Source: Agenda 21, Chapter 17, Programme Area C; Sustainable
Use and Conservation of the Marine Living Resources of the High Seas
Chapter 17: PROTECTION OF THE OCEANS,
ALL KINDS OF SEAS, INCLUDING ENCLOSED AND SEMI-ENCLOSED SEAS, AND COASTAL
AREAS AND THE PROTECTION, RATIONAL USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR LIVING
RESOURCES
17.46. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources on the high seas.
To this end, it is necessary to: (a) Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals;
17.47. Nothing in paragraph 17.46 above restricts the right of a State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals on the high seas more strictly than provided for in that paragraph. States shall cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and, in the case of cetaceans, shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.
17.62. States recognize:
(a) The responsibility of the International Whaling Commission for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling;
(b) The work of the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in carrying out studies of large whales in particular, as well as of other cetaceans;
(c) The work of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Agreement on Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea under the Bonn Convention, in the conservation, management and study of cetaceans and other marine mammals.
17.63. States should cooperate for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.
17.75. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources under national jurisdiction. To this end, it is necessary to:
(a) Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals;
17.76. Nothing in paragraph/17.75 above restricts the right of a coastal State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals more strictly than provided for in that paragraph. States shall cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.
17.77, 17.78, 17.79, 17.80, 17.81, 17.82, 17.83, 17.84, 17.85, 17.86, 17.87, 17.88, 17.89 - not included
17.90. States recognize:
(a) The responsibility of the International Whaling Commission for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling;
(b) The work of the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in carrying out studies of large whales in particular, as well as of other cetaceans;
(c) The work of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Agreement on Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea under the Bonn Convention, in the conservation, management and study of cetaceans and other marine mammals.
17.91. States should cooperate for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
17.1. The marine environment - including the oceans and all seas and adjacent coastal areas/- forms an integrated whole that is an essential component of the global life-support system and a positive asset that presents opportunities for sustainable development. International law, as reflected in the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea /1/,/2/ referred to in this chapter of Agenda 21, sets forth rights and obligations of States and provides the international basis upon which to pursue the protection and sustainable development of the marine and coastal environment and its resources. This requires new approaches to marine and coastal area management and development at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, approaches that are integrated in content and are precautionary and anticipatory in ambit, as reflected in the following programme areas:/3/
(a) Integrated management and sustainable development of coastal areas, including exclusive economic zones;
(b) Marine environmental protection;
(c) Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources of the high seas;
(d) Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources under national jurisdiction;
(e) Addressing critical uncertainties for the management of the marine environment and climate change;
(f) Strengthening international, including regional, cooperation and coordination; (g) Sustainable development of small islands. ***
Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources of the high seas
Basis for action
17.44. Over the last decade, fisheries on the high seas have considerably
expanded and currently represent approximately 5 percent of total world
landings. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea on the marine living resources of the high seas sets forth rights
and obligations of States with respect to conservation and utilization
of those resources.
17.45. However, management of high seas fisheries, including the adoption, monitoring and enforcement of effective conservation measures, is inadequate in many areas and some resources are overutilized. There are problems of unregulated fishing, overcapitalization, excessive fleet size, vessel reflagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases and lack of sufficient cooperation between States. Action by States whose nationals and vessels fish on the high seas, as well as cooperation at the bilateral, subregional, regional and global levels, is essential particularly for highly migratory species and straddling stocks. Such action and cooperation should address inadequacies in fishing practices, as well as in biological knowledge, fisheries statistics and improvement of systems for handling data. Emphasis should also be on multi-species management and other approaches that take into account the relationships among species, especially in addressing depleted species, but also in identifying the potential of underutilized or unutilized populations.
Objectives
17.46. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable
use of marine living resources on the high seas. To this end, it is necessary
to:
(a) Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals;
(b) Maintain or restore populations of marine species at levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield as qualified by relevant environmental and economic factors, taking into consideration relationships among species;
(c) Promote the development and use of selective fishing gear and practices that minimize waste in the catch of target species and minimize by-catch of non-target species;
(d) Ensure effective monitoring and enforcement with respect to fishing activities;
(e) Protect and restore endangered marine species;
(f) Preserve habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas;
(g) Promote scientific research with respect to the marine living resources in the high seas.
17.47. Nothing in paragraph/17.46 above restricts the right of a State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals on the high seas more strictly than provided for in that paragraph. States shall cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and, in the case of cetaceans, shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.
17.48. The ability of developing countries to fulfil the above objectives is dependent upon their capabilities, including the financial, scientific and technological means at their disposal. Adequate financial, scientific and technological cooperation should be provided to support action by them to implement these objectives.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
17.49. States should take effective action, including bilateral and multilateral cooperation, where appropriate at the subregional, regional and global levels, to ensure that high seas fisheries are managed in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In particular, they should:
(a) Give full effect to these provisions with regard to fisheries populations whose ranges lie both within and beyond exclusive economic zones (straddling stocks);
(b) Give full effect to these provisions with regard to highly migratory species;
(c) Negotiate, where appropriate, international agreements for the effective management and conservation of fishery stocks;
(d) Define and identify appropriate management units.
17.50. States should convene, as soon as possible, an intergovernmental conference under United Nations auspices, taking into account relevant activities at the subregional, regional and global levels, with a view to promoting effective implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks. The conference, drawing, inter alia, on scientific and technical studies by FAO, should identify and assess existing problems related to the conservation and management of such fish stocks, and consider means of improving cooperation on fisheries among States, and formulate appropriate recommendations. The work and the results of the conference should be fully consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in particular the rights and obligations of coastal States and States fishing on the high seas.
17.51. States should ensure that fishing activities by vessels flying their flags on the high seas take place in such a manner as to minimize incidental catch.
17.52. States should take effective action consistent with international law to monitor and control fishing activities by vessels flying their flags on the high seas to ensure compliance with applicable conservation and management rules, including full, detailed, accurate and timely reporting of catches and effort.
17.53. States should take effective action, consistent with international law, to deter reflagging of vessels by their nationals as a means of avoiding compliance with applicable conservation and management rules for fishing activities on the high seas.
17.54. States should prohibit dynamiting, poisoning and other comparable destructive fishing practices.
17.55. States should fully implement General Assembly resolution 46/215 on large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing.
17.56. States should take measures to increase the availability of marine living resources as human food by reducing wastage, post-harvest losses and discards, and improving techniques of processing, distribution and transportation.
(b) Data and information
17.57. States, with the support of international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, as appropriate, should cooperate to:
(a) Promote enhanced collection of data necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of the marine living resources of the high seas;
(b) Exchange on a regular basis up-to-date data and information adequate for fisheries assessment;
(c) Develop and share analytical and predictive tools, such as stock assessment and bioeconomic models;
(d) Establish or expand appropriate monitoring and assessment programmes.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
17.58. States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation and within the framework of subregional and regional fisheries bodies, as appropriate, and with the support of other international intergovernmental agencies, should assess high seas resource potentials and develop profiles of all stocks (target and non-target).
17.59. States should, where and as appropriate, ensure adequate levels of coordination and cooperation in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and between subregional, regional and global intergovernmental fisheries bodies.
17.60. Effective cooperation within existing subregional, regional or global fisheries bodies should be encouraged. Where such organizations do not exist, States should, as appropriate, cooperate to establish such organizations.
17.61. States with an interest in a high seas fishery regulated by an existing subregional and/or regional high seas fisheries organization of which they are not members should be encouraged to join that organization, where appropriate.
17.62. States recognize:
(a) The responsibility of the International Whaling Commission for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling;
(b) The work of the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in carrying out studies of large whales in particular, as well as of other cetaceans;
(c) The work of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Agreement on Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea under the Bonn Convention, in the conservation, management and study of cetaceans and other marine mammals.
17.63. States should cooperate for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
17.64. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be about $12 million from the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
17.65. States, with the support of relevant international organizations, where necessary, should develop collaborative technical and research programmes to improve understanding of the life cycles and migrations of species found on the high seas, including identifying critical areas and life stages.
17.66. States, with the support of relevant international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, as appropriate, should:
(a) Develop databases on the high seas marine living resources and fisheries;
(b) Collect and correlate marine environmental data with high seas marine living resources data, including the impacts of regional and global changes brought about by natural causes and by human activities;
(c) Cooperate in coordinating research programmes to provide the knowledge necessary to manage high seas resources.
(c) Human resource development
17.67. Human resource development at the national level should be targeted at both development and management of high seas resources, including training in high seas fishing techniques and in high seas resource assessment, strengthening cadres of personnel to deal with high seas resource management and conservation and related environmental issues, and training observers and inspectors to be placed on fishing vessels.
(d) Capacity-building
17.68. States, with the support, where appropriate, of relevant international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, should cooperate to develop or upgrade systems and institutional structures for monitoring, control and surveillance, as well as the research capacity for assessment of marine living resource populations.
17.69. Special support, including cooperation among States, will be needed to enhance the capacities of developing countries in the areas of data and information, scientific and technological means, and human resource development in order to participate effectively in the conservation and sustainable utilization of high seas marine living resources.
Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources under national jurisdiction
Basis for action
17.70. Marine fisheries yield 80 to 90 million tons of fish and shellfish per year, 95 percent of which is taken from waters under national jurisdiction. Yields have increased nearly fivefold over the past four decades. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on marine living resources of the exclusive economic zone and other areas under national jurisdiction set forth rights and obligations of States with respect to conservation and utilization of those resources.
17.71. Marine living resources provide an important source of protein in many countries and their use is often of major importance to local communities and indigenous people. Such resources provide food and livelihoods to millions of people and, if sustainably utilized, offer increased potential to meet nutritional and social needs, particularly in developing countries. To realize this potential requires improved knowledge and identification of marine living resource stocks, particularly of underutilized and unutilized stocks and species, use of new technologies, better handling and processing facilities to avoid wastage, and improved quality and training of skilled personnel to manage and conserve effectively the marine living resources of the exclusive economic zone and other areas under national jurisdiction. Emphasis should also be on multi-species management and other approaches that take into account the relationships among species.
17.72. Fisheries in many areas under national jurisdiction face mounting problems, including local overfishing, unauthorized incursions by foreign fleets, ecosystem degradation, overcapitalization and excessive fleet sizes, underevaluation of catch, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases, and increasing competition between artisanal and large-scale fishing, and between fishing and other types of activities.
17.73. Problems extend beyond fisheries. Coral reefs and other marine and coastal habitats, such as mangroves and estuaries, are among the most highly diverse, integrated and productive of the Earth's ecosystems. They often serve important ecological functions, provide coastal protection, and are critical resources for food, energy, tourism and economic development. In many parts of the world, such marine and coastal systems are under stress or are threatened from a variety of sources, both human and natural.
Objectives
17.74. Coastal States, particularly developing countries and States
whose economies are overwhelmingly dependent on the exploitation of the
marine living resources of their exclusive economic zones, should obtain
the full social and economic benefits from sustainable utilization of marine
living resources within their exclusive economic zones and other areas
under national jurisdiction.
17.75. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources under national jurisdiction. To this end, it is necessary to:
(a) Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals;
(b) Take into account traditional knowledge and interests of local communities, small-scale artisanal fisheries and indigenous people in development and management programmes;
(c) Maintain or restore populations of marine species at levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield as qualified by relevant environmental and economic factors, taking into consideration relationships among species;
(d) Promote the development and use of selective fishing gear and practices that minimize waste in the catch of target species and minimize by-catch of non-target species;
(e) Protect and restore endangered marine species;
(f) Preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas.
17.76. Nothing in paragraph/17.75 above restricts the right of a coastal State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals more strictly than provided for in that paragraph. States shall cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.
17.77, 17.78, 17.79, 17.80, 17.81, 17.82, 17.83, 17.84, 17.85, 17.86, 17.87, 17.88, 17.89 - not included
17.90. States recognize:
(a) The responsibility of the International Whaling Commission for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling;
(b) The work of the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in carrying out studies of large whales in particular, as well as of other cetaceans;
(c) The work of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the Agreement on Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea under the Bonn Convention, in the conservation, management and study of cetaceans and other marine mammals.
17.91. States should cooperate for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
17.92, 17.93, 17.94, 17.95, 17.96 - not included
Click here to return to the Management Contents Page