FAO.org

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a landmark instrument described as a “Constitution for the Oceans”, which was 14 years in the making.

It provides the international legal basis for the protection and use of living and non-living resources of the world’s oceans.

The Convention is the point of departure with respect to the conservation of living marine resources, for binding and voluntary international fisheries instruments such as those adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as well as non-binding but politically significant fisheries resolutions, such as those adopted by the UNGA. Read more about UNCLOS here.