Participatory management in coastal fisheries in japan

Participatory ٨ ٨ anag'ement In Coastal FÎsherles In Japan T a ts u ro Kagoshima ТЮ Fac ٧ !‫ ؛‬y of Fisheries, Kagoshima Uni٧ ersity M ATSUOKA Participatory Management in Coastal Fisheries in Japan T a ts u ro M A T S U O K A ‫ث‬ V \ A ic c Kagoshima TLO Faculty o f Fisheries, Kagoshima University CNTENTS Preface PARTICIPATORY FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN JAPAN Fishery Regulation Commission, Fishers’ Cooperative Associations I OUTLINE OF FISHERY MANAGEMENT MECHANISMS IN JAPAN .2 Minister-managed fisheries, Prefectural governor-permit fisheries Licence of Fishery Right MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AT NATIONAL LEVEL .3 3.1 Fishery Act Fishery right (Chapter II), Fishery regulation (Chapter IV), Legislative governor-permit fisheries Designated fisheries (Chapter III), Fishery Regulation Commissions (Chapter IV), Provisions for enforcement 3.2 Fishery Resource Protection Act .7 Framework of regulations Prohibition of destructive fishing practices Maximum number of permitted fishing vessels Limitation to catch Protected water Other provisions Penal provisions (Chapter VI) 3.3 Fisheries Cooperative Association Act Fishers’ cooperative association, Partners, Officers, Resource management rule, Fishers’ will Fishery Basic Law 11 Basic Principle, Basic Plan for Fisheries, Policies for security of stable supply of fishery products (Section II), Sound development of fisheries (Section III), Administrative agencies and organisations for fisheries Fishery Policy Council (Chapter 4) 3.4.1 Basic Plan for Fisheries and policy of national government 14 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AT PREFECTURAL LEVEL 15 4.1 Outline of fishery management system by prefectural government 15 4.2 Fishery Regulation Rule in Kagoshima Prefecture (as an example) 16 4.2.1 Fishery Permit (Chapter 2) 16 Outline of prefectural governor permit Limitation and conditions to permits etc (Maximum number of permits etc and criteria) 4.2.2 Protection and propagation of fishery resources and enforcement etc (Chapter 3) 18 Catch size limitation Closed season by species Restriction or prohibition of fishing gear or methods Other restrictions and limitations Marker flags and buoys Recreational fisheries Harmful impacts to aquatic environment 4.2.3 Enforcement and penal provisions 19 4.2.4 Fishery Regulation Commission 20 FISHERY MANAGEMENT AT FISHERS’ LEVEL 5.1 Instructions by sea-region fishery regulation commission 5.2 Fishery right exercise rule Common fishery right Fishery right exercise rule Status of technical management 5.3 Resource management rule 5.4 Self restrictions by fishers in fishery management 20 20 21 I National Laws for Fisheries Management Fishery Act 24 24 23 23 Fishery Resource Protection Act Fisheries Cooperative Association Act Fishery Basic Law 117 141 212 II Prefectural Fishery Regulation Rule Fishery Regulation Rule of Kagoshima Prefecture 224 224 III Fishery Right Exercise Rule and Incidental Agreement Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Eguchi Fishers’ Cooperative Association Class and Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Eguchi Fishers’ Cooperative Association Conditions to Fishing Operations Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Yamagawa-cho Fishers’ Cooperative Association Class and Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Yamagawa-cho Fishers’ Cooperative Association Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Tanegashima Fishers’ Cooperative Association Class and Class Common Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Tanegashima Fishers’ Cooperative Association Fishery Right Exercise Agreement of Tanegashima Fishers’ Cooperative Association 11 271 271 275 278 282 285 291 295 299 Preface Participatory fisheries management emphasises sharing responsibility in management between fishers and competent management agencies, e.g the national and local governments, or involvement of fishers in the decision-making process from planning to implementing management of fisheries It is distinctively different from conventional fisheries management where the national or a local government provides rules and regulations to catch amounts, fishing efforts, etc and enforce fishers through monitoring, control and surveillance activities (MCS) and penalties When cooperation between the two parties is emphasised, it is referred to as co-management Since fishers are expected to participate through a community, it is referred to also as community-based management All these concepts could be referred to as a participatory approach in fisheries management The currently-prevailing fisheries management methodologies in many developed countries such as TAC (Total Allowable Catch) or ITQ (Individual Transferable Quota) cost the governments extensively to maintain the system including large-scale scientific researches and statistics In contrast, participatory fisheries management is drawing attention of developing countries and competent international organisations as an approach universally applicable in many developing regions It is inexpensive and expected to function with minimal institutional system or scientific information First of all, however, it must be recognised that fishers have a right and responsibility to participate in decision-making because any management measures including regulations influence their livelihood Initiatives by fishers are expected in such aspects in closure of fishing grounds or fishing seasons, regulations of fishing gear and method and limitation to operation times which are visible and can be monitored by fishers by themselves These management measures should be different from locality to locality because of differences in resources and fishing traditions A legislative system must be, therefore, established to authorise and enable fishers to be responsible to these management activities It is internationally famous that Japan has a long history of participatory fisheries management and its fishers’ cooperative associations play a major role in its coastal fi.sheries management Many managers and scientists are interested in this system, however, basic documentation of the relevant laws and regulations are available only in Japanese and there have been difficulties to study the unique system on the primary sources for many interested people The author and his group have an opportunity to conduct an Official Development Assistance (ODA) project of ‘Community-based fisheries management (CBFM) in Malaysia’ sponsored by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and decided to produce a textbook to be used for explanation of the CBFM in Japan It is intended to translate the laws, regulation and rules at various levels which provide and characterise the participatory coastal fisheries management in Japan This textbook includes short description about the mechanisms of coastal fisheries management 111 in Japan, however, it does not intend to explain it in details The main purpose of this publication is to provide raw information on the laws and regulations relevant to participatory fishery management in Japan in English The authors hope that the short explanation can be used as an index to find the relevant provisions in the translation In the case of the Fishery Act, Fishery Resource Protection Act, and Fishery Basic Law, the translation was firstly made and has been publicised by the Ministry of Justice of the Japanese Government and correction and improvement were made by an international cooperation group of academic staff members of Fishing Technology Division of the Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University Translation of Fishery Industry Cooperative Association Act, Fishery Regulation Rule of Kagoshima Prefecture and Fishery Right Exercise Rules of Eguchi, Yamagawa-cho and Tanageshima Fishers’ Cooperative Associations were carried out by the said group For convenience for Japanese users, the translation is presented side by side with the original provisions in Japanese on the opposite column Literal translation from the original provisions in Japanese to English was the principle for the author from the viewpoint of utilisation of this textbook Therefore, the sentences of the English versions are unnatural sometime within the range of grammatical correctness We hope this textbook will contribute to deepening and strengthening the education and researches on the participatory approaches in coastal fisheries management It is noted that the translated versions are only for the purpose of education, training and other academic activities Any administrative agencies in Japan including the Ministry of Justice, the Fisheries Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Prefectural Government of Kagoshima and other organisations including Eguchi, Yamagawa-cho and Tanageshima Fishers’ Cooperative Associations and the Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University are entirely not responsible to the contents The above mentioned group is not legislatively responsible to any results of the use of this textbook iv PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT IN COASTAL FISHERIES IN JAPAN PARTICIPATORY FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN JAPAN The participatory coastal fisheries management system in Japan has a long history for centuries It has been developed through the era when scientific knowledge was lacking and the social system was based on localised governance, from which the present system has been influenced This is the reason why the coastal fisheries management in Japan have a character of participatory approach and Japan is one of the rare countries which have successful history of participatory management or co-management It is noted first that the major players in the participatory coastal fisheries management in Japan are Fishery Regulation Commissions and Fishers’ Cooperative Associations, which are legislatively established through the national level to fishers’ level Fishery Regulation Commission: The fishery regulation commissions are provided in the Fishery Act In particular, the Sea-Region Fishery Regulation Commissions which are one of the categories of fishery regulation commissions and are established by prefectural governments are basically important Each sea-region fishery regulation commission is composed of members whose majority is fishers A commission possesses extensive functions to be consulted by and to recommend to a Prefectural Governor and make decisions by itself For example, a prefectural governor shall perform consultation with the commission before establishment of a Plan of Fishing Ground Utilisation and Management, licensing for a Fishery Right and all proceedings pertaining to a fishery right A commission may recommend pertaining to establishment of a plan of fishing ground utilisation and management, addition of restrictions and conditions to a licensed fishery right or issuance of an order of a prefectural governor to persons who not follow the instructions by the commission The commission can make a decision by itself in such cases as an instruction of restriction or prohibition of harvesting a certain fishery animals and plants to fishers or arbitration when negotiation between the concerned parties pertaining to dispute concerning a fishery right is not concluded etc Furthermore, a commission is authorised to collect reports from fishers etc and make investigations on fishing grounds, vessels, business places or offices Fishers’ Cooperative Associations: The fishers’ cooperative associations in Japan are established in localities such as municipalities, cities or prefectures, of which sizes largely vary due to local situations The largest factor of contribution of fishers’ cooperative associations to participatory management is based on the system that a Common Fishery Right (a right to utilise a certain area of fishing ground commonly among fishers) is licensed to a fishers’ cooperative association and the licensed association decides the regulations to fishing methods and others under which partners undertake fishing operation accordingly On the other hand, partners of an association conduct fishing in the licensed area exclusively The decision is referred to as a Fishery Right Exercise Rule The rule is validated after approval of a prefectural governor Therefore, the authority of the prefectural government and self-decision making by fishers are balanced in coastal fishery management and, subsequently, co-management functions OUTLINE OF FISHERY MANAGEMENT MECHANISMS IN JAPAN Fishery management in Japan is based on the permit and license systems which are provided in the Fishery Act The fisheries undertaken on permits are categorised into fisheries to which permits etc are granted by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and those, by prefectural governors (permits etc refers to a permit and approval for busiress commencement) Minister-managed fisheries: The Minister-Managed Fisheries include three categories, i.e designated fisheries (13 fisheries), specific Minister-permit fisheries (5 fisheries) and notification fisheries (4 fisheries) The Designated Fisheries are defined as those to which a framework of unified meastres from the national viewpoint, such as regulations to the total number of fishing vessels, are needed due to their characters of fishing grounds, resource status, international relationships and other reasons The designated fisheries are categorised into those designated frota a viewpoint of fishing methods and targeted species, because of the first two items to exp ain the needs of designation as above The first category includes the off-shore bottom tr٤wl, East-China Sea bottom trawl, distant-water bottom trawl and large and medium-scale purse seine fisheries and the latter, the distant water skipjack and tuna, near-shore skipjack and tuna, medium-scale salmon and trout, Northern Pacific saury, the Sea of Japan red snow crab, scuid jigging, large-scale whaling, small-scale whaling and mother-boat type whaling fisheries The number of fishing vessels, a fishing ground, a fishing period, gross tonnage, horse power of a main engine and species are main regulation items in the designated fisheries The Specific Minister-Permit Fisheries were referred to as approval fisheries previously and defined as those to which overall regulations such as limitation to a total numbei of fishing vessels are not applied because of comparatively small impacts to their ta.get resources by the fisheries in this category, however, a certain measures are needed from the national viewpoint This category includes snow crab East China Sea swordfish etc drift-iet East China Sea longline, Atlantic Ocean etc longline and Pacific bottom gillnet fisheries The Notification Fisheries are those to which unified national regulations are not neeced, however, data of the resource status and other information must be collected for the naticnal government There are swordfish etc drift-net, coastal tuna longline and small-scale Japarese flying squid jigging fisheries and coastal fisheries in the temporary measured waters Prefectural governor-permit fisheries: The Prefectural Governor-Permit Fisheries are relatively small-scale fisheries undertaken in coastal and offshore waters and they are categorised into the Legislative Governor-Permit Fisheries and governor-permit fisherie; in narrow sense The latter fisheries are managed at the prefectural level due to a large variaion due to differences in local circumstances They are managed under a Prefectural Fislery Regulation Rule which is established by each prefectural government Participatiry management is applied through a fishery regulation commission established for each sea region Licence of Fishery Right: Small-scale fisheries operated in inshore waters on the basis of the Licence of fishery right etc are referred to as Fishery-Right Fisheries which are exempted from the scope of prefectural fishery regulation rules A fishery right is established by a licence granted by a prefectural governor pursuant to the Fishery Act The fishery-right fisheries are sub-divided into the Set-Net, Demarcated and Common Fisheries The fishery famous over the world due to its participatory fishery management and self-management by fishers’ cooperative association is the common fishery Areas of fishing grounds for common fisheries are not defined by a distance from the shoreline Since those reflect sharing fishing grounds amongst communities in an old time, they are defined by positions at sea which are distinctive by using transit lines etc from land marks Therefore, a common fishery license is granted with a map of an allocated fishing ground where the license is effective The distances from the shoreline are not very large, namely a couple of nautical miles usually Fishers and fishery employees are segregated The former are persons independently conducting fishery business The latter are persons harvesting fishery animal and plants for a fisher A category amalgamating the above two is referred to as fisherfolks in this textbook MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AT NATIONAL LEVEL Fishery management in Japan is primarily based on the Fishery Act and the Fishery Resource Protection Act, while management initiatives in each year are formed on the Fishery Biisic Plan which is revised every years on the basis of the Fishery Basic Law Activities of fishers’ cooperative association, which is one of the major players in participatory management, are defined in the Fisheries Cooperative Association Act Comparative overview of these acts enables readers to understand the backbone of the management of fisheries resource use in Japan There are various levels of delegation of authority in implementation where some are exercised by the national government and the others, local governments and organisations of fishers 3.1 Fishery Act The Fishery Act was established in 1949 and is the primary act which defines the baseline of fisheries management in Japan The purpose of the act is defined as; ‘to establish a basic institutional system for fisheries production, to utilise waters comprehensively through operation of fishery regulation mechanisms mainly by fishers and fishery employees, and, thereby, to enhance fisheries productivity and also to democratise the fishery industry (Article 1) The act is composed of nine chapters among which ‘Fishery Rights and Piscary’ (Chapter ID, ‘Fishery Regulation’ (Chapter IV) and ‘Fishery Regulation Commissions’ (Chapter VI) are important for coastal fisheries management Fishery right (Chapter II): The Article is very important to depict the overall structure of the fishery-right fisheries A fishery right refers to the right to undertake certain fisheries in a certain fishing ground exclusively Fishery rights are dived into a set-net fishery, a demarcated fishery and a common fishery rights (Article 6) The set-net fishery refers specifically a set-net fishery in which the deepest part of the sea where a body net of a set-net is fixed is 27 meters or more in depth at the time of the highest high tide and a salmon set-ne t fishery in principle Most of them are otoshiami set-nets The demarcated fishery refers to aquaculture in a certain water area, which is sub-divided into Class to Class demarcated fisheries The common fishery refers to fisheries undertaken by common utilisation o f a certain water area by a group of fishers, which is sub-divided into Class-1 to Class-4 common fisheries (There is Class-5 common fishery which is for inland fisheries) The common fishery right is licensed to a fishers’ cooperative association, while the demarcated and set-ne‫؛‬t fishery right, an individual business operator At licensing, a prefectural governor consults a sea-region fishery regulation commission and decides the contents of a license, i.e the type o f fishery, locations and areas of the fishing ground, the fishing season and other matters (Article 11) The Minister of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries has authority to instruct a prefectural governor regarding a license when specifically necessary for proteetion of reproduction o f fishery animals and plants from a viewpoint beyond a prefectural area There are provisions for the cases for no issuance of licenses (Article 13) and qualification to be granted a licensie (Article 14) Priority is given to those who are fishers with experiences of the fishery of this same category and those with experiences in fisheries in the concerned water in granting я license in set-net or demarcated fishery (Article 16 and Article 17) Working conditions and the magnitude of various influences to other fishers shall be taken into consideration in th،e above decision-making The Article (Right of Association Partner to Undertake Fishery) provides that a fishers ’ cooperative association shall establish fishery right exercise rules for respective common fishery rights which an association possesses and partners of the association have a right to undertake a fishery within the range of the concerned common fishery right This provision i‫؛‬s one of the most important bases of participatory fishery management in Japan where th،e primary players are fishers It is also provided, however, ‘a fishery right exercise rule shall no١t be valid unless approved by a prefectural governor’ This provision together with a provision such as fishers’ cooperative association shall decide the matters to be observed by fishens characterises the co-management systems in eoastal fisheries management in Japam Prefectural governors may add restrictions or conditions on a fishery right (Article 34) and may change, rescind or suspend a fishery right (Article 39) for public interests Fishery regulation (Chapter IV): Article 65 provides that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or prefectural governors may establish an ordinance or rules for fishenv' law enforcement and fishery regulation, where they may provide that a certain fisheries ma\y be prohibited or a permit of the Minister or a governor shall be received to undertake fisherie‫؛‬s This is very important provision which is the legislative basis for Minister-managed fisherieis other than designated fisheries and provides a basis for prefectural fishery regulation rules The matters which can be provided in an ordinance and a rule are restriction or prohibition! flounder trammel-net flshery same as the above The mesh size shall not be less than 151mm 10 silhigo trammel-net fishery same as the above No mesh size limitation 10 blue sprat gillnet fishery A vessel may use unit of gear which includes a total of nets spanner crab tangle-net tangle-net fishery miscellaneous A vessel may use fish pot fishery units (a total number of pots shall not be greater than 150) small-scale small-scale set-net set-net fishery off Akamizuhana Point (a leader net may not be longer than 150m) off Takeyama (a leader net may not be longer than 200m) sea-bream beach drag-net beach drag-net fishery cutlefish A vessel may deploy small-scale FAD for small-scale boat seine boat seine at locations fishery no more than miscellaneous beach seine fish beach seire fishery No limit 20 While a set-net is operated, same as the above 150m spaces shall be kept from a float being shot and the leader net respectively (50m in June to July) same as the above March to September 30 (from sunrise to sunset every day) While a set-net is operated, November to July 150m spaces shall be kept 31 the next year from a float being shot and (from sunrise to the leader net respectively sunset) In the area enclosed by the lines connecting Akamizuhana Point and the location 400m east to Shimizugawa River mouth and Izashiki Right house respectively, no operation shall be allowed in January to July 31, notwithstanding the period provided in column e) August to May 31 the next year (from sunrise to sunset) November to August 31 the next year off Akamizuhana Point, off Takeyama whole year 10 April to September 30 (from sunrise to sunset) same as the above whole year 287 T '/٥١^(7) m ^ m 'f ٠ c (m ^ ^ M - ^ ‫؛؛‬f’ tij 100m Jb،, ٥ m L U M M 1,000m M ^ 'ift ic ^ Km 15 !/‫؟‬,^Tk^P:IP ٥o|^||cf٠id;S:A L j l¥ ٥ C A fL » m A'‫؛‬i50m ) f e ، t ‫ ) ؟‬.C ii t t 111 ‫؛‬p ( iS A b i A A fi: ;‫؛‬١ C 50m J ilr t A 'il ^ ^^C 20 ٤ A 'ltlld B · tL S A mm > 150m iiip ^ K ii: [...]... development of fisheries by efficient and stable fishery business management, coordination among capture fisheries, a fishery processing industry and marketing of fishery products, and developing fishing ports, fishing grounds and other infrastructure, while utilising fishery resources sustainably and meeting demands of the citizens for fishery products 2 promotion of development of fishing communities... by a combination of a fishing ground, operation period and a type of fishery Fishing groind areas and periods are restricted for the sail trawl Class-1 teguri seine and flying fsh 18 drift-net fisheries (Article 40) This is mainly due to exclusive occupation of a fishing ground in operation in those fisheries and for the purpose to avoid conflictions with other fisheries Harvesting by utilising lights... among fishers in deploying fishing gear and to indicate a person responsible to the fishing gear Indication of a fishing gear owner on fishing gear is strongly requested in implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and is assumed to be a measure to reduce derelict fishing gear and consequent ghost fishing, though the intention is not described in the rule Recreational fisheries: ... addresses in the area of the local district provided in Article 11 pertaining to the concerned fishery right (the related district provided in the said Article in the case of a common fishery right), before a resolution in the general meeting (including a sectional meeting of the general meeting and a representatives' meeting) provided in the Fisheries Industry Cooperative Association Act (Act No 242 of... following explanation is based on the mle ol'Kagoshima Prefecture which is included in this textbook as an example Management of inland fisheries is dealt separately from a fishery regulation rule in Kagoshima Prefecture 4.1 Outline of fishery management system by prefectural government The fisheries under the management by a prefectural government are categorised into Governor-Permit Fisheries (fisheries. .. federation; hereinafter, the same shall apply) who undertake the fishery which is the content of the concerned fishery right at the time of licensing of the fishery pertaining to the concerned fishery right (who undertake a coastal fishery (referring to the fisheries excluding fisheries undertaken by using a powered fishing vessel of 20 gross tons or more and the fishery in inland waters; hereinafter, the... and fishing communities (Article 31) Enhancement of understanding of and interest in the fishery industry and fishing communities for the nationals and strengthening the multilateral function of fishery industry and fishing communities should be promoted (Article 32) These provisions indicate that support programs and promotion activities in a variety of aspects are intended for management of fisheries. .. from the viewpoint of formulation of fishing regulations The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or a prefectural governor may prohibit fisheries for a certain species or with a certain fishing method or establish a permit system to fisheries (Article 4) The Minister or a governor may establish an ordinance or a rule for restriction or prohibition concerning; (i) harvesting, (ii) sale or... of sound development of fisheries by developing the living environment and improving welfare Basic Plan for Fisheries: The Act provides that the basic plan for fisheries shall be established, consulting with the Fishery Poliey Council, and the plan shall be revised approximately every 5 years, taking changes in circumstances surrounding the fisheries into consideration and basing upon an evaluation... numbers in the Act and the order of listing herewith have been intentionally changed) In addition, it may conduct the business such as; acceptance of saving money, mutual aid of partners, business relevant to welfare of partners and intermediary business for insurance and mutual aid Characteristics of a fishers’ cooperative association shall be defined by the statements of the following matters in the