06/06/2005 – The Conference
on the Governance of High Seas Fisheries has
ended with the world’s top fishing nations
failing to seize the opportunity to commit
to an action plan to protect the high seas.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Paul Martin, opened
the conference with an appeal to delegates
from more than 40 nations, including Indonesia,
Japan, South Africa and the European Union,
to start the process to stop the pillaging
of our fisheries and oceans once and for all.
More than 60 per cent of the oceans lie beyond
the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of coastal
states, where few regulations exist on commercial
fishing. The United Nations estimates that
52 per cent of the world's fisheries are at
maximum exploitation and 24 per cent are over-exploited.
While the conference, hosted by the Canadian
Government, failed to develop an action plan
for the governance of high seas fisheries,
progress was made on identifying initiatives
to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported
fishing (IUU).
The UN believes about 30 per cent of the
fishing in the world is illegal and unreported,
with many countries failing to meet their
international responsibilities to control
vessels, whether fishing or merchant ships,
that are flying their flags.
"The international community has struggled
with this issue for over 20 years. Delegates
at the conference showed a willingness to
grapple with this thorny issue, with respect
to fishing vessels at least." said WWF’s
High Seas Adviser, Alistair Graham. "This
could be a significant breakthrough if followed
with action."
While the conference agreed to strengthen
efforts to monitor, control and conduct surveillance
of fishing, WWF urges nations to implement
the recommendations of the Ministerially-led
High Seas Task Force and establish two centres
- one for collecting and publishing information
on fishing vessels and the other to coordinate
the monitoring, control and surveillance network.
Delegates at the conference renewed their
commitment to encourage nations to ratify
the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, which ensures
that migratory and straddling stocks are managed
more sustainably.
However, WWF is disappointed at the conference’s
lack of agreement on how to establish effective
regional oceans management to ensure fishing
activities are managed on an ecosystem-basis.
"While Ministers agreed on the urgency
of the situation, the results of the conference
are clearly not enough to stop the severe
decline of the world’s marine ecosystems,"
said WWF-Canada's Director of Marine Conservation,
Joshua Laughren. "Countries must build
on the momentum of the meeting and work to
secure an action plan to protect the high
seas."
