UN-Truth

The United Nations General Assembly called on States to take “‘immediate action” to sustainably manage fish stocks, and protect vulnerable deep sea ecosystems from harmful fishing practices.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10551.doc.htm

In debate last week, the UN General Assembly members expressed particular concern that “illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing constituted a serious threat to fish stocks and marine habitats and ecosystems, to the detriment of sustainable fisheries, as well as the food security and the economies of many States”. 

The Law of the Sea, adopted after years of intensive diplomatic negotiations, created three institutions: the International Seabed Authority, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

A UN press release on the GA discussions reports that “ongoing negotiations led the Assembly to postpone to a later date adoption of its traditional omnibus text on that Treaty.  The Assembly, therefore, urged States to exercise effective control over their nationals, including beneficial owners, and vessels flying their flag, in order to prevent and deter them from engaging in or supporting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities, and to facilitate mutual assistance to ensure that such actions can be investigated and proper sanctions imposed.  It further urged States to take effective measures, at the national, regional and global levels, to deter the activities of any vessel which undermined conservation and management measures that had been adopted by regional and subregional fisheries management organizations and arrangements”.

Filed under: Law of the Sea Convention, UN General Assembly