Acquiring the World’s First MSC Certification for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

USUI Sotaro
CEO, Usufuku Honten

Believing that the realization of sustainable fisheries is the only way for pelagic fisheries to survive in Japan, Usufuku Honten, a company specializing in pelagic tuna fishing, has acquired certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an international system for fishery certification. We are convinced that eliminating marine products of IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) origin from markets and encouraging sustainable practices among those in fisheries are necessary in order to transform Japan’s fisheries into a globally competitive industry.
Selected Papers No.27

Creating Habitats for Odaiba Marine Park’s Aquatic Life

HIGUCHI Tomoyuki
Manager for Environmental Protection, Port Planning and Construction Division, Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Odaiba Marine Park is one of Tokyo’s leading tourist spots for enjoying the waterfront. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Port and Harbor replenished the park’s sand in order to generate biota and improve water quality. Immediately after the replenishment, aquatic organisms such as spionids (a relative of the lugworm) were discovered to be present and the sand to be stably layering.

Port Quarantines during Japan’s Meiji Era –The History of Water’s Edge Border Control Strategies–

ICHIKAWA Tomoo
Associate Professor, College of Global and Regional Culture, Okinawa International University

From the late Edo period, there were frequent cholera outbreaks in Japan against the background of trade with foreign countries. In the fall of 1877 (Meiji 10), outbreaks were reaching nation-wide levels due to soldiers with cholera returning from the Satsuma Rebellion. In response to the spread, the Meiji government, unable to suppress the spread at the border, focused their efforts on establishing quarantine laws. I would like to introduce how there were also various trials and errors involved in the history of border quarantines.