Marine Protected Areas in Japan

Takaomi KANEKO Mitsutaku MAKINO Fisheries Research Agency Japan 1

Contents

1. Characteristics of Fisheries and fisheries management in Japan 2. Japanese Marine Protected Areas 2 UKIYOE of people enjoying shellfish gathering at Tokyo Bay (late Edo era)

1. Characteristics of Fisheries and Fisheries management in Japan

3

120 E CHINA Yellow Sea East China Sea 125 E ROK Kyushu Okinawa Islands 130 E RUSSIA Shikoku Hokkaido Shiretoko 45 N Consists of 6852 islands Tohoku area Honshu (Main Island) 40 N Wide types of marine ecosystems, from tropical to sub-arctic.

35 N population :127 .7 milli.(2008) 30 N GDP: US$ 6.4 trilli. (2007), Fisheries 0.3%.

25 N 135E 4 140 E 145 E

Five principles in ideal fisheries in Japan

Profile of Fisheries Industry; comparison

Country # fisher

Iceland 6,300

# vessel

826 • 5.7 milli tons, US$ 20.4 billi.

• 280 thousand fishers, with about 220 thousand fishing vessels (>98% small scale).

SSF < ISCFV 25 (the International Statistic Classification of fishery Vessels) Norway Denmark UK France Canada NZ Spain USA Korea Japan AU 22,916 4,792 19,044 26,113 84,775 2,227 75,434 C.A. 290,000 180,649 278,200 13,500 8,664 4,285 9,562 6,586 18,280 1,375 15,243 27,200 50,398 219,466 C.A. 5,000

SSF ratio

0.63

0.89

0.86

0.82

0.78

0.74

0.74

0.76

0.53

0.9

0.98

N.A.



Coastal fisheries co-management by

 

FCAs

Organization of coastal fishers, Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FCAs), have Fishing Rights based on Fisheries Law of 1949.

Only the members of FCAs can operate coastal fisheries specified by the Fishing Rights ( exclusion of outsiders ). Offshore fisheries are managed by licenses.

Govt provides broad and simple regulations. On top of that, each FCAs make detailed and fine tuned rules and regulations in autonomous basis according to the social and ecological conditions.

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Territorial use rights are allocated in Japanese coastal fishery for centuries.

Community B

river river

Community A

cape

Tenure area for B

Tenure area for community A

Some rules are 200 years old.

Provided by Dr. Nobuyuki Yagi

Examples of local fishers’ autonomous activities

Cleanup activities by FCA members’ family (http://www.minato-j.fks.ed.jp/seito/gyouji/shizen/shizen.html) 9 Forestation activities by local fishers’ wife (http://www.jf-net.ne.jp/hkyubetsu/sigen.htm)

Fish scale produced by local FCA (http://www.jf-net.ne.jp/cbgyoren/sigen.html) Autonomous resource assessment or setting Individual catch Quota for some species 10

Meetings and discussions at FCA

http://www.pref.aomori.jp

http://www.pref.mie.jp

11 http://www.pref.iwate.jp

 Japan has a wide variety of ecosystem, fisheries, and culture.  Fishery is one of the most important industries for all Japanese for many reasons.  We have a long history of community-based management and sustainable use of marine-ecosystem.

2 Japanese Marine Protected Areas

Important points for setting MPAs

1) 2) 3) 4) MPAs are no more than measures for achieving objectives. They should not be objectives in themselves.

The conceptual objectives of setting MPAs are conservation of biological diversity and its sustainable use and allocation. (cf. CBD article 1) The operational objectives or targets should be defined based on “Societal Choice”.

A desirable situation attained by MPAs should be set based on cultural and historical aspects of the community.

(CBD ecosystem approach) MPAs are classified into several categories by each objectives.

（ Makino 2009, Makino 2010 (in Japanese) ）

MPA categories selected by IUCN Dudley, 2008

） I a Strict nature reserve I b Wilderness area II National park III Natural monument or feature IV Habitat/species management area V Protected landscape/seascape VI Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources MPA does not mean No-take Zone or No-entry Zone There is no priority among these categories

Two classification of Japanese MPA

 

Legal Marine Protected Area

（

L MPA

）： Established directly based on a legal framework: ex: Nature

Conservation area (Natural Conservation Law), Natural Park (Natural Park Law), Common Fisheries Right Areas (Fisheries Law)

(See Yagi et al. 2010)

Autonomous Marine Protected Area

（

A MPA

）： Established based on local initiatives and set on an Issue-specific basis

There are more than one thousand AMPAs in Japan

Various types of MPAs of Japan

（ From ： Ministry of the Environment ） Name of MPA System Number of Areas ① Protect of Nature Landscape and/or Wildlife of High Academic Value National Park & other Nature Parks Natural Seashore Conservation Areas Natural Monuments ② Protect of Habitats and/or Ecosystem Nature Conservation Areas Wild life Protection Areas (National, Prefectural) 70 areas 91 areas 19 monuments 1 area 122 areas ③ Conservation and Sustainable Use of Fisheries Resources Protected Waters Coastal Areas for Marine Resources Development Areas/ Designated Areas Common Fishery Rights Areas Areas which protected by local governments or fishers themselves 52 areas 61 areas around 5,000 areas more than 1,000 areas

Case 1: Siretoko World Natural Heritage area (AMPA)

 Southernmost limit of seasonal ice floes  Main industries: Fisheries & Tourism  Fisheries production (2006): 73,641 tons, US$ 28.4 million.

 There are 3 FCAs, with 851 members.

 About 20% of local people works for fisheries industry.

Landings 2 0 6 4 16 14 12 10 8 1985 1 4 7 10 2 5 8 MTL 3 6 9 3,6 3,4 3,2 3,0 4,6 4,4 4,2 4,0 3,8 1990 Fiscal Year 1995 2000 1. Chum salmon 2. Walleye pollock , 3. Kelp, 4. common squid, 5. thornyhead,6. Pacific cod, 7. greenling, 8. pink salmon, 9. sea urchin, 10. Octopus dolfleini

AMPAs to protect Walleye Pollack SSB

Since 1995 Spawning ground Since 2005

Some other autonomous measures for Walleye pollock

    Rules on fishing season, operation time, #nets, etc.

Enlargement of gillnet mesh size based on the results of academic research (Ueda, 1992)  Vessel buyback program. Compensation costs, US$13.5milli, are paid by residual fishers and FCA.

Collecting biological data (e.g. maturity) (TAC is set by the govt.)

 Local fishers are engaged not only in fishery operations, but also in resource management and a part of EAF.  The core fishers are attending 15-20 meetings per month for their autonomous management (a part of fisheries operation).

Case 2: Coral reef AMPA in Yaeyama

• A local FCA, a scuba association, and a prefectural fisheries experimental station cooperates to set AMPAs for conservation of coral reefs.

• Not only a fishery but also a diving is prohibited in AMPAs.

(cooperation between a fishery and a tourism sector) Google

Eliminating crown-of-thorns starfish • Crown-of thorns starfish eat huge amount of coral reefs.

• • Death of coral reefs is not desirable for both fishers and divers.

Photo from Dr. S. Kakuma At first, fishers and divers eliminate COTS independently.

• They involved the local and central government, and make a council to cope with an outbreak.

Cooperation among stakeholders and government

Lessons from Japanese case studies Most important things for setting MPAs are… * All local users of ecosystem services (ex. Fishery, tourism, education, leisure, NPO etc. ) , scientists and governmental officer have to cooperate together. * A wide variety of MPAs could be established autonomously to match to particular objectives and problems in each regions.

CBD Guideline “Ecosystem based approach”

Principle 2: Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.

Appreciation for your kind reliefs

Thank you so much for…     sending your rescue teams immediately… supplying a lot of vital goods… donating a lot of moneys… praying for the victim of Tsunami… From Mainichi We will recover from this cruel disaster, and we will help you if you are in serious situation, as you did for us.

Thank you.