGY

The Japanese fishing industry is finding it increasingly hard to obtain access to EEZs through government-level political pressure. However, extended coastal State jurisdiction cannot fully account for the current decline in Japanese long-distance fishing in northern waters. The rationalization thesis holds that purely economic considerations on the part of the fishing industry have been a major and independent factor behind Japanese vessel cuts in distant waters. An important element in Japanese efforts to retain distant fishing grounds has been the involvement of coastal States' industries in the activities within the EEZ. The transformation thesis points out that the Japanese transnationals now follow this strategy to its logical conclusion. Whereas before they concentrated on control through direct operation by their own fishing vessels, today other more indirect forms of controlling the transactions are seen as sufficient.