Program

September 22, 2017

Japan’s Fishing Tradition and Fishery Science: an Overview

Prof. Nobuyuki Yagi

A review is provided on the history of Japanese fisheries and the need for scientific research. Japan has a long tradition of using living marine resources for human food. For instance, one ancient 900-year-old Japanese record refers to kamaboko, processed seafood made of surimi, as one of the items served for a banquet. Fishery management practices have also been documented for centuries. In 1742, during the Edo era, government legislation stated that coastal communities had exclusive rights to use coastal resources and that offshore fishery resources were common pool resources. Conflicts among fishers have been recorded along with conservation efforts. For example, in June 1816, representatives of 44 fishing communities in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) agreed that no new fishing methods should be introduced and that the 38 existing fishing methods should be maintained. The traditional fishery management scheme, which is based on a limited-entry system and area-based management with gear restrictions, has continued until today. Populations of Japanese fisheries species have also been rebuilt through artificial stock enhancement since 1888, when hatcheries were started in Hokkaido for the artificial propagation of salmon. Biological information on fishery species, including migration routes, spawning behaviors, feeding ecology for juveniles, or fish diseases, has been useful for the management of capture fisheries and aquaculture. From the 1950s to 1970s, Japanese fisheries expanded into international waters, and created a greater need for biological information on straddling stocks and migratory species. The UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) came into force in 1996, resulting among other things in Japanese fishing fleets losing access to fishing grounds in EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones) of foreign countries. At the same time, Japan introduced national TAC (total allowable catch) management systems for seven fishery species in its EEZ starting in 1997. Because TAC management systems require scientific information on allowable catch for a range of fishery stocks, there was increased need for studies on population dynamics of targeted species. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011, research on radioactive substances contained in fish and fishery products became an inevitable part of fisheries science. Increasing attention has also been paid to the relationship between science and policy.

September 23, 2017

The Way Out of Marine Fisheries under Global Change

Dr. Xianshi Jin

With the increasing influences from human activities and climate change, marine ecosystems, particularly coastal ecosystems, are subjected to larger disturbances and pressures. Most fish stocks have been fully or over exploited, and some stocks are even depleted, although authorities, scientists and stakeholders have made great efforts to contribute to sustainable utilization of fisheries. The production of marine fisheries has reached the upper limit since the late 1980s and further increase potential is far from optimistic. However, seafood as an important protein source and so-called healthy food for human-being, the demand is increasing with the increase of population. How to solve the contradiction between the supply and demand of aquatic products? It is an urgent thing for marine fisheries industry. There are three kind of ways those could be considered, one is to control the capture by using MSY as the target, traditionally from single species to complex multi-species, and now ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) is widely considered and practiced, many fishing strategies are discussed, such as top-predator harvest, low-trophic level harvest, or balanced harvest. What kind of management strategies is taken depends on the different cultures and different development stages, so these management strategies have varied in different countries, and brought different effects to marine ecosystem. Some management measures have been proved to be unsuccessful practices for sustainable fisheries. The second is the conservation of fishery resources, such as stock enhancement, and marine ranching. The goal of stock enhancement is to rebuild the depleted stocks by increasing their spawning stock biomass, so far, which does not always work well because there is not efficient fishery management for stock enhancement. Marine ranching is planned ecological engineering along coastal waters, releasing, growing and fishing have happened either in natural waters or in the artificial reefs, which bring great social-economic benefit and ecological benefit. Finally, mariculture is vigorously developing, and is believed the main way to increase seafood supply. Some new mariculture models have been involved following green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly development concepts, including ecological farming models, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) models, recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Such development of mariculture patterns can better highlight the functions of food supply and ecological services.

September 24, 2017

The Role of Biotechnology in Sustainable Aquaculture

Prof. Yonathan Zohar

The projected global decline in commercial fisheries harvests has now become a disheartening reality. Yet, with the increase in the world population and in per-capita consumption of seafood, the demand for fishery products is on the rise. The most promising avenue to fill this growing gap between the demand and supply of fishery products is through aquaculture. To meet this challenge, aquaculture, currently a 74 million ton, 160 billion dollar industry, must increase production three times within the next three decades. To achieve this goal, aquaculture must become a more efficient, cost-effective and environmentally-responsible industry. To do that, aquaculture has to overcome biological hurdles, which will be accomplished with strong input from the platforms of modern biology and biotechnology. This presentation will review the major bottlenecks towards the development and intensification of sustainable aquaculture and discuss the role of biotechnology in opening these bottlenecks. It will then focus on a few more detailed examples of biotechnology and next-generation aquaculture in areas that are directly relevant to alleviating fishery pressures, increasing efficiencies, reducing costs, enhancing environmental compatibility, diversifying production and mitigating the growing risk of chemical and biological interactions between aquaculture and the marine environment. Specific examples in the fields of reproduction, early development, growth, nutrition, disease, land-based production, and genetic containment will be discussed. The power of genomics, post-genomics, genetic engineering, gene silencing and gene editing will be highlighted.