The Agreement on the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks: an NGO perspective

✍ Scribed by Lisa Speer; Sarah Chasis

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 344 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0964-5691
• DOI: 10.1016/0964-5691(96)00008-7

✦ Synopsis

The recently concluded Agreement on the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks 1 marks a sea change in the management of the worM's marine fisheries. This paper presents an NGO perspective on the new treaty. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

1. BACKGROUND

The world is facing a global fishing crisis of unprecedented proportions. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 70% of the world's marine fish stocks are fully fished, overexploited or depleted. In a third of the world's major marine fishing regions, the catch has declined by 20% or more from peak years.

Fueled by escalating demand, rapidly advancing technology and massive government subsidies, the global fishing fleet has now reached, and in many areas exceeded, the limits of sustainability, endangering an important source of food for the world. In addition, overfishing costs jobs in the commercial and recreational fishing industries, and disrupts the social and cultural fabric of fishing communities in developing and developed nations alike.

As fish populations dwindle under unsustainable levels of fishing pressure, competition and conflicts between nations are escalating.