Sustainable Development and Subsidies in the Fisheries Sector A Case in Japan

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Sustainable Development and Subsidies in the
Fisheries Sector- A Case in Japan -

• Nobuyuki Yagi
• Fisheries Agency

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Objectives of this presentation are

• To Describe the Current Status of Fishery
  Subsidies in Japan.
• To Examine their Implications for the Fishing
  Capacity and Fishery Production in Japan.
• Discussion and Conclusion

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OECD estimation of government financial transfers
to marine capture fisheries in 1998
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Declining Fishing Capacity in Japan
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Declining Domestic Fishery Production in Japan
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Increasing Imported Products
(unit in billion yens)
Source Japans trade statistics.
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Tighter regulations in pelagic and offshore
fisheries have contributed to the production
decline. (unit in million tons)
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Fishery Management Schemes In Japan

• Umbrella measures Vessel registration and
  licensing systems
• Coastal Fisheries Traditional Right Based
  Management
• Offshore Fisheries (EEZ) TAC and TAE
• Pelagic Fisheries International Regulations

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Use of Subsidies (JPY 291 Billion in 2002)
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Use of Infrastructure Subsidy Safety of Coastal
Villages
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Some points of consideration

• Long coastal line in Japan (The length of
  Japanese coastal lines are longer than that of
  mainland USA).
• The number of coastal communities is relatively
  high in Japan if compared with other developed
  countries.
• Japans report includes infrastructure subsidy
  while some others do not (Japan is in a unique
  situation that fishery resource management
  authority also handles coastal infrastructure
  budgets.)

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Use of Infrastructure Subsidy Improvement of
Coastal Life
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OECD estimation of government financial transfers
to marine capture fisheries in 1998 (with
Japanese infrastructure information incorporated)
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Findings

• No obvious relationship was observed between the
  amount of subsidy and fishing capacity. (Fishing
  capacity is controlled under fishery management
  schemes in the case of Japan.)
• Fishery production would have been more directly
  affected by resource management and market
  conditions, rather than the amount of subsidies.
• The use of the subsidies, rather than their total
  amount, would be a key factor for further
  assessments on the effects caused by subsidies.

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Conclusions

• Policy filters (information on capacity control
  and resource management) are necessary to assess
  the impacts of subsidies.
• Standardized rules for the coverage of subsidies
  (in particular infrastructure subsidies) would be
  critical for international comparisons.
• Fair improvement of disciplines on fishery
  subsidy for the purpose of solving the problem on
  over-capacity and IUU fishing is important, and
  Japan is committed to contribute to the process
  of WTO so that a fair conclusion could be
  achieved.