Since the early 1990s, the international community has adopted a number of instruments to enhance and develop the legal framework for fisheries management as laid down in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 Convention). Such instruments include the 1992 Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development; the 1993 Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (Compliance Agreement), the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code of Conduct); the 1995 Rome Consensus on World Fisheries; the 1995 Kyoto Declaration and Plan of Action on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security (Kyoto Declaration and Plan of Action); and the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provision of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stock (UN Fish Stocks Agreement)..
Contemporary fishery issues referred to in these instruments include, in particular, excess fleet capacity; by-catch and discards; monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) of fishing vessels; measures to enhance data collection; and application of the precautionary approach.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which the above mentioned instruments have, or have not, generally been implemented by, or incorporated in the activities of six FAO and twenty-two non-FAO regional fishery bodies (RFBs) or arrangements. The information, for this specific aspect of the review is based on replies received from the Secretariats of regional fishery bodies, the Annual Reports of the bodies and FAO publications, as appropriate.
The 1982 Convention provides only a few references to the subject of "regional cooperation" in the context of fisheries management. In comparison, the later instruments listed above, provide an increasing number of references to, and a progressively important role for, RFBs, in the conservation and management of fish stocks. In fact, RFBs should now be viewed as critical to the realization of sustainable utilization of world marine capture fisheries.
From the terminology used in the post 1982 Convention instruments, it is important to distinguish between an onus for conservation and management being placed upon the States which comprise RFBs, and the RFBs themselves. It must be recalled that RFBs are not supra-national. They are only as strong and effective as their Members make them. In spite of this fact, many Governments have proven slow to tackle the issue of fisheries reform. There are two main reasons for this:
At present, there are three critical issues facing those responsible for the conservation and management of world marine capture fisheries. These are:
To the extent that the law, as opposed to education, science, economics or politics, can provide solutions to these problems, significant progress has been made by the 1982 Convention, and the subsequent international fishery instruments.
The instruments impose specific duties or responsibilities upon both RFBs and their respective members. With regards to unregulated fishing; over capitalization of fleets; excessive fleet size; insufficiently selective fishing gear; by-catch and discards; unreliable data and statistics. Other issues addressed include the use of the precautionary approach; conservation and management of high seas fish stocks; MCS and enforcement by flag and port States; marine pollution; ecosystem protection; data gathering and subsequent management advice; and assistance to developing States.
RFBs should view these post-1982 Convention instruments as providing a checklist that would enable them to effectively fulfil a management role by addressing the critical issues enumerated above and discussed in the body of this document.
The review indicates that very few bodies have started to implement the conservation and management measures provided for in the post-1982 fishery instruments. This conclusion is perhaps not surprising. The instruments present complex scientific, managerial and political considerations that cannot be resolved quickly. Furthermore, the implementation of many of these requirements for RFBs may require amendment of the RFB's constituting agreement. In many cases, the original terms of reference or mandates were constructed in an era pre-dating the post-1982 instruments. From information made available to FAO, only two RFBs are acting to amend their mandates in order to allow them to implement the above mentioned requirements. However, most RFBs are examining the post-1982 instruments, and considering, through appropriately constituted working groups, the consequences of, and steps necessary for, implementation of the instruments.
The result of this state of affairs is that despite international expectations for RFBs to take effective measures to conserve and manage marine capture fisheries, there is little facility for this to occur unless their roles and functions are strengthened as presented in these fishery instruments. In other words, the strenghtening of regional fisheries management must be addressed in a more comprehensive and rational manner if sustainable resource utilization is to be achieved. This is important because under existing international law, and within the current paradigm for the management of straddling, highly migratory and high seas fish stocks, RFBs provide the only realistic mechanism for the enhanced international cooperation in their conservation and management.
