ISARIBI NO.53

ISSN1346-2512

JapanFisheries
AssociationNO.53 MAR. 2007
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Views and Opinions of Japan’s Fisheries Industry

N.W. Pacific groundfish management

Tangible progress achieved toward managementof groundfish resources on the high seas
—A new management framework adopted for the Northwestern Pacific—

An inter-governmental consultation was heldin Busan, Korea, from January 31 throughFebruary 2 to discuss the management ofgroundfish fisheries on the high seas in theNorthwestern Pacific. The conference adopted a newprovisional framework for the sustainable managementof fish resources and the protection of vulnerable
ecosystems in the area.
Further, the participants confirmed the importanceof the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) in taking a leading role on theissue of the management of deep-sea fisheries. They
also agreed on taking steps toward the formulation ofinternational norms to that end.
Sources close to the meeting said that significant
progress was achieved towards the construction of amanagement framework in line with the U.N.
Resolutions.
The consultation was participated in by Japan, theRepublic of Korea, Russia and the United States.
At their first meeting in August of last year, the fourcountries—fishing nations and coastal States operatingon the high seas of the Northwestern Pacific—
confirmed that they would continue discussing theestablishment of a new international framework in
response to the consultations at the United Nations
regarding the management of groundfish harvests forthe protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems, suchas sea mounts.
Subsequently, at the U.N. General Assembly inautumn last year, the following resolutions, among
others, were adopted.
(1) Regional fisheries management organizations(RFMOs) and arrangements shall assess the impactof fisheries on vulnerable marine ecosystems basedon scientific findings and take necessary measures;(2) In case there is no RMFO or no provisional
measures have been introduced, steps shall be taken
to introduce such measures by the end of 2008 or
halt the issuance of fishing permits; and(3) The FAO shall formulate the working process
regarding the management of deep-sea fisheries on
the high seas.
With this situation in mind, the countries thatparticipated in the consultation discussed and adopted
a new provisional conservation and management
framework.
The major thrusts of the framework are:(1) It aims to cover groundfish fisheries operatingon the high seas of the Northwestern Pacific;(2) Provisional measures will be implemented,
including freezing fishing effort at the present level andpreventing the expansion of operation areas forgroundfish fishing (limited to the sea mounts south of
45 degrees North where operations have actually

ISARIBI: First published by the Japan Fisheries Association in October 1992.
JFA President: Isao Nakasu; Editor: Masashi Nishimura

ISARIBI NO.53

MAR. 2007

been conducted.)(3) In addition to the provisional measures, harvests
of groundfish will be suspended until the end of 2008
unless conservation and management measures are
established to prevent the negative impact on the area
where the presence of vulnerable ecosystems isknown;(4) A scientific working group to provide advice
and recommendations will be established with a viewto collect and share pertinent information; and(5) Information on fishing vessels will be collected
through the license system. Fishing vessels, including
their names and registration numbers, are identified
through installation of the vessel monitoring system(VMS).
The participating countries agreed on respecting theframework and implementing the provisional measures
on a voluntary basis.
Agreement reached on the need to act
upon FAO
At the meeting, Japan, serving as the provisionalsecretariat for the framework, explained about thediscussion held at the United Nations last year.
Participants also confirmed the importance of theleading role of the FAO on the issue of themanagement of deep-sea fishing. They also agreed
that they will act on the FAO to develop global
standards so that the framework of conservation andmanagement can satisfy the requirements in the U.N.
resolutions. Specific proposal will be discussed in thefuture.
The scientific working group was established andits meeting was held prior to the inter-governmentalconference.
In the U.N. resolutions, vulnerable ecosystems, suchas sea mounts and deep-sea corals, are not clearlydefined. Given this situation, the working group
incorporated into its terms of reference the need toassess the resources of major fish species and related
species and to specify the vulnerable marineecosystems and the bottom fishing that gives impact
to them. The group will collect necessary information
and address the issue.
Participants in the consultation also confirmed thatthey will continue discussion on the formulation of along-term framework having legal binding power.
The next consultation will be held sometime this nextsummer.

The First Joint Tuna RFMO
Meeting
Step forward to Sustinable
Management of Tuna ResourcesT

he first meeting of all the Regional Tuna
Fisheries Management Organizations(RFMOs) in the world was held in Kobe,
Japan, from January 22 through 26, 2007. The
Government of Japan, with technical assistanceprovided by the Food and Agricultural Organizationof the United Nations (FAO), organized and hosted
the meeting. A total of 54 members of five tuna
RFMOs (IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, WCPFC andCCSBT) as well as the Secretariats of the RFMOs,
inter-governmental organizations and NGOs etc.
participated in the meeting.
The meeting adopted the Course of Actions for theRFMOs, describing key areas and challenges,
technical work of cooperation across RFMOs etc.
The second Joint Meeting will be hosted by theEuropean Community in 2009.
At a press conference after the meeting, Masanori
Miyahara of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, whochaired the meeting, evaluated the meeting as follows:“We have reconfirmed the need for the RFMOs totake joint actions in ensuring sustainable use of tuna
resources. It was a significant development that theRFMOs agreed to hold the second joint meeting after
two years to assess the progress of the Course ofAction. He further said that “the RFMOs madecommitments and they are now burdened with heavytasks.”

Joint RFMO meeting in Kobe
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MAR. 2007

ICFA Statement

ICFA STATEMENT ON JOINTMEETING OF TUNA RFMOsT

he International Coalition of Fisheries
Association (ICFA) presented the following
statement to the joint meeting of the five
regional tuna fisheries management organizations(RFMOs) held in Kobe January 22-26, 2007.

ICFA expresses its keen interest in the Joint
Meeting of Tuna RFMOs held in Kobe January
22 through 26, 2007. The meeting is aninvaluable opportunity to demonstrate its
commitment and competence of RFMOs tomanage global tuna resources. ICFA has long
been committed to the sustainable use of global
marine living resources including tunas andconservation of marine ecosystems.
ICFA supports the tuna fishers’ efforts tofurther promote responsible tuna fisheries
particularly in addressing issues of resource
management, the IUU fishing, and reducing
incidental catch of sea turtles and sea birds byuse of technologies developed.
ICFA further stresses that the primary
responsibility for the conservation and themanagement of tunas and all related issues lies
with the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization and Regional Fisheries
Management Organizations.
ICFA, therefore, strongly encourages
governments to continue to cooperate with Tuna
RFMOs to ensure that global fish stocks are
sustainably managed. In closing ICFA hopes theJoint Meeting of Tuna RFMOs to be a big step
toward reinforcement of the management ofglobal tuna resources.

In the statement, ICFA supported the efforts by tuna
fishermen to further promote sustainable fisheries,
taking this meeting as a valuable occasion for theRFMOs to demonstrate their commitment andcompetence in the management of tuna resources
around the globe.
Further, ICFA made a strong case that the primary
responsibility for all the issues related to theconservation and management of tuna should primarily
rest in the hands of the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) and RFMOs. ICFAmembers urged their respective governments tocontinue cooperation with the RFMOs so that thesustainable management of fishery resources aroundthe world can be ensured.
ICFA is an international nongovernmentalorganization committed to the sustainable use of
the globe’s ocean resources and that adhere to theUN FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries. For more information about this global
collaboration, visit www.ICFA.net.

Atlantic Bluefin TunaManagement
Japanese government calls ontraders to refrain from importing
bluefin tuna in excess of ICCAT’squotaOn February 2 the Fisheries Agency conducteda briefing session for traders to explain about
the outcome of the intersessional meeting ofthe International Commission for the Conservationof Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) recently held in Tokyo.
In the briefing, the Agency specifically drew theattention of the participants to the importation ofbluefin tuna from Libya and Turkey, the two countries
that did not agree with ICCAT’s quota allocations.
The Agency noted that questions have been raised
about the catch reports of Libya and stricter
monitoring of its trade is required.
With this in mind, the Agency requested traders toconsult with it when importing farmed bluefin tunafrom Libya.
Also the Agency said that the Japanese government
will have a consultation with Turkey to start a processof certifying that the bluefin tuna from Turkey be thosefish harvested within the scope of catch allocations.
Therefore, the Agency said, special procedures
would be required for importing bluefin tuna fromTurkey.
This briefing session shows Japan’s positive
posture as a major market country importing virtually

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ISARIBI NO.53
all the farmed bluefin tuna produced in theMediterranean region to take responsible actions
toward the recovery of Atlantic bluefin tuna
resources.

Whaling
Resolving the IWC Gridlock
IWC Normalization meeting held in Tokyo

Delegates from 37 member countries of theInternational Whaling Commission met inTokyo on February 13-15 to discuss how
to resolve the gridlock within the Commission andreturn the Commission to its original mandate ofregulating commercial whaling as provided for in the1946 International Convention for the Regulation ofWhaling. The Conference for the Normalization ofthe International Whaling Commission, hosted by theGovernment of Japan, was open to observers andthe press. Japan had extended an invitation to all 72
members of the IWC. But 26 member countries
met in Washington, D.C., during the latter part ofJanuary and decided to boycott the meeting.
Japan’s alternate Commissioner, Joji Morishita,
said the meeting was called in good faith for all IWC
members to discuss the serious problems that arepreventing the IWC from functioning as a normalinternational resource management organization.
“Japan is actively exploring all avenues to bring theIWC back to a working body and to find ways thatwill end the dysfunctional nature of it. We don’t
believe there is any future with two groups of parties
talking past each other and nothing of any significanceever being achieved.”
The IWC approved a moratorium on commercial
whaling in 1982 under the condition that it was to bereviewed and new catch limits be established by1990 at the latest. Under the Commission’s mandate,the Scientific Committee of the IWC developed arisk averse management procedure for calculatingcatch limits from baleen whale stocks and in 1993
recommended it to the Commission for its
implementation. But the Commission has failed toimplement the management procedure because
several member countries who oppose theresumption of commercial whaling insisted upon anecessity to establish a comprehensive management
scheme including a monitoring and control system.

MAR. 2007
Since then some countries sincerely tried to complete
the management scheme, but others tried to prolong
its completion and surprisingly started to claim thatwhaling should not be resumed irrespective of healthystock conditions for some species. The IWC finallyabandoned the establishment of a management
scheme and again failed to implement an appropriate
management scheme in 2006. These countries
opposing the resumption of sustainable commercial
whaling led by the United Kingdom, Australia, New
Zealand and the United States are among the 26
member countries that agreed to boycott the meeting.
The 3-day meeting, chaired by Mr. Kuniwo
Nakamura, former President of the Republic ofPalau, had a full agenda. On the first day, participants
discussed the dysfunctional nature of the IWC andpossible ways of resolving the gridlock that the IWC
itself engenders. A panel discussion was held on themorning of the second day to solicit the views andopinions of observers. During the afternoon sessionof the second day, delegates and observers broke
down into four working groups tasked to develop
recommendations on resolving the gridlock throughvarious measures such as building trust, seeking
compromise, enhancing communication on views andpositions, gaining respect for cultural diversity, andseeking outside help to resolve disagreements. The
recommendations have been forwarded to the IWC
Secretariat by the Chair in his summary report of themeeting, available for member countries.
The Conference closed on the optimistic note thatthe participating countries can make a better effort
to reach out to those who did not participate andresolve the gridlock and acrimony that has plagued
the Commission for so many years. As Amalie
Jessen, a delegate from Greenland, summarized,“Something has to happen drastically so both parties
can have a win-win situation. That means bothconservation and sustainable use.”
The Japan Fisheries Association will organize
the 9th Japan International Seafood &Technology Expo at the Tokyo International
Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight) July 1820, 2007. JFA expects that nearly 300
companies from a broad spectrum of industries,including the seafood, seasoning, foodprocessing and seafood-related technologies,
will participate in the show.

The readers are cordially invited to send their comments on articles in this issue to mnishimu@suisankai.or.jp--Editor