The Mobile Sea Otter Corps was established in 2019 to tackle the "isoyake" phenomenon of declining seaweed beds in Japan.Through various activities across the country, we have faced many challenges, found solutions, and obtained many lessons and hints that will lead to further development in the future.
This report was written in 2022 with the ambitious goal of proposing new effective directions and calling for action to accelerate collaboration towards the restoration of seagrass beds in Japan.We have written and published this report in order to compile and share the vast amount of information that is publicly available in Japan and to make recommendations to accelerate efforts to restore irreplaceable seaweed beds. We will provide it in a form that can be downloaded free of charge.
Purpose of this report
- Information on seaweed beds will be summarized from scientific and social aspects, and existing efforts and effective restoration methods will be introduced.
- Introduce the activities and challenges of the Sea Otter Corps and share knowledge.
- Based on these, we identify important opportunities for developing recovery activities in Japan.

Eligible persons
- Citizens, fishermen, and divers working on measures against island denudation
- Students who are interested in countermeasures against sea desertification and seaweed beds
- Companies interested in blue carbon
- Foreigners who want to understand the structure of Japan's fisheries law, etc.
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Contents/Keywords
- scientific point of view
What are seagrass beds, ecosystem services, blue carbon, isoyake - social point of view
Japanese Fisheries (Fisheries Law, Fishery Rights, Fisheries Cooperatives, Fishermen and Fisheries Communities) - Existing efforts to conserve seaweed beds
Fisheries Agency "Isoyake Guidelines", effective methods and PDCA cycle, introduction of existing efforts (government-led, fishermen, divers, citizen groups, etc.), new technologies and innovations, past efforts of mobile sea otters - Recommendations for the future
Challenges, Opportunities and Success Factors in Japan, Recommendations
(Total: 45 pages)

<The Japanese version will be released soon>
Please read the English version first.
Mobile Sea Otters (MSO), a non-profit organization, was established in 2019 to tackle Isoyake, the decline of Moba in Japan.Through various activities across the nation, we have faced a lot of challenges, found solutions, and learned many lessons and hints for further development for the future.
In 2022, we wrote this report to summarize and share the large accumulation of information publicly available in Japan as well as to make proposals to accelerate collective efforts to restore the invaluable Moba. We are happy to make this report available for download, free of charge, so that it can reach all those who may benefit from this information.
The objectives
- To serve as the one-stop summary of information around Moba from both scientific and social aspects, looking at existing initiatives and effective restoration methods.
- To introduce MSO's own activities and challenges faced to share insights.
- And based on the above, to identify key opportunities to develop efforts to restore and regenerate Moba inJapan.

Target
- Citizens, fishers and diver groups working to restore seaweed forest
- Overseas readers trying to understand the basic structure of the Japanese fishery
- Students and academics interested in Isoyake and seaweed forest
- Businesses interested in blue carbon
etc.
Table of contents / Keywords
- Scientific Aspect
What is “Moba“(seaweed beds)?, Ecosystem Services, Blue Carbon, “Isoyake” (decline of seaweed beds) - Social Aspect
Social structures of Japanese fisheries (Fisheries Act, fishing rights, fishing cooperatives, fishers and fishing communities of Japan) - Current Initiatives
“Guidelines for Countermeasures against Isoyake” (Fisheries Agency), effective methods and PDCA cycle, overview of ongoing initiatives (government-led, fishers and fishery cooperatives-led, diving community-led, civil organizations and students-led, others), MSO's work - Proposals to accelerate collective efforts in Japan
Challenges, opportunities, keys to success, proposals
(Total: 45 pages)

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