Topic outline
Economics of Fisheries × SDGs
Economics of Fisheries discusses how to create a better working environment by analyzing the actual labor conditions in the fisheries industry and also aims to make the industry sustainable.
We hope to contribute to the development of sustainable fishery production in competitive waters by understanding the actual conditions of fishing vessels' operations in the waters around Japan.
The United Nations has designated the decade starting in 2021 as the "Decade of Ocean Science," with the aim of contributing to SDGs. Ocean science, as defined by the UN, includes the field of fisheries.
Research on the affinity between fisheries and “national policy” in modern history (research on modern industrial history)
In modern history, the development route of fisheries has been elucidated in relation to the government’s industrial development policy as well as the policy of increasing national prosperity and military power. ⇒ The honeymoon relationship between modern Japanese fishery education and the pelagic fishery has taken root in parallel with the aim of modernization and capitalization of the fisheries led by the nation and the strengthening of Japan’s national power and territory expansion. Therefore, the activities of fishery education and the will of the nation were shown to be inseparable.
The analysis in relation to the government’s industrial development policy and the Russo‐Japanese War revealed that the structural characteristics imprinted on Japanese fishery education lie in “Pelagic Fishery Education ,” which trained human resources required by the national policy aiming to expand the post-Russo‐Japanese War territory and fishery interests, based on the vocational qualification system created by “the Law for the Promotion of Pelagic Fisheries.”
The photos show the Japanese fishing boats competing with foreign fishing boats in the middle of the Meiji era and the fur of fur seals on a deck.
Research on the affinity between fisheries and “national policy” (base/territorial issues and fisheries)
In modern history, we work on clarifying the base issues that accompany the reclamation of the sea surface, as well as the East China Sea Issue (Senkaku Islands dispute) and the South China Sea Issue (power struggle of the sea). We focus on the relationship between national security policy and fisheries. ⇒ In the former, the position of industry and people in the modern nation is clarified by focusing on the theme that concentrates the national policy of the base problems the most and allows us to understand the will of the nation. In the latter, the history and the present state of Japan’s pelagic fishery in an international environment are comprehensively examined by analyzing the fishery from the three perspectives of sovereignty, national power, and law.
It was pointed out that fisheries in the waters around the border have been involved in repeated conflicts and power struggles of the sea, even though “the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” and a binational fishery arrangement were signed.
Furthermore, although Japan must take a hard line on territorial issues, it also has to prioritize maintaining international relations. Thus, it was pointed out that unfavorable concessions continue in fishery diplomacy.
Survey on the actual situation at the forefront of “borders”
－Focusing on the interrelation between the East China Sea and the South China Sea－
Fishing village in Zhejiang Province, China. Real estate investment is active and the buildings are crowded.
Manado in Indonesia. Approximately 90% of the local economy, including the underground economy, is thought to be occupied by overseas Chinese.
Overseas Chinese have also advanced to important positions in local governments (such as judges). Indonesians are also employed by overseas Chinese in fisheries.
Many people have found a way out as technical interns in the Japanese fishing boat fishery, which is the course of their social success in life.
Research on sustainable development of fisheries and the marine product processing industry
Human resources (labor force) and management, processing, and distribution are focused on as essential elements for sustainable development.
Human resources (labor force) is focused on due to the background of a sharp decline in fishery workers and the reality of an “extreme population aging” situation. Because the marine product processing industry often exists in remote locations away from urban areas, securing young Japanese people has been a challenge.
As a result, dependence on foreign labor has progressed deeply and steadily at an “irreparable” level.
Uncertainty in the sustainable development of both the fishery and marine product processing industry is increasing.
This research aims to grasp the changes in the industry that continue to deliver seafood to our table. Thus, by focusing on the Japanese fishery, which is in danger of the “loss of human resources,” it aims to analyze the current situation of industrial sites and elucidate the wide range of labor problems involved. Specifically, we focused on the Indonesian fishing sailors who work on Japanese fishing boats. We defined them as “diaspora on board” and studied the people in “this group,” whose existence and the type of work they do for whom have been kept away from the public’s eyes. This research began by setting the unknown reality at the root of the problems the Japanese fishery has.
The results of the analysis have depicted that the technical intern training system in the fishing-boat fishery strives to improve living conditions by working on a foreign fishing boat, sucks up young Indonesians who entrusted their dreams to fishery education institutions, and encourages them to work onboard Japanese fishing boats 〔“Changes in industrial structure and foreign workers”〕.
In addition, it is immeasurable for those who decide to spend their lives in the fishery to continue to share time, space, and danger on a narrow ship on the rough seas, where they may lose their lives. Thus, it was noted that they are becoming more irreplaceable as they build a high degree of expertise.
However, it was pointed out at the same time that continuing to rely on “diaspora on board” requires a public debate and recognition that it is a problem that is directly linked to national food security policy.