| Agriculture, Forestry, And Fishing In Japan |
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DEVELOPMENT Agriculture ,awwwwwwwetryutahugbjsdjksdhadhfsdThree types of farm households developed: those engaging exclusively in agriculture (14.5 % of the 4.2 million farm households in 1988, down from 21.5 % in 1965); those deriving more than half their income from the farm (14.2 % down from 36.7 % in 1965); and those mainly engaged in jobs other than farming (71.3 % up from 41.8 % in 1965). As more and more farm families turned to nonfarming activities, the farm population declined (down from 4.9 million in 1975 to 4.8 million in 1988). The rate of decrease slowed in the late 1970s and 1980s, but the average age of farmers rose to 51 years by 1980, twelve years older than the average industrial employee. LAND SHORTAGE The most striking feature of Japanese agriculture is the shortage of farmland. The 49,000 km&2 under cultivation constituted just 13.2 % of the total land area in 1988. However, the land is intensively cultivated. Rice paddies occupy most of the countryside, whether on the alluvial plains, the terraced slopes, or the swampland and coastal bays. Nonrice farmland share the terraces and lower slopes and are planted with s and Pea s. FORESTRY The nation's forest resources, although abundant, have not been well developed to sustain a large lumber industry. Of the 245,000 km&2 of forests, 198000 km&2 are classified as active forests. Most often forestry is a part-time activity for farmers or small companies. About a third of all forests are owned by the government. Production is highest in Hokkaido and in Aomori , Iwate, Akita , Fukushima , Gifu , Miyazaki , and Kagoshima prefectures. Nearly 33.5 million cubic meters of roundwood were produced in 1986, of which 98 % was destined for industrial uses. FISHERIES Japan ranked second in the world behind China in tonnage of fish caught—11.9 million tons in 1989, down slightly from 11.1 million tons in 1980. After the 1973 Energy Crisis , deep-sea fishing in Japan declined, with the annual catch in the 1980s averaging 2 million tons. Offshore fisheries accounted for an average of 50 % of the nation's total fish catches in the late 1980s although they experienced repeated ups and downs during that period. Coastal fisheries had smaller catches than northern sea fisheries in 1986 and 1987. As a whole, Japan's fish catches registered a slower growth in the late 1980s. By contrast, Japan's import of marine products increased greatly in the 1980s, and was nearly 2 million tons in 1989. Japan also introduced the "culture and breed" fishing system, or Sea Farming . In this system, artificial insemination and hatching techniques are used to breed fish and Shellfish , which are then released into rivers or seas. These fish and shellfish are caught after they grow bigger. Salmon is raised this way. Japan is also one of the world's few Whaling nations. As a member of the International Whaling Commission , the government pledged that its fleets would restrict their catch to international quotas, but it attracted international opprobrium for its failure to sign an agreement placing a moratorium on catching Sperm Whales . Japan has more than 2,000 fishing ports, including Nagasaki , in southwest Kyushu ; Otaru , Kushiro , and Abashiri in Hokkaido ; and Yaezu and Misaki on the east coast of Honshu . SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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