{"id":2436,"date":"2018-10-30T05:59:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T05:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueinnovationreview.com\/?p=2436"},"modified":"2018-11-21T13:35:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T13:35:25","slug":"asia-the-worlds-aquatic-centre-of-gravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueinnovationreview.com\/2018\/10\/30\/asia-the-worlds-aquatic-centre-of-gravity\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia, the World\u2019s Aquatic Centre of Gravity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The importance that Asia has acquired in a number of industrial sectors is beyond doubt, but if there is one domain in which the continent is not only the main actor but also the veritable driving force, it is commercial fishing and aquaculture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asia\u2019s already considerable population, which includes that of the world\u2019s two most populous countries, continues to grow. The continent\u2019s traditions regarding food are in some cases constrained by traditional taboos or religious restrictions that mostly concern meat products, but daily diets continue to evolve towards higher calorific intakes, a sign that many Asian countries are emerging from poverty. The continent, which stretches from Pakistan to Korea, is largely open to quasi-inland seas as in North Asia, or to oceans rich in natural resources as in South and South-East Asia. In addition to this, of course, comes a country that has long been one of Asia\u2019s most populous: Japan, an island whose culture of the sea\u2014and of fishing in particular\u2014is naturally very powerfully anchored.<\/p>\n

Asia\u2019s Global Role: Facts and Figures<\/strong><\/p>\n

In every sector, from commercial fishing to aquaculture, both the real figures (1<\/strong>) and the rate of growth are impressive. Around 75% of the world\u2019s fishing boats (around 5 million) are currently Asian, regardless of size, and over 80% of the people working in commercial fishing or agriculture reside in Asia. Of the 18 most active countries in the world in terms of fishing, 10 are Asian. And the figures in the aquaculture sector are even more impressive, since 94% of the people it employs reside in Asia, and indeed the continent has been home to traditional forms of aquaculture long before recent developments and new methods. Asian producers account for half of the 100 million tons of fish caught every year, a figure in proportion with the continent\u2019s share of the world\u2019s population. China is simultaneously the sector\u2019s first producer, first exporter and third importer.<\/p>\n

Several elements can help us to refine this picture. Firstly, one must not forget that part of Asia is continental, a fact that considerably counterbalances the correlation between total population and influence over the sector (continental populations accounting for around 10% of Asia\u2019s inhabitants). What is more, compared to an average annual consumption of 20 kilograms of fish per person, the level in Asia is almost twice as great (38kg\/person)\u2014a gap which has notably been widened by the progress that newly prosperous countries (such as China, once again) have made.<\/p>\n

Why such Domination?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the countries of the Far East enjoy access to the world\u2019s premier fishing area, the Northwest Pacific (24% of total commercial fishing). This also explains the \u2018physiognomy\u2019 of the actors, importers and exporters, but also consumers of fish and seafood around the world.
\nHistory, traditions and recent developments can together explain the even more important relative weight of Asian aquaculture. Given the marked preference of Asian cuisines for fresh produce (especially in China and Japan), access to live resources, including at fish markets, where fish are sold alive, is privileged. The consumption of seafood or of aquatic products in general has thus been associated with aquaculture for a very long time. One could say that Asia has been practising aquaculture (with the systematic presence of ponds for breeding fish and ornamental ponds for displaying them, be they destined or not to be eaten) for as long as people in Europe have been brewing \u2018craft beer\u2019: the terms are modern, but the practices are ancient. Breeding fish or ensuring that others that have been caught remain alive is thus either a transition between fishing and consumption, or a progressively systematized extension of the food sector. Large groups of companies from the \u2018general\u2019 farming industry expanded into aquaculture and became leaders in Asia and beyond. The most famous example of these is without doubt the group known as \u2018CP\u2019, formerly \u2018Charoen Pokphand\u2019, established at the beginning of the twentieth century in Thailand by two brothers belonging to the Chinese diaspora, and whose business initially involved breeding a variety of animals, including pigs, and producing animal feed. In the mid-twentieth century, CP\u2019s diversification into aquaculture (breeding shrimp\u2014first in Thailand and then in Asian subsidiaries, notably Indonesia) was a powerful driver of growth for the group, whose different activities nowadays account for around 10% of Thailand\u2019s GDP. Likewise, Japan\u2019s sogo soshas (trading companies) also have interests in commercial fishing, in aquaculture, in the trade of fish and seafood (remember that Tokyo is home to the world\u2019s largest fish market, Tsukiji)\u2026 The Mitsubishi Group even launched a bid to take over the Norwegian leader of farmed salmon, Cermaq. Growth in this sector is higher than 7% a year in Asia and was particularly strong until 2013, as an important study published in Nature at the time shows. China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh together account for 80% of the world\u2019s aquaculture. Norway, the globe\u2019s leading producer of salmon, is sixth.<\/p>\n

Future Stakes for 2030<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given the fact that the need to find a common approach to the planet\u2019s resources is becoming a major concern and the focus of numerous planned discussions, it appears obvious that although fish and seafood, whether caught or farmed, can provide many solutions to the question of food security, commercial fishing and aquaculture present numerous difficulties in terms of quality control, respect for applicable regulations and the enforcement of quotas. In this regard, Greenpeace\u2019s campaigns have for years been revealing illegal Japanese practices, most notably the country\u2019s whaling, but this extremely spectacular phenomenon overshadows other similar but more discreet trends that combine to render marine resources a major issue of global attempts to find an equilibrium between protecting the environment and feeding the world. That is why the member states of the UN adopted a \u20182030 Agenda for Sustainable Development\u2019 on the 25th of September 2015 along with a series of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This set of 17 ambitious goals and 169 targets are to guide the efforts of governments, international organisations, civil society and other institutions over the next 15 years, i.e. from 2016 to 2030. Given its ambition to become the centre of gravity in the world\u2019s fisheries resources, and indeed in many other domains, the role Asia will play towards achieving the Agenda\u2019s goals will be crucial.<\/p>\n

Grabbing the World\u2019s Fish: the Chinese Threat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Groups active in this sector will continue to become more important, and sovereign countries will derive their right to become involved from their obligation to ensure the food security of their citizens. The \u2018COP\u2019, the conferences of parties tasked with working on environmental and climatic questions, have over the past few years been widely influenced by the choices, positions and directions suggested and negotiated by important Asian actors. In the same manner, future discussions and negotiations over fishing will have to consider the region\u2019s imperatives, expectations and evolutions. Indeed, one of the problems that Asia\u2019s increasing power poses, more than for any other continent, is its combination of critical size and the relative importance of the illegal practices of Asian countries. \u2018Overfishing\u2019 and a disregard for fishing rights in faraway waters are the hallmark of a certain number of actors from the Asian continent. China here is not alone, even if its claims to sovereignty over the South China Sea and skirmishes between \u2018fishing boats\u2019 in the East China Sea have attracted the world\u2019s attention. A good example of this is the conflict between China and Japan over the \u2018Senkaku-Diaoyu\u2019 islands\u2014the aptly named \u2018fishing\u2019 or \u2018fisherman\u2019 islands. Among the numerous strategic reasons for disputes over territorial waters between Asian countries or Chinese claims to ownership, that of fishery resources alone could be enough to justify these tensions.<\/p>\n

Like Japan\u2019s long-range fishing, historically linked to specific resources such as red tuna or certain varieties of mollusc, China\u2019s presence has been felt for a long time already well beyond waters belonging to \u2018exclusive economic zones\u2019 (EEZs, legally defined as areas in which a littoral country can exercise lucrative activities): the Southern Pacific, all the way down to French Polynesia, is largely fished by Chinese fleets. Instead of targeting particular species, the driving force behind this activity is national food security and the economic survival of Chinese fishing concerns. The map clearly indicates the results of this long-range fishing in waters beyond the limits of EEZs.<\/p>\n

According to reports prepared by the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and to studies published in Nature [see map], Chinese fishing vessels siphoned off, far from their own shores, between 3.4 and 6.1 million tons of fish a year between 2000 and 2011. Over the same period, Beijing was only declaring an average of 368,000 tons of fish to the FAO, i.e. twelve times less than the calculations of fisheries experts. The value of China\u2019s foreign catches is apparently around 8.9 billion euros every year. The country is therefore not only gravely underestimating its annual foreign catch, but also overestimating the figures within its own territorial waters\u2014given the dearth of real and open statistical data, researchers have tallied the data different countries have published for their own EEZs.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s concern regarding her food security is well known, and has manifested itself in many domains of influence. This concern is naturally shared at the highest levels of government, and has in the past led to intensive farming and soil depletion or even desertification. It would be relatively easy at this point to extrapolate this kind of behaviour\u2014one that can appear relatively short-sighted but that, as with regard to the question of climate change, could be justified were it to accompany attempts to manage the crisis by investing in, planning and experimenting with alternative methods capable of doing away with these practices. As with a number of issues concerning Chinese governance, there is probably no alternative to \u2018engaging with stakeholders\u2019 and to believing their professed wish to take part in the definition and application of regulations; but as in other domains and in this one in particular, interfering with private concerns whose main goal is profitability or even survival renders the task of \u2018normalizing\u2019 Chinese practices extremely difficult. Although we should not forget that this is a country that is openly seeking to project an image of greater responsibility in its dealings with international organizations and institutions of global governance, fierce competition nonetheless raises the fearful prospect that Asia\u2019s main actors will in future be even more difficult to \u2018manage\u2019 than China. Identifying the stakes at play and the results to be achieved by 2030 (see above) was an important step and confirms the importance of Asia as a new \u2018centre of gravity\u2019 in terms of fisheries and aquaculture; but responding to the urgency of the matter and creating effective mechanisms for verification and control\u2014and perhaps even sanctions\u2014continue to be key to resolving these critical questions of the coming decades.<\/p>\n

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Top fishing countries and producers of farmed species