Whaling Around Hiradojima and Other Islands in the Area: Relation between Whaling Methods and Fishing Grounds

摘要

The paper has outlined the relation between the four whaling methods and fishing grounds in the seas around Hiradojima and other islands in the area, and shown that the change in the methods affected whaling grounds. The Northern Area, which was the route for both whales migrating south in winter and north in spring, was actively exploited by Tsuki-gumi from the days of the Early Premodern Whaling Era, and continued to be major whaling grounds for Ami-gumi into the Middle Premodern Whaling Era since it had topographical features suitable for setting whaling nets. However, when harpoon gun whaling was introduced in the Late Premodern Whaling Era, the area was too vast to cover efficiently. Ami-gumi continued to hunt whales by hand harpooning with nets, but whaling was discontinued in the late 1890s to early 1900s (Meiji era). The Eastern Area, on the other hand, exploiting geographic advantage, there is a possibility that hand harpoon whaling could be conducted at Jomon period, only targeted whales migrating north in spring. Tsuki-gumi, and later Ami-gumi, whaled in the area to a certain extent in the Early to Middle Premodern Whaling Era. Then, with the introduction of harpoon gun whaling in the Late Premodern Whaling Era, it was found that the conditions in Hirado Strait were suitable to the method, and thus whaling in the area continued for sixty and five long years. However, probably due to the decline in whale stocks in the seas of Kyushu, neither the Northern nor the Eastern Area was exploited as regular whaling grounds once the Norwegian harpoon gun whaling became the major method in the Modern Whaling Era.