17.51. States should take effective action consistent with international law to monitor and control fishing activities by vessels flying their flags on the high seas to ensure compliance with applicable conservation and management rules, including full, detailed, accurate and timely reporting of catches and effort.
17.52. States should take effective action, consistent with international law, to deter reflagging of vessels by their nationals as a means of avoiding compliance with applicable conservation and management rules for fishing activities on the high seas.
17.53. States should prohibit dynamiting, poisoning and other comparable destructive fishing practices.
17.54. States should fully implement General Assembly resolution 46/215 on large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing.
17.55. States should take measures to increase the availability of marine living resources as human food by reducing wastage, post-harvest losses and discards, and improving techniques of processing, distribution and transportation.
(b) Data and information
17.56.
States, with the support of international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, as
appropriate, should cooperate to:
a.
Promote enhanced collection of data necessary for the conservation and sustainable use
of the marine living resources of the high seas;
b.
Exchange on a regular basis up-to-date data and information adequate for fisheries
assessment;
c.
Develop and share analytical and predictive tools, such as stock assessment and
bioeconomic models;
d.
Establish or expand appropriate monitoring and assessment programmes.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
17.57. States, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation and within the framework of subregional and regional fisheries bodies, as appropriate, and with the support of other international intergovernmental agencies, should assess high seas resource potentials and develop profiles of all stocks (target and non-target).
17.58. States should, where and as appropriate, ensure adequate coordination and cooperation in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and between subregional, regional and global intergovernmental fisheries bodies.
17.59. Effective cooperation within existing subregional, regional or global fisheries bodies should be encouraged. Where such organizations do not exist, States should, as appropriate, cooperate to establish such organizations.
17.60. States with an interest in a high seas fishery regulated by an existing subregional and/or regional high seas fisheries organization of which they are not members should be encouraged to join that organization, where appropriate.
17.61.
States recognize:
a.
The responsibility of the International Whaling Commission for the conservation and
management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling pursuant to the 1946
International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling;
b.
The work of the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee in carrying out
studies of large whales in particular, as well as of other cetaceans;
c.
The work of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
and the Agreement on Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea under the Bonn
Convention, in the conservation, management and study of cetaceans and other marine
mammals.
17.62.
States should cooperate for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
17.63. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be about $12 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
17.64. States, with the support of relevant international organizations, where necessary, should develop collaborative technical and research programmes to improve understanding of the life cycles and migrations of species found on the high seas, including identifying critical areas and life stages.
17.65.
States, with the support of relevant internat ional organizations, whether subregional, regional or
global, as appropriate, should:
a.
Develop databases on the high seas marine living resources and fisheries;
b.
Collect and correlate marine environmental data with high seas marine living resources
data, including the impacts of regional and global changes brought about by natural
causes and by human activities;
c.
Cooperate in coordinating research programmes to provide the knowledge necessary to
manage high seas resources.
(c) Human resource development
17.66. Human resource development at the national level should be targeted at both development and management of high seas resources, including training in high seas fishing techniques and in high seas resource assessment, strengthening cadres of personnel to deal with high seas resource management and conservation and related environmental issues, and training observers and inspectors to be placed on fishing vessels.
(d) Capacity-building
17.67. States, with the support, where appropriate, of relevant international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, should cooperate to develop or upgrade systems and institutional
structures for monitoring, control and surveillance, as well as the research capacity for assessment of marine living resource populati ons.
17.68. Special support, including cooperation among States, will be needed to enhance the capacities of developing countries in the areas of data and information, scientific and technological means, and human resource development in order to participate ef fectively in the conservation and sustainable utilization of high seas marine living resources.
D. Sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources under national jurisdiction
Basis for action
17.69. Marine fisheries yield 80 to 90 million tons of fish and shellfish per year, 95 per cent of which is taken from waters under national jurisdiction. Yields have increased nearly fivefold over the past four decades. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on marine living resources of the exclusive economic zone and other areas under national jurisdiction set forth rights and obligations of States with respect to conservation and utilization of those resources.
17.70. Marine living resources provide an important source of protei n in many countries and their use is often of major importance to local communities and indigenous people. Such resources provide food and livelihoods to millions of people and, if sustainably utilized, offer increased potential to meet nutritional and soc ial needs, particularly in developing countries. To realize this potential requires improved knowledge and identification of marine living resource stocks, particularly of underutilized and unutilized stocks and species, use of new technologies, better han dling and processing facilities to avoid wastage, and improved quality and training of skilled personnel to manage and conserve effectively the marine living resources of the exclusive economic zone and other areas under national jurisdiction. Emphasis sho uld also be on multi -species management and other approaches that take into account the relationships among species.
17.71. Fisheries in many areas under national jurisdiction face mounting problems, including local overfishing, unauthorized incursions by fore ign fleets, ecosystem degradation, overcapitalization and excessive fleet sizes, underevaluation of catch, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases, and increasing competition between artisanal and large -scale fishing, and between fishing and ot her types of activities.
17.72. Problems extend beyond fisheries. Coral reefs and other marine and coastal habitats, such as mangroves and estuaries, are among the most highly diverse, integrated and productive of the Earth's ecosystems. They often serve import ant ecological functions, provide coastal protection, and are critical resources for food, energy, tourism and economic development. In many parts of the world, such marine and coastal systems are under stress or are threatened from a variety of sources, b oth human and natural.
Objectives
17.73. Coastal States, particularly developing countries and States whose economies are overwhelmingly dependent on the exploitation of the marine living resources of their exclusive economic zones, should obtain the full so cial and economic benefits from sustainable utilization of marine living resources within their exclusive economic zones and other areas under national jurisdiction.
17.74. States commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resour ces under
national jurisdiction. 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.
Take into account traditional knowledge and interests of local communities, small-scale
artisanal fisheries and indigenous people in development and management programmes;
c.
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;
d.
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;
e.
Protect and restore endangered marine species;
f.
Preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as habitats and other ecologically sensitive
areas.
17.75.
Nothing in paragraph 17.74 above restricts the right of a coastal State or the competence of an
international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine
mammals 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.
17.76. 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
17.77. States should ensure that marine living resources of the exclusive economic zone and other areas under national jurisdiction are conserved and managed in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
17.78. States, in implementing the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, should address the issues of straddling stocks and highly migratory species, and, taking fully into account the objective set out in paragraph 17.73, access to the surplus of allowable catches.
17.79.
Coastal States, individually or through bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation and with the
support, as appropriate of international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, should
inter alia:
a.
Assess the potential of marine living resources, including underutilized or unutilized
stocks and species, by developing inventories, where necessary, for their conservation
and sustainable use;
b.
Implement strategies for the sustainable use of marine living resources, taking into
account the special needs and interests of small-scale artisanal fisheries, local
communities and indigenous people to meet human nutritional and other development
needs;
c.
Implement, in particular in developing countries, mechanisms to develop mariculture,
aquaculture and small-scale, deep-sea and oceanic fisheries within areas under national
jurisdiction where assessments show that marine living resources are potentially
available;
d.
Strengthen their legal and regulatory frameworks, where appropriate, including
management, enforcement and surveillance capabilities, to regulate activities related to
the above strategies;
e.
Take measures to increase the availability of marine living resources as human food by
reducing wastage, post-harvest losses and discards, and improving techniques of
processing, distribution and transportation;
f.
Develop and promote the use of environmentally sound technology under criteria
compatible with the sustainable use of marine living resources, including assessment of
the environmental impact of major new fishery practices;
g.
Enhance the productivity and utilization of their marine living resources for food and
income.
17.80.
Coastal States should explore the scope for expanding recreational and tourist activities based on
marine living resources , including those for providing alternative sources of income. Such activities
should be compatible with conservation and sustainable development policies and plans.
17.81.
Coastal States should support the sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries. To this end, they
should, as appropriate:
a.
Integrate small-scale artisanal fisheries development in marine and coastal planning,
taking into account the interests and, where appropriate, encouraging representation of
fishermen, small-scale fisherworkers, women, local communities and indigenous people;
b.
Recognize the rights of small-scale fishworkers and the special situation of indigenous
people and local communities, including their rights to utilization and protection of their
habitats on a sustainable basis ;
c.
Develop systems for the acquisition and recording of traditional knowledge concerning
marine living resources and environment and promote the incorporation of such
knowledge into management systems.
17.82.
Coastal States should ensure that, in the negotiation and implementation of international
agreements on the development or conservation of marine living resources, the interests of local
communities and indigenous people are taken into account, in particular their right to subsistence.
17.83. Coastal States, with the support, as appropriate, of international organizations should conduct analyses of the potential for aquaculture in marine and coastal areas under national jurisdiction and apply appropriate safeguards as to the introduction of new species.
17.84. States should prohibit dynamiting, poisoning and other comparable destructive fishing practices.
17.85.
States should identify marine ecosystems exhibiting high levels of biodiversity and productivity
and other critical habitat areas and should provide necessary limit ations on use in these areas,
through, inter alia, designation of protected areas. Priority should be accorded, as appropriate, to:
a.
Coral reef ecosystems;
b.
Estuaries;
c.
Temperate and tropical wetlands, including mangroves;
d.
Seagrass beds;