British restrict Japanese fishing in Singapore

In the 1930s, rising anti-Japanese sentiments in the Far East dealt a huge blow to the livelihood of Japanese fishermen in Singapore.^[1] As early as the outbreak of World War I, Japan was already keen to expand its fishing industry southwards into Southeast Asia in an effort to relieve overpopulation in Japan's fishing villages, as well as tap the Southeast Asian market for marine products in colonial metropolises such as Singapore.^[2] Since 1921, Okinawan fishermen, which made up the large majority of Japanese fishermen based in Singapore at the time, had been immigrating to Singapore to work the island’s fisheries.^[3] By 1938, there were about 1,500 Japanese fishermen, which formed nearly half of the total Japanese population in Singapore.^[4]

Although outnumbered by local fishermen, the Japanese fishermen in Singapore controlled the colony's fishing industry due to their advanced off-shore fishing methods. Their catch formed 50 percent of Singapore’s fish haul,^[5] and was then worth about one million dollars annually.^[6] Local Japanese domination of the Malayan fishing industry and their huge presence in many Malayan ports gave rise to concerns over British imperial security as Malaya was a key British naval station in the Far East. To scale back Japanese control of Malayan fishing, the British imposed a series of restrictions from February 1937 that effectively curtailed the growth of Japanese fishing enterprises.^[7] These measures, which had become harsher after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, included the termination of licences for new Japanese fishing boats, as well as revocation and non-renewal of existing licences.^[8] Anti-Japanese feelings stemming from the war also prompted Chinese fishmongers in Malaya to boycott Japanese-caught fishes, resulting in an over-supply of fresh fish and a subsequent sharp fall in fish prices.^[9] These developments caused massive unemployment among Japanese fishermen in Singapore and many of them moved to the Malayan peninsula to search for other work. From 1938 to 1939, the number of Japanese fishermen in Singapore decreased from 1,400 to 900.^[10]

The British colonial government rationalised their restrictions on Japanese fishing on the pretext of preserving fishing grounds for local fishermen and strongly refuted claims that the measures were deliberately anti-Japanese.^[11] Since the 1920s, the British had suspected that Japanese fishing boats were gathering military intelligence.^[12] However, allegations of Japanese espionage were rarely, if ever, uncovered and its impact on events that led to the capture of Singapore by the Japanese in February 1942 is negligible.^[13]

References
1. Chen, T.-Y. (2006, November). Japan and the birth of Takao's Fisheries in Nanyo 1895–1945 (Working paper No. 139) (p. 7). Retrieved April 28, 2014, from Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University: http://www.murdoch.edu.au/Research-capabilities/Asia-Research-Centre/_document/working-papers/wp139.pdf
2. Chen, Nov 2006, p. 5.
3. Shimizu, H. (2008, June). Theories of migration and the Okinawan fishermen in colonial Singapore. Research on Contemporary Society, No. 3, 27, 34. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from Aichi Shukutoku University website: http://www2.aasa.ac.jp/graduate/gsscs/reports01/PDF/03-003.pdf
4. Japanese fishermen may not get renewals of licences. (1938, June 9). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
5. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 9 Jun 1938, p. 3; Shimizu, Jun 2008, p. 32.
6. Japanese in Singapore. (1939, October 3). The Straits Times, p. 10. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. Chen, Nov 2006, p. 7.
8. Shimizu, H. (1997, September). The Japanese fisheries based in Singapore, 1892–1945. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 28(2), 339. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from JSTOR; Japanese fishermen are leaving Singapore for other ports. (1938, January 30). The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
9. The Straits Times, 30 Jan 1938, p. 3.
10. Shimizu, Sep 1997, p. 339; Singapore fish market. (1939, April 2). The Straits Times, p. 7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. The Straits Times, 2 April 1939, p. 7; Shimizu, Sep 1997, p. 339.
12. Shimizu, Sep 1997, p. 339; Kotani, K. (2009). Japanese intelligence in World War II (C. Kotani, Trans.) (p. 77). Oxford: Osprey Publishing. Call no.: RSEA 940.548652 KOT-[WAR].
13. Everest-Phillips, M. (2007). The pre-war fear of Japanese espionage: Its impact and legacy. Journal of Contemporary History, 42(2), 244, 247, 249, 256. Retrieved April 28, 2014, April, from: http://www.sagepub.com/lippmanccl2e/study/articles/EverestPhillips.pdf