Japan Aff Michigan
Pollution Kills Fishing Industry
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Pollution Kills Fishing IndustryPollution of the waters greatly damages the local fisherman Hook and Siddle 03-- (Glenn D. Hook is a Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the Graduate School of East Asia Studies at the University of Sheffield , Richard Siddle is a lecturer for the School of East Asia Studies at the University of Sheffield, “Japan and Okinawa: Structure and Subjectivity”, http://www.questia.com/read/108417693?title=Japan%20and%20Okinawa%3a%20%20Structure%20and%20Subjectivity) In September 1973, fishing people in the Kin Bay area, located in the southeast of Okinawa Island, formed the Kin Bay Protection Group (Kinwan o Mamoru Kai) against land reclamation for the construction of a large petroleum storage facility, the Central Terminal Station (CTS). Since the late 1960s, foreign petroleum corporations such as Gulf, Esso and Caltex had started building refineries, marine roads and bridges in Kin Bay and Nakagusuku Bay. Close to marine transport facilities, these bay areas were strategically advantageous for the oil and aluminum industries. However, the locals who caught fish and seaweed were the first to feel the destructive effects of the effluent from these industries on the local waters. With the advent of the OPEC oil crisis in 1973, the national and local governments promoted Mitsubishi's CTS construction in Kin Bay. Conservative village councils and commercial organizations welcomed the construction of the CTS, which required a major landfill project off Henza Island, offending the interests of the locals dependent on the well-being of the ocean. The communities were divided into pro- and anti-CTS groups. The emergence of the anti-CTS movement in the Kin Bay area introduced environmentalism as a significant component of the 'Okinawa Struggle'. All over Okinawa and neighbouring islands in the Ryukyu region, ordinary residents engaged in collective action against the pollution of the ocean in order to protect their livelihood. These environmentalist movements are a variant of numerous collective actions in mainland Japan such as the long-term citizens' struggle of Minamata (Ui 1968; for mainland anti-pollution movements see McKean 1981; Broadbent 1998). In Okinawa, however, protection of local natural assets from yamato-style industrialization had a political implication; the protection of a distinctive 'Okinawan' identity against assimilation with yamato. The participation of ordinary citizens, mostly not affiliated to political parties, trade unions or other formal political organizations, offered styles and approaches to collective action different from the past struggles, and also, a new level of confidence in their traditional lifestyle as embraced in their natural environment. Since the late 1960s, critical intellectuals have questioned whether reversion was in fact a good idea. Arakawa Akira, Kawamitsu Shinichi, Takara Ben and Okamato Keitoku advocated resistance towards the disappearance of unique 'Okinawan' spiritual characteristics that were starting to erode in the intense social transition towards re-assimilation with Japan. These critical voices, nevertheless, remained almost purely intellectual; they have seldom taken the form of direct political action against militarism and the US bases, as illustrated by the anti-war landowners' struggle. However, the political expression of identity, based on independent attributes of being 'Okinawan', not on being part of Japan, is apparent in local residents' environmental movements in the post-reversion era. Fishing KT EconomyFishing is a major part of Japan’s economy Moulton 31-- (Harold, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, “Japan, an Economic and Financial appraiseal”, http://www.questia.com/library/book/japan-an-economic-and-financial-appraisal-by-harold-g-moulton.jsp) Although the land area of Japan proper is only about one-twentieth that of the United States proper, the coast line is over 17,000 miles long, as compared with 7.314 miles for the United States. The surrounding seas provide fishing grounds to the extent of 924,000 square miles--an area more than six times that of the country itself. In consequence of the existence of both cold and warm ocean currents, fish of all descriptions abound; the stretch from Hokkaido to the Maritime Province embracing one of the three richest fishing grounds of the world. In the warm current zone along the coast of the mainland are found sardines, bonitos, sea-breams, cuttlefish, yellowtails, mackerel, tunnies, whales, coral, oysters, and many other varieties of shell-fish. The principal products of the cold current zone are herrings, salmon, sea trout, codfish, sea-otters, fur-seals, and laminaria. Japan ranks first among the nations of the world in fishing, her catches making up approximately onefourth of the world supply. In 1927, the catch of Japan proper was 3,568,000 tons, while the output of Chosen and Karafuto raises this total to roughly 4,535,000 tons. This may be compared with a little over 1,000,000 tons annually for Great Britain and the United States and about 600,000 tons for Norway. The populations of the coast districts either engage entirely in fishing or make this industry an important subsidiary to other occupations. In 1928 the number of fishermen was 1,498,258 and the number of fishing boats 360,126. During recent years, steam and motordriven fishing vessels have been rapidly replacing the old rowing and sailing boats employed in what is known as inshore fishery. The yield of inshore catches over a period of years is shown in the table on page 52. Collapse of Japan’s fishing economy would have serious reprecussions-- Thousands are employed in local fisheries. Bestor 04-- (Theodore, Professor of Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard University, “Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World”, University of California Press. http://www.questia.com/read/105652913?title=Tsukiji%3a%20%20The%20Fish%20Market%20at%20the%20Center%20of%20the%20World) Japan is today one of the world's leading users of seafood. Japan's seafood supply—roughly 66 kilograms per capita—is far short of Iceland's (91 kg), and is roughly comparable to that of Portugal (58 kg), Malaysia (52 kg), Norway (50 kg), and the Republic of Korea (49 kg). Japan's per capita supply (as of 1999) dwarfs that of Spain (41 kg), France (29 kg), the People's Republic of China (26 kg), the United Kingdom and Canada (22 kg each), the United States (20 kg), and Germany (15 kg) (FAO n.d.). Fish constitute approximately 42 percent of the animal protein consumed by Japanese (Nōrinsuisanshō 1989: 2). The Japanese fishing industry is among the largest in the world, employing hundreds of thousands of people. Thousands of small fishing ports cluster around the coastal fisheries, which are largely in the hands of smallscale, family-based independent fishing enterprises. Dozens of larger ports are home bases for distant-water fleets deployed to fish in every ocean of the world. The huge corporations that dominate the latter sector of the fishing industry are themselves gigantic, vertically integrated conglomerates with subsidiaries involved in everything from fishing to foreign trade, freezer technology to bioengineering, sausage making to distribution, warehousing to nutritional science. Tsukiji is a major hub for this industry, itself a large and dynamic sector of the Japanese economy with considerable domestic influence, both social and political. Tsukiji handles about one-sixth of the seafood that passes through Japanese wholesale markets and is the largest single marketplace for fish not only in Japan but in the world. Tsukiji is thus a linchpin in a complex national system of trade that connects thousands of rural communities directly to the social and economic forces of Japan's urban core. The day's trading at Tsukiji affects price, supply, and demand throughout Japan's 800 other wholesale markets for fish. Tsukiji looms large on the horizon— its daily prices signaling success or failure—for the roughly 3,000 Japanese fishing villages and towns where, despite dramatic declines over the past generation, some 278,000 Japanese are employed directly in fisheries production and tens of thousands more are engaged in processing, transporting, and selling seafood. 10 A heliport moved to Henoko would destroy the coral reef and the land home to millions of fish. Taking up the reef could be a serious danger for biodiversity and fish populations Environment News Service 04 -- (“Millions of Americans, Japanese Plead for Okinawa Dugongs”, September 8th http://ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2004/2004-09-08-03.asp) A new U.S. heliport is to be built on top of a coral reef on the east coast of Okinawa, Japan unless conservationists succeed in blocking the air base that they say will destroy the feeding ground of the last few remaining Okinawa dugongs. A coalition of more than 400 U.S. and international conservation groups representing over 10 million people sent a letter Tuesday to President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urging the two leaders to cancel plans for the base near Henoko, Okinawa. Local residents voted against the base in a referendum, but Japanese and U.S. authorities have paid scant attention to the vote. The new air station would be built about two miles offshore on reclaimed land and the reef to replace the Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma, in the middle of urban Ginowan in central Okinawa. In 1996 the United States and Japan agreed to close Marine Corps Air Station Futenma once an alternative site is provided as part of a plan to reduce by 21 percent the land area occupied by U.S. bases on Okinawa, which cover one-fifth of the island. The alternative site chosen was off Henoko village in rural northern Okinawa, on top of the coral reef. The new facility would be connected by a causeway with the Marines Camp Schwab. The conservationists believe that the 1.5 mile long airbase would permanently disrupt one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Pacific, inhabited by the Okinawa dugong. This marine mammal is genetically isolated yet related to the manatee. In their letter, the conservation groups pointed out that the Henoko reef is inhabited by three species of sea turtles, nearly 400 types of coral and hundreds of fish species. "As two prominent world leaders," the conservation coalition wrote, "you have the power to protect these unique and priceless creatures. Unfortunately, a joint project backed by the United States and Japanese governments will destroy one of the last healthy reefs in Okinawa, pushing many magnificent species closer to extinction." The planned offshore base would literally be right on top of the coral reef, an important home for the dugong. Pfaff 04-- (Dennis, The Daily Journal, “'HISTORIC' ACT MAY KEEP SEA CREATURE FROM BEING HISTORY”, April 8th, http://www.mongabay.com/external/okinawa_dugong.htm) Okinawa was returned to Japanese control in 1972 but the American military maintains dozens of bases there, including about three-quarters of the U.S. forces assigned to Japan. Having survived the storm of fire and steel, the dugong nevertheless continue to be threatened by military operations on Okinawa, according to those interested in the animals' preservation. Of particular concern are proposals to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base from its current cramped location on one part of the island, where it is surrounded by civilian development, to an offshore site. The base, which supports helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, is home to more than 4,000 Marines and sailors. The primary problem for environmentalists is that the new home of the airfield would be literally right on top of and next to a coral reef. The reef area provides "the most important remaining habitat" for the rare dugong, according to the lawsuit. To block the Futenma project, a coalition of American and Japanese environmentalists turned to an unusual source of legal firepower, the National Historic Preservation Act. That law, unlike traditional environmental statutes, requires compliance by the U.S. government in its overseas activities, according to attorneys representing the groups. The community as a whole opposes the bases-- Protests prove. Yumiko 10-- (Kikuno, Editor of “U-Yu-Yu,” a community journal based in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, and worker for the city’s community revitalization project, “Henoko, Okinawa: Inside the Sit-In”, The Asia Pacific Journal Feburary 22, http://www.japanfocus.org/-Kikuno-Yumiko/3306) In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. Marines triggered a huge anti-base movement throughout the Islands of Okinawa. Then in 1996, Japan and the United States agreed to the plan put forward by the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO), which stipulated that the Futenma Air Station would be relocated to Henoko, on the East Coast of Northern Okinawa, in an attempt to appease Okinawans angered not only by the rape but above all by the heavy U.S. base presence in the densely populated South. The following year, in 1997, residents of Henoko started an organization called “Inochi o mamoru kai,” “the Association for Protecting Life.” They began a campaign opposing the effort to establish a new U.S. base at Henoko. The majority of Nago citizens also voted against the agreement, in a referendum held that same year. However, the Mayor of Nago at that time accepted the plan. These events marked only the beginning of what has been a long and unfinished struggle in Henoko. The Tent Village on the Henoko Shore. It was day 2,077 of the sit-in when we visited. Success in stopping plan to build an offshore U.S. airbas In 2002, the Japanese government decided to construct a 3,000 meter-long U.S. air station two kilometers off the coast of Henoko. If this new U.S. base were to be built, the beautiful view from Henoko of the horizon over the ocean would disappear entirely. On April 19, 2004, the Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau (DFAB) tried to proceed with construction, but approximately 70 people erected a sit-in human barricade to keep dump trucks from passing through. At 5 a.m. on September 19, 2004, approximately 400 activists gathered and prepared for a confrontation with riot police. The DFAB learned of the sit-in and decided to access the site by going through Camp Schwab, chartering fishing boats from Henoko fishermen (whom they paid exceedingly well), and setting out to sea rather than risk confronting the barricade. The battle subsequently moved from land to sea. The anti-base activists attempted to stop the DFAB from setting up scaffolding towers to conduct the drilling – their plan being to drill at a rate of 63 borings per year. The activists set out to sea in canoes, surrounding the buoy markers, an hour before the construction workers started their workday. Despite repeated attempts over a two month period to halt underwater surveying, four towers were completed. After that, some activists took to wrapping their bodies with a chain and locking themselves to the motor set on the top of the tower in an attempt to interrupt the operation. In the course of this resistance some of the protesters, including one woman in her fifties, were pushed off the top of the scaffolding tower and were injured. In November 2004, about 20 neighboring fishing boats joined the protesters. This support was a big help in interrupting the drilling. Activists in their fishing boats and canoes had to maintain a presence around the scaffold tower from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. They covered themselves with straw mats to keep warm on the frigid waters. It was especially hard for women to spend long hours on the ocean without going to the bathroom, so they often participated without consuming any water. A protester’s ship approaching one of the scaffolding towers, July 2005 DFAB commenced night shifts starting in April 2005 and since that time, protesters have had to spend 24 hours a day hanging on to the towers. Activists are unable to leave the towers even for a minute, for if they do, DFAB crews would jump in and start working. Activists, consciously adhering to the principle of non-violent civil disobedience, have ensured they are already in place each day before DFAB crews arrive in order to avoid an altercation. At one point, activists remained on the towers for a 50 day period, alternating two 12 hour shifts. In the mean time, other anti-base organizations within Okinawa visited the Naha DFAB office many times in an attempt to convince officers to cease night-time operations, which posed a danger to DFAB workers and protesters alike. Night shifts were also keeping dugongs away from their feeding area. As a result of the protesters’ unwavering campaign, the Government finally abandoned the plan to build an offshore air station on October 29, 2005. The number of people who participated in the campaign totalled 60,000, including 10,000 who protested at sea. The dugong, an endangered species, serve as an example of the base’s farmful effect on fish habitiats-- The endangered Dugong that live by the Henoko bay would lose their homes and food Schoenbaum 09-- (LAUREN JENSEN, “The Okinawa Dugong and the Creative Application of U.S. Extraterritorial Environmental Law”, Texas International Law Review, May, http://www.tilj.org/journal/44/schoenbaum/Schoenbaum%2044%20Tex%20Intl%20LJ%20457.pdf) Despite a lack of concrete data, the dugong is considered an endangered species, and it has been listed as vulnerable since 1982 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.14 The dugong’s habitat is a critical conservation issue.15 The animal’s wellbeing is very dependent on the availability of its seagrass food, and when dugongs do not have enough to eat they delay breeding.16 Even a slight reduction in adult survivorship as a result of habitat loss, disease, hunting, or incidental drowning in nets can cause a chronic decline.17 With only 50 remaining in the area,18 any further degradation of their habitat could be catastrophic for the dugong. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recorded numerous incidental sightings off the northeast coast of Okinawa Island from 1979 to the present day.19 It also reports that areas off the coast of Okinawa Island, particularly off the east coast between Katsuren Peninsula and Ibu beach, potentially support significant numbers of dugongs.20 Because “[u]p to 75% of all U.S. military bases in Japan are located within Okinawa,” the U.S. military poses a particular risk to the dugong.21 UNEP reports that potential “[d]amage to the marine environment resulting from U.S. military activities includes pollution resulting from noise caused by ammunition drills and military practice, hazardous chemicals, soil erosion and the disposal of deplete uranium weapons.”22 Any construction on Henoko Bay, a known feeding ground of the Okinawa dugong, threatens to destroy some of the most critical remaining dugong habitats in Japan.23 B. Futenma Replacement Facility The latest threat to the Okinawa dugong is the planned relocation of the U.S. military base on Okinawa Island, known as the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF).24 The U.S. has maintained some kind of military presence on Okinawa since the end of World War II.25 In 1972, the United States and Japan agreed the U.S. would relinquish all administrative rights and interests over the Okinawa Islands to Japan.26 Article III of the Agreement “granted the U.S. exclusive use of facilities and areas in the Islands in accordance with the ‘Treaty of Mutual Cooperation’ and ‘Security and the Status of Forces Agreement.’”27 The result of these agreements is that while Japan fully controls its own territory, the U.S. was granted use of Okinawa’s land, air, and facilities for the purpose of Japanese security and international peace.28 The key U.S. security issue today in the region is the threat from North Korea; U.S. military presence in the area is focused on monitoring North Korean provocations, including missile launches, and nuclear tests.29 Due to the significant activity at the current Futenma base and the surrounding area—currently, there are over 3,200 Marines stationed at the 480 hectare base—the U.S. is planning to relocate.30 The U.S. military cited improving the surrounding city’s infrastructure and promoting growth in the city as a key reason behind the move.31 In 1996, a joint American-Japanese committee approved an offshore, sea- based facility off the east coast of Okinawa as the new location.32 This plan was later altered to incorporate both offshore and shoreline facilities.33 On May 1, 2006, Japan and the U.S. issued an agreement entitled “United States-Japan Roadmap for Realignment Implementation,” also known as the 2006 Roadmap.34 The 2006 Roadmap established a target date of 2014 to provide an overall realignment plan for U.S. military involvement in Okinawa.35 This agreement finalized the construction proposal to construct the FRF to combine the Henoko Point section of Camp Schwab (currently leased by the U.S.) with the adjacent waters of Oura and Henoko Bays.36 The 2006 Roadmap proposed a “V-shaped” runway to be partially built on landfill extending into Oura and Henoko Bays.37 The key remaining problem with this proposal is that the location of the FRF encompasses dugong habitats in Henoko and Oura Bays.38 Research completed by the UN and various environmental protection groups indicates that this particular location for the FRF would be devastating to the dugong habitat.39 Both Henoko Bay and Oura Bay are considered critical habitats for the Okinawa dugongs, and the current plan requires landfilling of the coral reefs and seafloor slopes of the bays.40 Despite alterations to the original plan, a 2006 poll showed that 70% of Okinawans remained opposed to the expansion.41 The New York Times also reported the FRF is opposed by 400 international environmental groups, 889 international experts on coral reefs, a majority of the voters in the adjacent town of Nago (in a 1997 referendum), and the thousands of individuals who have participated in sit-in protests that have been a common occurrence around the bays since 2003.42 Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.23 Mb. Share with your friends:
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