Prepared for the IIPS Symposium onJapan’s Position as a Maritime Nation
16 – 17 October 2007
Tokyo

Session 2
Tuesday, 16 October 2007

Japan’s Role as a Responsible Maritime Nation –Enhancing Global Presence and Commitments(with special reference to resource exploitation and conservation)

Tan Kim Hooi
Centre for Coastal and Marine Environment
Maritime Institute of Malaysia

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JAPAN’S ROLE AS RESPONSIBLE MARITIME NATION– ENHANCING GLOBAL PRESENCE AND COMMITMENTS(With Special Reference to Resource Exploitation and Conservation)
Tan Kim Hooi and Mohd Nizam Basiron
Centre for Coastal and Marine Environment
Maritime Institute of Malaysia(E-mail: khtan@mima.gov.my)

Introduction
Geographically, economically and environmentally, Japan is undoubtedly a maritime
nation. Japan is also a global maritime player, at least from fisheries and maritime
transport perspectives. The global marine environment and its resources are facing
more pressure from human amid rapid growing coastal population and development.
Some of the pertinent issues are decline of fisheries resources, degradation ofcoastal marine ecosystems, loss of marine biodiversity, marine pollution, andpotential impacts of global warming and rising sea level (Gray 1997; GESAMP
2001a, 2001b; MEA Board 2005; Worm et al. 2006, FAO 2007). Some of theseissues are closely related to Japan. Over the years, Japan has contributed
significantly to address some of these issues at the domestic as well as the global
level. This paper highlights the current problems, reviews Japan’s role andcontribution, and seeks to provide future directions for enhancing Japan’s global
presence and commitments as a responsible maritime nation.

Current Status of Global Marine Environmental Problems
Global fisheries decline
There is no doubt that the world’s capture fisheries are in crisis as statistics andscientific evidences point to dramatic declines in global stocks. Except the Indian
Ocean, most of the major fisheries areas in Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have been
fully exploited, if not overexploited (FAO 2007; Lundgren et al. 2006). In addition, a
study released last year found that all seafood populations face potential collapse by
2048 (Worm et al. 2006).
Japan is very much attached to this issue as fish contributes around 50% of total
animal protein in Japan and the fact Japan is now the world’s largest importer of fish
products. The import of fisheries products is critical to Japan as the fisheries
production from coastal, offshore and distant-water fisheries has steadily declined
since 1985. Therefore, it is no surprise that the fisheries policy in Japan is gears
towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of fisheries resources.
Some of the outstanding issues include the over exploitation of tuna resources,scientific (research) whaling, and significant bycatch of non-targeted species (sharks,
dolphins and marine turtles). The over capacity of fishing fleets and the potential high2

levels of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing are also main concerns.
Most recently, the potential collapse of bluefin tuna stocks was making front page
news worldwide. Several reports (Gillett, 2004; Miyake et al, 2004; Lundgren et al.,2006; WWF, 2007; FAO, 2007) concluded that the world’s tuna fisheries are facing adrastic decline in stock. This reminds us of the collapsed of “Northern Atlantic Cod”
in 1992. Despite a ten year fishing moratorium on northern cod, however, thesestocks are showing no convincing signs of recovery.
The rise of aquaculture: solution or problem?
Most of the net growth in global fish production over the past 20 years has comefrom the development of aquaculture which accounted to about 30% of the world’s
food fish (Delgado et al. 2006, FAO 2007). With an average annual growth rate forthe world of 8.8% per year since 1970, aquaculture is the fastest growing foodproduction sector. Hence, coastal marine aquaculture is seems as a tool to supply
the future of world fish demands and alleviate the pressure on marine capture
fisheries.
On the other hand, marine and coastal aquaculture can create environmental andsocial problems. For example, shrimp farming in coastal areas has created a lot of
problems over the years, and these problems include the destruction of mangroves,depletion of wild stocks, land-use conflicts, displacement of local community, andmarine pollution.
Global degradation and destruction of marine coastal ecosystems
The coastal marine ecosystems provide many goods and services to human andenvironment worth at least US$20.9 trillion annually (Costanza et al. 1997). This isabout 63% of total contribution of the world’s ecosystems. The most important
ecosystems are undoubtedly the mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds. Most
notably, these ecosystems serve as nursery, breeding and feeding grounds of many
commercially important finfish and prawns. Hence, these ecosystems maintainmarine biodiversity, ensure food security and support coastal livelihood and wellbeing of coastal people.
According to the new FAO assessment on the state of the world's mangrove forests,
the mangrove area worldwide had fallen below 15 million ha by the end of 2000,
down from an estimated 19.8 million ha in 1980. This indicates a 20% reduction inmangrove area worldwide in 20 years. Similarly, the report on the “Status of Coral
Reefs around the World” notes that 20% of the world's coral reefs have beeneffectively destroyed and show no immediate prospects of recovery, and predicts
that another 24% of the world's reefs are under imminent risk of collapse throughhuman pressures (Wilkinson 2004). Seagrass, a lesser known but important habitat,
does not fair better. Short and Wyllie-Echeverria (2000) estimated 290,000 ha ofseagrass loss globally from documented sources and projected over 1.2 million ha ofseagrass have likely been lost from undocumented parts of the world.
The widespread destruction of these critical ecosystems has serious consequences
to global fisheries production. Many areas are experiencing decline in fisheries

3landings especially prawn and high commercial value finfish which are dependent onthese ecosystems for some part of their lifecycle.
Marine pollution and dead zones
The report compiled by UNEP's Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the
Marine Environment from Land-Based Sources shows that the number of "deadzones" in the world's oceans has grown from 150 in 2004 to about 200 in 2006,
threatening marine fish stocks and the people who depend upon fisheries for foodand livelihoods. These ocean dead zones are becoming more common in developing
countries.
An estimated 80% of marine pollution originates from the land and major causes are
untreated sewage discharge, industrial pollutants, and nutrient and fertilizer run-off.
The sea-based marine pollution is mainly from accidental and intentional oil
discharge from ship operation and offshore exploration and production facilities. The
estimated average annual inputs of oil entering the marine environment is 1,245,200
tonnes per year (GESAMP 2007). These marine pollution problems is expected torise significantly by 2050 due to rapid increased in coastal populations anddevelopment, oil and gas demands, and action to combat marine pollution is not
accelerated.
Global warming and rising sea level
Climate change will affect the physical, biological and biogeochemical characteristicsof the oceans and coasts at different time and space scales (IPCC 2007). The major
predicted impacts are increased incidence and intensity of extreme weather(cyclones, typhoons, and storm surges), severe coastal erosion, alteration anddestruction of coastal ecosystems (i.e. coral bleaching and mangrove land-ward
migration patterns), decline of fish stock, saltwater intrusion, decreased freshwater
availability in coastal area, flooding in low lying coastal areas, and salinization ofgroundwater, estuaries, freshwater and irrigation systems.
Apart from making the coastal marine ecosystems and fisheries resources more
resilience to climate change and providing proper coastal protection measures, theother critical challenge is addressing the issue of water scarcity in coastal areas withmega-cities and small islands. The world is already facing a drastic decline in cleanwater supply, the saltwater intrusion and potential salinization of freshwater systems
will make the matter worse.
Review of Japan’s Role and Contribution
The promotion of active regional and international cooperation to address global
environmental issues is one of the main agendas in Japan’s foreign policy. Over theyears, Japan has provided financial and technical assistance to many countries andorganizations for addressing global marine environmental issues. This effort has
been implemented through various channels including Japan’s Official Development
Assistance (ODA), contributions from foundations, corporate sector and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

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The ODA remains the most important source and mechanism, and Japan is one of
the top contributors in the world. Much of the allocations are given to bilateral
cooperation projects, regional programmes, World Bank and regional banks, Global
Environment Facility (GEF), and United Nations (i.e. UNEP, UNESCO and UNDP).
The bulk of the total allocation is for the infrastructure development projects andabout 20% is allocated for the social and environmental projects. The allocation for
the environmental projects is very small, marine environmental projects in particular.
As an aid implementing agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has
been tasked to implement most of the ODA projects. Some of the significant marine
related projects are fisheries and aquaculture programmes under the Southeast
Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), marine conservation projects for
Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve, and training course on coral reef and mangrove
conservation and management. For example, Japan’s contribution to SEAFDEC interms of financial, technical and experience for 40 years is enormous. One of suchproject was the regionalization of FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
which emphasize on responsible fisheries and aquaculture and sustainableutilization of coastal resources.
From the maritime transport perspective, Japan’s contribution to safety of navigationand environmental protection in the major sea routes (i.e. Straits of Malacca andSingapore) is very significant. From 1969 to 2006, Japan contributed about US$130
million on various project and this included the donation to the Malacca Straits
Revolving Fund in 1981 which has been accessed by Malaysia and Indonesia in
1992 following the Nagasaki Spirit – Ocean Blessing incident. Most of the funding
was from the Nippon Foundation and small contribution from the Japan Shipowners’
Association (JSA) to the Malacca Straits Maritime Council. More recent contributions
include the provision of a training vessel to Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency
and the pledge by the Nippon Foundation to contribute one-third of the initial five
year running cost of the Aids to Navigation Fund in the Straits valued at over US$9
million. These contributions reflect Japan’s commitment towards ensuring safety ofnavigation and environmental protection in the Straits and its dependence on theStraits of Malacca and Singapore which carry 90% of its fuel.
Japan has a very high standard of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and isranked 19th in the Global Responsible Competitiveness Index 2007, and has themost companies participating in the Global CSR Reporting Initiative. Most of themultinational companies do produce annual communication, sustainability, socialand environmental reports. Over the years, many companies have contributed theland-based environmental improvement projects or “green projects”. The
involvement in coastal marine conservation projects is rather limited presumably due
to low awareness of the marine environment. The increased of intensity of typhoons
and storm surges in western Pacific Ocean and the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami
did provide the opportunity for these companies to contribute in coastal marine
ecosystem rehabilitation projects. Many multinational companies have madedonation and some even involved actively in the rehabilitation projects, such as
AEON, Toshiba, Ricoh, Epson, Hitachi, and Fujitsu.

5Some NGOs based in Japan also play an active role in various capacities inpromoting sustainable utilization and rehabilitation of coastal marine ecosystems andtheir resources. They are the International Society for Mangrove ecosystems (ISME),RAMSAR Japan, WWF-Japan, ACTMANG, and Japanese Red Cross (JRC). For
example, ISME was established in 1990 as an international non-profit and nongovernmental society and based in Okinawa for the conservation, rational
management, and sustainable utilization of mangrove ecosystems. ISME has over
950 members from 86 countries and is presently working on various mangrove
related projects, such as rehabilitation of mangroves aftermath the Indian Ocean
tsunami. One of the critical problems facing by the NGOs is securing constantfunding from the governments, relevant organizations and corporate sector.
In addition to the above mentioned organizations and their efforts, there are manyother organizations and institutions involve significantly in various capacities inaddressing the marine environmental issues, from promoting science, conducting
research, providing funding to policy analysis. They are the International Center for
Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS), Japan
International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Japan Society for
Promoting Science (JSPS), Japan Fund for Global Environment (JFGE), Ocean
Policy Research Foundation (OPRF), local universities, and Japan-based UN
organizations (i.e. UNU and UNITAR).
From the climate change perspective, the ratifying of Kyoto Protocol on 16 February2005 represents a major achievement for Japan. The Kyoto Protocol is aninternational agreement setting targets for industrialized countries to cut theirgreenhouse gas emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by 2008 - 2012. Japan iscommitted to reduce the greenhouse gases by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol.

Future Directions and Challenges
Japan has in the past contributed significantly in addressing some of the marine
resource exploitation and other environmental issues. In view of future newchallenges and uncertainties, Japan may wish to consider several approaches andpolicy changes to enhance its responsibility and commitments towards marine
resource exploitation and other environmental issues. This is also in line with theglobal shift of focus to the environment and sustainable development, and the factenvironment means business.
Ocean policy on a global scaleWith limited and decreasing ocean resources, and the very importance of fisheries
resources and maritime sea routes to Japan’s food and economy security, Japan willneed a comprehensive ocean policy on a global scale. The ocean policy will not only
address issues within the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but also
highlight the need to sustain and secure strategic resources beyond the EEZ deems
critical to Japan in a responsible manner. From environmental perspective, the policy
should basically provide strategies for harvesting fisheries resources in sustainable
and responsible ways, domestic and global fish species recovery plan, securing thebilateral and regional fisheries agreements, enhancing sustainable production of6coastal and marine aquaculture, promoting rehabilitation of critical coastal marine
ecosystems, promoting marine research and use of science for sound decision
making, reducing marine pollution, and not least, further enhancing regional andglobal cooperation on environmental issues.
Delivering the promise of aquaculture
Tuna culture is definitely a main agenda for Japan to address the issue of decline ofglobal tuna resources. At the same time, the demand of tuna is expected to growalong with the increased popularity of tuna-based sushi and sashimi worldwide. Tuna
culture has emerged as a significant industry over the last ten year (Lundgren et al.
2006; FAO 2007) and is presently practiced in Australia, Japan, United States,
Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea. However, most of present tuna culture involves
tuna fattening and relies on wild juvenile stocks. The ability of tuna hatcheries to
produce high quantity of high quality tuna fry to meet the market demands remains achallenge. Many areas especially in Indonesia and the Philippines have been
identified as potential areas for tuna farming. The future of investment is good
provided we can supply enough quality tuna fry and there is a further advancementof culture technology
Shifting the focus of the ODA to marine environmental issues
Over the last 15 years, the ODA has emphasized on infrastructure and energy sector.
Some of these projects also caused environmental problems to the recipient
countries. It is high time to focus more on environmental issues. This is also to fulfill
the commitments by development countries to achieve the objectives of theMillennium Development Goals. Besides the restructuring of the ODA’s sector
allocation, more funding should be allocated to NGOs as they have a very limited
fund to commit to various environmental projects. This is also to recognize andreward their significant contribution in various environmental projects and marine
conservation.
CSR as the next driver
As the ODA is limited and decreasing, the contribution from the corporate sector
through CSR is very crucial in the future. Apart from compensating the decline of theODA, the contribution from the corporate sector will compliment, or even enhancethe objectives of the foreign policy. Unlike the ODA, gaining public support for CSR’s
contribution is easy as most of the projects are small and targeted at local
community level. The benefit of such projects is also tangible especially at local level
and always received more attention and publicity from the media. In addition, thecommunication and sustainability reports published by companies also deliver themessage not only to shareholders, but to people all over the world. Besides tax
rebate, all these advantages give free advertisement to the product brand andenhance the green image of the companies. Potentially, their investment projects
and products are also more acceptable by foreign governments and their local
people. Generally, investing in environmental improvement project is good forbusiness and enhances global presence in a responsible manner.
To encourage the contribution of corporate sector in marine conservation projects,
the government can play a greater by promoting maritime awareness to the7corporate sector. The fact coastal marine ecosystems are more valuable thanterrestrial ecosystems deserves more attention from the governments as well as
corporate sector. Due to limited knowledge about coastal marine environment and toensure the successful implementation of projects, the corporate sector should be
encouraged to work together with Japanese and local NGOs, and in some cases,
with UN organizations.
Sharing the experience and technology
Japan has learned by experience the lesson of coastal and marine environmental
degradation due to rapid economic and industrial development. Perhaps the bitterest
lesson is the tragedy of Minamata Bay known as “Minamata Disease”. On the other
hand, Japan also made advancements in marine technology, including sustainableaquaculture system, disaster warning system, coastal protection system, water
treatment technology, seawater desalination system, etc.
Japan can offer these valuable experience and lesson to the developing countries,
especially to avoid or minimize environmental and social costs while pursuingeconomic development. Some of the technologies will be urgently needed to tackle
the impacts of rising sea level. For example, good coastal protection system andseawater desalination system will be in high demand to address the issues of coastal
erosion and serious water shortage in the coastal areas, respectively. This also
provides business opportunity for Japanese companies. Of course, the commitment
is to make this technology available to poor developing countries at an affordable
cost. In future, there will be more coastal marine rehabilitation projects to make theecosystems more resilience to the climate change. The experience of various
coastal rehabilitation projects implemented by JICA and NGOs (i.e. ISME,ACTMANG and JRC) will be very useful.
Setting the next target for the Kyoto Protocol
The recent IPCC’s report has confirmed that the climate change is real and urges all
countries to take responsibility to address this issue seriously. It is anticipated that
more effort should be done on the reduction of greenhouse gases. Japan iscommitted to provide further contribution to the future framework after 2013. The
challenge for Japan is to engage with United States, China, India and some otherdeveloping countries and encourage these countries to join effort in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, to play this leading role, Japan must fulfill its
own responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% from the 1990 level.

Conclusions
The global marine environment and its resources are in crisis. Global warming andrising sea level will not only further worsening the existing problems, but create newproblems and challenges. Japan has in the past contributed significantly inaddressing some of the issues especially fisheries and maritime transport sectors,
and lately on climate change initiative. To further enhance Japan’s role as
responsible maritime nation in the global level, Japan may wish to consider several
approaches and policy changes, including of having an ocean policy on the global

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scale, increasing ODA’s allocation for marine environmental projects, promoting
CSR in marine environmental projects, sharing experience and technology with
developing countries, and increasing commitments on tackling the climate change
issues.
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