【REPORT】Online Seminar SDG14 Stakeholders’ Meeting
– Ending IUU Fishing and Harmful Subsidies – Pursuing Collaboration and Partnership
2021/09/27

In order to achieve the SDGs, we need to focus on each target and take concrete actions. This seminar was focused on 14.4 (abolition of IUU fishing) and 14.6 (elimination of IUU fishing subsidies) of SDG 14: Life Below Water, and aimed to enhance understanding of the current situation, challenges, and future prospects for promoting a sustainable fishery and seafood sector. The seminar was intended to address the elimination of IUU fishing and seafood that stem from IUU fishing from the market examining market based measures such as seafood certification schemes that are deemed as instrumental in achieving sustainable fisheries. The speakers discussed national, domestic and international efforts, challenges and prospects to this end.

◆The contents of the seminar can be viewed at the YouTube channel below;

◆Outline
Date : Thursday, July 15, 2021, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (JST)
Venue : Online (zoom webinar)
Organizer : Environmental Partnership Council (EPC),
Cooperation with : Global Environment Outreach Centre (GEOC), Journalist Association of Japan (JAJ), Global Environment Forum of Japan (GEFJ),
Supported by : Internews

Program
MC : Tomoko Hoshino, Vice Representative, EPC
Session 1: “Current status and challenges of IUU fishing
(1) Presentations by speakers
　Mr. Ryota Terai (Assistant Director, Fisheries Processing Industries and Marketing Division, Fisheries Agency)
　Dr. Kenzo Kaifu (Professor, Faculty of Law, Chuo University)
　Mr. Taketo Ohta (Reporter, Minato Shimbun)
　Ms. Yukiko Kuwata (Independent Advisor, TNC)
　Mr. Masanori Kobayashi (Senior Researcher, Ocean Policy Research Institute, Sasakawa Peace Foundation)
(2) Discussion

Session 2 “Practical Examples and Prospects of Sustainable Fisheries
(1) Presentations by speakers
Mr. Kenji Matsunaga (Representative Director, Meiho Fishery Co., Ltd.)
Mr. Ryohei Nomoto (President, Haneda Ichiba Co., Ltd.)
Mr. Hiroaki Kijima (General Manager, Business Strategy Office, Kijima Corporation)
Ms. Minako Iue (Chair and CEO, Sailors for the Sea Japan)
(2) Discussion

◆Purpose of this project
SDG 14.4 calls for the “elimination of overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by 2020”, and SDG 14.6 calls for the “elimination of subsidies that contribute to overfishing and IUU fishing”. In Japan, the Basic Fishery Act was amended in 2018, and The Improvement of Domestic Trade of Specific Marine Animals and Plants Act was enacted in December 2020 to strengthen regulations on overfishing, IUU fishing, and the distribution of marine products caught by IUU fishing. In addition, the Japanese government is constructively participating in the negotiations on harmful fishery subsidies currently underway at the World Trade Organization and is striving to support consensus-building. IUU fishing elimination require efforts not just by fisheries administrators and fishermen alone, but the understanding and support of a wide range of stakeholders, including fisheries companies, distributors and retailers, consumers, the media, recreational fishing companies, and fishing and diving enthusiasts, as well as international cooperation and coordination. In this seminar, we will invite stakeholders including those involved in the distribution of seafood to discuss the progress, challenges and prospects of domestic and international efforts to eliminate IUU fishing, with a focus on marketed based measures to eliminate IUU fishing such as seafood certification schemes that are important to achieve sustainable fisheries. Discussions will be facilitated with a view to promoting and ensuring the prohibition of harmful fishing subsidies for sustainable fisheries. The speakers will address the progress, challenges and prospects of national and international efforts with a view to promoting measures to eliminate IUU fishing and harmful fishery subsidies and to promote sustainable fisheries.