Fishery Management In Japan Fao Fisheries Technical Paper 238

37 Pages·1992·2.1 MB·English

by  Yohoji Asada

Fishery
management
Japan
in
by
Asada
Yohojl
1-87-5 Takinogawa
Kita-ku
Tokyo
Yutaka Hirasawa
Tokyo University of Fisheries
4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku
Tokyo
and
Fukuzo Nagasaki
Director, Japan Whaling Association
1-3-1 Etchyujima
Tukagawa, Koto-ku
Tokyo
Reprinted 1992
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part of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations concerning the legal
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of its frontiers or boundaries.
M-43
ISBN 92-5-101392-6
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,c FAO 1983
ill
PREPARATION OF THIS PAPER
This document has been prepared as part of FAO's Regular Prograane activities, aimad
at assisting fishery administrators and other persons responsible for the management of
fisheries. It is the sixth in a series of technical* papers relating to the PRACTICES OF
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT.
This paper was prepared by three authors of different specializations: Mr. Asada,
for his expertise in Japanese licensing and regulatory systems; Dr. Nagasaki for his
experience in biological aspects of both demersal and pelagic species; and Dr. Hirasawa
as an authority on the Japanese fisheries system. The manuscript was edited by Mr. William
MacKanzie, Consultant, Ottawa, Canada. Appreciation is due to Mr. R. Tanabe, Fisheries
Agency of Japan, and Dr. S. Chikuni, Fisheries Department, FAO, for their assistance in
the coordination and focus of the paper.
ABSTRACT
Management of fisheries encompasses
inter-action between societal customs,
fugitive resources and technology.
Fisheries management in Japan consists
of two basic types of management tech-
niques: the use of fishing rights for
delineating ownership over sedentary
species in littoral zones and licensing
systems where management regulations
restrict the number and size of fishing
vessels. Biological considerations are
discussed and the coordination mechan-
isms required are described for blending
resource characteristics with Japanese
societal customs. An appraisal is given
of the management measures adopted.
Distribution: For bibliographic purposes this document
should be cited as follows:
FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Regional Fisheries Officers Asada, Y., T. Hirasawa and F. Nagasaki,
Directors of Fisheries 1983 Fishery management in Japan.
Selector SM FAD Fish.Tech.Pap. . (238) :26 p.
Fisheries Management Selector
Authors
OKAMURA
Island
A typical and well organized small fishing
village on a small island in The Seto Inland
Sea
Village Office OKAMURA Wharf forsmall- Fuel tanksofthe
-Rsheries Cooperatives scale fisheries cooperatives
Research vessel
( national )
Wharf for small
scale fisheries
Transportation
fisheries products
Key to Cover Photograph
CONTENTS
Page
1. THE BACKGROUND OF THE FISHERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1
1.1 Fishery production 1
1.2 History of fishery management 6
2. AN OUTLINE OF THE FISHERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 8
2.1 The current system 8
2.2 Fishing rights
2.3 Fishery licensing 10
3. THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF FISHERY MANAGEMENT 14
3.1 Management and utilization of coastal pelagic species 14
3.2 Management and utilization of demersal species 18
3.3 Management and utilization of littoral species 20
4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN FISHERY MANAGEMENT 23

1 . THE BACKGROUND OF THE FISHERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
1 .1 Fishery Production
Japan's fisheries experienced rapid growth in the years following the 2nd World War
and pre-war production levels were surpassed as early as 1952. Production increased ste-
adily, reaching seven million tonnes per year in 1966 eight million tonnes in 1968 and
,
10 million tonnes in 1972. The latter level has been maintained despite the subsequent
decline in distant-water fishing operations, as a result (especially since 1975) of
restrictions on access to the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of other coastal states.
As shown in Table 1, annual production from distant-water fisheries declined by about
50 percent (from four to two million tonnes) between 1973 and 1979. During the same
period, domestic offshore production rose from four to five and a half million tonnes but,
although total supply has thus been relatively constant, there has been an important
change in the species mix: higher-quality fish produced by distant-water fleets being
replaced by catches of sardine and mackerel (the principal components of offshore pro-
duction)
.
Production from the coastal or inshore fisheries (those using vessels under 10 tons
in size or operating without fishing craft) has been stable at about two million tonnes
annually. Shallow-water aquacultural production (mariculture) - including that of young
yellowtail, scallops and oyster as well as laver and wakame seaweed (Undaria) - while
fluctuating somewhat from year to year, has shown a gradually upward trend. Production
from inland-water (freshwater) fisheries also, although small in absolute quantity, has
been increasing slowly.
A breakdown by species of the 1979 catch of pelagic and demersal fish is shown in
Table 2. Among pelagic species, the leaders are sardine and mackerel, followed in
sequence by tuna, skipjack, saury and common squid. Of demersal fish, the dominant
species is Alaskan pollock, taken in northern waters, followed by flatfishes and sand-
lance. A substantial part of the large sardine and mackerel catches is turned into fish
meal while pollock is the raw material for fish paste. Sardine and mackerel, as well as
sandlance, also are used as forage in aquaculture. A comparatively limited proportion of
fish caught in large quantity is used directly for human consumption.
Table 3 provides a classification of the catch in 1979 by category of fishery (as
defined by type of craft and/or gear used), area of operation (fishing ground) and
species for which operations are primarily directed. Fisheries licensed by the Minister
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are starred. All of these, excepting "offshore
trawl11 and "medium-to-large seine", are defined as distant-water (far-seas) fisheries.
Such fisheries come under international management, more or less, and are thus subject to
detailed individual regulation. Other fisheries are defined either as offshore or coastal
and virtually all are licensed by prefectural governors or fishing-rights authorities.
In Japanese domestic waters, i.e. excluding distant-water production, the largest
catch (at slightly over 2.4 million tonnes) is produced by medium-to-large-scale seiners,
followed (at 0.9 million tonnes) by off-shore trawlers. Next in order are small-scale
seiners (at 0.8 million tonnes) and beach fisheries (at 0.7 million tonnes). Fishing
with set nets, small trawls, gillnets, jigs, dipnets and boat seines (with a combined
catch of 1.9 million tonnes) also accounts for a significant production in volume terms.
Altogether, the near-water fisheries of Japan produce 7.3 million tonnes of fish (includ-
ing edible seaweed), of a total national production (1979) of nine million tonnes.
Catches from the waters around Japan may be divided into four species groups, viz.
littoral, demersal, coastal pelagic and highly migratory. The littoral group includes
various species of clams and other shellfish, sea urchin, sea cucumber and seaweeds.
Demersal species include cod, pollock, flounders, rockfishes, croakers, sea breams,
cuttlefishes, shrimps, crabs and various others. The coastal-pelagic group includes
sardine, anchovy, mackerels, yellowtail, mullet, common squid and several other
species. Saury and flying fish, although oceanic species actually, are also (for
convenience) included in this group. Highly migratory species are those originating
Table Japanese Fisheries Production
1
( x 1CT tons)
Table i Catch bv Species (1979)
J
(x 10 tons)
Pelagic Species Demersal Species
Ranking; Species Catch Volume
Pollock 1551
Flounders 288
Atka mackerel 118
Sandlance 110
Cod 91
Crabs 80
Shrimp 52
Octopus 52
Rockfish 40
Croakers 39
Hairtail 30
Sea breams 29
Lizard fish 21
Sharp-toothed ell 15
Cuttlefish 14
Argentine 12
Sandfiah 10
Idiot rockfish 10