For example, the angling population in this country has shrunk drastically from 20.2 million in 1998 to 16.9 million in 2001. In Shiga Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture, the release of fish of foreign origin (blue gill, black bass, etc.) was prohibited to protect the fishing resources. The partially revised Law Concerning the Normalization of the Leisure Fishing Boat Industry was promulgated on June 19. And stiffer penalties are now imposed by the laws on the scattering of chum (groundbait) enforced on April 1, 2003, the prohibition of trawling, the limits on fish sizes, the limits on gathering and fishing areas, etc.

The following description, using tripolar diagrams, is therefore an attempt at creating a new fishing culture well tuned to the 21st-century environment and in due consideration of the basics of fishing:
1. What's happening in the sea today? (Fig. 1)
2. Maintaining the oceans, so that they are rich and clean, in this century of the environment (Fig. 2)
3. Creation of a new fishing culture (Fig. 3)
4. Creation of fishing bait for a recycling-oriented society (Fig. 4)
5. The status quo of "Isoyake" (rocky-shore denudation) (Fig. 5)
6. Bait as a measure to counter "Isoyake" (rocky-shore denudation) (Fig. 6)

During the ten years from 1990 to 2000, the catches of fish in Japan dropped from 10.25 million tons to 6.39 million tons.

Why has there been such a drop? What are the causes? Firstly, i may be due to indiscriminate fishing that is in excess of the marine resources. Secondly, it may have been caused by the "Isoyake" phenomenon (rocky-shore denudation) which is spreading along the coasts of Japan. This has caused a drastic reduction in the growth of various types of seaweed. And thirdly, it may also have resulted from the whitening, or death, of coral due to global warming or other causes.

Another development taking place in the sea today is contamination, just the same as that of rivers and lakes. The contamination of ocean waters is caused by industrial wastewater, household effluent, plastic pollution, self-contamination of fish as a chain hazard in fish-farming, aging fishing grounds (shellfish), tanker accidents, the effluence of red soil, agricultural chemical pollution, environmental estrogens, damage done by the red tide phenomena, bioaccumulation, etc.

Also, there are changes in the tidal currents and a loss of seaweed beds due to excessive land development, which includes the construction of coastal roads, seawalls, marine roads, etc.

Furthermore, many seaweed beds and coral reefs have perished as they lost their photosynthesis capacity because of the invasion by red soil during heavy rains or typhoons. The loss of the water retention capacity of the soil due to excessive tree-felling and the technically problematic improvement of agricultural land are the principal causes of this discharge of red soil into the sea.

Marine ecosystems are also being destroyed by the reclamation of tidal mud flats, coral reefs and the shore.

The 21st century is touted as the age for sustainable production and a recycling-oriented society. Yet, seaweed, which is among the plants considered to form a basis for our bioindustries, is quickly disappearing from the shores of Japan.

Just as birds and animals cannot live in deforested mountains, fish and shellfish cannot live in marine deserts (Isoyake).
Today the sea around Japan is sick and desperately in need of resuscitation.

What does "cultivating the ocean" mean? It means a cycle of fostering undersea forests, determining permissible catches based on marine resource surveys, and managing fisheries systematically. It may also mean a major conversion from conventional fish catching to fish farming.

At the recent Earth Summit, "the global environment and sustainable development" was a topic of discussion. Such, however, will only be realized by the persistent efforts of the human society to move politically, economically, scientifically and technologically toward the protection of the environment.

In this century of the environment, it is the responsibility of humanity to enrich the oceans of the future and to keep them clean.

Marine afforestation not only enriches marine resources themselves but also realizes the provision of food, industrial materials and energy, the purification of the seawater, and the absorption of carbon dioxide - all more effectively than the tropical rain forests - in the fight against global warming.

On the other hand, it is, of course, essential to take measures against the aforementioned pollution by industrial waste and other pollution to protect our oceans, rivers and lakes. The construction of artificial seashores by seashore development or the creation of agricultural land and the contamination of the sea are reducing seaweed beds and coral reefs, which are indispensable for the nurturing of young fish. And the worsening condition of the environment is inflicting major damage to fishery resources.

To protect the marine ecosystem, it is absolutely necessary to limit landfill, promote afforestation, prevent excessive land development, to enrich the oceans of the future, and to keep them clean.

According to Sir Edward Tylor, an English scholar of the 19th century, and called the Father of Cultural Anthropology, "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

"Fishing culture" may therefore be defined as "a complex whole which includes all the capabilities and habits acquired by man in relation to fishing."

What I mean here is the leisure or sport fishing culture, which is different from the fishing conducted by fishermen as production or an industry(single-hook fishing, dragnet fishing, longline fishing, etc.).

From olden times, fishing, or angling, has been said to have five merits, namely, health, patience, generosity, nobility and pleasure. In other words, fishing is good for our health, trains our patience and generosity, helps us gain a noble spirit, and gives us pleasure in life.

In creating a new fishing culture, we must learn from our history of "cultivating the sea" and aim at a recycling-oriented society in which we coexist with nature.

We must also protect our fishing environment, carry out the release of fingerlings, cooperate with coastal fishermen and improve our fishing manners.

Also, to promote fishing as a sound and safe recreation, we must work together with all the fishing aficionados in creating a new fishing culture for the 21st century.

Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we know that it is physically not possible to conduct our lives on the assumption of a limitless and forever healthy Earth. For Japan, it is now an urgent national project to create a recycling-oriented society.

To achieve that goal, we need to raise "resource productivity" rather than "labor productivity."

For Marukyu as a fishing bait maker, a basic and definitive goal is to create a new fishing culture just right for such a recycling-oriented society.

Now, in creating fishing bait that is friendly to people and nature, we must consider that the following three conditions be met:
- The bait must have an appeal to fish and to catch them.
- The bait must be friendly to the global environment and help to maintain the ecosystems of nature.
- The bait must be easy to use and inexpensive.

Marukyu is thus conducting energetic R&D in the development of ocean fishing
bait, river fishing bait and biodegradable Ecogear bait that satisfy the above three conditions.

Also, together with its affiliated agents, Marukyu is offering programs which include guidance in fishing manners, the release of fish, angling lessons for the youth, as well as fishing competitions. To be the World's No. 1 bait producer, Marukyu is making a serious effort to create a new fishing bait culture.

Dr. Endo defined "Isoyake" as 'a partial or the total withering (death) of the seaweed growing in a certain area on a particular coast, and the resulting barrenness there, which in turn caused a reduction or loss of production of not only edible (useful) seaweed, but also of abalone and the shore fish surviving on it, followed by the consequential impoverishment of the nearby fishing villages.'

In the Izu area, Isoyake is the death of the arame and kajime seaweeds. In other areas, it may be the death and disappearance of tangle, sargassum, wakame seaweed, eelgrass etc., on the bottom of the sea, which becomes occupied by nullipores called calcareous algae. Thus, the whitened rocky bottoms are exposed and the loss of useful seaweed reduces the catches of fish, eventually impoverishing the fishing villages nearby.

There is a reason for my defining 'Isoyake' as above. In Okinawa, where I have lived for the past half a year, I gave a lecture and used the term Isoyake in referring to some parts of Okinawa actually witnessing reduced seaweed production. To this, one local researcher raised an objection and said that Okinawa has no nullipores and so has no Isoyake phenomenon.

Theories vary about the cause of Isoyake. Environmental to vermin damage to a destruction of the ecosystem. Yet, the following three are the most probable causes:
- Rising water temperature (the Kuroshio Current)
- Destruction of the ecosystem (inflow of red soil, clay, agricultural chemicals, synthetic detergents, etc., concrete structures, etc.)
- Vermin damage (sprouts eaten by seaweed-eating fish [93 kinds] such as sea urchins and balloonfish).
(* See "Saving the Sea From Isoyake" published by the Nosan-gyoson Culture Association.)

Much of the fishing bait scattered in the ocean is eaten by fish. And the bait left uneaten by fish is eaten by crabs, octopus, sea urchins, lugworms, shellfish and starfish. Furthermore, bacteria store 30% of organic matter within their bodies, which consists of such things as the bait that has been uneaten by small creatures, and the dead bodies or excrement of organisms; decomposing the remaining 70% into nutritive salts, such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, that phytoplankton and seaweed feed on.

Phytoplankton and seaweed create a natural cycle by their photosynthesis in which such inorganic matter as water, carbon dioxide and nutritive salts are turned into organic matter.

All marine organisms survive by eating organisms other than themselves. Such a biological system is called Elton's pyramid structure of a food chain, with phytoplankton and seaweed constituting the foundation of the pyramid.

Materials used in Marukyu's assorted baits are pupas, bean curd refuse, brit, wheat, kelp, etc. They are all safe materials, from nature or food materials. Bait uneaten by fish is eaten by small organisms at the bottom of the ocean, and the remainder is eaten by microorganisms, which are then brought into the natural cycle.

I am in total agreement with Marukyu's efforts toward creating a new fishing culture to protect the global environment.

Then, part of the inorganic matter is dissolved into the ocean as nutritive salts.

Phytoplankton and seaweed grow and multiply, helped by the nutritive salts, the carbon dioxide in the seawater and the rays of the sun. As the phytoplankton and seaweed increase, fish and small organisms on the seabed increase, too, thus creating a rich ocean. In this manner, Marukyu's fishing bait is taken into the cycle of nature.

Marukyu's assorted bait is all made of safe materials, from nature or food materials. It is nutritious and safe for both small creatures as well as for the microorganisms at the bottom of the ocean.