Izumi Tsurita
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, JAPAN
Title: Comprehensive study of a Marine Protected Area Managed by the Fishermen in Hinase, Japan
Biography
Biography: Izumi Tsurita
Abstract
In May 2011, the Eighth Meeting of the Headquarters for Ocean Policy officialy announced the basic concepts and relevant regulations of Japanese Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) according to the definition of the Marine Biodiversity Consrvation Strategy which is “Marine areas designated and managed by law or other effective means, in consideration of use modalities, aimed at the conservation of marine biodiversity supporting the sound structure and function of marine ecosystems and ensuring the sustainable use of marine ecosystem services”. Accordingly, MPAs in Japan at present confirm to different existing systems such as Natural Parks Act 1957 and Fisheries Act 1949. Many of those MPAs have fishery resource management objectives with either a government-based or community-based management approach. In order to comprehensively understand the effect of such MPAs, we conducted three-years joint-research from 2013 to 2015 by examining several MPA sites around Japan. In this presentation, after a brief introduction about the Japanese MPA systems, research outcomes at one of the case study sites, Hinase, Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture,　Japan, will be shared from various viewpoints including ecological, economic, and social effects as well as their linkages to the human wellbeing.