The Convention area is large and covers part of the Pacific Ocean. The Convention area is defined by geographical coordinates to the south and east. In the west and north, due to a number of difficult and sensitive political issues, boundaries are defined by reference to the migratory zone of the stocks. In this way, the Commission will define the scope of conservation and management measures for certain species on the basis of its cooperation agreements with other relevant regional fisheries management organisations. The Overlapping Fish Stocks Agreement (formal agreement implementing the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10. December 1982 on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks) is a multilateral treaty established by the United Nations to improve the cooperative management of fishery resources covering large areas. and are of economic and environmental interest to a number of countries. As of December 2016, the treaty had been ratified by 91 parties, including 90 states and the European Union. [2] The 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Convention gave rise to two new RFMOs: one for the management of straddling fish stocks and the other for highly migratory fish stocks. The 1995 UN Fish Stocks Convention places regional fisheries management organisations in a central and central position with regard to its implementation; they are the main mechanism through which States should work together to improve the conservation and management of resources. Some REGIONAL MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS whose mandate covers the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks have reviewed or are in the process of revising certain provisions of their respective conventions to ensure that they are in conformity with the Agreement. In some cases, substantial amendments to the Conventions have been proposed or introduced. Despite these developments, however, RFMOs address the practical aspects of implementing the agreement, e.B.

with the application of the precautionary approach in fisheries management, the implementation of ecosystem management and transparency. Overlapping stocks are fish stocks that pass through more than one exclusive economic zone or are in more than one exclusive economic zone. The agreement was adopted in 1995 and entered into force in 2001. [1] The objective of the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Convention is to facilitate the implementation of certain provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 Convention) on the Conservation and Management of Straying Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. The Convention complements the 1993 FAO Convention on Promoting Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (1993 FAO Convention) and the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. SeaFO will manage stocks that extend between the EEZ of coastal states and the adjacent high seas. Species under management may include alfonsino, orange roughy, armourhead, wreckfish and deep-sea pike. It will also manage a discrete stock of deep-sea red crabs, although discrete stocks are not subject to the provisions of the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Convention. The management of the latter stocks is a logical and practical consequence of the characteristics of the geography of the region, the stocks and their distribution, as well as the requirements of fisheries management. The Convention does not deal with the management of highly migratory stocks, as they are already under the management of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Even before the entry into force of the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Convention, States had participated individually and in cooperation with each other in a number of initiatives to promote the implementation of the Convention. Since 1995, some States have adopted new laws and/or regulations to ensure that they can exercise greater control by flag States over the activities of their flagships when operating on the high seas.

Measures to strengthen these controls have gained momentum as international concerns about illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing have increased in international for a, including meetings of the United Nations, FAO and regional fisheries management organizations. The political will of States to address these and related conservation and management issues that undermine the work and effectiveness of regional fisheries was emphasized as essential to address the challenges posed by these IUU fishing problems. The agreement aims to achieve this objective by creating a framework for cooperation in the conservation and management of these resources. It promotes the order of the oceans through the effective management and conservation of the resources of the high seas, including by establishing detailed minimum international standards for the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks; ensure that measures for the conservation and management of these stocks in areas of national jurisdiction and adjacent high seas are compatible and consistent; ensure the effective implementation of these measures on the high seas; and recognition of the specific conservation, management, development and participation needs of developing countries for the two types of stocks mentioned above. With a view to the entry into force of the Agreement, the last session of the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Conference agreed to establish a preparatory conference, which began its work in April 2002. The objective was to establish the organizational and financial framework for the new Commission and its subsidiary bodies in order to ensure that the Commission could begin its activities effectively and with a minimum of delay. The conference also started with the collection and analysis of data on the state of fish stocks and recommended conservation and management measures if necessary. The next pre-hearing conference is scheduled for December 2004. The Government of Namibia has established an interim secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the Convention. It will carry out this task until the entry into force of the Convention and the full implementation of the administrative arrangements. The Interim Secretariat will conclude provisional arrangements for the authorization and notification of fishing vessels, the needs of vessels, as well as scientific monitoring and the collection of information in support of stock assessment. FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1 November 1995) Highly migratory fish have their origin in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It refers to fish species that undertake ocean migrations and also have a wide geographical distribution, and generally refers to tuna and species resembling tuna, shark, marlin and swordfish. Straddling fish stocks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to inefficient management regimes and non-compliance by fisheries interests. The United Nations Fish Stocks Convention aims to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks under the Convention on the Law of the Sea. .