16/12/2014
Realizing the Benefits of
Oceans and the Law of the
Sea
Professor Stuart Kaye
Australian National Centre for
Ocean Resources and Security
VISIONARY / PASSIONATE / DYNAMIC
CONNECT: UOW
Fisheries and Biodiversity
• Importance of fisheries
• Protecting biodiversity
• Challenges and conclusions
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Fisheries
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FISHERIES RESOURCES
“INEXHAUSTIBLE”
… this
classes of fisheries—cod, herring,
pilchard, mackerel, etc –might be
regarded as inexhaustible… Any
tendency to over-fishing will meet with
its natural check in the diminution of the
supply… This check will always come
into operation long before anything like
permanent exhaustion has occurred.”
Thomas Huxley, 1883
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OVER-FISHING “UNSCIENTIFIC”
“I say it is impossible, not merely to
exhaust them (fisheries) but even
noticeably to lessen their number by
means now used for their capture. For the
last three hundred years fishing has gone
on ….and although enormous quantities of
fish have been caught, there are no
indications of exhaustion.”
(L.Z Joncas, Canadian Ministry of
Agriculture, 1885).
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Truman Proclamation on Conservation of
Coastal Fisheries in Certain Areas of the
High Seas (28 September 1945)
“Whereas for some years the Government of the
United States has viewed with concern the
inadequacy of present arrangements for the
protection and perpetuation of the fishery
resources contiguous to its coasts, and in view
of the potentially disturbing effect of the
situation, has carefully studied the possibility of
improving the jurisdictional basis for
conservation measures and international
cooperation in this field…”
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Crisis in Global Fisheries
“The unthinkable has come to pass.
The wealth of oceans, once deemed inexhaustible,
has proven finite, and fish, once dubbed ‘the poor
man’s protein,’ have become a resource coveted—
and fought over—by nations… We’ve come to our
reckoning…The next ten years are going to be very
painful, full of upheaval for everyone connected to
the sea”
Michael Parfit, ‘Diminishing Returns: Exploiting the Ocean’s Bounty,’
National Geographic, November 1995.
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FISH
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FISH AS FOOD
19.2% of the animal protein
consumed in developing
countries is provided by fish
FISH AS FOOD
State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012, Food and Agriculture Organization (FA
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FISH AS LIVELIHOOD
54.8 million people are
engaged in the primary sector of
fish production
660 – 820 million people
and their dependents are
involved in downstream and
ancillary fish production
Activities
State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012, Food and Agriculture Organization (FA
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FISH AS COMMODITY
More than US$125 billion is the
estimated revenue from fish
product exports in 2011
• Seafood
• Industrial fish
State of World Fisheries
and Aquaculture 2012,
Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO)
VISIONARY / PASSIONATE / DYNAMIC
CONNECT: UOW
Crisis in Global Fisheries
“The unthinkable has come to pass.
The wealth of oceans, once deemed inexhaustible,
has proven finite, and fish, once dubbed ‘the poor
man’s protein,’ have become a resource coveted—
and fought over—by nations… We’ve come to our
reckoning…The next ten years are going to be very
painful, full of upheaval for everyone connected to
the sea”
Michael Parfit, ‘Diminishing Returns: Exploiting the Ocean’s Bounty,’
National Geographic, November 1995.
VISIONARY / PASSIONATE / DYNAMIC
CONNECT: UOW
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16/12/2014
Status of World Fish Stocks
8% Depleted
20% Underexploited or
moderately exploited
52% Fully exploited
19% Overexploited
* 1% recovering from depletion
Source: FAO, State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012
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World Fisheries Production
Source: FAO State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012
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Features of the Law of the Sea
Convention – Coastal States
• Creation of regime of maritime zones
– Exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
• Strong national regulation and enforcement
powers
• Conservation obligations
• Environmental protection
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Features of the Law of the Sea
Convention – High Seas
•
•
•
•
•
High seas fishing rights
Limited obligation to seek to cooperate
Little guidance on international cooperation
Limited environmental duties
Primacy of flag State regulation
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Reactions to the Law of the Sea
Convention
• Changes in world fishing patterns
• Coastal State regulation greatly strengthen
• Cooperation centred upon straddling and highly
migratory fish stocks
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Reactions to the Law of the Sea
Convention
• Negotiation of UN Fish Stocks Agreement
– The strengthening of the Regional Fisheries
Management Organization (RFMO)
– Strengthening of obligations to encourage
cooperation in management
• Negotiation of FAO instruments
– Compliance Agreement
– Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
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FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014
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Evaluation
• Increasing cooperation through RFMOs
• Limited enforcement capacity
– Very limited use of cooperation in enforcement
• Impact of aquaculture
– Positives and negatives
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Biodiversity
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Microbes tracks
Microbes on ocean floor
Channels made by
microorganisms
DNA from Microbes
- Microbial ecosystems in sediments
& basalt
- 2/3rds Earth’s microbial population
- May be below seafloor
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Black smokers
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Protection of Biodiversity
• Law of the Sea Convention (1982)
– Coastal State Environmental protection
– General duty to protect and preserve the marine
environment
• Biodiversity Convention (1992)
– Adopted at the UNCED Conference in Rio
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Biodiversity Convention
• States have, in accordance with the Charter of
the United Nations and the principles of
international law, the sovereign right to exploit
their own resources pursuant to their own
environmental policies, and the responsibility to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or
control do not cause damage to the environment
of other States or of areas beyond the limits of
national jurisdiction. (Article 1)
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Biodiversity Convention
• Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible
and as appropriate, cooperate with other
Contracting Parties, directly or, where
appropriate, through competent international
organizations, in respect of areas beyond
national jurisdiction and on other matters of
mutual interest, for the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity.
– Article 5
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International Convention for the Control
and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water
and Sediments 2004 (BWM Convention)
• Objective to prevent, minimise and ultimately
eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic
organisms and pathogens through the control
and management of ship’s ballast water and
sediments.
• Not yet in force. Requisite number of States but
not tonnage
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Ballast Water VISIONARY / PASSIONATE / DYNAMIC
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BWM Convention
• Under Reg B-4 all ships using ballast water
exchange should
– Wherever possible conduct ballast water exchange at least
200 nautical miles from the nearest land and in water at
least 200 metres in depth taking into account Guidelines
developed by IMO.
– In cases where the ship is unable to conduct ballast water
exchange as above, this should be as far from the nearest
land as possible, and in all cases at least 50 nautical miles
from the nearest land and in water at least 200 metres in
depth.
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Biodiversity
• Challenges of biodiversity conservation
–
–
–
–
National jurisdiction
Bio-prospecting and MSR
Areas beyond national jurisdiction
Interactions between regimes
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Beyond National Jurisdiction
• UN Ad Hoc Open Ended Informal Working
Group on Biodiversity Beyond National
Jurisdiction (BBNJ)
–
–
–
–
Established by UNGA Resolution 59/24 (para 73)
Working since 2006
To meet in New York January 2015
Considerations in formulating an instrument
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Conclusions
• Greater cooperation is key
– Continuing the rise of the RFMO
– Enforcement cooperation
– “Indirect” enforcement
• Port State measures
• Trade measures and catch certification
• Increasing reliance on science and the
development of the ecosystem approach
• Many difficulties ahead
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Conclusions
• Biodiversity conservation and relationships to
fisheries and mining
• Integration into State regulation
• Protecting areas beyond national jurisdiction
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