Exploring the legal status and key features of ecosystem‐based fisheries management in international fisheries law

• Date: 01 November 2018
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12254
• Author: Abdullah Al Arif

REGULAR ARTICLE

Exploring the legal status and key features of ecosystem‐

based fisheries management in international fisheries law

Abdullah Al Arif

Correspondence

Email: abduarif@gmail.com Ecosystem‐based fisheries management (EBFM) has been considered to be a solu-

tion to the multifarious problems of fisheries management in areas within and

beyond national jurisdictions. However, the literature has introduced different ver-

sions of EBFM and there are controversies among commentators concerning the

legal status of EBFM in international fisheries law. This article seeks to examine the

legal status of EBFM. It also explores the essential features that an EBFM model

should incorporate to function effectively. The article argues that the implementa-

tion of EBFM has been gaining ground as a legal obligation in international fisheries

law.

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INTRODUCTION

The international community has been discussing and debating fish-

eries management for many years. Consequently, several international

legal instruments emerged with a view to managing marine fisheries

resources within and beyond national jurisdictions. Prominent among

them are the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living

Resources of the High Seas,

1

the United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),

2

the United Nations (UN) Fish Stocks

Agreement

3

and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Code of

Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

4

Along with those, several other

international environmental legal instruments also impact States in their

conduct of fishing, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity

(CBD),

5

the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),

6

Agenda 21

7

and the Johannesburg

Declaration on Sustainable Development.

8

The provisions of these

instruments, several decisions of international dispute settlement bod-

ies, State practice and scholarly publications on fisheries management

demonstrate that there is a growing consensus among the international

community in favour of adopting ecosystem‐based fisheries manage-

ment (EBFM).

9

EBFM is an integrated approach to fisheries manage-

ment that considers the interaction and interdependence of various

species within an ecosystem, including humans. The EB FM model has

several basic features, including: (i) application of a c onditional

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1

Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas

(adopted 29 April 1958, entered into force 20 March 1966) 559 UNTS 285.

2

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (adopted 10 December 1982, entered

into force 16 November 1994) 1833 UNTS 3 (UNCLOS).

3

Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management

of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (adopted 4 December 1995,

entered into force 11 December 2001) [2001] ATS 8 (UN Fish Stocks Agreement).

4

FAO, ‘Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries’(1995) (FAO Code).

5

Convention on Biological Diversity (adopted 5 June 1992, entered into force 29 December

1993) 1760 UNTS 79 (CBD).

6

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(adopted 3 March 1973, entered into force 1 July 1975) 993 UNTS 243 (CITES).

7

UNGA ‘Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development’UN Doc A/

CONF.151/26 (14 June 1992) (Agenda 21).

8

‘Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Plan of Implementation of the

World Summit on Sustainable Development’UN Doc A/CONF.199/20 (4 September 2002)

(WSSD Report).

9

FAO, ‘The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries’, FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible

Fisheries No. 4, Suppl. 2 (2003) 11; Ocean Studies Board and National Research Council,

Sustaining Marine Fisheries (National Academies Press 1999) 2; DDP Pinto, Fisheries Manage-

ment in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: The Impact of Ecosystem-based Law-making (Marti-

nus Nijhoff 2012) 4; EJ Molenaar, ‘Ecosystem‐based Fisheries Management, Commercial

Fisheries, Marine Mammals and the 2001 Reykjavik Declaration in the Context of Interna-

tional Law’(2002) 17 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 561, 571; LW Bots-

ford, JC Castilla and CH Peterson, ‘The Management of Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems’

(1997) 277 Science 509, 512; EK Pikitch et al, ‘Ecosystem‐based Fishery Management’

(2004) 305 Science 346, 346.

DOI: 10.1111/reel.12254

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