Stakeholders to Discuss Challenges in Addressing Impacts of Bottom Fishing on Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems, Deep-Sea Fish Stocks
NEW YORK, 29 July (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — A multi-stakeholder workshop to be held at United Nations Headquarters on 1 and 2 August under the auspices of the General Assembly will consider how the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals, and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks are being addressed by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements (RFMO/As).
The workshop, led by a moderator, Osvaldo Urrutia (Chile), will explore, through panel presentations and interactive discussions, progress in the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 64/72 and 66/68 addressing the impacts of bottom fisheries on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep sea fish stocks. Participants will also consider opportunities for and challenges to further addressing this issue.
The workshop precedes the review by the Assembly of the actions taken by States and RFMO/As in response to the above resolutions, scheduled to take place in the context of the informal consultations on its draft General Assembly resolution on sustainable fisheries scheduled for November this year.
Background
The fragility of deep-sea ecosystems and the slow growth rates of many deep-sea species present management challenges in the context of high seas fisheries. In particular, bottom fishing, such as bottom trawling and longlining, may have adverse impacts on such ecosystems unless adequate conservation and management measures are taken.
Since 2004, the General Assembly has been calling on States and RFMO/As to take a number of actions to address the impacts of bottom fishing on such ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks. It has reviewed the implementation of the relevant paragraphs of its resolutions in 2006, 2009 and 2011 and called for additional actions.
In 2014 and 2015, the General Assembly recalled its decision to conduct a further review of the actions taken by States and RFMO/As in response to resolutions 64/72 and 66/68, with a view to ensuring effective implementation of the measures therein and to make further recommendations, where necessary, recognized the value of preceding such a review with a two-day workshop, and decided to conduct such a review in 2016.
The Secretary-General has been preparing a report on actions taken by States and RFMO/As in response to resolutions 64/72 and 66/68, which will be considered by the Assembly at its seventy-first session.
For further information, please visit www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm, or contact the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, at doalos@un.org.