Sustainable Fisheries, Including Through the 1995 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, and Related Instruments

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 76b Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

23 versions · 2004–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/109

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/109	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments	25,857	92%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/145	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments	24,873	87%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/68	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments	23,917	87%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/118	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments	23,308	85%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/71	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments	22,019	92%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

11 reports · 2004–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/88	Actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to relevant paragraphs of General Assembly resolutions 64/72, 66/68 and 77/118, on sustainable fisheries, addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/145
2022	A/77/155	Actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of General Assembly resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of General Assembly resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of General Assembly resolution 71/123 on sustainable fisheries, addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/89
2020	A/75/157	Actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of General Assembly resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of General Assembly resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of General Assembly resolution 71/123 on sustainable fisheries, addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/73/125
2016	A/71/351	Actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of General Assembly resolution 64/72 and paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of General Assembly resolution 66/68 on sustainable fisheries, addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/69/109
2012	A/67/315	Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments report of the Secretary-General

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 subjects

Drift-Net Fishing Fisheries Fisheries Bycatch Fishery Conservation Fishery Exploitation Fishery Management Fishery Products Fishery Resources International Instruments Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

253 operative paragraphs

I.Achieving sustainable fisheries

Reaffirms the importance that it attaches to the long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of the living marine resources of the world’s oceans and seas and the obligations of States to cooperate to this end, in accordance with international law, as reflected in the relevant provisions of the Convention, in particular the provisions on cooperation set out in Part V and Part VII, section 2, of the Convention, and where applicable, the Agreement;

Calls upon all States that have not done so, in order to achieve the goal of universal participation, to become parties to the Convention, which sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, taking into account the relationship between the Convention and the Agreement;

Notes with satisfaction that, in “The future we want”,¹⁵ States addressed the sustainable development of fisheries, recognized the significant contribution of fisheries to the three dimensions of sustainable development and stressed the crucial role of healthy marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture for food security and nutrition and in providing for the livelihoods of millions of people, and encourages States to implement the commitments made in “The future we want”;

¹⁵Resolution 66/288, annex.

Calls upon States to implement the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the outcome document of the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, as adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 70/1, including Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, recalling that some of its targets are to be met by 2020 and that the Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible;

Reiterates, in this regard, the call for action to be taken on an urgent basis to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development made in the declaration entitled “Our ocean, our future: call for action”;¹⁶

¹⁶Resolution 71/312, annex.

Encourages States to give due priority to the implementation of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation)¹⁷ in relation to achieving sustainable fisheries, especially restoring depleted stocks to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield on an urgent basis and, where possible, not later than 2015, and recalls that, in “The future we want”, States committed themselves to intensify their efforts to meet that target and to urgently take the measures necessary to maintain or restore all stocks at least to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, with the aim of achieving those goals in the shortest time feasible, as determined by their biological characteristics, and in order to achieve this, to urgently develop and implement science-based management plans, including by reducing or suspending fishing catch and fishing effort commensurate with the status of the stock, consistent with international law, the applicable international instruments and relevant General Assembly resolutions and guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

¹⁷Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August–4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex.

Also encourages States to promote the consumption of fish sourced from sustainably managed fisheries;

Further encourages States to consider sustainable aquaculture, consistent with the Code, as a means to promote diversification of the food supply and of income, while ensuring that aquaculture is conducted responsibly and adverse impacts on the environment are minimized;

Welcomes the convening of the high-level midterm review of the outcome document of the third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, entitled “SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway”,¹⁸ in September 2019, reaffirms its resolution 74/3 of 10 October 2019, by which it adopted the political declaration of the high-level meeting to review progress made in addressing the priorities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Samoa Pathway, which notes the importance of oceans, seas and marine resources to small island developing States and acknowledges their efforts to develop and implement strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources, and emphasizes the need for the full implementation of the Samoa Pathway;

¹⁸Resolution 69/15, annex.

Expresses its serious concern regarding the impacts of global climate change and ocean acidification on coral reefs and other ecosystems relevant to fisheries, and urges States, either directly or through appropriate subregional, regional or global organizations or arrangements, to intensify efforts to assess and address, as appropriate, the impacts of global climate change and ocean acidification on the sustainability of fish stocks and the habitats that support them, in particular the most affected ones;

Notes, in this regard, the special report on the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and notes with concern the findings contained therein;

Also notes the concern expressed by the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, at its thirty-third session, with regard to the vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture communities to climate change and extreme events and, in particular, the impacts on small-scale fisheries and small island developing States, and urges States to consider appropriate action in this regard;

Emphasizes the obligations of flag States to discharge their responsibilities, in accordance with the Convention, the Agreement and the Compliance Agreement, to ensure compliance by vessels flying their flag with the conservation and management measures adopted and in force with respect to fisheries resources on the high seas;

Calls upon States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to assess the risks and potential adverse impacts of climate change with respect to fish stocks, consider them when establishing conservation and management measures and identifying options to reduce risks and adverse impacts with respect to fisheries management and the health and resilience of marine ecosystems and enhance efforts to cooperate to collect, exchange and publish scientific and technical data and best practices related to the development and implementation of adaptation strategies, and to assist developing States in this regard, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change;

Encourages States and relevant organizations and arrangements to assess and consider the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture sectors in their policies and planning, as appropriate, in order to identify effective adaptation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors to climate change;

Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to apply widely, in accordance with international law and the Code, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches to the conservation, management and exploitation of fish stocks, and also calls upon States parties to the Agreement to implement fully the provisions of article 6 of the Agreement as a matter of priority;

Urges States to increase their reliance on scientific advice in developing, adopting and implementing conservation and management measures, and to increase their efforts, including through international cooperation, to promote science for conservation and management measures that apply, in accordance with international law, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, enhancing understanding of ecosystem approaches, in order to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources, and in this regard encourages the implementation of the Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a framework for the improvement and understanding of fishery status and trends;

Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to apply stock-specific target and limit precautionary reference points, which, for target reference points, are intended to meet management objectives, as described in annex II to the Agreement and in the Code, to ensure that populations of harvested stocks and, where necessary, associated or dependent species are maintained at or restored to sustainable levels, and to use these reference points for triggering conservation and management action;

Encourages States, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to establish and implement rebuilding and recovery strategies and plans where a stock is identified as being overfished, which should include time frames and probabilities of recovery aimed at bringing the stock back at least to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, and guided by scientific assessment and subjected to a periodic evaluation of progress;

Also encourages States to apply the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches in adopting and implementing conservation and management measures addressing, inter alia, by-catch, pollution and overfishing, and protecting habitats of specific concern, taking into account existing guidelines developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

Further encourages States to enhance or develop observer programmes, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, in order to improve data collection on, inter alia, target and by-catch species, which could also assist monitoring, control and surveillance tools, and to take into account standards, forms of cooperation and other existing structures for such programmes as described in article 25 of the Agreement and article 5 of the Code;

Calls upon, in this regard, States, individually in line with their national legislation or through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, to take steps as appropriate to ensure the safety of observers;

Encourages States to implement, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, accurate, complete, reliable and effective data collection and reporting of required data on catches, including by catch and discards, reviewing and validating the data, and providing catch information in support of scientific stock assessment and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, while noting the importance, particularly for developing countries, of improving the capacity to collect accurate, complete, reliable and effective data;

Calls upon States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to collect and, where appropriate, report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations required catch and effort data, and fishery-related information, in a complete, accurate and timely way, including for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks within and beyond areas under national jurisdiction, discrete high seas fish stocks, and by-catch and discards; and, where they do not exist, to establish processes to strengthen data collection and reporting by members of regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, including through regular reviews of member compliance with such obligations, and, when such obligations are not met, require the member concerned to rectify the problem, including through the preparation of plans of action with timelines;

Invites States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to cooperate with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the implementation and further development of the Fisheries Resources Monitoring System initiative;

Reaffirms paragraph 10 of its resolution 61/105 of 8 December 2006, and calls upon States, including through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, to urgently adopt and implement measures to fully implement the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks for directed and non-directed shark fisheries, based on the best available scientific information, through, inter alia, limits on catch or fishing effort, by requiring that vessels flying their flag collect and regularly report data on shark catches, including species-specific data, discards and landings, undertaking, including through international cooperation, comprehensive stock assessments of sharks, reducing shark by-catch and by-catch mortality and, where scientific information is uncertain or inadequate, not increasing fishing effort in directed shark fisheries and urgently establishing science-based management measures to ensure the long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of shark stocks and to prevent further declines of vulnerable or threatened shark stocks, and encourages the full utilization of dead sharks caught in the context of sustainably managed fisheries;

Calls upon States to take immediate and concerted action to improve the implementation of and compliance with existing regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements and national measures that regulate shark fisheries and incidental catch of sharks, in particular those measures which prohibit or restrict fisheries conducted solely for the purpose of harvesting shark fins and, where necessary, to consider taking other measures, as appropriate, such as requiring that all sharks be landed with each fin naturally attached;

Calls upon regional fisheries management organizations with the competence to regulate highly migratory species to strengthen or establish precautionary, science-based conservation and management measures, as appropriate, for sharks taken in fisheries within their convention areas consistent with the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks;

Encourages range States and regional economic integration organizations that have not yet done so to become signatories to and implement the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, and invites non-range States, intergovernmental organizations and international and national non-governmental organizations or other relevant bodies and entities to consider becoming cooperating partners;

Encourages States, as appropriate, to cooperate in establishing non-detriment findings for shared stocks of marine species listed in appendices I and II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, consistent with the concepts and non-binding guiding principles contained in resolution Conf. 16.7 on non-detriment findings, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora;

Urges States to eliminate barriers to trade in fish and fisheries products which are not consistent with their rights and obligations under the World Trade Organization agreements, taking into account the importance of the trade in fish and fisheries products, particularly for developing countries;

Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States committed themselves to observing the need to ensure access to fisheries and the importance of access to markets by subsistence, small-scale and artisanal fisherfolk and women fish workers, as well as indigenous peoples and their communities, particularly in developing countries, especially small island developing States;

Notes that the Committee on Fisheries encouraged the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to provide capacity development and technical support to small-scale fisheries, including by addressing socioeconomics, gender dimensions, and post-harvest and data-collection challenges in the sector;

Urges States and relevant international and national organizations to provide for the participation of small-scale fishery stakeholders in related policy development and fisheries management strategies in order to achieve long-term sustainability for such fisheries, consistent with the duty to ensure the proper conservation and management of fisheries resources, and encourages States to consider promoting, as appropriate, participatory management schemes for small-scale fisheries in accordance with national laws, regulations and practices, as well as the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

Welcomes action taken by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and a number of regional organizations to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication through regional plans of action, dedicated working groups and other initiatives;

Encourages States, either directly or through competent and appropriate subregional, regional or global organizations and arrangements, to analyse, as appropriate, the impact of fishing for marine species corresponding to low trophic levels;

Welcomes, in this regard, the initiation of further studies by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations of the impact of industrial fishing activities on species corresponding to low trophic levels;

Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to assess and consider the potential risk and effects of genetically engineered fish species on the health and sustainability of wild fish stocks and on the biodiversity of the aquatic environment and to provide guidance, consistent with the Code, on managing risk and minimizing harmful impacts in this regard;

Also invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in consultation with other relevant international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization, to promote awareness and cooperation to develop and strengthen capacity to prevent, minimize and mitigate the adverse impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity, including fish stocks;

Calls upon States to consider the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise from different activities in the marine environment and to address and mitigate such impacts, taking into account the best available scientific information, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches, as appropriate;

II.Implementation of the 1995 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

Welcomes the most recent accession to the Agreement, and calls upon all States, and entities referred to in the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement, that have not done so to ratify or accede to the Agreement and in the interim to consider applying it provisionally;

Calls upon States parties to the Agreement to effectively implement, as a matter of priority, the provisions of the Agreement through their national legislation and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in which they participate;

Emphasizes the importance of those provisions of the Agreement relating to bilateral, subregional and regional cooperation in enforcement, and urges continued efforts in this regard;

Urges States parties to the Agreement, in accordance with article 21, paragraph 4, thereof, to inform, either directly or through the relevant subregional or regional fisheries management organization or arrangement, all States whose vessels fish on the high seas in the same subregion or region of the form of identification issued by those States parties to officials duly authorized to carry out boarding and inspection functions in accordance with articles 21 and 22 of the Agreement;

Also urges States parties to the Agreement, in accordance with article 21, paragraph 4, thereof, to designate an appropriate authority to receive notifications pursuant to article 21 and to give due publicity to such designation through the relevant subregional or regional fisheries management organization or arrangement;

Invites regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements which have not yet done so to adopt procedures for high seas boarding and inspection that are consistent with articles 21 and 22 of the Agreement, including, inter alia, those to ensure the safety of the crew and the inspectors;

Calls upon States, individually and, as appropriate, through subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with competence over discrete high seas fish stocks, to adopt the measures necessary to ensure the long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of such stocks in accordance with the Convention and consistent with the Code and the general principles set forth in the Agreement;

Invites States to assist developing States in enhancing their participation in regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, including by facilitating access to fisheries for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, in accordance with article 25, paragraph 1 (b), of the Agreement, taking into account the need to ensure that such access benefits the developing States concerned and their nationals;

Urges States parties to the Agreement, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to take into account the special requirements of developing States, including small island developing States as highlighted in the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway, in giving effect to the duty to cooperate in the establishment of conservation and management measures for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, including the need to ensure, where appropriate, in accordance with article 24, paragraph 2 (c), of the Agreement, that such measures do not transfer a disproportionate burden of conservation action onto developing States, and notes in this regard ongoing efforts to better develop a common understanding of this concept;

Calls upon States and international financial institutions and organizations of the United Nations system to provide assistance according to Part VII of the Agreement, including, if appropriate, the development of special financial mechanisms or instruments to assist developing States, in particular the least developed among them and small island developing States, to enable them to develop their national capacity to exploit fisheries resources, including developing their domestically flagged fishing fleet, value-added processing and the expansion of their economic base in the fishing industry, consistent with the duty to ensure the proper conservation and management of fisheries resources;

Urges States, intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, national institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as natural and juridical persons, to make voluntary financial contributions to the Assistance Fund established under Part VII of the Agreement;

Welcomes the adoption on 3 May 2019 of the revised terms of reference of the Assistance Fund established under Part VII of the Agreement at the fourteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement;

Encourages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat (the Division) to continue their efforts to publicize the availability of assistance through the Assistance Fund;

Encourages accelerated progress by States, individually and, as appropriate, through subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, regarding the recommendations of the Review Conference on the Agreement, held in New York from 22 to 26 May 2006,¹⁹ and the identification of emerging priorities;

¹⁹See A/CONF.210/2006/15, annex.

Encourages States, individually and, as appropriate, through subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to consider implementing, as appropriate, the recommendations of the resumed Review Conference held in New York from 24 to 28 May 2010²⁰ and from 23 to 27 May 2016;²¹

²⁰See A/CONF.210/2010/7, annex.

²¹See A/CONF.210/2016/5, annex.

Acknowledges, in particular, the commitments made at the resumed Review Conference held in 2016 to the continued implementation of the Agreement through the application of the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, the urgent improvement of the status of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, strengthened interaction of the science-policy interface and the strong emphasis on collaboration, at all levels, for improved global fisheries outcomes;

Recalls that the resumed Review Conference agreed to keep the Agreement under review through the resumption of the Review Conference at a date not earlier than 2020, notes the agreement at the fourteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement that the Review Conference should be resumed in 2021, and takes note of the decision of States parties to the Agreement, through a consultation by correspondence conducted by the Chair of the fifteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement, to postpone the resumption of the Review Conference on the Agreement to 2022, to invite the General Assembly to take note of the decision and to take any appropriate subsequent steps;

Requests, in this regard, the Secretary-General to resume the Review Conference, convened pursuant to article 36 of the Agreement, in New York for one week in the first part of 2022, with a view to assessing the effectiveness of the Agreement in securing the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, and to render the necessary assistance and provide such services as may be required for the resumption of the Review Conference;

Encourages wide participation in the resumed Review Conference, in accordance with article 36 of the Agreement;

Recalls its request, in paragraph 60 of resolution 74/18, that the Secretary-General submit to the resumed Review Conference an updated report, prepared in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and with the assistance of an expert consultant to be hired by the Division to provide information and analysis on relevant technical and scientific issues to be covered in the report, to assist the Review Conference in discharging its mandate under article 36, paragraph 2, of the Agreement, and in this regard also reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to develop and circulate to States and to regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in a timely manner a voluntary questionnaire regarding the recommendations made by the Review Conference in 2016, taking into account the specific guidance to be proposed at the fifteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement in 2021;

Recalls paragraph 6 of resolution 56/13 of 28 November 2001 and the recommendation of the resumed Review Conference in 2016 that the informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement be dedicated, on an annual basis, to the consideration of specific issues arising from the implementation of the Agreement, with a view to improving understanding, sharing experiences and identifying best practices for the consideration of States parties, as well as the General Assembly and the Review Conference;

Takes note of the report of the fourteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement, focusing on the topic “Performance reviews of regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements”;²²

²²Available from the web page of the Agreement maintained by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

Requests the Secretary-General to convene the fifteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement, if conditions allow, for three days in the second half of 2021: two days to focus on the topic “Implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management” and one day to serve as a preparatory meeting for the resumed Review Conference;

Encourages greater participation, including by competent international organizations, at the forthcoming fifteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement;

Requests the Secretary-General to invite States parties to the Agreement and, as observers, States and entities referred to in the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement not parties to the Agreement, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant organizations, bodies, funds and programmes within the United Nations system, the secretariats of relevant organizations and conventions and other relevant intergovernmental organizations and bodies, in particular subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and related regional intergovernmental marine science organizations, and relevant non-governmental organizations, in accordance with past practice, to attend the fifteenth round of informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement, while relevant scientific institutions may request an invitation to participate in the consultations as observers;

Recalls its request, in resolution 74/18, for the Secretary-General to invite States parties to the Agreement, as well as States and entities referred to in the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement not parties to the Agreement and others invited to participate in the consultations as observers pursuant to paragraph 66 of the present resolution, to submit their views on the topic “Implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management”, together with a translation into English, to the Division, and requests the Division to post such views, unedited and in the languages in which they are received, on its website, in accordance with past practice;

Invites the chairperson of the informal consultations of States parties to the Agreement to circulate widely, through the Secretariat, an informal summary of the discussions at the fifteenth round;

Reaffirms its request that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations initiate arrangements with States for the collection and dissemination of data on fishing on the high seas by vessels flying their flag at the subregional and regional levels where no such arrangements exist;

Also reaffirms its request that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations revise its global fisheries statistics database to provide information on straddling fish stocks, highly migratory fish stocks and discrete high seas fish stocks on the basis of where the catch is taken;

Notes that the Committee on Fisheries, at its thirty-third session, emphasized, in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the need to ensure comparability and consistency of reporting indicators at global, regional and national levels, while minimizing the burden on its members;

Recognizes that the Review Conference is the competent intergovernmental forum for assessing the effectiveness of the Agreement by reviewing its implementation;

III.Related fisheries instruments

Emphasizes the importance of the effective implementation of the provisions of the Compliance Agreement, and urges continued efforts in this regard;

Calls upon all States and other entities referred to in article X, paragraph 1, of the Compliance Agreement that have not yet become parties to that Agreement to do so as a matter of priority and, in the interim, to consider applying it provisionally;

Urges States and subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to implement and promote the application of the Code within their areas of competence;

Urges States to develop and implement, as a matter of priority, national and, as appropriate, regional plans of action to put into effect the international plans of action of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

Encourages States, in this regard, to maintain their commitment in reporting on their implementation of the Code, reiterates the importance of responding to the web-based questionnaire of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for monitoring the implementation of the Code and the international plans of action and strategies, and notes that the information collected could also be relevant to the implementation of related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also encourages States to consider signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993 relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977;

Welcomes, in this regard, the holding of a Ministerial Conference on Fishing Vessel Safety and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, organized by the International Maritime Organization and the Government of Spain, in Torremolinos, Spain, from 21 to 23 October 2019, to promote the ratification of the Cape Town Agreement, whose entry into force would mandate minimum safety measures for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, and together with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel, 1995, would create a more robust International Maritime Organization regulatory framework for the safety of fishing vessels and fishing vessel personnel;

IV.Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

Emphasizes once again its serious concern that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains one of the greatest threats to fish stocks and marine ecosystems and continues to have serious and major implications for the conservation and management of ocean resources, as well as the food security and the economies of many States, particularly developing States, and renews its call upon States to comply fully with all existing obligations and to combat such fishing and urgently to take all steps necessary to implement the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing;

Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States acknowledged that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing deprive many countries of a crucial natural resource and remain a persistent threat to their sustainable development and recommitted to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as advanced in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, and to prevent and combat those practices, including by developing and implementing national and regional action plans in accordance with the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, implementing, in accordance with international law, effective and coordinated measures by coastal States, flag States, port States, chartering nations and the States of nationality of the beneficial owners and others who support or engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by identifying vessels engaged in such fishing and by depriving offenders of the benefits accruing from it, as well as by cooperating with developing countries to systematically identify needs and build capacity, including support for monitoring, control, surveillance, compliance and enforcement systems;

Notes with satisfaction the development of an increasing number of national plans of action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and calls upon States that have not yet done so to consider developing such plans;

Urges flag States to strengthen effective jurisdiction and control over vessels flying their flag, and to exercise due diligence, including by developing or amending national rules and regulations, where needed, in order to ensure that such vessels do not engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, while reaffirming the importance, under international law, including as reflected in the Convention, of the responsibilities of flag States regarding fishing vessels flying their flag, including with respect to safety at sea and labour conditions on fishing vessels;

Urges States to effectively exercise jurisdiction and control over their nationals, including beneficial owners, and vessels flying their flag, in order to prevent and deter them from engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities or supporting vessels engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities, including those vessels listed by regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements as engaged in those activities, and to facilitate mutual assistance to ensure that such actions can be investigated and proper sanctions imposed;

Encourages States that have not yet done so to establish penalties for non-compliance by vessels involved in fishing or fishing-related activities and their nationals, as appropriate, in accordance with applicable national law and consistent with international law, that are adequate in severity for effectively securing compliance, deterring further violations and depriving offenders of the benefits from their illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities;

Urges States to take effective measures, at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, to deter the activities, including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, of any vessel which undermines conservation and management measures that have been adopted by subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in accordance with international law;

Calls upon States not to permit vessels flying their flag to engage in fishing on the high seas or in areas under the national jurisdiction of other States, unless duly authorized by the authorities of the States concerned and in accordance with the conditions set out in the authorization, and to take specific measures, including deterring the reflagging of vessels by their nationals, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, the Agreement and the Compliance Agreement, to control fishing operations by vessels flying their flag;

Urges States, individually and collectively through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to develop appropriate processes to assess the performance of States with respect to implementing the obligations regarding fishing vessels flying their flag set out in relevant international instruments;

Reaffirms the need to strengthen, where necessary, the international legal framework for intergovernmental cooperation, in particular at the subregional and regional levels, in the management of fish stocks and in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, in a manner consistent with international law, and for States and entities referred to in the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement to collaborate in efforts to address these types of fishing activities;

Urges regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to further coordinate measures for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities, such as through the development of a common list of vessels identified as engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or the mutual recognition of the illegal, unreported and unregulated vessel lists established by each organization or arrangement;

Reaffirms its call upon States to take all necessary measures consistent with international law, without prejudice to a State’s sovereignty over ports in its territory and to reasons of force majeure or distress, including the prohibition of vessels from accessing their ports followed by a report to the flag State concerned, when there is clear evidence that they are or have been engaged in or have supported illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or when they refuse to give information either on the origin of the catch or on the authorization under which the catch has been made;

Reaffirms paragraph 53 of its resolution 64/72 of 4 December 2009 with regard to eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by vessels flying “flags of convenience” and requiring that a “genuine link” be established between States and fishing vessels flying their flags, and urges States operating open registry to effectively control all fishing vessels flying their flag, as required by international law, or otherwise stop open registry for fishing vessels;

Notes the challenges posed by vessels determined under international law to be without nationality that are fishing, including conducting fishing-related activities, on the high seas and that such vessels operate without governance and oversight, undermine relevant legal frameworks and are engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities as defined in the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and encourages States to take necessary measures where appropriate, consistent with international law, in order to prevent and deter vessels without nationality from engaging in or supporting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, such as enacting domestic legislation, including on enforcement, sharing information and prohibiting the landing and preventing trans-shipment, at sea or in port, of fish and fish products by such vessels;

Encourages States, either directly or through competent and appropriate subregional, regional or global organizations and arrangements, to consider adopting rules, consistent with international law, to ensure that chartering arrangements and practices related to fishing vessels enable compliance with and enforcement of relevant conservation and management measures, so as not to undermine efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

Recognizes the need for enhanced port State measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and urges States to cooperate, in particular at the regional level and through subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to adopt all necessary port measures, consistent with international law taking into account article 23 of the Agreement, and to further promote the development and application of standards at the regional level;

Welcomes the recent ratifications of and accessions to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, and encourages States and regional economic integration organizations that have not yet done so to consider ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to that Agreement, noting the importance of major port States becoming parties at their earliest convenience;

Acknowledges, in this regard, the convening of the second meeting of the parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, in Santiago from 3 to 6 June 2019, which, inter alia, considered the status of that Agreement and developments in its implementation;

Notes that, in accordance with article 24 of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, the first review and assessment of the effectiveness of that Agreement in achieving its objective will take place in the context of the third meeting of the parties, to be hosted by the European Union in Brussels from 30 November to 4 December 2020, and encourages the parties to support the review process, including by responding to the questionnaire that will be circulated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for this purpose in June 2020;

Also notes the ongoing capacity development programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations aimed at facilitating and supporting the implementation of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and related instruments, which contributes to the development of national capacity of both parties and non-parties, including the strengthening of the institutional, operational and enforcement capacity of developing States with a view to maximizing the benefits of its implementation, and further notes the contribution of regional workshops to this end;

Recognizes the ongoing collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization, as well as the International Labour Organization, through the Joint Ad Hoc Working Group of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Related Matters with regard to, inter alia, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, maritime safety and decent labour conditions in the fisheries sector, as reflected in the outcomes of the fourth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group, held in Torremolinos from 23 to 25 October 2019, and encourages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization to strengthen this collaboration and update its terms of reference;

100

Encourages States, with respect to vessels flying their flag, and port States, to make every effort to share data on landings and catch quotas, and in this regard encourages regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to consider developing open databases containing such data for the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of fisheries management;

101

Takes note that the Committee on Fisheries, at its thirty-third session, expressed support for the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in continuing to develop technical guidelines for the estimation of the magnitude and geographic extent of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, noting the value of these guidelines for the production of consistent and reliable estimates, determining national, regional, global trends, and measuring the impact of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

102

Calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure that vessels flying their flag do not engage in the trans-shipment of fish caught by fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, through adequate regulation, monitoring and control of trans-shipment of fish at sea, including through additional national measures applicable to vessels flying their flag to prevent such trans-shipment;

103

Urges States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to adopt and implement internationally agreed market-related measures in accordance with international law, including principles, rights and obligations established in World Trade Organization agreements, as called for in the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing;

104

Encourages work to increase awareness of the Voluntary Guidelines for Catch Documentation Schemes,²³ and encourages States and relevant stakeholders to implement these Guidelines when developing catch documentation schemes and to use them as a reference in related activities, with special attention to the prevention, deterrence and elimination of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

²³Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document C/2017/REP, appendix C.

105

Also encourages information-sharing regarding emerging market- and trade-related measures by States and other relevant actors with appropriate international forums, given the potential implications of these measures for all States, consistent with the established plan of work of the Committee on Fisheries, and taking into account the Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fish Trade of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

106

Acknowledges the development of participatory surveillance activities at sea involving fishing communities in West Africa as a cost-effective way of detecting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

107

Notes the concern expressed by the Committee on Fisheries at the proliferation of private standards and ecolabelling schemes potentially leading to the creation of trade barriers and restrictions, and also notes the work by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to develop an evaluation framework to assess the conformity of public and private ecolabelling schemes through the Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries;

108

Also notes the concerns about possible connections between transnational organized crime and illegal fishing in certain regions of the world, and encourages States, including through the appropriate international forums and organizations, to study the causes and methods of and contributing factors to illegal fishing to increase knowledge and understanding of those possible connections, and to make the findings publicly available, and in this regard takes note of the study issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on transnational organized crime in the fishing industry, bearing in mind the distinct legal regimes and remedies under international law applicable to illegal fishing and transnational organized crime;

V.Monitoring, control and surveillance and compliance and enforcement

109

Calls upon States, in accordance with international law, to strengthen the implementation of or, where they do not exist, adopt comprehensive monitoring, control and surveillance measures and compliance and enforcement schemes individually and within those regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements in which they participate, in order to provide an appropriate framework for promoting compliance with agreed conservation and management measures, and further urges enhanced coordination among all relevant States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in these efforts;

110

Welcomes the fact that the Committee on Fisheries has urged its members to start implementing the Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance²⁴ as soon as possible, and urges all flag States to implement those Guidelines as soon as possible, including, as a first step, by carrying out a voluntary assessment;

²⁴Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document COFI/2014/4.2/Rev.1, appendix II.

111

Encourages further work by competent international organizations, including subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to develop guidelines on flag State control of fishing vessels;

112

Urges States, individually and through relevant regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to establish mandatory vessel monitoring, control and surveillance systems, in particular to require that vessel monitoring systems be carried by all vessels fishing on the high seas as soon as practicable, recalling that, in paragraph 62 of resolution 63/112 of 5 December 2008, it urged that large-scale fishing vessels be required to carry vessel monitoring systems no later than December 2008, and to share information on fisheries enforcement matters;

113

Calls upon States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, to strengthen or establish, consistent with national and international law, positive or negative lists of vessels fishing within the areas covered by relevant regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in order to promote compliance with conservation and management measures and to identify products from illegal, unreported and unregulated catches, and encourages improved coordination among all States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in sharing and using this information, taking into account the forms of cooperation with developing States as set out in article 25 of the Agreement;

114

Encourages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in cooperation with States, regional economic integration organizations, the International Maritime Organization and, as appropriate, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to expedite efforts to develop and manage a comprehensive global record of fishing vessels, refrigerated transport vessels and supply vessels, including with a unique vessel identifier system, using, as a first step, the International Maritime Organization Ship Identification Number Scheme for fishing vessels of 100 gross tonnage and above, adopted by the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization in its resolution A.1078(28) of 4 December 2013;

115

Welcomes the continued development of the Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, including its efforts to keep it cost-effective, and encourages States, including through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to provide the necessary data and regular updates to the Global Record;

116

Encourages, in this regard, States to use all available vessel data, including from the Global Integrated Shipping Information System platform, when providing their vessel data to the Global Record;

117

Welcomes the decision by the International Maritime Organization, in resolution A.1117(30) of 6 December 2017, to extend, beyond the first phase of the Global Record, the International Maritime Organization Ship Identification Number Scheme to fishing vessels of steel and non-steel hull construction and to all motorized inboard fishing vessels of less than 100 gross tonnage down to a size limit of 12 metres in length overall authorized to operate outside waters under the national jurisdiction of the flag State, and welcomes the fact that several regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements have made provisions for the International Maritime Organization number to be compulsory in their convention areas for all eligible vessels, and encourages those regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements which have not yet done so to do the same;

118

Requests States and relevant international bodies to develop, in accordance with international law, more effective measures to trace fish and fishery products to enable importing States to identify fish or fishery products caught in a manner that undermines international conservation and management measures agreed in accordance with international law, taking into account the special requirements of developing States and the forms of cooperation with developing States as set out in article 25 of the Agreement, and at the same time to recognize the importance of market access, in accordance with provisions 11.2.4, 11.2.5 and 11.2.6 of the Code, for fish and fishery products caught in a manner that is in conformity with such international measures;

119

Requests States to take the necessary measures, consistent with international law, to help to prevent fish and fishery products caught in a manner that undermines applicable conservation and management measures adopted in accordance with international law from entering international trade;

120

Encourages States to establish and undertake cooperative surveillance and enforcement activities in accordance with international law to strengthen and enhance efforts to ensure compliance with conservation and management measures, and prevent and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

121

Urges States, directly and through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, to develop and adopt effective monitoring, control and surveillance measures for trans-shipment, as appropriate, in particular at-sea trans-shipment, including on the high seas, in order to, inter alia, monitor compliance, to collect and verify fisheries data, and to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities, in accordance with international law and, in parallel, to encourage and support the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in studying the current practices of trans-shipment and produce a set of guidelines for this purpose;

122

Takes note, in this regard, that the Committee on Fisheries, at its thirty-third session, welcomed the Global Study on Trans-shipment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and called for in-depth studies to support the development of guidelines on best practices for regulating, monitoring and controlling trans-shipment;

123

Expresses its appreciation for financial contributions from States to improve the capacity of the existing voluntary International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Network for Fisheries-related Activities, and encourages States to join and actively participate in the Network and to consider supporting, when appropriate, its transformation in accordance with international law into an international unit with dedicated resources to further assist Network members, taking into account the forms of cooperation with developing States as set out in article 25 of the Agreement;

VI.Fishing overcapacity

124

Calls upon States to commit themselves to urgently reducing the capacity of the world’s fishing fleets to levels commensurate with the sustainability of fish stocks, through the establishment of target levels and plans or other appropriate mechanisms for ongoing capacity assessment, while avoiding the transfer of fishing capacity to other fisheries or areas in a manner that undermines the sustainable management of fish stocks, including those areas where fish stocks are overexploited or in a depleted condition, and recognizing in this context the legitimate rights of developing States to develop their fisheries for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks consistent with article 25 of the Agreement, article 5 of the Code and paragraph 10 of the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

125

Calls upon, in this regard, States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to develop and implement a range of measures to adjust fishing intensity, including fishing capacity where relevant, to levels commensurate with the sustainability of fish stocks, and including capacity assessment and capacity management plans providing incentives for voluntary reduction, which take into account all aspects that contribute to fishing capacity, considering, inter alia, engine power, fishing gear technology, fish detection technology and storage space, and also to improve transparency on fishing capacity, including by identifying, sharing and publicizing relevant information in this regard, subject to confidentiality requirements;

126

Reiterates its call upon States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to ensure that the urgent actions required in the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity are undertaken expeditiously and that its implementation is facilitated without delay;

127

Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to report on the state of progress in the implementation of the International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity, as provided for in paragraph 48 of the Plan of Action;

128

Calls upon States, individually and, as appropriate, through subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with competence to regulate highly migratory species, urgently to address global fishing capacity for tunas, inter alia, in a way that recognizes the legitimate rights of developing States, in particular small island developing States, to participate in and benefit from such fisheries, taking into account the recommendations of the 2010 Joint Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations International Workshop on RFMO Management of Tuna Fisheries, held in Brisbane, Australia, and the recommendations of the 2011 third joint meeting of tuna regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements;

129

Encourages those States which are cooperating to establish subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, taking into account the best scientific information available as well as ecosystem approaches and the precautionary approach, to exercise voluntary restraint of fishing effort levels in those areas that will come under the regulation of the future organizations and arrangements until adequate regional conservation and management measures are adopted and implemented, taking into account the need to ensure the long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of the relevant fish stocks and to prevent significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems;

130

Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States reaffirmed their commitment in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation to eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and overcapacity, taking into account the importance of that sector to developing countries, reiterated their commitment to conclude multilateral disciplines on fisheries subsidies that would give effect to the mandates of the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda²⁵ and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration to strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries sector, including through the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation, taking into account the importance of the sector to development priorities, poverty reduction and livelihood and food security concerns, and encouraged one another to further improve the transparency and reporting of existing fisheries subsidies programmes through the World Trade Organization and, given the state of fisheries resources, and without prejudicing the Doha and Hong Kong ministerial mandates on fisheries subsidies or the need to conclude those negotiations, to eliminate subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing and to refrain from introducing new such subsidies or from extending or enhancing existing ones;

²⁵See A/C.2/56/7, annex.

131

Urges States to eliminate fisheries subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity and to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, including through accelerating work to complete negotiations on fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organization, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization negotiations on fisheries subsidies;

VII.Large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing

132

Expresses concern that, despite the adoption of General Assembly resolution 46/215, the practice of large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing still exists and remains a threat to living marine resources;

133

Urges States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to adopt effective measures, or strengthen existing measures, to implement and enforce the provisions of resolution 46/215 and subsequent resolutions on large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing in order to eliminate the use of large-scale pelagic drift nets in all seas and oceans, which means that efforts to implement resolution 46/215 should not result in the transfer to other parts of the world of drift nets that contravene the resolution;

134

Also urges States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to adopt effective measures, or strengthen existing measures, to implement and enforce the present global moratorium on the use of large-scale pelagic drift nets on the high seas, and calls upon States to ensure that vessels flying their flag that are duly authorized to use large-scale drift nets in waters under their national jurisdiction do not use such gear for fishing while on the high seas;

VIII.Fisheries by-catch and discards

135

Urges States, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and other relevant international organizations that have not done so to take action, including with consideration of the interests of developing coastal States and, as appropriate, subsistence fishing communities, to minimize by-catch, as well as to reduce or eliminate catch by lost or abandoned gear, fish discards and post-harvest losses, including of juvenile fish, consistent with international law and relevant international instruments, including the Code, and in particular to consider measures including, as appropriate, technical measures related to fish size, mesh size or gear, discards, closed seasons and areas and zones reserved for selected fisheries, particularly artisanal fisheries, the establishment of mechanisms for communicating information on areas of high concentration of juvenile fish, taking into account the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of such information, and support for studies and research that will minimize by-catch of juvenile fish, and to ensure that these measures are implemented so as to optimize their effectiveness;

136

Encourages, in this regard, States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to ensure proper implementation and enforcement of the measures that they have taken with regard to by-catch and discards;

137

Welcomes the commitment of States in “The future we want” to enhance action to manage by-catch, discards and other adverse ecosystem impacts from fisheries, including by eliminating destructive fishing practices, consistent with international law, the applicable international instruments and relevant General Assembly resolutions and guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

138

Calls upon States, either individually, collectively or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to further study, develop and adopt effective management measures, taking into account the best available scientific information on fishing methods, including fish aggregating devices, to minimize by-catch;

139

Also calls upon States, either individually, collectively or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to collect the necessary data in order to evaluate and closely monitor the use of large-scale fish aggregating devices and other devices, as appropriate, and their effects on tuna resources and tuna behaviour and associated and dependent species, to improve management procedures to monitor the number, type and use of such devices and to mitigate possible negative effects on the ecosystem, including on juveniles and the incidental by-catch of non-target species, particularly sharks and turtles, notes in this regard the measures adopted by different regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, and encourages regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to continue to work on data collection, evaluation and monitoring of such devices;

140

Notes, in this regard, that some regional fisheries management organizations, including the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, have established their own working groups to assess the use and impact of large-scale fish aggregating devices;

141

Encourages States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to promote, as appropriate, the use of environmentally friendly fish aggregating devices, while ensuring compliance with measures that they have taken relating to such devices;

142

Urgently calls upon States, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and, where appropriate, other relevant international organizations to develop and implement effective management measures to reduce the incidence of catch and discards of non-target species, including the utilization of selective fishing gear, where appropriate, and to take appropriate measures to minimize waste, and welcomes in this regard the support of the Committee on Fisheries for the development of a technical guideline of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations addressing the causes of and remedies to food losses and waste;

143

Calls upon States and subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to adopt or improve measures to assess the impact of their fisheries on species caught as by-catch and to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of information and reporting on incidental catch of species caught as by-catch, including through adequate observer coverage and the use of modern technologies, such as electronic monitoring, and to provide assistance to developing States to meet data-collection and reporting obligations;

144

Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to strengthen or establish data-collection programmes to obtain reliable species-specific estimates of shark, marine turtle, fin-fish, marine mammal and seabird by-catch, and to promote further research on selective fishing gear and practices and on the use of appropriate by-catch mitigation measures;

145

Encourages States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to coordinate in the development and implementation of clear and standardized by-catch data-collection and reporting protocols for non-target species, in particular endangered, threatened and protected species, taking into account best-practice advice from appropriate international organizations and arrangements, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels;²⁶

²⁶United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2258, No. 40228.

146

Encourages States and entities referred to in the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement to give due consideration to participation, as appropriate, in subregional and regional instruments and organizations with mandates to conserve non-target species taken incidentally in fishing operations;

147

Encourages States to strengthen, if necessary, the capacity of those subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in which they participate to ensure the adequate conservation of non-target species taken incidentally in fishing operations, taking into consideration best practices for non-target species management, and to expedite their ongoing efforts in this regard;

148

Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements urgently to implement, as appropriate, the measures recommended in the 2004 Guidelines to Reduce Sea Turtle Mortality in Fishing Operations and the International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in order to prevent the decline of sea turtles and seabird populations by minimizing by-catch and increasing post-release survival in their fisheries, including through research and development of gear and bait alternatives, promoting the use of available by-catch mitigation technology, and establishing and strengthening data-collection programmes to obtain standardized information to develop reliable estimates of the by-catch of these species;

149

Urges States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to implement the International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;²⁷

²⁷Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document FIRO/R957 (En), appendix E.

150

Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to continue to take urgent action to reduce the by-catch of seabirds, including albatrosses and petrels, in fisheries by adopting and implementing conservation measures consistent with the 2009 best practices technical guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to support the implementation of the International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries and taking into account the work of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels and of organizations such as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources;

IX.Subregional and regional cooperation

151

Urges coastal States and States fishing on the high seas, in accordance with the Convention, the Agreement and other relevant instruments, to pursue cooperation in relation to straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, either directly or through appropriate subregional or regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, to ensure the effective conservation and management of such stocks;

152

Urges States fishing for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks on the high seas, and relevant coastal States, where a subregional or regional fisheries management organization or arrangement has the competence to establish conservation and management measures for such stocks, to give effect to their duty to cooperate by becoming members of such an organization or participants in such an arrangement, or by agreeing to apply the conservation and management measures established by such an organization or arrangement, or to otherwise ensure that no vessel flying their flag is authorized to access the fisheries resources to which regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements or conservation and management measures established by such organizations or arrangements apply;

153

Invites, in this regard, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to ensure that all States having a real interest in the fisheries concerned may become members of such organizations or participants in such arrangements, in accordance with the Convention, the Agreement and the Code, provided they have shown their interest in and capacity to comply with the measures adopted by the regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements concerned, including their willingness to effectively exercise flag State control, while recognizing the need to enhance the capacity of developing States in this regard;

154

Encourages relevant coastal States and States fishing on the high seas for a straddling fish stock or a highly migratory fish stock, where there is no subregional or regional fisheries management organization or arrangement to establish conservation and management measures for such stocks, to cooperate to establish such an organization or enter into another appropriate arrangement to ensure the conservation and management of such stocks, and to participate in the work of the organization or arrangement;

155

Welcomes the recent ratifications, acceptances and approval of the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, and encourages further ratifications, acceptances and approvals of that Agreement by States listed in article 9, paragraph 1, thereof, with a view to its early entry into force;

156

Urges signatory States and other States whose vessels fish within the area of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South-East Atlantic Ocean²⁸ for fishery resources covered by that Convention to become parties to that Convention as a matter of priority and, in the interim, to ensure that vessels flying their flags fully comply with the measures adopted;

²⁸United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2221, No. 39489.

157

Encourages further ratifications of, accessions to, acceptances and approvals of the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement;²⁹

²⁹Ibid., vol. 2835, No. 49647.

158

Also encourages further ratifications of, accessions to, acceptances and approvals of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean;³⁰

³⁰Ibid., vol. 2899, No. 50553.

159

Further encourages further accessions to the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean, and notes the ongoing efforts by the North Pacific Fisheries Commission to develop and implement conservation and management measures and to strengthen cooperation to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing within the area of that Convention;

160

Welcomes the endorsement of the Agreement for the Establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, as amended, by the Commission at its thirty-eighth session, held in Rome from 19 to 24 May 2014, and urges those Contracting Parties to the Commission that need to accept the amended Agreement to do so with a view to its early entry into force;

161

Notes the ongoing efforts of the members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to strengthen the functioning of the Commission so that it can more effectively discharge its mandate, and invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to provide members of the Commission with the necessary assistance to this end;

162

Encourages signatory States and States having a real interest to become parties to the Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Established by the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica;

163

Urges further efforts by regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as a matter of priority, in accordance with international law, to strengthen and modernize their mandates and the measures adopted by such organizations or arrangements, and to implement modern approaches to fisheries management, as reflected in the Agreement and other relevant international instruments, relying on the best scientific information available and application of the precautionary approach and incorporating an ecosystem approach to fisheries management and biodiversity considerations, including the conservation and management of ecologically related and dependent species and protection of their habitats, where these aspects are lacking, to ensure that they effectively contribute to the long-term conservation and management and sustainable use of living marine resources, and welcomes those regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements that have taken steps in this direction;

164

Calls upon regional fisheries management organizations with the competence to conserve and manage highly migratory fish stocks that have not yet adopted effective conservation and management measures in line with the best scientific information available to conserve and manage stocks falling under their mandate to do so urgently;

165

Urges States to strengthen and enhance cooperation among existing and developing regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in which they participate, including increased communication and further coordination of measures, such as through the holding of joint consultations, and to strengthen integration, coordination and cooperation by such regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with other relevant fisheries organizations, regional seas arrangements and other relevant international organizations;

166

Notes, in this regard, the enhanced cooperation between the OSPAR Commission established by the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic³¹ and the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission;

³¹Ibid., vol. 2354, No. 42279.

167

Urges the five regional fisheries management organizations with competence to manage highly migratory species to continue to take measures to implement the Course of Actions adopted at the second joint meeting of tuna regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and to consider the recommendations of the third joint meeting of tuna regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements;

168

Invites States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with competence to manage straddling fish stocks to share experiences and good practices, for example by considering organizing joint meetings, where appropriate;

169

Invites States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with competence to manage deep-sea fisheries to share experiences and good practices, for example by considering organizing joint meetings, where appropriate;

170

Urges regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to improve transparency and to ensure that their decision-making processes are fair and transparent and facilitate the adoption of conservation and management measures in a timely and effective manner, including considering provisions for effective voting and objection procedures, where appropriate, to rely on the best scientific information available, incorporate the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches, and address participatory rights, including through, inter alia, the development of transparent criteria for allocating fishing opportunities which reflects, where appropriate, the relevant provisions of the Agreement, taking due account, inter alia, of the status of the relevant stocks and the respective interests in the fishery;

171

Recognizes that performance reviews of regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements have proven to be an effective tool for strengthening the performance of such organizations and arrangements, and are critical to improve the sustainability of fish stocks covered by such organizations and arrangements;

172

Welcomes the fact that a number of regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements have completed performance reviews, and encourages the implementation, as appropriate, of the recommendations of their respective reviews as a matter of priority;

173

Urges States, through their participation in regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements that have not done so, to undertake, on an urgent basis, performance reviews of those regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, initiated either by the organization or arrangement itself or with external partners, including in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, using transparent criteria based on the provisions of the Agreement and other relevant instruments, and taking into account the best practices of regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements and, as appropriate, any set of criteria developed by States or other regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, and encourages that such performance reviews include some element of independent evaluation and propose means for improving the functioning of the regional fisheries management organization or arrangement, as appropriate;

174

Calls upon States, through their participation in regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to undertake performance reviews of those regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements on a regular basis, to make the results publicly available, to implement the recommendations of such reviews and to strengthen the comprehensiveness of those reviews over time, as necessary;

175

Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States recognized the need for transparency and accountability in fisheries management by regional fisheries management organizations and the efforts already made by those regional fisheries management organizations that had undertaken independent performance reviews, called upon all regional fisheries management organizations to regularly undertake such reviews and make the results publicly available, encouraged implementation of the recommendations of such reviews and recommended that the comprehensiveness of those reviews be strengthened over time, as necessary;

176

Urges States to cooperate, taking into account those performance reviews, to develop best-practice guidelines for regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and to apply, to the extent possible, those guidelines to organizations and arrangements in which they participate;

177

Encourages States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to recognize the importance and role of small-scale, artisanal and subsistence fisheries and to support their long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability;

178

Encourages the development of regional guidelines for States to use in establishing sanctions for non-compliance by vessels flying their flag and by their nationals, to be applied in accordance with national law, that are adequate in severity for effectively securing compliance, deterring further violations and depriving offenders of the benefits deriving from their illegal activities, as well as in evaluating their systems of sanctions to ensure that they are effective in securing compliance and deterring violations;

179

Recognizes the importance of ensuring transparency of reporting of fishing activities within regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in order to facilitate efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as the importance of respecting the reporting obligations within those organizations and arrangements, notes in this regard the measures adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas³² and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission,³³ and encourages other regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to consider establishing similar measures;

³²International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, recommendation 11-16.

³³Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, resolutions 12/07 and 13/07.

X.Responsible fisheries in the marine ecosystem

180

Encourages States, individually and through relevant international bodies, to improve the understanding of the causes and impacts of forced labour and human trafficking in the fishing and aquaculture industries, including processing and related industries, and to further consider actions to combat these practices, including raising awareness of the issue;

181

Highlights the importance of safety at sea and working conditions in the fisheries sector, welcomes in this regard the close cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization, including with regard to their joint work on codes and guidelines in relation to fishing vessel safety,³⁴ and reiterates the request by the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, at its thirty-third session, that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations further strengthen international cooperation on occupational health and safety issues in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors and promote decent work for fish workers;

³⁴Including the Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, 2005, and the Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and Equipment of Small Fishing Vessels, 2005.

182

Recalls that the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) and the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) are relevant instruments that ensure decent working conditions in fisheries and other maritime sectors, calls upon flag States to effectively implement their duty under the Convention with respect to labour conditions, taking into account applicable international instruments and national laws, and in this regard encourages States that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), and to implement the Guidelines for port State control officers carrying out inspections under the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) and the Guidelines on flag State inspection of working and living conditions on board fishing vessels;

183

Urges States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to enhance their efforts to apply an ecosystem approach to fisheries, taking into account paragraph 30 (d) of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

184

Acknowledges the importance of adequate training for fishers to improve safety at sea and the importance, in this regard, of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel, 1995, and encourages States that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to that Convention;

185

Encourages States, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and other relevant international organizations, to work to ensure that fisheries and other ecosystem data collection is performed in a coordinated and integrated manner, facilitating incorporation into global observation initiatives, where appropriate;

186

Calls upon States and regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, working in cooperation with other relevant organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the World Meteorological Organization, to adopt, as appropriate, measures to protect ocean data buoy systems moored in areas beyond national jurisdiction from actions that impair their operation;

187

Encourages States to increase scientific research on marine ecosystems in accordance with international law;

188

Recognizes that the science-policy interface is vital to the effective implementation of the provisions of the Convention and the Agreement by providing the best available scientific information for the conservation and management of living marine resources;

189

Urges States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to strengthen the science-policy interface in order to further improve the application of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management and to address uncertainties and changes such as those related to the impacts of climate change in support of the development of adaptive fisheries management strategies;

190

Calls upon States, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other specialized agencies, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, where appropriate, and other appropriate intergovernmental bodies to cooperate in achieving sustainable aquaculture, including through information exchange, developing equivalent standards on such issues as aquatic animal health and human health and safety concerns, assessing the potential positive and negative impacts of aquaculture, including socioeconomics, on the marine and coastal environment, including biodiversity, and adopting relevant methods and techniques to minimize and mitigate adverse effects, and in this regard encourages the implementation of the 2007 Strategy and Outline Plan for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Aquaculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a framework for the improvement and understanding of aquaculture status and trends;

191

Calls upon States to take action immediately, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, and consistent with the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches, to continue to implement the 2008 International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries in the High Seas of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (the Guidelines) in order to sustainably manage fish stocks and protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals, from fishing practices with significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems, recognizing the immense importance and value of deep-sea ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain, as documented in the first World Ocean Assessment;

192

Recalls, in this regard, that, in “The future we want”, States committed to enhance actions to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems from significant adverse impacts, including through the effective use of impact assessments, consistent with international law, the applicable international instruments and relevant General Assembly resolutions and guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

193

Reaffirms the importance of paragraphs 80 to 90 of resolution 61/105, paragraphs 113 to 127 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121 to 136 of resolution 66/68 of 6 December 2011 and paragraphs 156, 171 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123 of 7 December 2016 addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks and the actions called for in those resolutions, and emphasizes the need for full implementation by all States and relevant regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements of their commitments under those paragraphs on an urgent basis;

194

Urges States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to ensure that their actions in sustainably managing deep-sea fisheries and implementing paragraphs 80 and 83 to 87 of resolution 61/105, paragraphs 113 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123 are consistent with the Guidelines;

195

Recalls that nothing in the paragraphs of resolutions 61/105, 64/72, 66/68 and 71/123 addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems prejudices the sovereign rights of coastal States over their continental shelf or the exercise of the jurisdiction of coastal States with respect to their continental shelf under international law as reflected in the Convention, in particular article 77 thereof;

196

Notes, in this regard, the adoption by coastal States of conservation measures regarding their continental shelf to address the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems, as well as their efforts to ensure compliance with those measures;

197

Reiterates the importance of marine scientific research for the sustainable management of deep-sea fishery resources, including target fish stocks and non-target species, and to protect marine ecosystems, including the prevention of significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems;

198

Welcomes the important progress made by States, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and those States participating in negotiations to establish a regional fisheries management organization or arrangement competent to regulate bottom fisheries to implement paragraphs 80 and 83 to 87 of resolution 61/105, paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72 and paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and address the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems, but notes with concern the uneven implementation of those paragraphs and that, in particular, bottom fishing continues to occur in certain areas beyond national jurisdiction without an impact assessment having been completed in the 12 years since the adoption of resolution 61/105, in which the General Assembly called for such assessments to be undertaken by 31 December 2008;

199

Calls upon, in this regard, States, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with the competence to regulate deep-sea fisheries, and States participating in negotiations to establish such organizations or arrangements to take, in particular, the following urgent actions regarding bottom fishing in areas beyond national jurisdiction:

To use, as applicable, the full set of criteria in the Guidelines to identify where vulnerable marine ecosystems occur or are likely to occur as well as for assessing significant adverse impacts;

To ensure that impact assessments, including for cumulative impacts of activities covered by the assessment, are conducted consistent with the Guidelines, particularly paragraph 47 thereof, are reviewed periodically and are revised thereafter whenever a substantial change in the fishery has occurred or there is relevant new information, and that, where such impact assessments have not been undertaken, they are carried out as a priority before authorizing bottom fishing activities;

To ensure that conservation and management measures adopted by States and regional fisheries organizations and arrangements are based on and updated on the basis of the best available scientific information, noting in particular the need to improve the effective implementation of thresholds and move-on rules;

200

Recognizes that different types of marine scientific research, such as seabed mapping, mapping of vulnerable marine ecosystems based on information from the fishing fleet, on-site camera observations from remote vehicles, benthic ecosystem modelling, comparative benthic studies and predictive modelling have resulted in the identification of areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems are known or are likely to occur and in the adoption of conservation and management measures to prevent significant adverse impacts on such ecosystems, including the closure of areas to bottom fishing in accordance with paragraph 119 (b) of resolution 64/72;

201

Encourages, in this regard, States, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with the competence to manage bottom fisheries, and States participating in negotiations to establish such organizations or arrangements, to consider the results available from different types of marine scientific research, including, as appropriate, those listed in paragraph 201 above, concerning the identification of areas containing vulnerable marine ecosystems, and to adopt conservation and management measures to prevent significant adverse impacts from bottom fishing on such ecosystems, consistent with the Guidelines, or to close such areas to bottom fishing until such conservation and management measures are adopted, as well as to continue to undertake further marine scientific research, for the above-mentioned purposes, in accordance with international law, as reflected in Part XIII of the Convention;

202

Encourages, in this regard, States, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with the competence to manage deep-sea fisheries, and States participating in negotiations to establish such organizations or arrangements to carry out further marine scientific research to address the remaining knowledge gaps, in particular with regard to fish stock assessments, and to base and update conservation and management measures on the best available scientific information, in accordance with international law, as reflected in Part XIII of the Convention;

203

Notes with concern that vulnerable marine ecosystems may also be impacted by human activities other than bottom fishing, and encourages in this regard States and competent international organizations to consider taking action to address such impacts;

204

Calls upon States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to take into account the potential impacts of climate change and ocean acidification in taking measures to manage deep-sea fisheries and protect vulnerable marine ecosystems;

205

Calls upon States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements with the competence to regulate deep-sea fisheries, to adopt conservation and management measures, including monitoring, control and surveillance measures, on the basis of the best available scientific information, including stock assessments, to ensure the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks and non-target species and the rebuilding of depleted stocks, consistent with the Guidelines and, where scientific information is uncertain, unreliable or inadequate, to ensure that conservation and management measures are established consistent with the precautionary approach, in particular with regard to vulnerable, threatened or endangered species;

206

Recognizes, in particular, the special circumstances and requirements of developing States and the specific challenges that they may face in giving full effect to certain technical aspects of the Guidelines, and that implementation by such States of paragraphs 83 to 87 of resolution 61/105, paragraph 119 of resolution 64/72, paragraph 129 of resolution 66/68 and paragraph 180 of resolution 71/123 and the Guidelines should proceed in a manner that gives full consideration to section 6 of the Guidelines on the special requirements of developing countries;

207

Also recognizes the need to enhance the capacity of developing States, including with regard to stock assessments, impact assessments, scientific and technical knowledge and training, and encourages States to provide technical and financial support to developing countries to address their special requirements and challenges in implementing the Guidelines;

208

Welcomes the substantial ongoing work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations related to the management of deep-sea fisheries in the high seas and the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems, including the publication of the technical paper entitled “Vulnerable marine ecosystems: processes and practices in the high seas”, affirms the importance of the work undertaken pursuant to paragraphs 135 and 136 of resolution 66/68, and notes in particular the support provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to States in implementing the Guidelines;

209

Decides, in the light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to postpone until 2022 the further review of the actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123, which was to be held in 2020, with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the measures therein and to make further recommendations, where necessary, and also recalls the decision to precede that review with a two-day workshop;

210

Requests the Secretary-General to convene in the second half of 2022, with full conference services, without prejudice to future arrangements, the two-day workshop that was to have been held in 2020 pursuant to resolution 73/125 of 11 December 2018, in order to discuss implementation of paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123, and to invite States, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant specialized agencies, funds and programmes, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, other fisheries bodies, other relevant intergovernmental bodies and relevant non-governmental organizations and relevant stakeholders, in accordance with United Nations practice, to attend the workshop;

211

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123;³⁵

³⁵A/75/157.

212

Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, for consideration by the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session, on further actions taken by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in response to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123 since the preparation of the report referred to in paragraph 211 of the present resolution, and invites States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to consider making such information publicly available;

213

Also requests the Secretary-General, in connection with the report requested in paragraph 212 of the present resolution, to invite States and regional economic integration organizations and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to submit updated information to the Secretary-General in a timely manner on actions taken pursuant to paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123 after 2019, to facilitate a further review of such actions;

214

Encourages accelerated progress to establish criteria on the objectives, establishment and effective management of marine protected areas for fisheries purposes, and in this regard also encourages the application of the technical guidelines on marine protected areas and fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and urges involvement, coordination and cooperation among all relevant international organizations and bodies;

215

Also encourages efforts to establish guidance on the objectives, establishment and management of other effective area-based conservation measures for fisheries purposes, and encourages coordination and cooperation for this purpose among all relevant international organizations and bodies;

216

Urges all States to implement the 1995 Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities³⁶ and to accelerate activity to safeguard marine ecosystems, including fish stocks, against sources of land-based pollution, including plastics and excess nutrients, and physical degradation, taking into account the increase in oceanic dead zones;

³⁶A/51/116, annex II.

217

Calls upon States, either individually, collectively or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to further study, develop and adopt effective management measures, and disseminate information in that regard, taking into account the best available scientific information, on fishing methods, gear types and uses to minimize mortality and other harms caused by abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear;

218

Acknowledges the serious environmental, as well as economic and social, impacts on the marine environment caused by abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, and encourages States, and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to take action to reduce such gear, noting the recommendations of the 2009 report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

219

Reaffirms the importance that it attaches to paragraphs 77 to 81 of resolution 60/31 of 29 November 2005 concerning the issue of lost, abandoned or otherwise discarded fishing gear and related marine debris and the adverse impacts that such debris and derelict fishing gear have on, inter alia, fish stocks, habitats and other marine species, and urges accelerated progress by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in implementing those paragraphs of the resolution;

220

Recalls, in this regard, the endorsement by the Committee on Fisheries, at its thirty-third session, of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear, and also recalls that the Committee welcomed the recommendations of the Technical Consultation on the Marking of Fishing Gear and supported the development of a comprehensive global strategy to tackle issues relating to abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear and to support the implementation of the Guidelines;

221

Also recalls annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, in which it is stated, inter alia, that the accidental loss or discharge of fishing gear which poses a significant threat to the marine environment or navigation, shall be reported to the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly, and, where the loss or discharge occurs within waters subject to the jurisdiction of a coastal State, also to that coastal State;³⁷

³⁷International Maritime Organization, resolution MEPC.201(62).

222

Encourages further studies, including by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, on the impacts of underwater noise on fish stocks and fishing catch rates, as well as associated socioeconomic effects;

223

Calls upon States, including through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to play an active role in global efforts to conserve and sustainably use living marine resources, so as to contribute to marine biological diversity;

224

Encourages States, either individually or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to identify any spawning and nursery areas for fish stocks under their jurisdiction or competence and, where required, to adopt science-based measures to conserve such stocks during these critical life stages;

225

Expresses concern about the continuing influx of sargassum seaweed into the waters of the Caribbean and its impact on aquatic resources, fisheries, shorelines, waterways and tourism and the general well-being of coastal communities, and encourages States and relevant regional organizations to coordinate efforts to better understand the causes and impacts of the influx, and to eliminate extraordinary amounts of sargassum washed up along the coastline using environmentally sound techniques, as well as to work on joint solutions to maintain and protect the livelihoods of fishers and fishing communities and find ways of beneficially utilizing the seaweed and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of sargassum washed up on shore;

226

Recognizes the wide range of impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, and calls upon States to tackle the causes of ocean acidification and to further study its impacts;

227

Emphasizes the importance of developing adaptive marine resource management strategies and enhancing capacity-building to implement such strategies in order to enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems to minimize the wide range of impacts on marine organisms and threats to food security caused by ocean acidification, in particular the impacts on the ability of calciferous plankton, coral reefs, shellfish and crustaceans to build shells and skeletal structures and the threats that this could pose to protein supply;

XI.Capacity-building

228

Reiterates the crucial importance of cooperation by States directly or, as appropriate, through the relevant subregional and regional organizations, and by other international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations through its FishCode programme, including through financial and/or technical assistance, in accordance with the Agreement, the Compliance Agreement, the Code and its associated international plans of action, to increase the capacity of developing States to achieve the goals and implement the actions called for in the present resolution;

229

Welcomes the ongoing work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in developing guidance on, and assisting in the implementation of, the strategies and measures required for the creation of an enabling environment for sustainable small-scale fisheries, and encourages studies for creating possible alternative livelihoods for coastal communities;

230

Recalls that, in “The future we want”, States recognized the importance of building the capacity of developing countries to be able to benefit from the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and seas and their resources, and in this regard emphasized the need for cooperation in marine scientific research to implement the provisions of the Convention and the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, as well as for the transfer of technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology;

231

Also recalls that, in “The future we want”, States urged the identification and mainstreaming by 2014 of strategies that further assist developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, in developing their national capacity to conserve, sustainably manage and realize the benefits of sustainable fisheries, including through improved market access for fish products from developing countries;

232

Encourages increased capacity-building and technical assistance by States, international financial institutions and relevant intergovernmental organizations and bodies for fishers, in particular small-scale fishers, in developing countries, and in particular small island developing States, consistent with environmental sustainability, in recognition of the fact that food security and livelihoods may depend on fisheries;

233

Encourages States to cooperate closely, directly or through the United Nations system, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with a view to enhancing the capacity-building of developing States, including coastal States, in particular small island developing States, in the field of fisheries and aquaculture through education and training;

234

Recognizes, in this regard, the work of the United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland and its contribution to training for developing States, in particular small island developing States, and emphasizes the need for the continuation and strengthening of this training for developing States;

235

Encourages the international community to enhance the opportunities for sustainable development in developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, small island developing States and coastal African States, by encouraging greater participation of those States in authorized fisheries activities being undertaken within areas under their national jurisdiction, in accordance with the Convention, by distant-water fishing nations in order to achieve better economic returns for developing countries from their fisheries resources within areas under their national jurisdiction and an enhanced role in regional fisheries management, as well as by enhancing the ability of developing countries to develop their own fisheries, as well as to participate in high seas fisheries, including access to such fisheries, in conformity with international law, in particular the Convention and the Agreement, and taking into account article 5 of the Code;

236

Recalls the progress made at the first meeting of the parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing towards the future establishment of an assistance fund under article 21 of that Agreement to be administered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the purpose of assisting developing States parties, in particular the least developed among them and small island developing States, in the implementation of that Agreement and the acknowledgement by the ad hoc working group established by the parties to that Agreement that access to the assistance fund by developing States parties should be transparent, equitable, simple and well coordinated, and notes the adoption of the terms of reference for the funding mechanisms under part 6 of the Agreement at the second meeting of the parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures;

237

Requests distant-water fishing nations, when negotiating access agreements and arrangements with developing coastal States, to do so on an equitable and sustainable basis and to take into account their legitimate expectation to fully benefit from the sustainable use of the natural resources of their exclusive economic zones, to ensure that vessels flying their flag comply with the laws and regulations of the developing coastal States adopted in accordance with international law and to give greater attention to fish processing and fish-processing facilities within the national jurisdiction of the developing coastal State to assist in the realization of the benefits from the development of fisheries resources and also to the transfer of technology and assistance for monitoring, control and surveillance and compliance and enforcement within areas under the national jurisdiction of the developing coastal State providing fisheries access, taking into account the forms of cooperation set out in article 25 of the Agreement and article 5 of the Code;

238

Encourages, in this regard, greater transparency regarding fisheries access agreements, including by making them publicly available, subject to confidentiality requirements;

239

Encourages States, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to provide greater assistance and to promote coherence in such assistance for developing States in designing, establishing and implementing relevant agreements, instruments and tools for the conservation and sustainable management of fish stocks, including in designing and strengthening their domestic regulatory fisheries policies and those of regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements in their regions, and the enhancement of research and scientific capabilities through existing funds, such as the Assistance Fund under Part VII of the Agreement, bilateral assistance, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements assistance funds, the FishCode programme, the World Bank’s global programme on fisheries and the Global Environment Facility;

240

Calls upon States to promote, through continuing dialogue and the assistance and cooperation provided in accordance with articles 24 to 26 of the Agreement, further ratifications of or accessions to the Agreement by seeking to address, inter alia, the issue of lack of capacity and resources that might stand in the way of developing States becoming parties;

241

Encourages States, regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and other relevant bodies to assist developing States in the implementation of the actions called for in paragraphs 80 and 83 to 87 of resolution 61/105, paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175 and 177 to 188 of resolution 71/123;

242

Urges States and regional economic integration organizations, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to mainstream efforts to assist developing States, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, with other relevant international development strategies with a view to enhancing international coordination to enable them to develop their national capacity to exploit fishery resources, consistent with the duty to ensure the conservation and management of those resources, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to fully mobilize and coordinate the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, including at the level of the regional economic commissions, within their respective mandates;

243

Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations to develop strategies to further assist developing States, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, in fully realizing the benefits from the catch of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks and in strengthening regional efforts to sustainably conserve and manage such stocks and, in this regard, to make available such information;

XII.Cooperation within the United Nations system

244

Requests the relevant parts of the United Nations system, international financial institutions and donor agencies to support increased enforcement and compliance capabilities for regional fisheries management organizations and their member States;

245

Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to continue its cooperative arrangements with United Nations agencies on the implementation of the international plans of action;

XIII.Activities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea

246

Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the activities of the Division, which reflect the high standard of assistance provided to Member States by the Division;

247

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to carry out the responsibilities and functions entrusted to him by the Convention, the Agreement and the related resolutions of the General Assembly and to ensure the allocation of appropriate resources to the Division for the performance of its activities under the approved budget for the Organization;

XIV.Seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly

248

Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all States, relevant intergovernmental organizations, the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations;

249

Notes the desire to further improve the efficiency of and the effective participation of delegations in the informal consultations concerning the annual General Assembly resolution on sustainable fisheries, decides that the informal consultations on this resolution will be held in a single round of consultations in November for a period of six days, requests the Secretary-General to provide support to the consultations through the Division, and invites States to submit proposals for inclusion in the text of the resolution to the Coordinator of the informal consultations no later than five weeks before the start of the consultations;

250

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-sixth session, under the item entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea”, the sub-item entitled “Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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, and related instruments”, and to consider the possibility of including this sub-item in future provisional agendas on a biennial basis.