L'exploitation de la coquille Saint-Jacques au Japon

King scallop, Patinopecten yessoensis (Jay), is one of the cold water species whose exploitation is the oldest in Japanese waters. In the bay of Mutsu, its fishing intensified in the middle of the Tokugawa era (1615-1868) and scallops held an important place in the trade with China. At the beginning of the Meiji era, king scallop was mostly fished in Hokkaido, in the bay of Funka and on the south-west coast of this island. Around year 25 of the Meiji era (1893), it spread to the coasts of the Okhotsk Sea. This exploitation provided a production which varied considerably from one year to the other, but was a central element of the activity and economy of fishing villages.