U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - Joint Ocean Commission Initiative

In addition to global and multilateral agreements, the United States also has a longhistory of developing bilateral agreements to manage shared stocks. In particular, thePacific Salmon Treaty has helped Canada and the United States coordinate managementof Pacific Coast salmon stocks. Other examples of successful regional approaches includethe International Pacific Halibut <strong>Commission</strong>, the Yukon River Treaty, and the Conventionon the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western andCentral Pacific Ocean. These and similar bilateral agreements will require ongoing review,modification, and enforcement if the stocks of concern are to remain sustainably managed.The FAO Compliance AgreementIn 1993, the FAO adopted the Agreement to Promote Compliance with InternationalConservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, known asthe FAO Compliance Agreement. This agreement requires each participating flag state to:• Ensure that vessels flying its flag do not undermine international conservation measures.• Limit the right to harvest fish to those vessels it has affirmatively authorized.• Maintain a register of such authorized fishing vessels.• Monitor catches and make such information available to the FAO.The United States ratified the FAO Compliance Agreement in 1995, and it came intoforce in 2003, when a sufficient number of nations had signed.The Fish Stocks AgreementAt the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (also knownas the Earth Summit), the nations of the world recognized that the LOS Convention’sappeal for international cooperation on straddling stocks and highly migratory species didnot adequately address the global crisis in fisheries. The result was the 1995 UnitedNations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation andManagement of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (known as theFish Stocks Agreement).The Fish Stocks Agreement authorizes non-flag states to engage in compliance andenforcement activities for fishery violations on the high seas, including boarding, inspecting,and bringing a vessel to port. It also allows port states to inspect documents, catch, and fishinggear on fishing vessels and to prohibit landings if a high seas catch has been taken in amanner that undermines regional or global conservation and management measures.The Fish Stocks Agreement adopts a precautionary approach as the fundamental standardfor managing shared fisheries and calls upon nations to agree on efficient and expeditiousdecision-making procedures within regional organizations. The United States was aleader in negotiating the Fish Stocks Agreement and in 1996 became the third nation toratify it. The Agreement finally came into force in late 2001, although several major fishingnations, including Japan, Poland, and South Korea, have not yet ratified it.Recommendation 19–24The U.S. Department of State, working with other appropriate entities, should encourage allcountries to ratify the Fish Stocks Agreement and the United Nations Food and AgricultureOrganization’s Compliance Agreement. In particular, the United States should condition othernations’ access to fishing resources within the U.S. exclusive economic zone on their ratificationof these agreements. The United States and other signatory nations should also developadditional incentives to encourage all nations to ratify and enforce these agreements.The effective management and conservation of global marine species, and the enforcementof international treaties, require a combination of domestic, bilateral, regional, and internationalapproaches. Although regulation of fisheries on the high seas is conducted withinC HAPTER 19: ACHIEVING S USTAINABLE F ISHERIES301