Congressional Research Service Report for Congress

Eugene H. Buck
Senior Analyst in Natural Resources Policy
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division
January 5, 1996
96-56 ENR

SUMMARY

Declining fish populations threaten an important food source. Natural catastrophes, pollution, habitat destruction, and overfishing contribute to the depletion of fish stocks. Overexploitation of fishery resources often occurs when management allows expanding and increasingly efficient fishing fleets to continue harvesting dwindling supplies.

International law acknowledges the right of states to exploit fishery resources in international waters. However, the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas requires that such practices be conducted in consideration of other states' interests, including a basic obligation to cooperate in the conservation and management of living marine resources. However, the absence of formal regulations for fishing in international waters has encouraged states to exploit living marine resources without considering the sustainability of their catch quotas. Cooperative efforts to conserve fishery resources often were circumvented or not enforced.

As fish stocks have diminished, the international community has recognized that several issues needed to be addressed. These included the practice of reflagging fishing vessels and the management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. The Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas promotes sustainable international fisheries by addressing fishing vessel reflagging. The accountability principles outlined in this Reflagging Agreement are the cornerstones of a further 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. This second Agreement creates a framework within which regional arrangements are to be developed to cope with conservation and management concerns, relying on international technological and scientific cooperation. A non-binding Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, developed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), represents the culmination of these efforts.

All of these recently negotiated agreements extend provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to promote better international fishery conservation and management. Through these agreements, the United States has an opportunity to ratify and implement several less-controversial provisions of UNCLOS. The United States has already implemented the Reflagging Agreement through Title I of P.L. 104-43. The Agreement Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks was signed by the United States on December 4, 1995, and will soon be transmitted to the Senate for advice and consent.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
REFLAGGING AGREEMENT
-- Circumstances Surrounding International Discussion
-- Intended Goals of the Agreement
-- Implications
AGREEMENT RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF STRADDLING FISH STOCKS AND HIGHLY MIGRATORY FISH STOCKS
-- Circumstances Surrounding International Discussion
-- Provisions of the Convention
-- -- General Provisions
-- -- Conservation and Management Measures
-- -- Mechanisms for International Cooperation
-- -- Non-Members and Non-Participants
-- -- Duties of Flag States
-- -- Compliance and Enforcement Requirements of Developing States
-- -- Dispute Settlement
-- -- Additional and Final Provisions
-- Implications
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR RESPONSIBLE FISHERIES
-- Circumstances Surrounding International Discussion
-- Principles of the Code
-- -- Fishery Management
-- -- Fishing Operations
-- -- Aquaculture
-- -- Coastal Area Management
-- -- International Trade Practices
-- Implications

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Agreements to Promote Fishery Conservation and Management in International Waters(1)

INTRODUCTION

Declining fish populations threaten an important food source. Natural catastrophes, pollution, habitat destruction, and overfishing contribute to the depletion of fish stocks. Overexploitation of fishery resources often occurs when management allows expanding and increasingly efficient fishing fleets to continue harvesting dwindling supplies. (2) Although prevalent, overexploitation is not universal and its extent varies among areas, species, and fisheries.

International law acknowledges the right of states to exploit fishery resources in international waters. However, the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas requires that such practices be conducted with "reasonable regard to the interests of other states in their exercise of the freedom of the high seas." (3) The liberties recognized are not without responsibilities, including a basic obligation to cooperate in the conservation and management of living marine resources. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (4) was a comprehensive international effort to outline what these responsibilities might be. The United States has entered into numerous fishery agreements with the international community to regulate or prohibit commercial fishing. (5) However, most of the earlier agreements dealt with how the United States would cooperate with international goals through improved management of fisheries within waters under U.S. jurisdiction.

Despite these international agreements, fish stocks continued their decline and coastal states protested that current protection was inadequate and that several issues needed to be addressed. The Mexican Government, recognizing the urgent need to strengthen fishery management and reduce the size of fishing fleets, organized an international conference in consultation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The International Conference on Responsible Fishing, held in Cancun, Mexico, from May 6-8, 1992, heightened global awareness about the predicament facing many fish stocks, and was the culmination of many years of effort. (6) The primary objective of the Conference was to attain international consensus on the need to establish a code of conduct to promote responsible fishing. Such a code would provide a framework to initiate an international process for ensuring the viability of the world's fisheries. The Declaration, adopted at conclusion of the Conference, called for the adoption of effective fishery planning and management standards incorporating improved scientific knowledge, minimal waste and bycatch, environmental protection, and international cooperation. Priority matters viewed as needing specific and immediate attention included the practice of reflagging fishing vessels and the management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks to cope with increasing conservation and management concerns related to fishing in international waters.

Various international conferences and resolutions, including the Declaration of Cancun, voiced the need to curb the practice of reflagging. Agenda 21, adopted June 14, 1992, by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), called upon states to take effective action to deter such reflagging. In response to these calls, the Agreement to Promote Compliance With International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas -- the Reflagging Agreement -- was adopted in November 1993.(7) And in August 1995 after six intensive negotiating sessions, an Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks was concluded. This second Agreement provides a framework for negotiating specific regional agreements to guide exploitation of the heretofore minimally regulated fishery resources in international waters.

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