Balance of the Public Interest between Conservation and Utilization of Resources:

Comparison of the ITPGR and the Convention on Fisheries Resources

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the balance in how to define each public interest by conservation and utilization for plant genetic resources and fishery resources, using International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).ITPGR has built its own system, Multilateral System (MLS), with the intention of promoting the use of plant genetic resources, and the public interest by the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources should enhance the public interest of conservation through the utilization of plant genetic resources. In other words, the balance of the public interest is secured by “connecting” the benefits arising from utilization to conservation of plant genetic resource. On the other hand, the CCAMLR focuses on the finiteness of fishery resources, and uses various functions prescribed by the Convention in consideration of the effects on ecosystems including fishery resources and conserves them. Though it is the same category of resources, it was clarified that the adjustment of the public interest of conservation and utilization of each resource differs depending on the characteristics of the resources: the case where the public interest is ensured by considering the effect of utilization (fishery resources) and the case where the benefit generated from utilization is connected to conservation (plant genetic resources).