日本沙丁鱼年产量1960年不到1万t,1979年增加到206万t。1975年夏季在北海道东南海区作业的围网捕获的沙丁鱼就已经占当年产量的1/4,产量大幅度上升。通常在该海区捕捞的太平洋沙丁鱼亚种群,秋季经过本州东部沿海,然后回游到关东外海一带的产卵场,到初夏再回到北海道东南海区。 The annual output of sardines in Japan is less than 10,000 tons in 1960 and 2.06 million tons in 1979. Sardines captured in the seine during the summer of 1975 in the southeastern Hokkaido area have accounted for about a quarter of the current annual output and the output has risen sharply. The Pacific sardine subpopulation, which is usually harvested in this area, passes through the eastern coast of Honshu in autumn and then travels back to the spawning grounds in the area off the coast of the eastern part of the country and returns to the southeastern sea area of ​​Hokkaido in early summer.