Japan Shrimp Imports</HEAD>

Japan and Shrimp (JPSHRIMP Case)

CASE NUMBER: 284
CASE MNEMONIC: JPSHRIMP
CASE NAME: Japan and Shrimp

A. IDENTIFICATION

1. The Issue
In July of 1980, Indonesian president Suharto announced a ban
on trawling around Java Island. The purpose of this ban was to
reduce the waste of non-target species by shrimp trawlers. This
problem has existed within the geographic region for many years.
Indonesian fisherman threw a great deal of non-target species back
into the oceans, often dead or dying. Collectively, this bycatch
affects fishery depletion around the Indonesian sea region.
Recognizing this problem, Indonesia incorporated a ban regarding
bycatch waste on 1 October 1980 and Sumatra followed on 1 January
1981. Since 1983, trawling has been banned in the entire sea
surrounding the Indonesian region. Japan is major importer of
Indonesian shrimp. Many shrimping companies were effected; which
included eleven joint-stock companies between Indonesia and Japan.
In light of this, these companies petitioned the government to
relax the restrictions. As a result, they were permitted to trawl
only in the west of New Guinea Island (Irian Jaya).

2. Description

Fishery depletion is one of the important environmental
problem today. The primary cause of fishery depletion is
overfishing. Wasteful fishing practices have damaged ocean food
resources significantly. The haul of unidentified fish, mostly
bycatch reached 10.2 million tons in 1992. Another 15 to 20
million tons of bycatch -- one-fifth to one-quater of the 1993
marine catch -- is not reported at all.(1) Shrimp trawlers have
the highest recorded rate of bycatch because their nets have a
very small mesh size to capture the tiny shrimp. Shrimp bycatch
is estimated at 4.5 to 19 million tons per year with 1/4 to 1/2
discarded.(2)

In Indonesia, shrimp trawlers discarded food and shell fish
which other fishermen wanted to catch such as pearl oysters, sea
cucumbers, and so on. These fish are important income sources for
small village fishermen. There are some conflicts between shrimp
trawlers and small scale fishers because they fish in the same
place. To protect fish depletion and waste by shrimpers, small
scale fishermen set fire to the trawlboats. To prevent waste and
conflict among these groups, the Indonesian government placed a
trawling ban.

Japan is the number one shrimp importer in the world. In
1982, 17 percent ($ 221.873 million) of the shrimp imported was
from Indonesia (see Table 2). Also there were eleven joint-stock
fishery companies between Indonesia and Japan (see Table 1). They
were mainly shrimp trawling. Those companies petitioned the
government to relax the restrictions. As a result, Indonesian
government allowed them to trawling in the west of New Guinea
Island (Irian Jaya) on condition that trawlers use turtle excluder
devices, turtle excluder devices or TEDs (see TEDS and SHRIMP
Case).

Table 1 Joint-stock fishery companies in Indonesia (1981)

Company Name Export to Japan (ton)

Misafa Mitra 1,548
West Irian Fishing Industry 1,325
Central Java Marine Products 1,283
Mina Kartika 890
Irian Marine Product Development 802
Toyo Fishing Industry 779
Dwi Bina Utama 643
Alfa Kurnia Fish Enterprise 606
Mitra Kartika Sejati Bonecom 583
Nusantara Fishery 390
Minaraya Aceh Fishing Industry NA

Source: Direktorat Bina Produksi, Direktorat Jenderal Perikanan,
Laporan Ekspor Produk perikanan
Indonesia,1981

Table 2 Shrimp Imports of Japan

Value ($ 1,000) Production (tons)

1981 1982 1983 1981 1982 1983

Total 1,276,534 1,371,454 1,348,927 167,541 158,096 156,419
India 245,534 279,105 255,546 40,368 40,273 37,298
Indonesia 200,678 221,873 215,069 24,311 23,753 22,224
Australia 143,242 149,305 143,018 13,309 13,233 12,927
Taiwan 49,673 56,784 94,781 7,838 7,797 11,100
Thailand 75,075 85,722 71,784 10,321 9,191 7,543
China 137,318 81,415 60,810 14,956 7,260 5,779
Mexico 32,932 50,119 44,767 3,173 3,919 3,165
Philippines 24,820 37,789 44,360 2,706 3,727 4,327
Malaysia 19,460 21,382 30,666 2,674 2,661 3,727
Bangladesh 22,899 30,250 30,354 2,820 3,354 3,726

Source: Japanese customs statistics.

Thanks to TEDs, large creatures can usually escape capture.
But small fish and shellfish are still vulnerable to trawler's
nets, and are tossed back into the sea dead or dying. Although a
penalty for trawling is in effect, enforcement is lax.
Additionally, there are many fishers still trawling in banned
zones. In case a trawler said: "Sometimes military officers on
patrol come. I don't worry. All I have to do is to give them
some cash or shrimp."(3)

Trawling is being substituted for shrimp farming in many
cases. In 1974, the production of shrimp farming was 10,409 ton.
In 1984, the production was 32,000 tons, constituting about three
times the yield ten years ago. However, this change causes new
environmental problem like degradation of mangrove forests.

One of the major reasons people cut down mangrove forests is
to make artificial shrimp ponds.(4) Eighty to ninety percent of
the commercial seafood species that inhabit tropical oceans spend
some part of their lives in the mangroves, coastal areas once rich
with fish and crabs were rendered lifeless as a result of the fish
farming industry (see MANGROVE case). In Indonesia, the destruction of coastal habitat has
eliminated approximately 60 to 80 percent of the commercially
valuable coastal species. To combat this problem, the Indonesian
government restricted mangrove wetland development on south Java
coast. In the light of this restriction, Indonesia could
potentially lose $5.6 million in annual income for 2,400 fishermen
with the region.(5)

3. Related Cases
SHRIMP case
TEDS case
MANGROVE case
TUNA case
TUNA2 case
SALMON case
JWHALE case
MEKONG case

Key Words
(1): Domain = ASIA
(2): Bio geography = OCEAN
(3): Environmental Problem = Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

4. Draft Author: Shugo Tanaka (May, 1996)

B. LEGAL Cluster

5. Discourse and Status: DISagreement and COMPlete
In July of 1980, trawling around Java Island was prohibited by
Presidential Order number 39. This ban takes effect 1 October
1980. It was expanded to include Sumatra sea coast on 1 January
1981. In 1983, trawling was banned for the entire sea surrounding
Indonesia. Eleven joint-stock companies petitioned the government
to relax these restrictions based upon extensive corporate impact.
A compromise was established, and these companies were permitted
to trawl only in the west of New Guinea Island.

6. Forum and Scope: Indonesia and UNILATeral

The ban on trawling takes effect in domestic territory in
Indonesia.

7. Decision Breadth: 2 (Indonesia, Japan)

8. Legal Standing: LAW

C. GEOGRAPHIC Filters

9. Geographic Locations
a. Geographic Domain : ASIA
b. Geographic Site : Southeast Asia
c. Geographic Impact : Japan

10. Sub-National Factors: NO

11. Type of Habitat: OCEAN

D. TRADE Filters

12. Type of Measure: Regulatory ban [REGAN]

13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDirect

14. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact
a. Directly Related : YES SHRIMP
b. Indirectly : YES FISH
c. Not Related : NO
d. Process Related : YES Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

15. Trade Product Identification: SHRIMP

16. Economic Data

Employment: HIGH

In 1984, about 1.1 million people worked for fishery in
Indonesia (0.75 million in Philippines, 0.35 in Thailand, 0.1 in
Malaysia).(6)

17. Degree of Competitive Impact: HIGH

18. Industry Sector: FOOD

19. Exporter and Importer: Indonesia and Japan

Table 3 Shrimp Import Countries or Regions

Unit: 1000 tons Million $

Country Quantity (%) Value (%)

Japan 183 (32.9) 1,330 (41.8)
USA 141 (25.3) 1,040 (32.7)
Denmark 39 ( 7.0) 90 ( 2.8)
Hong Kong 28 ( 5.0) 131 ( 4.1)
France 27 ( 4.8) 111 ( 3.5)
UK 19 ( 3.4) 76 ( 2.4)
Singapore 17 ( 3.1) 38 ( 1.2)
Italy 16 ( 2.9) 72 ( 2.3)
Malaysia 14 ( 2.5) 7 ( 0.2)
Norway 14 ( 2.5) 14 ( 0.4)

Other developed 59 (10.6) 254 ( 8.0)
Total developed 498 (89.4) 2,987 (93.8)

Total 557 (100.0) 3,183 (100.0)

Source: FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics 1985.

Table 4 Shrimp Export Countries or Regions

Unit: 1000 tons Million $

Country Quantity (%) Value (%)

India 49 (9.8) 256 (9.3)
Denmark 35 (7.0) 94 (3.4)
Mexico 30 ( 6.0) 327 (11.9)
Indonesia 30 ( 6.0) 196 ( 7.1)
Greenland 27 ( 5.4) 73 ( 2.6)
Thailand 24 ( 4.8) 127 ( 4.6)
China 22 ( 4.4) 149 ( 5.4)
Ecuador 20 ( 4.0) 161 ( 5.8)
Hong Kong 19 ( 3.8) 133 ( 4.8)
Brazil 16 ( 3.2) 98 ( 3.6)

Other developing 96 (19.3) 611 (22.2)
Total developing 368 (73.3) 2,225 (80.8)

Total 499 (100.0) 32,755 (100.0)

Source: FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics 1985.

E. ENVIRONMENT Clusters

20. Environmental Problem Type: Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

21. Species Information
Name of Species : Fish and Shellfish
Type : ANIMAL
Diversity : Many
IUCN Status : NA

22. Impact and Effect: HIGH and PROD

23. Urgency and Lifetime: MEDIUM and 1-2 years

24. Substitutes: LIKE

Bycatch fish can be reduced or boiled into fish-paste called
'kamaboko' or 'surimi'. This paste can be substituted for shrimp
(see SHRIMP case); alleviating some overfishing waste within the
Indonesian region.
Fresh water fish farmers have developed farming systems that
integrate fish ponds with crop production; so that waste from the
ponds fertilizes crops instead of causing pollution. In Vietnam's
Mekong Delta, freshwater shrimp aquaculture has flourished in
integrated systems on farms. It is interesting to note that
farmers have been able to combine vegetable and rice crops with
shrimp in freshwater aqua-farming.(7)

F. OTHER Factors

25. Culture: YES

Although the primary reason for this ban was to protect ocean
species, the other reason was to shut the door on Chinese-
Indonesian domination of the fishing industry.(8) In fact, there
has been a conflict between majority Malay-Indonesian and minority
Chinese-Indonesian commercial fishing companies. The minority
Chinese-Indonesians are quite successful within this conflict
because they control vast wealth within the region. These same
companies account for most of the shrimp trawling surrounding
Indonesia.

26. Human Rights: NO

27. Trans-Border: NO

28. Relevant Literature

"Conservation hits pits." Japan Economic Journal, 21 Jul.
1990.

Elder, Danny., and John Pernetta. The OCEANS. New York:
Random House, 1991.

Hamilton, Joan. "All You Can Stomach?" Sierra, Nov/Dec.
1994. pp. 36-38.

"Japan - Live Shellfish." 1992 National Trade Data Bank Market
Reports, 11 Mar. 1992.

"News Briefs." World Environment Report 21, 4 Jan. 1990. p.
25.

Nickerson, Colin. "Third World overfishing feeds crisis for
oceans." The Boston Globe, 11 Dec. 1994.

Son, Johanna. "Fishing Southeast Asia: Ocean of Woes Plague
Region's." Inter Press Service, 28 Mar. 1995.

Weber, Peter. "Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine Environment."
World Watch Paper, 120 (July, 1994).

Wacker, Ronnie. "Strip mining the seas." Sea Frontiers, 40
(May, 1994), p. 14.

Murai, Yoshitaka. Ebi to Nihonjin - Shrimp and Japanese.
Tokyo, Japan: Iwanami Shinsho. 1988.

References

(1) Peter Weber, "Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine
Environment," World Watch Paper, 120, Jul. 1994, pp. 19-20.
According to Peter Weber's study, estimates vary widely because
bycatch is undocumented.

(2) Shrimp bycatch estimated at 4.5 to 19 million tons per year
with 1/4 to 1/2 discarded in Eugene C. Bricklemyer, Jr., Suzanne
Iudicello, and Hans J. Hartmann, "Discarded Cathc in U.S.
Commercial Marine Fisheries" in Willian J. Chandler, Audubon
Wildlife Report 1989/1990 (New York: Academic Press, Inc.,
1989).

(3) Yoshitaka Murai, Ebi to Nihonjin - Shrimp and Japanese
(Tokyo, Japan: Iwanami Shinsho, 1988) p. 33.

(4) Peter Weber, "Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine
Environment," World Watch Paper, 120, Jul. 1994, p. 44.

(5) In Indonesia, estimates of 480 kilograms per hectare per year
of lost catch from mangroves from Nora Berwick, Background Paper
On Indonesia's Coastal Resources Sector, Bureau for Science and
Technology, U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington,
D.C., April 1989.

(6) Yoneo Ishii, Kouichi Takaya, Narihumi Maeda, Kenji Tsuchiya,
Yukiura Ikehata, Tohnan Asia wo Shiru Jiten - Southeast Asia
Encyclopedia (Tokyo, Japan: Heibonsha, 1986) p47.

(7) Peter Weber, "Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine
Environment," World Watch Paper, 120, Jul. 1994, pp. 44-45.

(8) Yoshitaka Murai, Ebi to Nihonjin - Shrimp and Japanese
(Tokyo, Japan: Iwanami Shinsho, 1988) p. 29.

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April 30, 1996