Progress towards sustainable management? : an evaluation of the management of high seas fisheries under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Abstract

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides a conservation and management regime for two types of high seas fisheries: straddling stock and highly migratory stock. There is international consensus that, despite the provisions of UNCLOS, there has been a failure to properly manage high seas fisheries. This Convention has recently been augmented by the negotiation of an ancillary Agreement for the management of two these stocks, which seeks to redress the shortcomings of the Convention.

An evaluation of the relative effectiveness of the Convention in achieving sustainable management is the focus of this project. The evaluation covers the original policy formulation, implementation over 23 years, and the revised policy formulation contained in the ancillary Agreement. It is concluded that the original policy formulation and implementation had considerable limitations in terms of sustainable management, but that substantial progress has been made towards sustainable management with the revised policy formulation contained in the new Agreement.