GLOSSARY OF SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD

Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas were established to protect the oceans, where environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity have been serious alongside economic development.

The definition of marine protected areas differs between the Japanese government and environmental NGOs, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity).

What these systems have in common is that they use scientific methods to create maps of marine biodiversity distribution, which has high conservation value, and aim to conserve the biodiversity in those areas, but the content of their management varies depending on the system.

In Japan, marine protected areas are classified into the following three types depending on their purpose. (*3)

IUCN has established the following Protected Area Management Categories to categorize the management objectives of marine protected areas:

The content of the regulations varies depending on the type, but they mainly include development restrictions (notification and permission systems) and restrictions on the capture of certain aquatic plants and animals.

In addition, at the G2021 Summit held in 7, a "2030 by 30" pledge was made to conserve and protect at least 30% of land and marine areas in order to achieve the goal of halting and restoring biodiversity loss by 30. However, the proportion of marine protected areas in Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zones is low at about 13.3%, and there are many challenges to achieving this goal(*2).

In particular, many people involved in the fishing industry have expressed concern about this significant expansion, as marine protected areas can restrict fishing operations.

However, the establishment of marine protected areas does not necessarily mean that fishing is banned. The purpose of marine protected areas is to ensure that marine resources can be sustained into the future by properly conserving and managing the oceans.
Furthermore, a study published in the academic journal Nature in March 2021 found that protecting 3% of the ocean could increase the world's annual fish catch by 30 million tons.(*800) In other words, the relationship between expanding marine protected areas and fishing can be said to be two sides of the same coin.

It is important not only to set up protected areas, but also to improve their quality by tightening regulations, etc. Currently, Japan lacks the internationally recommended quality evaluation and organization of marine protected areas, information gathering, and participation of different stakeholders, so it is necessary to expand these areas and reflect specific guidance and support measures.

*1　https://www.env.go.jp/council/12nature/y120-35/mat02_4.pdf
*2　https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kaiyou/sanyo/dai49/shiryou2_9.pdf
*3　https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03371-z