Finessing King Neptune: Fisheries Management and the Limits of International Law

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Bratspies
2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-832
Author(s):  
Lene Korseberg

AbstractThe second half of the twentieth century saw major improvements in the legal regime for fisheries management. This notwithstanding, the deep seas remain largely unregulated under international law, until recently only being covered by the general environmental and management provisions found in UNCLOS. In light of this regulatory gap, this article evaluates the potential law-making effects, if any, of the FAO Deep-Sea Fisheries Guidelines, a voluntary instrument designed to provide States with a regulatory framework for the management of their deep-sea fisheries. It considers how the Guidelines may inform, interpret and influence the content of the general high-sea obligations in UNCLOS. Despite the vagueness and generality of those provisions, some indication of their substantive content has been given in recent decisions, particularly the South China Sea Arbitration. By assessing their compatibility, and their level of acceptance by the international community, this article argues that the FAO Deep-Sea Guidelines are beginning to have a law-making effect by providing an authoritative interpretation of the general high-sea obligations found in UNCLOS relating to deep-sea fisheries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 471-486
Author(s):  
Marco Benatar

Abstract Fisheries are of vital concern to associated states and dependent territories located in diverse regions ranging from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The special characteristics of these actors have led to innovative international law-making, including the terms that have been agreed within regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to facilitate representation of non-metropolitan territories’ interests. The question may be raised whether similar innovations can be found in the field of international dispute resolution. The aim of this brief article is to consider some linkages between associated states and dependent territories on the one hand and international dispute settlement concerning fishing on the other. Four such connections will be examined in turn: access to court, representation in proceedings, applicable law in proceedings, and the territorial exclusion of disputes.


2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Jaap Molenaar ◽  
Martin Tsamenyi

AbstractSatellite-based vessel monitoring systems (VMS) are a relatively new technology that assist fisheries management authorities in data-gathering and ensuring compliance with management objectives. In comparison with traditional means of data-gathering and monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS), satellite-based VMS offer considerable advantages in cost-effectiveness, especially if applied at the regional level. Before opting for a satellite-based VMS, however, fisheries management authorities should realise that a number of limitations exist, that it may not be the most cost-effective in all circumstances and that the issue of the confidentiality and security of information will be crucial to co-operation and compliance. The main focus of the article are the relevant rights and obligations of states under international law. The analysis concludes, among other things, that significant legal restrictions exist in the exercise of jurisdiction by port and coastal states with respect to foreign fishing vessels in lateral passage, conditions for entry into port and foreign vessels engaged in bunkering of fishing vessels.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Robert Deuchars

<p>The term ‘fisheries management’ at first glance seems to be a reasonably unproblematic one. It implies that firstly, that there are resources called fish, and secondly, that these resources called fish can be harvested and managed. So far, so good. Next, there is the word ‘convention’. It is a commonly understood word in law in general and there are many conventions in International law and in International environmental law as well. Lastly there is the term ‘sustainable development’, a well-used term in International theory and practice, usually said to mean that although we understand the finite nature of the matter and energy that can be safely used by countries to develop, this can be tempered by putting in place measures and instruments to curb the excesses of human, and by that I mean industrialised, human activity on the environment.</p>


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant J. Hewison

AbstractDespite the precautionary approach being only recently applied to the management of international fisheries, it has raised considerable controversy. There are concerns over the precise legal meaning of the precautionary approach. There are also worries that strict application of the approach will be used to shut down some international fisheries. Moreover, there is continuing debate about how precaution should be applied to the management of fisheries where there has always been, and probably always will be, sparse scientific knowledge. Much of the demand for a precautionary approach to international fisheries management has come from environmentalists, but there has been little analysis of their views. This article seeks to explore the precautionary approach to fisheries management from an environmental perspective. The first part of the article discusses the status of the precautionary approach at international law and, in particular, addresses the question whether the approach has become founded in customary international law. The second part of the article provides an environmental perspective of the precautionary approach and its application to international fisheries. This part covers issues such as the demand by environmentalists for science-based management procedures, the setting of stock levels, anticipatory reference points, ecological safeguards and participation in decision-making.


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