Historic agreement on high-seas fishing adopted by UN Conference.

A global treaty to regulate fishing on the high seas was adopted on 4 August by the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks at its sixth session (24 July-4 August, New York). The treaty will, for the first time, legally bind States to conserve and sustainably manage high-seas fisheries and settle fishing disputes peacefully.

Calling the treaty "far-sighted, far-reaching, bold and revolutionary", Conference Chairman Satya Nandan of Fiji said it provided for regional, national and global action to address the critical problems facing the world's fisheries.

While the treaty contained innovations that went beyond the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and gave further meaning to some of its basic principles that were not being fully implemented, it was also realistic, practical and firmly based on the Convention's principles.

Canadian Minister for Fisheries and Oceans Brian Tobin said there were no losers at the Conference. "When the fish win, we all win." The desire to harvest stocks, he added, must take a back seat to the need to sustain stocks.

The treaty - officially entitled the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks - is built on three essential pillars, Mr. Nandan stated.

First, it sets out principles for conservation and management of stocks based on a precautionary approach and the best scientific information. Second, it ensures that conservation and management measures are adhered to and not undermined by those who fish for stocks. And third, it sets out provisions for peaceful settlement of disputes.

Mr. Nandan cited a warning by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN about the disastrous social and economic consequences awaiting the global fishing industry unless the size of fleets was reduced, subsidies eliminated and fleets activities more effectively regulated. Without the Agreement, there would be a further depletion of the world's fish resources, as well as more conflict on the high seas.

The Agreement includes groundbreaking provisions to ensure compatible conservation and management measures between high-seas areas and coastal zones under national jurisdiction. One of its major features is the "precautionary approach" by which States are obliged to act conservatively when there is doubt about the viability of stocks.

Other provisions of the Agreement establish detailed minimum international standards for conservation and management of fish stocks. The treaty also includes effective measures for compliance and enforcement on the high seas, and recognizes the special requirements of developing States for assistance in conservation and management.

In the case of conflict between nations over fishing rights, the Agreement calls for compulsory and binding third-party dispute settlement.

How it happened ...

The Conference, which first convened in April 1993 and held six sessions, was set up by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the UN Conference on Environment and Development.

Its goal was to promote the effective implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Law of the Sea dealing with straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks - species found within the 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of two or more coastal States or within a zone and an adjacent area of the high seas.

Many fish, such as cod found off the east coast of Canada and pollack in the Bering Sea, straddle the boundaries of national economic zones. Others, such as tuna and swordfish, migrate over wide areas.

Coastal States have maintained that increased fishing on the high seas by other States reduced catches in territorial waters. To help fish stocks to regenerate, Canada, for example, has declared a moratorium on cod fishing off its Atlantic Coast while Iceland has cut back its domestic fishing by 50 per cent Unregulated foreign fleets have continued to fish just off those countries' EEZs.

The Conference has aimed to prevent conflicts between coastal States which, under the Convention, have exclusive fishing rights within their EEZs, and States that maintain fishing fleets on the high seas - also known as distant-water fishing States.

Coastal States most concerned with the impact of high-seas fishing on domestic harvests include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Indonesia, New Zealand, Norway and Peru. Japan, Spain, Poland, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation are responsible for 90 per cent of high seas fishing. The United States does a significant amount of high-seas fishing, but also seeks protection for its severely depleted coastal fisheries.