Added: 12/27/2005 |
Sea of Japan ? huge marine ecosystem arouses international debatesThe Pacific Ocean and several seas that surround Japan allow the country to use extensively marine recourses. Japan has one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for around fifteen percent of the global catch. The Japanese also use the coastal zones to harvest marine resources, and for the industrial development, petroleum exploration, waste and dump recreation.
The Sea coastline of Japan is a highly developed area with its commercial ports and fishing harbors, since the fisheries sector is an important industry in Japan and the coastal zones are densely populated. The main ports in the Sea of Japan are Otaru, Sakata, Fushiki, Tsuruga, and Maizuru.
The capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, Kanazawa is also situated in the center of Honshu, facing the Sea of Japan. The city is famous for the shrine, dedicated to Lord Toshiie Maeda that was built in 1875 and functioned as a lighthouse for it could be seen from the Sea of Japan.
Japan is very dependable on the sea for its supply of fish, seaweed and other marine resources. The Japanese sardine makes more than seventy percent of the total catch in the Sea of Japan. The other species harvested here include scad, mackerel, yellowtail and common Japanese squid. The average total catch is one million tons every year. The Sea of Japan, unarguably, makes one of the largest Japanese catches. However, the problems occur with the ecosystem health of the sea. In the 1960s, a fast economic growth and heavy industries, concentrating along the coasts of the Sea of Japan, caused the water pollution and damage to fishery resources. The Japanese managed to improve the situation and the quality of coastal waters by means of strict laws and standards, required from the industries. Nevertheless, the oil pollution, partly due to an increasing number of ship accidents in the Sea of Japan, is a significant problem that Japan faces today.
The debate about the sea name is worth mentioning in conclusion. Although the name "Sea of Japan" was established long ago both internationally and geographically, there are hot debates around its usage. Some countries, Korea in particular, consider that the name is a symbol of Japan's imperialistic past and should be substituted by the East Sea or some other name variants. Although the name "Sea of Japan" is used for over two hundred years internationally, Japanese maps call the sea as Japan Sea, while Korean maps call it as the East Sea. Koreans assume that before the era of the Japanese imperialism the sea was called more often the East Sea. Some publishers and media outlets have responded to the dispute by either adopting both names on maps, or, in very rare cases, leaving the area blank until the two countries reach the compromise. The debates have been reflected in a huge amount of researches and papers written on the subject. The researches have counted that today more than ninety seven percent of the maps, except for those of Korea, use only the name "Sea of Japan"; hence, the debate seems groundless. Nonetheless, it continues today and from recently Korea has started insisting even more to rename the sea as the East Sea.
Article comments:
No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!
