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Conclusion

In document THE SECOND U IN IUU FISHING (pagina 39-46)

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suggests that financial assistance can help make an international treaty more attractive for all kinds of states to join. More states participating in RFMOs due to a funding mechanism would also mean less non-contracting parties to any regional conservation and management regimes. Ultimately, the effect would be to leave as little room for unregulated fishing activities as possible by broad membership to RFMOs.

However, while all RFMOs and international treaties in general aim for wide

participation, every agreement will reach its limits in terms of membership. In the case of RFMOs in the context of unregulated fishing, this means that if global participation cannot be reached, other methods to fight unregulated fishing must be in place to protect the object and purpose of RFMOs. For this reason, this thesis represents the opinion that organisations should also employ measures that deter from engaging in unregulated fishing activities.

The last idea that was portrayed in this thesis referred to a deterring method: using drones to monitor and control large areas of the high sea. While surveillance mechanisms are already in place today, for example in the form of VMS, monitoring a whole regulatory area for possible violations of conservation and management efforts remains a challenge. To address this issue, this thesis suggests that drones could be used to monitor large areas relatively easily. Drones can be programmed to monitor certain areas of the high sea and present a cost-efficient way of keeping an eye out for vessels engaging in unregulated fishing activities.

These activities could then be documented or even be prevented altogether.

While deterring or preventing unregulated fishing activities or even IUU fishing is not the main competence of RFMOs, it constitutes a major part of their work. The issue has

superseded the regional realm of RFMOs when the UN Fish Stocks Agreement entered into force. Its obligation to join or found an RFMO clearly speaks for the global acknowledgement of the fact that conservation and management measures of regional organisations are

indispensable to preserve fishery resources in the world’s oceans. IUU fishing and therefore unregulated fishing as part of the larger phenomenon contributes substantially to the problem of overfishing, which affects the international community as a whole.

While UNCLOS as the most widely accepted international instrument on the law of the sea is not oblivious to the issue of fisheries conservation and IUU fishing in general, unregulated fishing is not one of its primary focuses. The Further revised draft text of an

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agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction of 30 May 2022 does not change this. While there are several substantial general environmental provisions, such as an environmental impact assessment and marine protected areas, fishing is not specifically mentioned in the draft text.156

However, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement is not the only international document beyond the regional scope of RFMOs. Other international documents also touch on the topic, but the scope of this thesis did not allow for their detailed analysis. For example, the FAO Code of Conduct stipulates, that states should ensure that regional conservation and management efforts are not undermined by vessels flying their flag.157 Furthermore, states should cooperate in RFMOs.158 This relates directly to the issue of unregulated fishing and was taken up and turned into a binding obligation by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. Additionally, the Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable use of Biodiversity for Well-Being can be mentioned in this context. It specifically addresses the need to expand strategies to decrease unregulated fishing activities.159

Another example is the Agreement to prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the central Artic Ocean which entered into force in 2021.160 This agreement covers the Central Arctic Ocean where currently no commercial fishing is taking place.161 However, climate change might lead to new fishing possibilities in this area, which is not covered by any existing RFMO.162 This is a remarkable development because the agreement specifically

156 Part IV Further revised draft text of an agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (30 May 2022) 22.

157 Art. 6.11 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995) (FAO Code of Conduct).

158 Art. 6.12; 7.1.5 FAO Code of Conduct.

159 Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable use of Biodiversity for Well-Being, Annex (2016).

160 Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission, Arctic: Agreement to prevent unregulated fishing enters into force, News Announcement of 25 June 2021.

161 ibid.

162 ibid.

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addresses unregulated fishing in an area that is not (yet) open to commercial fishing at this time. This shows that the need for particular international instruments against unregulated fishing are moving to the forefront of international issues to be tackled.

All this being said, many RFMOs are already in place today and covering substantial areas of the high sea. For this reason, these organisations have the best knowledge of their regulatory area, of the species within or migrating through it, and of IUU vessel sightings within their areas. Breaking up the high sea into smaller, more manageable sections under the regulatory competences of RFMOs is an effective way to enhance conservation and

management. As this thesis has shown, most RFMOs have the same or similar methods to deal with unregulated fishing. No other international document mentioned here is as elaborate on this topic as RFMO constituent documents.

This thesis does not mean to suggest that the fight against unregulated fishing should exclusively be fought by RFMOs. Quite to the contrary, the broader the participation in an international agreement, the more successful it will be. This is no different for fishery conservation and management. Therefore, this thesis represents the opinion that wide participation in RFMOs should be the main goal to eliminate unregulated fishing at its root:

the lack of consent to RFMO regimes. This thesis has shown that not all possibilities for convincing states to join regional agreements on fisheries have been exhausted so far. While it is a great success that unregulated fishing has also moved into the focus of broader

international documents such as the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, for example, RFMOs are still the leading force in this regard today and should not stop developing their measures against unregulated fishing.

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Bibliography

Treaties

Agreement for the Establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)

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In document THE SECOND U IN IUU FISHING (pagina 39-46)