ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the existing state of the art of Japanese fishing reef technology. It is almost customary to begin the story of Japanese fishing reefs with a description of how old the practice has been in that country. The wide-spread application of artificial fishing reefs and the advent of various modernistic reef modules in Japan are the result of development which has occurred during recent years, since the government began a subsidy program in 1952. The government commitment to artificial fishing reefs in Japan has other benefits: economical, social and political. The lead government agency with funding and policy responsibilities in artificial fishing reefs is the Fisheries Agency, a sub-ministerial department within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The presence of irregular surface and narrow spaces has also to do with the capacity to allow settlement of larvae and algae on the reef block, a staple food for abalone.
