JICA Economic Development Department Protect the rich bounties of the sea - Fishery Resource Management in Japan -

For the sustainable use of fishery resources

Fishery resources are being significantly impacted by overfishing and the distraction of ocean habitats.

Growing global demand for fish has brought fisheries production* to record volumes.

For the sustainable use of fishery resources, fishery resource management is now being seen as a challenge for the international community.

The co-management of fishery resources in Japan has received high reputations internationally, which is not one-sided rules imposed by the central but measures that manage resources by centering on Fishers Cooperative Associations (FCA) cooperating with local governments.

At this time, we produced JICA-Net multimedia-based learning material, "Fishery Resource Management in Japan" (external link), for the people involved in fisheries to understand easily the importance of the sustainable use of limited fishery resources through Japanese views, characters, and good examples of fishery resource management.

*except the production of culture fishery

The knowledge and experiences of the co-management of fishery resources in Japan

In Kumejima, an island in Okinawa, the harvest volume of sea cucumbers fell due to overfishing

FCAs in Japan play a central role in supporting the livelihoods of fishers and their communities as well as establishing local fishing rules for the orderly use of coastal resources.

Firstly, the material introduces the history and rule of FCAs in Japan by showing Kada area, in Wakayama Prefecture, and then explains the differences between fishery resource management in general and the co-management of fishery resources in Japan. In the second half, it shows Kumejima, an island in Okinawa Prefecture, as an example of the co-management of fishery resources, where the harvest volume of sea cucumbers fell due to overfishing but taking on a new fishery challenge made the proper management of sea cucumber resources possible.

The efforts of both, Kada and Kumejima, to manage fishery resource are activities that use these resources sustainably and effectively, and they are advanced good examples for learning how to manage them.

Used the material as a pre-learning for the online class

The material explains simply the system and function of Japan's fishery resource management with illustrations, and videos.

We used the material as a pre-learning for the online class, "Japan's experience of fishery development", which was for JICA international students in the field of fisheries. 30 long-term trainees of JICA in the field of fisheries participated in this class.

The material explains simply the system and function of fishery resource management with plain words, illustrations, and videos, and also refers to advanced initiatives and points to remember. Because of it, we did not receive reactions such as it was difficult and we were able to perform the class smoothly.

The co-management of fishery resources is highly applicable to developing countries because it was demonstrated through JICA's project the ability to be introduced even in an area with an environment where administrative resources such as budgets and human resources were not enough.

We intend to use the material for the cooperation programs for long-term trainees, the training projects, and the study meetings through events in the future. We hope that the material could be used widely by not only JICA trainees but also administrators in developing countries, Japanese researchers and students in the field of fisheries, and became a help for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector and its succession toward coming generations.

HONDA Masaru
JICA Economic Development Department

*The Material(s) mainly applied

Fishery Resource Management in Japan

Fishery resource management in Japan has evolved from traditional practices of community-based management into a modern co-management system. This material explains how this system works, and introduces practical know-how of making the system effective by taking examples of good practice cases in Japan.

Co-management of fishery resources is considered highly applicable in developing countries since it is effective but requires less administrative resources to operate. As such, this material is prepared for post-graduate students and training participants from developing countries with the intension to promote basic understanding on the fishery resource management system in Japan.

• YouTube (external link)