Lecture by Professor Hiroshi Ohta

1. Food Security and International
Fisheries Management
Hiroshi Ohta
Waseda University
8 December 2017

2. 1. FAO and SDGs
2. “Washoku” and fish resources
3. Tuna and RFMOs
4. Issue structure: the tragedy of the
commons
4-1. Pacific bluefin tuna (PBFT)
4-2. Overviews of the WCPFC Fisheries
5. Challenges
Today’s menu

3. A world in which food is nutritious
and accessible for everyone. It is a
world in which natural resources
are managed in a way that maintain
ecosystem functions to support
current and future human needs.
1. FAO and SDGs
FAO’s Vision of Sustainable Food and
Agriculture

4. 1. Improving efficiency in the use of resources
2. Direct action to conserve, protect and enhance
natural resources
3. Protect rural livelihoods and improve equity and
social well-being
4. Enhance the resilience of people, communities
and ecosystems, especially to climate change and
market volatility
5. Good governance is essential for the sustainability
of both the natural and human systems
Five key principles

5.  The International Conference on Responsible Fishing of
1992 called on strengthening international legal
framework to promote long-term conservation and
sustainable use of fisheries resources.
 The 1995 FAO Conference adopted the FAO Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
 The promotion and implementation of the Code is being
addressed at all sessions of FAO regional fishery bodies
(RFBs) as well as Committee on Fisheries (COFI). FAO
regards the implementation of the Code and the
strengthening of RFBs as being intrinsically linked.
FAO’s Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries

7. Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
TARGETS
2.1 By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all
people . . .
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition …
2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and
incomes of small-scale food producers …
2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems
and implement resilient agricultural practices …
2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds,
cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals
and their related wild species …

8. Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable development
 14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing,
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive
fishing practices and implement science-based management
plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible,
at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as
determined by their biological characteristics
 14.6 By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which
contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies
that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing
that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment
for developing and least developed countries should be an
integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies
negotiation

9. 2 “Washoku” & fish resources
A typical Japanese breakfast at home

10. A typical dinner at an inn in a hot-spring
resort

11. A typical Japanese restaurant in a big city
in the U.S., Europe or elsewhere
@ Guayaquil, Ecuador on 4 July 2015

12. Sashimi, Sushi and Tuna

13. Sushi Chain store (conveyor-belt sushi)

14. Anchovies
Fish Resources
Alaska Pollock
Skipjack Tuna Atlantic Herring
Chub Mackerel
Atlantic
Cod

15. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2016, p. 2.
 In 1961-2013, 3.2 % (at an average annual rate) increase
of food fish supply > 1.6 % increase of world
population growth
 World per capita fish consumption increased from an
average of 9.9 kg in the 1960s to 19.7 kg in 2013.
 The increase in annual per capita fish consumption in
developing regions: from 5.2 kg in 1961 to 18.8 kg in
2013
 Low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs) from 3.5
to 7.6 kg
 In 2013, per capita apparent fish consumption in
industrialized countries was 26.8 kg.
Status and trends of world marine resources

16. Status and trends
FAO, 2016, p. 3.

17. Status and trends
FAO, 2016, p. 3.

18. Status and trends
FAO, 2016, p. 4.

19.  In 2013, fish accounted for about 17% of
the global population’s intake of animal
protein and 6.7% of all protein
consumed.
 Fish provided more than 3.1 billion
people with almost 20% of their average
per capita intake of animal protein.
Fish as the source of protein in the
global context of food security
FAO, 2016, p. 4.

20.  Global capture fishery production of 93.4 million tons in 2014 (cf.
93.7 million in 2011, 93.8 million in 1996)
 4 highly valuables marine resources (tunas, lobsters, shrimps and
cephalopods) registered new record catches in 2014
 Catches of tuna and tuna like species = over 7.7 million tons in 2014
 Production of aquatic animals from aquaculture in 2014 = 73.8
million tons (an estimated first-sale value of US$160.2 billion)
 China accounted for 45.5 million tons in 2014, or more than 60% of
global fish production from aquatic animal (followed by India,
Indonesia, Viet Nam, and Bangladesh)
 56.6 million people in the primary sector of capture fisheries and
aquaculture in 2014
 4.6 million fishing vessels in the world in 2014
 3.5 million vessels (75%) in Asia, 15% in Africa, 6% in Latin America and
the Caribbean, 2% in North America and 2% in Europe
Some other key stats to grasp the issues of
fisheries governance

21. FAO, 2016, p. 11.

22. FAO, 2016, p. 29.

23. FAO, 2016, p. 39.

24. Fisheries sustainability
 The UN definition of “three pillars” of sustainability:
social, economic and environmental
 Sustainability is about continuing to produce the benefits
to society that natural systems provide in the long term.
 Benefits to society in fisheries = food, employment, income
and nutrition
 The social aspects of sustainability include maintenance of
fishing communities, equity in income and gender and
human basic needs.
 Avoid overfishing and stock depletion = to maintain fishing
mortality at or below levels of maximum sustainable yield
(MSY) and to ensure stock abundance at least at the MSY
level.
 The MSY cannot address multispecies and ecosystem
interactions as well as social and economic considerations.
FAO, 2016, p. 40.

25. Anchovies
Popular Fish
Alaska Pollock
Skipjack Tuna Atlantic Herring
Chub Mackerel
Atlantic
Cod

26.  Major cultured species in 2010: freshwater fishes (56.4%),
molluscs (mussels, squid and octopuses: 23.6%), crustaceans
(crabs, lobsters and shrimps: 9.6%), diadromous fishes [e.g.
salmon (anadromous) and eel (catadromous): 6.0%], marine
fishes (3.1%) and other aquatic animals (1.4%).
 Carps accounted for 40.5%
of total production by quantity.
Popular
aquaculture
FAO, 2010 FAO Yearbook:

27. FAO, 2016, P. 53

28. SHARESOFMAINGROUPSOFSPECIESINWORLDTRADE,2013
SHAREBYVALUE SHARE BY QUANTITY
(LIVEWEIGHT)
(Percentage)
Fish 67.7 80.6
Salmons, trouts, smelts 16.6 7.2
Tunas, bonitos, billfishes 10.2 8.3
Cods, hakes, haddocks 9.6 14.4
Other pelagic fish 7.5 12.7
Freshwater fish 4.0 4.8
Flounders, halibuts, soles 1.6 2.1
Other fish 18.1 31.2
Crustaceans 21.7 8.2
Shrimps, prawns 15.3 6.0
Other crustaceans 6.4 2.1
Molluscs 9.8 10.4
Squids, cuttlefishes, octopuses 5.6 4.0
Bivalves 3.0 5.6
Other molluscs 1.1 0.7
Other aquatic invertebrates/animals 0.8 0.9
TOTAL 100.0 100.0
FAO, 2016, p. 67.

29. FAO, The State of World Fisheries and
Aquacultures 2016
http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5555e.pdf

30. 3. Tuna and
RFMOs

31.  Seven species of tunas are of major
commercial importance on a global
scale: Three species of bluefin tuna,
albacore, bigeye, yellowfin and
skipjack.
 Article 64 of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS): highly migratory species
(HMS) = tuna, tuna-like species,
shark, dolphins, and cetaceans
Tuna and UNCLOS
Healthy
52%
Intermediate
9%
Overfishing
39%
Global tuna stocks
ISSF, ISSF Stock Status Ratings - 2012

32. Fishing Gears: Part 1
THE AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (AFMA): http://www.afma.gov.au/resource-
centre/teachers-and-students/about-fishing-methods-and-devices/longlines/pelagic-longline/

33. Purse seine
Monterey Fish Market:
http://www.montereyfish.com/pages/methods/p_seining.ht
FAO:
http://www.fao.org/fishery/fishtech/4
0/en

34. Pole-and-Line
© Nigel Marple/Greenpeace
http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2012/0
5/22/new-allies-in-the-oceans-
revolution/
© Paul Hilton / Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/slideshows/Rainbow-Warrior-In-The-Indian-Ocean1/Pole-
ampampamp-Line-Fishing-in-the-Maldives1/
“Pole and line fishermen land skipjack tuna
in the Maldives” Sari Tolvanen, “New
Allies in the Oceans
Revolution”

35. Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97wphLfIXWE
Chris Lewis ©
FAD FREE TUNA FISHING.mov

36. World Regional Fisheries Management
Organizations (RFMOs)
FAO, http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/2940/en
*As of 2013, about 19 RFMOs have stock
management out of 47 RFMOs.

37. European Commission, Fisheries, http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/rfmo/index_en.htm
Tuna RFMOs

38.  The International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) : the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent
seas
 The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC): the Indian
Ocean and adjacent seas
 The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
(WCPFC): the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
 The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC): the
eastern Pacific Ocean
 The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin
Tuna (CCSBT): the management of southern bluefin tuna
throughout its distribution
RMFOs for the conservation of tunas &
tuna-like species

39. Back to

40. The Basic structure of RFMOs
 A scientific committee:
Give advice to the managers for the decision of conservation and management
measures (CMMs) on particular species.
 A commission:
Adopt CMMs to limit the catch of the fish for sustainable fisheries
 An intense and very politicized negotiations over the allocation of
the amount of fish catch among member nations and cooperative
partners. Two major sticking points common to all T-RFMOs:
1) the historical fishing levels of a country for the stock in
question; and
2) the aspirations of developing coastal states who want to
participate in the fishery.
* Consensus-driven decisions on allocation negotiations the overall
catch levels > the level recommended by scientific committee

41. Different conservation and management
measures (CMMs) among five RFMOs
ICCAT
[Est. in 1969, 47 members as of 3/2014]
The Atlantic Ocean, including adjacent seas (e.g.,
Mediterranean)
 Total allowable catch (TAC)
 TAC for 2015-2017 (Japan)
 2015: 16,142 tons (13,400t in 2014)
 2016: 19,296t
 2017: 23,155t
(The result of ICCAT-19 in Nov. 2014)
 Ban trading in bluefin tuna (BFT)
caught in violation of CMMs and
strengthening BFT’s management
including monitoring tuna farming
 Monitoring at-sea transshipment for
longline fishing vessels thru
observers on board
 Introduction of catch documentation
scheme (CDS) for BFT
(CMMs of ICATT-19 in 2014)
IOTC
[Est. 1996, 31 members as of 3/2014]
The Indian Ocean and adjacent seas, north
of the Antarctic Convergence
 As to bigeye and yellowfin tunas,
the limitation of the number of
operating vessels to the 2006 level
each year during the period of
2007-2014
 As to albacore and swordfish, the
limitation of of the number of
operating vessels to the level of
2007 each year during the period of
2008-2014
 Monitoring at-sea transshipment
for longline fishing vessels thru
observers on board
(CMMs of IOTC-17 in 2013)

42. Different conservation and management measures (CMMs)
among five RFMOs – Part 2
IATTC
[Est. in 1950, 21 members as of 3/2014]
Area: Pacific Ocean waters East of 150°(EPO)
 Regarding Pacific BFT, the upper
limit of commercial catch was set at
3,300t for 2015 and 2016 while not
exceeding 6,600t for the total catch
of these two years.
 Make efforts to reduce the catch of
juvenile tuna weighed below 30kg
by 50% and review this measure in
2015.
 Sport fishing will adopt in 2015 the
same measures as commercial
fishing did.
 The Commission will cooperate
toward the introduction of the CDS.
(CMMs of IATTC-87 in 2014)
CCSBT
[Est. 1994, 6 members as of 3/2014]
Area: The entire geographical range of southern BFT
(southern waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean)
 The TAC for southern BFT for 2015-
2017 (Japan vs. Australia)
 Japan: 4,737t (3,403t in 2014)
 Australia: 5,665t (5,193t in 2014)
 Korea: 1,104t (1,045t in 2014)
 Taiwan: 1,104t (1,045t in 2014), and etc.
 Monitoring at-sea transshipment for
longline fishing vessels thru
observers on board
 Introduction of catch documentation
scheme (CDS) for BFT
 Agreed to strengthen the monitoring
measures for in-port transshipment
(CMMs of CCSBT-21 in 2014)

43. Different conservation and management measures (CMMs)
among five RFMOs – Part 3
WCPFC
[Est. in 2004, 33 members as of 3/2014]
Area: Pacific Ocean waters West of 150° to the North of 4°
S and waters West of 130° W to the South of 4° S (WPO)
 CMMs for tropical tuna (bigeye, yellowfin
and skipjack), the continuation of the
current measure for 2014-2017
 Perse-sein fishing
 2014: No operation with FADs for 4 months
or equivalent FAD operation reduction
 2015-6: No operation with FADs for 5 months
or equivalent FAD operation reduction
 2017: No operation with FADs for 5 months
or equivalent FAD operation reduction and
prohibition of FADs in the high sea
 Longline
 40% reduction of bigeye catch from the
average level between 2001 and 2004
(beginning from 2014)
 BFT
 Adaption of the recommendation of the
Northern Committee of the WCPFC, which
was decided at the 1oth Annual meeting in
September 2014.
(CMMs of WCPFC-11 in Dec. 2014)
WCPFC-NC
[Est. 2005, 8 members as of 3/2014]
Area: the WCPFC Convention Area north of 20°N.
 Aim at recovering spawning stock
biomass (SSB or SB) to the historical
median (42,592 t) within 10 years,
starting from 2015.
 Total fishing effort by their vessel
fishing for Pacific BFT … shall stay
below the 2002–2004 annual average
levels.
 All catches of Pacific BFT less than 30
kg shall be reduced to 50% of the
2002–2004 annual average levels.
Any overage of the catch limit shall
be deducted from the catch limit for
the following year.
 Not to increase catches of Pacific BFT
30 kg or larger from the 2002–2004
annual average levels.
(CMMs of WCPFC-NC-10 in Sep.
2014)

44. Rival (or
subtractable)
Non-rival (non-
subtractable)
Excludable Private goods Club goods
The commons
Non-
excludable
CPRs
Congested
public goods
Pure public
goods
4. Issue Structure: the Tragedy of the
Commons
Burkein and DeSombre, 2013, pp. 14-8

45.  The practical and legal problem in excludability
 The practical terms, excluding fishing vessels from access to
fish is difficult.
 Distant fisheries, insufficient resources for regulators, migratory
fish, the vastness of the sea, and etc.
 Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
 Flag of convenience (FOC) vessels
 Difficulty in legal excludability: The high seas and EEZ
 Highly migratory species like tuna fish live in or pass through
a vast swath between the open sea and EEZ boundaries
The lack of excludability in fishery
CPRs

46. Western and Central Pacific Fishery
Commission: The Northern Committee
(WCPFC-NC)
4-1. PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA (PBFT)

47. Commission
Scientific
Committee
Pacific
Community:
SPC
Technical and
Compliance
Committee
Northern
Committee
International
Scientific
Committee: ISC
The Organizational Structure of the
WCPFC

48. Map of the WCPFC & Northern Committee
(Northern Committee)

49.  The main fishing and market nations of
WCPFC-NC and their average annual catch
between 2000-2009
Japan: about 15,800t
Taiwan: about 1,555t
ROK (Korea): about1,291t
Mexico: about 4,376t
USA: about 413t
WCPFC-Northern Committee (WCPFC-NC):
WCPFC Convention Area north of 20°N.

50. The Migration Pattern and Distribution of PBFT
国際漁業資源の現況―平成２３年度現況―
http://kokushi.job.affrc.go.jp/H23/H23_04.html
Relatively dense
distribution
Relatively
sparse
distributio
n
Juvenile PBF
Adult
PBF

51. Figure : Spawning ground for PBF
ISC, “Stock assessment of bluefin tuna in the Pacific Ocean in 2014: Report of the Pacific
Bluefin Tuna Working Group,” 2014, p.25.

52. PBFT
Figure 1. Historical annual catch of Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus
orientalis) by country from 1952 through 2012 (calendar
year).
Figure 1. Historical annual catch of Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus
orientalis) by country from 1952 through 2012 (calendar
year).

53. Overcatch of Juvenile PBFT in the Pacific
年
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0才
1才
漁獲圧（漁獲による死亡率）
74%
74%
未成魚（ヨコワ）に対する漁獲圧の動向
太平洋クロマグロの漁獲状況（２）
91.1
5.01.6 2.3
太平洋クロマグロ年齢別漁
獲尾数割合（％）
主たる削減対象
0～1歳魚（ヨコワ）：主として九州、韓国のまき網、
西日本の曳き縄が漁獲
３歳魚：主として日本海のまき
網が漁獲
４歳魚以上：主として津軽海峡の延
縄、一本釣りが漁獲
２歳魚：主としてメキシコのまき
網が漁獲
水産庁、「太平洋クロマグロの管理強化の取組―状況と今後の対応について」平成２４年8月
http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/study/enoki/pdf/20120829maguro1.pdf
Age 0
Age 1
Year
Age 2
Age 3
DeathRatebyCatch
PBF catch
by Age (%)
Age 0-1
Age over 4Age 3
Age 2

54. Sanada (2015),
http://www.waseda.jp/oris/uploadfile/activities/07/17/JPN/PDF2015_20150827102400_a6q68ghq6hp2n0h9g9

55. Figure: Catches of PBF in 2013 (metric tons)
Fisheries Research Agency, “Heisei 25 nendo Mizuagechi deno maguro kajiki chosa
kekka (Report on tuna and swordfish at the fish landing sites in 2013),” March 2014.

56. Sanada（2015）

57. Sanada （2015）: slightly
modified by Ohta

58.  The biomass level is near historically low levels and
experiencing high exploitation rates above all
biological reference points (BRPs) commonly used
by fisheries managers.
 The biomass level is at 2.6 percent of the original
unfished level.
 ISC: the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and
Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean
The Most Recent Scientific Assessment by the ISC on
PBFT (2016)

59. 4.2 Overviews of the WCPFC Fisheries:
The Map of WCPFC/WCPO

60. Institutional Map of the Governance Regime of the
WCPO
Source: Parris, 2010: 12

61. The area map of less developed member states
SPC: Secretariat of the Pacific Community
FFA: Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency

62.  The 10th Scientific Committee Report on the
catch data of the WCPFC Area in 2013:
 The total tuna catch = 2,621,511t, or the
second highest catch (the highest =
2,652,322t in 2012)
 80% of the total Pacific Ocean catch
(3,213,733)
 57% of the global tuna catch (4,511,238t)
The State of WCPFC/WCPO Fisheries

63. The Long-term Catch Trends in the WCPFO
Fig. A: Catch (mt) of albacore, bigeye,
skipjack and yellowfin tunas in the
WCPFC Statistical Area.
Fig. B: Catch (mt) of same kinds of
tunas in the same area by longline,
pole-and-line, purse-seine and other
gear types.
Source: WCPFC, Scientific Committee
Tenth Regular Session (SC10), “Summary Report,” 21 August 2014 (WCPFC11-2014-16)

64.  Skipjack tuna: 1.8 million tons
 Bigeye tuna: 82,161 tons (an all time high)
 90% of bigeye tuna = small juveniles
caught on fish aggregating devices
(FADs), helping to diminish the future
spawning potential in the population
The Overall Picture of Fisheries in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean
(WCPO)

65. Tuna Catch by Species and Fishing
Gears
68%
20%
6%
6%
Tuna Caught in the WCPO in
2013
Skipjack
Yellowfin
Bigeye
Albacore
81%
9%
10%
Tuna caught by different
fishing gears in 2013
Purse sein
Pole and
line
Longline
Source: WCPFC, SC10, 2014 (WCPFC11-2014-16)

66. Figure. Stock assessment of BET
Source: WCPFC, SC10, 2014 (WCPFC11-2014-16), p. 34.

67. Figure. Stock assessment of YFT
Source: WCPFC, SC10, 2014 (WCPFC11-2014-16), p. 48.

68. Figure. Stock assessment of SKJ
Source: WCPFC, SC10, 2014 (WCPFC11-2014-16), p. 62.

69.  The Convention on the Conservation and Management of
Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central
Pacific Ocean (WCPF Convention)  the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in 2004
 The status of the WCPO tropical tuna fisheries (bigeye,
yellowfin and skipjack tunas) has declined even further since
the establishment of WCPFC.
 Despite CMMs taken 2005, 2006, 2008, bigeye catches have
increased by 36% since 2000.
 Science committee recommended a 34-50% reduction in
fishing mortality from 2004-2007 levels in 2009 and 2010.
WCPFC

70.  Longline fleets target bigeye tuna (BET), about 38% of all
WCPFO longline catches
 Purse seiners primary target is skipjack tuna(SKJ) and
bycatch of BET = 1-3%
 Bycatch is the unintended catch in fishing operation of
species other than the target species, or individuals of the
target species that are of undesirable size (ISSF, 2014: 13).
 A difficult task of WCPFC = substantial reduction of
fishing mortality of BET, while restraining fishing
mortality for yellowfin (YFT) without curtailing SKJ
fishinig
Overfished bigeye tuna

71.  According to Q. Hanich,
1) Each of 14 States has a dominant or strong interest
in purse seine fisheries for SKJ which complicates
any interest in conserving BET.
2) Across the WCPO tropical tuna fisheries, BET is
worth less in overall value.
3) Longline fisheries have historically caught BET in the
high seas so that there is very little incentive for
coastal States to bear significant conservation
burden for BET.
(Hanich, 2012: 329)
Little interests in arresting bigeye’s
overfishing?

72.  Noncompliance
 Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
 Flag-of-convenience (FOC) registration
 Bycatch
 “High grading”; fishers with quotas that limit the amount of
fish they can land want to bring in the fish that will have the
highest value on the market.
 Overcapacities
 Fishing capacity exceeds the stock biomass.
 The Balloon problem: effective regulation of one part of the
industry may have the effect of increasing pressure on other
parts.
(Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 30-33 ; ISSF, 2014: 11-12)
5. Challenges

73.  The Irish cod fishery
 While the overall fishing efforts
declined, the fleet outside the
regulatory area increased by catching
pollack, hake and etc.
 Fishers also changed the types of gear
used.
 Spanish-Registered fishing vessels during
the period from 1985 to 2010 for three
different species (Atlantic cod, Greenland
halibut or turbot & skipjack tuna) but
excluding FOC vessels.
(Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 50-62)
Challenges: Examples of the balloon problem
Cod
Pollack
Hake
turbot halibut skipjack tuna

74.  A problem of regulatory capture, a situation where the entity
entrusted with overseeing the public interest instead acts in
the interests of industry, as though “captured” by it.
 Most national fisheries regulators are industry regulators
rather than environmental regulators.
 Fishery bureaucracy puts priority of the economic importance of
fisheries over national economies.
 This problem is exacerbated at the international level.
 National fisheries bureaucracies for the maximization of the
interests of the national industry and of the national budget
(Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 63-86)
Challenges:
Regulatory capture

75.  Many different aspects of subsidies:
 grants, guaranteed loans, or tax incentives can encourage fleet
expansion or modernization;
 discounts or tax deduction on fuel, bait, insurance, or other
operating costs can lower the variable costs of fishing; and
 government grants to secure access to foreign fishing grounds
reduce the cost for those who fish there.
 The main effect of subsidies is to increase the number of
fishers and fishing industries’ capacity significantly beyond
what the global supply of fish can support and what the
market for fish would otherwise maintain.
(Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 105-128)
Challenges: Subsidies and fishing
capacity

76.  The logic driving the use of fisheries resources as a focus of
economic development policy = the standard logic of resource
extraction and the commons
 When fisheries development plans come up against the carrying
capacity of natural stocks, both ecosystems and industries lose.
 Even though accepting the principle of “common but differentiated
responsibility” (cf. Article 30 of WCPFC Convention), the logic of
using fisheries as a tool of economic development is fundamentally
flawed.
 No sustainable increase in employment b/c employment will have to be
reduced (or perpetually and increasingly subsidized) as soon as the
target fish stock’s carrying capacity is reached.
 It will not yield a growing industry b/c the industry’s size is fixed by the
stock’s carrying capacity.
 Not an efficient use of development capital b/c as soon as carrying
capacity is reached, the capital stock will end up being systematically
underutilized (Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 143).
Challenges: Fish resources as the means of economic
development

77.  Potential exceptions to the rule:
(1) The development of fisheries that are well
under the target fish stocks’ carrying capacity,
(2) Countries with particularly high EEZ-to-
landmass ratios,
(3) Some kinds of artisanal fishing, and
(4) Recreational fishing
Challenges: Fish resources as the means of economic
development-2

78.  The first step is the recognition of the state of art and the nature
of the object:
 The current RFMOs are not working well and fish is different from
most economic goods.
 A global fisheries organization + RFMOs
 Environmental economics as a tool of resource management:
 Vessel buyback and the assignment of property rights over fish
resources to individual, corporate and community actors
 The establishment of an international individual transferable quota
(ITQ)
 Political decision to overcome regulatory capture and cut
subsidies Environmental regulators + the protection of fish and
ocean ecosystems
 A new global fishing organization for macromanagement of an
international ITQ and curtailment of overcapacity in the fishing
industry
(Barkin and DeSombre, 2013: 233-242)
Saving Global Fisheries

79.  Barkin, J. Samuel and Elizabeth R. DeSombre (2013) Saving Global Fisheries:
Reducing Fishing Capacity to Promote Sustainability, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
 Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) (2016) The State of
World Fisheries and Aquaculture: Contributing to Food Security and Nutrition for All,
Rome, FAO.
 Hanich, Quentin (2012) “Distributing the bigeys conservation burden in the
western and central pacific fisheries,” Marine Policy, 36: 327-332.
 International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) (2014) “ISSF status of the
world fisheries for tuna: Management of tuna stocks and fisheries, 3/2014 Update,”
ISSF Technical Report 2014-5.
 Parris, Hannah (2010) “Is the Western and Central Pacific Commission meeting its
conservation and management objectives,” Ocean & Coastal Management, 53: 10-
26.
 Sanada, Yasuhiro (2015), A Repeated Story of the Tragedy of the Commons: A Short
Survey on the Pacific Bluefin Tuna Fisheries and Farming in Japan
http://www.waseda.jp/oris/uploadfile/activities/07/17/JPN/PDF2015_2015082710240
0_a6q68ghq6hp2n0h9g9q17s9vp1.pdf
 Webster, D.G. (2009) Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries
Management, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
The short list of references

80. Thank you for your attention!
Hiroshi Ohta
h-ohta@y.waseda.jp

81. PART VIII REQUIREMENTS OF DEVELOPING STATES
 Article 30
Recognition of the special requirements of developing States
1. The Commission shall give full recognition to the special requirements of developing
States Parties to this Convention, in particular small island developing States, and of
territories and possessions, in relation to conservation and management of highly
migratory fish stocks in the Convention Area and development of fisheries for such stocks.
2. In giving effect to the duty to cooperate in the establishment of conservation and
management measures for highly migratory fish stocks, the Commission shall take into
account the special requirements of developing States Parties, in particular small island
developing States, and of territories and possessions, in particular:
(a) the vulnerability of developing States Parties, in particular small island developing
States, which are dependent on the exploitation of marine living resources, including for
meeting the nutritional requirements of their populations or parts thereof;
(b) the need to avoid adverse impacts on, and ensure access to fisheries by, subsistence,
small-scale and artisanal fishers and fishworkers, as well as indigenous people in
developing States Parties, particularly small island developing States Parties, and territories
and possessions; and
(c) the need to ensure that such measures do not result in transferring, directly or
indirectly, a disproportionate burden of conservation action onto developing States
Parties, and territories and possessions.
Appendix I
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