UN REVIEW CONFERENCE ON FISH STOCKS AGREEMENT ADOPTS REPORT CITING ‘COMPELLING NEED’ FOR CONSERVATION

Review Conference on

Fish Stocks Agreement

9^th & 10^th Meetings (AM & Night)

UN REVIEW CONFERENCE ON FISH STOCKS AGREEMENT ADOPTS REPORT

CITING ‘COMPELLING NEED’ FOR CONSERVATION

Concern Expressed over Significant Adverse Impact

Of Overfishing on State of Fish Stocks, Ocean Ecology

(Issued on 30 May 2006.)

Adopting by acclamation its provisional final report, the Review Conference on the United Nations Agreement concerning global fish stocks, which took place from 22 to 26 May, agreed that there was a “compelling need” for all States and regional fisheries management organizations to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks.

The Conference affirmed that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks Agreement provided the legal framework for conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.  While acknowledging that fish stocks were a significant food source and livelihood for large parts of the world’s population, the Conference expressed concern over the significant adverse impacts that overfishing has had on the state of fish stocks and the ecological integrity of the world’s oceans.

Considered to be the most important legally binding global instrument for the conservation and management of fishery resources since the adoption of Law of the Sea Convention in 1982, the Agreement establishes a comprehensive legal regime for the conservation and sustainable use of global fish stocks.  It includes provisions related to the strengthening of flag States’ responsibilities, as well as the role of regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements.

The Conference, officially known as the Review Conference on the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, had been convened to assess the effectiveness of the Agreement in securing those goals, to review and assess the adequacy of the Agreement’s provisions and, if necessary, propose means of strengthening them and improving their implementation.

Over the last four days, the Conference had centred its discussions and recommendations around four clusters of elements relating to:  conservation and management of fish stocks; mechanisms for international cooperation and non-members; monitoring, control and surveillance, as well as compliance and enforcement; and developing States and non-parties to the Agreement.  It had also addressed the question of further review.

The Conference, in adopting by acclamation five papers that would constitute its final report, agreed that its President should transmit that final report to the secretariats of all regional fisheries management organizations, including those under negotiation, as well as to the General Assembly, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other relevant organizations.  It also agreed to continue the informal consultations of State parties and to resume the Review Conference not later than 2011.

In remarks before suspending the Conference, its President, David Balton ( United States), said that during the original negotiations on the Agreement, a great percentage of time had been spent on the question of the respective rights and duties of different States.  This week, much of the time had been spent on figuring out how to give full effect to the Agreement.  The final report gave a substantive review and assessment, as well as a significant number of recommendations, for strengthening the provisions.

In thanking all who had contributed to the success of the Review Conference, he said he was struck by the constructive nature of the discussions, and the sober and focused attitudes on the part of everyone.  He was pleased with the decision to keep the Agreement under further review.  The Review Conference had called attention to the Agreement’s value and the fact that more needed to be done.

In its report, the Conference, reviewing current efforts related to conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks,recommended that States, individually and collectively through regional fisheries management organizations, strengthen their commitment to adopt and fully implement conservation and management measures for straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, including stocks that were currently unregulated.

Cooperation between flag States and coastal States should be improved so as to ensure the achievement of compatible measures concerning the high seas and those areas under national jurisdiction.  New regional management organizations should be established, where needed.  States should also agree on interim measures until such organizations were established.

Also according to the report, States should commit to urgently reduce capacity of the world’s fishing fleets to levels commensurate with the sustainability of fish stocks, while recognizing the legitimate rights of developing States to develop their fisheries.  Subsidies that contributed to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, overfishing and fishing overcapacity should be eliminated.

States should also provide required catch and effort data, and fishery-related information, in a complete, accurate and timely way, as well as develop, where they did not exist, processes to strengthen data collection and reporting by members of the regional management organizations.

The Conference underscored that international cooperation was necessary for the effective conservation and management of the fish stocks under consideration.  Such cooperation should also focus on modernizing and strengthening regional fisheries management organizations to ensure “robust and systematic” approaches in international fisheries governance.  It recommended that States continued to strengthen the mandates of regional organizations to implement the Agreement and that States address participatory rights, including through the development of transparent criteria for allocating fishing opportunities.

The report also called on States to further commit to provide incentives to encourage non-members to join regional organizations while improving the transparency of such organizations and providing for the participation of inter- and non governmental organizations.  States should examine and clarify the role of the “genuine link” in relation to the duty of flag States to exercise effective control over fishing vessels flying their flag.

The Conference agreed that effective compliance and enforcement of agreed conservation and management measures, supported by effective monitoring, control and surveillance, was critical to achieving the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fish stocks under consideration.

As for monitoring, control, surveillance, compliance and enforcement, the Conference recommended that States strengthen effective control over vessels flying their flags and ensure that such vessels complied with conservation and management measures adopted by regional fisheries management organizations.  They should adopt stringent measures to regulate transhipment and develop a legally binding instrument on minimum standards for port State measures.  They should also develop regional guidelines for fisheries sanctions to be applied by flag States in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their sanctions systems.

The Conference recommended further that States should take the necessary measures to ensure that only fish taken in accordance with applicable conservation and management measures reached their markets.  They should develop measures to prohibit supply and refuelling vessels that fly their flag from engaging in operations with vessels listed as engaging in illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities.  They should also ensure that vessels fishing on the high seas carried vessel monitoring systems.  Finally, they should recognize that the development within regional organizations of alternative mechanisms for compliance and enforcement could facilitate accession to the Agreement by some States.

 The Conference affirmed that increasing adherence to the Agreement was vital to promoting its full implementation.  It recognized the critical need to provide assistance to developing States in areas including:  data collection; scientific research; monitoring, control and surveillance; human resource development and information sharing, as well as technical training and assistance.  It further recommended that States urgently contribute to the Part VII Assistance Fund or other mechanisms to assist developing States in the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks.

In other business, the Conference took note of the financial report on the status of the Part VII Assistance Fund contained in document A/CONF.210/2006/2.  Introducing and updating the report, David Doulman of the FAO said contributions to the Fund now totalled some $417,000, stemming from contributions from Canada, Iceland, Norway and the United States.  Disbursed assistance in reaction to some 13 requests amounted to around $65,000.

The Conference also approved the report of its Credentials Committee, as orally amended, contained in document A/COF.210/2006/13, which was introduced by the Committee’s Chairman, Amarawansa Hettiarachchi (Sri Lanka).

The representative of Mexico, Australia, Austria (on behalf of the European Union) and Ecuador made short statements.

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For information media • not an official record