Japanese coastal fisheries between blue growth and local commons

Japanese coastal fisheries are still dominated by small family businesses, but they face multiple insecurities amidst a volatile changing environment and climate, unstable stocks, rising costs, shifting commodity chains, and shrinking demand. Consequently, especially younger people stay away from fishing and fishing towns. In response, a recent fishery rights law reform is challenging traditional co-management in local cooperatives by prioritizing top-down, quota- and private-property-based resource management, and investment incentives for larger companies. Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the lecture will shed light on the tensions between nature conservation, environmental justice, and the increasing capitalization of the oceans as resource frontiers.

Before joining the Institute for Geography at Leipzig University in 2023, Sonja Ganseforth worked at the University of Freiburg, the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, and Leipzig University. After Magister studies in Leipzig, Kyoto, and Damascus, she completed her doctorate on Japanese development cooperation in the Middle East.

The presentation will be followed by a discussion.

If you cannot join in person, you can join online on Zoom here.