The Forty-seventh Session of the UNGA in 1992 addressed the issue of a UN-sponsored intergovernmental conference on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, as called for in Agenda 21. The UNGA decided, inter alia:

"... to convene in 1993, under United Nations auspices and in accordance with the mandate agreed upon at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, an Intergovernmental Conference on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, which should complete its work before the Forty-ninth Session of the General Assembly; ..."

UNGA resolution 47/192 provided the terms of reference for the Intergovernmental Conference and defined the scope and nature of its work. The Conference was given the primary tasks of:

(i) identifying and assessing existing problems related to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks;

(ii) considering means of improving fisheries cooperation among States, and

(iii) formulating appropriate recommendations.

The Forty-eighth Session of the UNGA, noting progress made in the first two sessions of the Conference in 1993, agreed to extend the mandate of the Conference for a further year without any alteration to its terms of reference. However, this agreement was not without considerable debate in the UNGA. The debate centred principally on an attempt by States with distant-water fishing interests to remove the reference to 'high seas' in UNGA resolution 47/192. Such a change to the resolution was opposed vigorously by coastal States who maintained that the deletion of 'high seas' would be inconsistent with the spirit and intent of the Rio Declaration and Chapter 17 of Agenda 21. However, more importantly, coastal States viewed this move by distant-water fishing nations (DWFNs) to undermine the national sovereignty and integrity of coastal States within their respective EEZs. Such an erosion of national sovereignty, as enshrined in Part V (Articles 55 to 75) of the 1982 Convention, was not acceptable to these States on any terms.

A further extension of the Conference was granted by the UNGA on the basis of its resolution 49/121. In this resolution, inter alia, two further sessions of the Conference in 1995 were agreed, the Conference was urged to complete its work before the Fiftieth Session of the UNGA, and the Secretary General of the United Nations was requested to provide a final report on the work of the Conference to the UNGA at its Fiftieth Session.