Improvement of the Consultation Systems Governing Fishery Resource Management in the Development of Coastal Areas

This paper proposes revisions in the law governing assessments of the environmental impact of marine projects. In particular, we suggest strengthening the consultative role of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF), the agency responsible for regulating coastal area utilization and development, in order to improve the system by which fishery resources are managed, thus preventing negative environmental impact. Moreover, such an improved impact assessment statement would include reasonable evaluations of the dispersion of pollutants, such as the suspended solids generated by construction projects, as well as of the dredging, dumping and sand mining involved in coastal area reclamation. Thus, public confidence in the latter would be increased by the development and implementation of standardized and consistent guidelines addressing environmental research, simulation processes and evaluations of data.