Sustainable Development and Subsidies in the Fisheries Sector - A Case in Japan - Nobuyuki Yagi Fisheries Agency

Objectives of this presentation are: 1. To Describe the Current Status of Fishery Subsidies in Japan. 2. To Examine their Implications for the Fishing Capacity and Fishery Production in Japan. 3. Discussion and Conclusion

OECD estimation of government financial transfers to marine capture fisheries in 1998

Declining Fishing Capacity in Japan

Declining Domestic Fishery Production in Japan

Increasing Imported Products (unit: in billion yens) Source: Japan ’ s trade statistics.

Tighter regulations in pelagic and offshore fisheries have contributed to the production decline. (unit: in million tons)

Fishery Management Schemes In Japan Umbrella measures: Vessel registration and licensing systems 1. Coastal Fisheries: Traditional Right Based Management 2. Offshore Fisheries (EEZ): TAC and TAE 3. Pelagic Fisheries: International Regulations

Use of Subsidies (JPY 291 Billion in 2002)

Use of Infrastructure Subsidy Safety of Coastal Villages

Some points of consideration 1. Long coastal line in Japan: (The length of Japanese coastal lines are longer than that of mainland USA). 2. The number of coastal communities is relatively high in Japan if compared with other developed countries. 3. Japan’s report includes infrastructure subsidy while some others’ do not (Japan is in a unique situation that fishery resource management authority also handles coastal infrastructure budgets.)

Use of Infrastructure Subsidy Improvement of Coastal Life

OECD estimation of government financial transfers to marine capture fisheries in 1998 (with Japanese infrastructure information incorporated)

Findings 1. No obvious relationship was observed between the amount of subsidy and fishing capacity. (Fishing capacity is controlled under fishery management schemes in the case of Japan.) 2. Fishery production would have been more directly affected by resource management and market conditions, rather than the amount of subsidies. 3. The use of the subsidies, rather than their total amount, would be a key factor for further assessments on the effects caused by subsidies.

Conclusions 1. Policy filters (information on capacity control and resource management) are necessary to assess the impacts of subsidies. 2. Standardized rules for the coverage of subsidies (in particular infrastructure subsidies) would be critical for international comparisons. 3. Fair improvement of disciplines on fishery subsidy for the purpose of solving the problem on over- capacity and IUU fishing is important, and Japan is committed to contribute to the process of WTO so that a fair conclusion could be achieved.