agenda-21.pdf

iii. Cooperating in monitoring marine pollution from ships, especially from illegal discharges (e.g., aerial surveillance), and enforcing MARPOL discharge, provisions more rigorously;
iv. )Assessing the state of pollution caused by ships in particularly sensitive areas identified by IMO and taking action to implement applicable measures, where necessary, within such areas to ensure compliance with generally accepted international regulations;
v. Taking action to ensure respect of areas designated by coastal States, within their exclusive economic zones, consistent with international law, in order to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, such as coral reefs and mangroves;
vi. Considering the adoption of appropriate rules on ballast water discharge to prevent the spread of non-indigenous organisms;
vii. Promoting navigational safety by adequate charting of coasts and ship- routing, as appropriate;
viii. Assessing the need for stricter international regulations to further reduce the risk of accidents and pollution from cargo ships (including bulk carriers);
ix. Encouraging IMO and IAEA to work together to complete consideration of a code on the carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel in flasks on board ships;
x. Revising and updating the IMO Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships and considering how best to implement a revised code;
xi. Supporting the ongoing activity within IMO regarding development of appropriate measures for reducing air pollution from ships;
xii. Supporting the ongoing activity within IMO regarding the development of an international regime governing the transportation of hazardous and noxious substances carried by ships and further considering whether the compensation funds similar to the ones established under the Fund Convention would be appropriate in respect of pollution damage caused by substances other than oil;
b. From dumping, by:
i. Supporting wider ratification, implementation and participation in relevant Conventions on dumping at sea, including early conclusion of a future strategy for the London Dumping Convention;
ii. Encouraging the London Dumping Convention parties to take appropriate steps to stop ocean dumping and incineration of hazardous substances;
c. From offshore oil and gas platforms, by assessing existing regulatory measures to address discharges, emissions and safety and assessing the need for additional measures;
d. From ports, by facilitating establishment of port reception facilities for the collection of oily and chemical residues and garbage from ships, especially in MARPOL special areas, and promoting the establishment of smaller scale facilities in marinas and fishing harbours.

17.31. IMO and as appropriate, other competent United Nations organizations, when requested by the States concerned, should assess, where appropriate, the state of marine pollutio n in areas of congested shipping, such as heavily used international straits, with a view to ensuring compliance with generally accepted international regulations, particularly those related to illegal discharges from ships, in accordance with the provisio ns of Part III of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

17.32. States should take measures to reduce water pollution caused by organotin compounds used in anti-fouling paints.

17.33. States should consider ratifying the Convention on Oil Pollution Pr eparedness, Response and Cooperation, which addresses, inter alia, the development of contingency plans on the national and international level, as appropriate, including provision of oil -spill response material and training of personnel, including its pos sible extension to chemical spill response.

17.34. States should intensify international cooperation to strengthen or establish, where necessary, regional oil/chemical -spill response centres and/or, as appropriate, mechanisms in cooperation with relevant subregional, regional or global intergovernmental organizations and, where appropriate, industry-based organizations.

(b) Data and information

17.35. States should, as appropriate, and in accordance with the means at their disposal and with due regard for their te chnical and scientific capacity and resources, make systematic observations on the state of the marine environment. To this end, States should, as appropriate, consider:
a. Establishing systematic observation systems to measure marine environmental quality, including causes and effects of marine degradation, as a basis for management;
b. Regularly exchanging information on marine degradation caused by land -based and sea- based activities and on actions to prevent, control and reduce such degradation;
c. Supporting and expanding international programmes for systematic observations such as the mussel watch programme, building on existing facilities with special attention to developing countries;
d. Establishing a clearing -house on marine pollution control information, including processes and technologies to address marine pollution control and to support their transfer to developing countries and other countries with demonstrated needs;
e. Establishing a global profile and database providing information on the sources, ty pes, amounts and effects of pollutants reaching the marine environment from land -based activities in coastal areas and sea -based sources;
f. Allocating adequate funding for capacity -building and training programmes to ensure the full participation of develop ing countries, in particular, in any international scheme under the organs and organizations of the United Nations system for the collection, analysis and use of data and information.
Means of implementation

(a) Financing and cost evaluation

17.36. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual cost (1993 -2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be about $200 million from the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order -of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.

(b) Scientific and technological means

17.37. National, subregional and regional action programmes will, where appropriate, require technology transfer, in conformity with chapter 34, and financial resources, particularly where developing countries are concerned, including:
a. Assistance to industries in identifying and adopting clean production or cost-effective pollution control technologies;
b. Planning development and application of low-cost and low-maintenance sewage installation and treatment technologies for developing countries;
c. Equipment of laboratories to observe systematically human and other impacts on the marine environment;
d. Identification of appropriate oil- and chemical-spill control materials, including low-cost locally available materials and techniques, suitable for pollution emergencies in developing countries;
e. Study of the use of persistent organohalogens that are liable to accumulate in the marine environment to identify those that cannot be adequately controlled and to provide a basis for a decision on a time schedule for phasing them out as soon as practicable;
f. Establishment of a clearing-house for information on marine pollution control, including processes and technologies to address marine pollution control, and support for their transfer to developing and other countries with demonstrated needs.
(c) Human resource development

17.38. States individually or in cooperation with each other and with the support of international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, as appropriate, should:
a. Provide training for critical personnel required for the adequate protection of the marine environment as identified by training needs' surveys at the national, regional or subregional levels;
b. Promote the introduction of marine environmental protection topics into the curriculum of marine studies programmes;
c. Establish training courses for oil- and chemical-spill response personnel, in cooperation, where appropriate, with the oil and chemical industries;
d. Conduct workshops on environmental aspects of port operations and development;
e. Strengthen and provide secure financing for new and existing specialized international centres of professional maritime education;
f. States should, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, support and supplement the national efforts of developing countries as regards human resource development in relation to prevention and reduction of degradation of the marine environment.
(d) Capacity-building

17.39. National planning and coordinating bodies should be given the capacity and authority to review all land-based activities and sources of pollution for their impacts on the marine environment and to propose appropriate control measures.

17.40. Research facilities should be strengthened or, where appropriate, developed in developing countries for systematic observation of marine pollution, environmental impact assessment and development of control recommendations and should be managed and staffed by local experts.

17.41. Special arrangements will be needed to provide adequate financial and technical resources to assist developing countries in preventing and solving problems associated with activities that threaten the marine environment.

17.42. An international funding mechanism should be created for the application of appropriate sewage treatment technologies and building sewage treatment facilities, including grants or concessional loans from international agencies and appropriate regional funds, replenished at least in part on a revolving basis by user fees.

17.43. In carrying out these programme activities, particular attention needs to be given to the problems of developing countries that would bear an unequal burden because of their lack of facilities, expertise or technical capacities.

C. Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources of the high seas

Basis for action

17.44. Over the last decade, fisheries on the high seas have considerably expanded and currently represent approximately 5 per cent of total world landings. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the marine living resources of the high seas sets forth rights and obligations of States with respect to conservation and utilization of those resources.

17.45. However, management of high seas fisheries, including the adoption, monitoring and enforcement of effective conservation measures, is inadequate in many areas and some resources are overutilized. There are problems of unregulated fishing, overcapitalization, excessive fleet size, vessel reflagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases and lack of sufficient cooperation between States. Action by States whose nationals and vessels fish on the high seas, as well as cooperation at the bilateral, subregional, regional and global levels, is essential particularly for highly migratory species and straddling stocks. Such action and cooperation should address inadequacies in fishing practices, as well as in biological knowledge, fisheries statistics and improvement of systems for handling data. Emphasis should also be on multi-species management and other approaches that take into account the relationships among species, especially in addressing depleted species, but also in identifying the potential of underutilized or unutilized populations.

Objectives

17.46. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources on the high seas. To this end, it is necessary to:
a. Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals;
b. Maintain or restore populations of marine species at levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield as qualified by relevant environmental and economic factors, taking into consideration relationships among species;

c. Promote the development and use of selective fishing gear and practices that minimize waste in the catch of target species and minimize by-catch of non-target species;
d. Ensure effective monitoring and enforcement with respect to fishing activities;
e. Protect and restore endangered marine species;
f. Preserve habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas;
g. Promote scientific research with respect to the marine living resources in the high seas.
17.47. Nothing in paragraph 17.46 above restricts the right of a State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals on the high seas more strictly than provided for in that paragraph. States shall cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and, in the case of cetaceans, shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.

17.48. The ability of developing countries to fulfil the above objectives is dependent upon their capabilities, including the financial, scientific and technological means at their disposal. Adequate financial, scientific and technological cooperation should be provided to support action by them to implement these objectives.

Activities

(a) Management-related activities

17.49. States should take effective action, including bilateral and multilateral cooperation, where appropriate at the subregional, regional and global levels, to ensure that high seas fisheries are managed in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In particular, they should:
a. Give full effect to these provisions with regard to fisheries populations whose ranges lie both within and beyond exclusive economic zones (straddling stocks);
b. Give full effect to these provisions with regard to highly migratory species;
c. Negotiate, where appropriate, international agreements for the effective management and conservation of fishery stocks;
d. Define and identify appropriate management units;
e. States should convene, as soon as possible, an intergovernmental conference under United Nations auspices, taking into account relevant activities at the subregional, regional and global levels, with a view to promoting effective implementation of the provisions of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks. The conference, drawing, inter alia, on scientific and technical studies by FAO, should identify and assess existing problems related to the conservation and management of such fish stocks, and consider means of improving cooperation on fisheries among States, and formulate appropriate recommendations. The work and the results of the conference should be fully consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in particular the rights and obligations of coastal States and States fishing on the high seas.

17.50. States should ensure that fishing activities by vessels flying their flags on the high seas take place in a manner so as to minimize incidental catch.