ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR HIGH SEAS FISHERIES, WITH FOCUS ON THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC AND CHILE From Global Developments to Regional Challenges M. Cecilia Engler UN - Nippon Foundation Fellow 2006-2007 ii DISCLAIMER The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Chile, the United Nations, the Nippon Foundation of Japan or Dalhousie University. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my profound gratitude to the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations, and the Nippon Foundation of Japan for making this extraordinary and rewarding experience possible. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the Marine and Environmental Law Institute of Dalhousie University, Canada, and the Sir James Dunn Law Library at the same University Law School, for the assistance, support and warm hospitality provided in the first six months of my fellowship. My special gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Aldo Chircop, for all his guidance and especially for encouraging me to broaden my perspective in order to understand the complexity of the area of research. I would also like to extend my appreciation to those persons who, with no interest but that of helping me through this process, provided me with new insights and perspectives: Jay Batongbacal (JSD Candidate, Dalhousie Law School, Dalhousie University), Johanne Fischer (Executive Secretary of NAFO), Robert Fournier (Marine Affairs Programme, Dalhousie University), Michael Shewchuck (DOALOS), André Tahindro (DOALOS), and David VanderZwaag (Dalhousie Law School, Dalhousie University). Special thanks to Colin Nash and Ron Pelot, who not only encouraged me throughout this process but also took time out of their busy agendas to read draft versions of this report, providing valuable comments. My deepest gratitude to Dr. Francois Bailet, Programme Advisor, for his valuable assistance, guidance, patience and time. Nevertheless, the persons mentioned are not responsible for my errors or misunderstandings. Special mention deserve my friends and colleagues back in Chile, who supported me with useful information but, most importantly, with their unconditional friendship. I also want to express my gratitude to the International Ocean Institute and all my fellow participants in the Oceans’s Governance Training Programme 2006, which comprised a valuable component of this fellowship. I would like to thank, especially, Michael Butler and Madeleine Coffen-Smout for their constant support and attention. Lastly, I want to thank my father for his generosity in encouraging me in this challenging and rewarding experience, despite difficult times. v vi ABBREVIATIONS CCSBT Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna CCAMLR Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora COFI FAO Committee on Fisheries CPPS Comisión Permanente del Pacifico Sur (Permanent Commission for the South Pacific) DWFS Distant Water Fishing States DOALOS Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO Compliance 1993 FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Agreement Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas HSTF High Sea Task Force I-ATTC Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission IOTC Indian Ocean Tuna Commission IPOA International Plan of Action ICJ International Court of Justice ITLOS International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea IUU Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated LOS Convention 1982 United Nation’s Convention for the Law of the Sea MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield ODIL Journal of Ocean Development and International Law OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organization UN United Nations UNCLOS I First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1958) UNCLOS III Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973-1982) UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNFSA 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 UNGA United Nations General Assembly UNICPOLOS United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea WTO World Trade Organization vii viii Table of contents DISCLAIMER.......................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................... V TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................IX PART I - ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR HIGH SEAS FISHERIES ........................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 1 SECTION 1 - POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE ASPECTS OF THE HIGH SEAS FISHERIES REGIME ............................................................................................................................................... 4 1. High seas fisheries in the LOS Convention: the starting point............................... 4 1.1 Conservation and management in the LOS Convention................................... 5 1.2. Implementation of the LOS Convention management and conservation framework for the high seas........................................................................................ 10 1.3. A critical analysis of the LOS Convention framework for high seas fisheries.... 21 2. Post-LOS Convention developments of high seas fisheries: the reinforcement process............................................................................................................................ 24 2.1 International instruments and instances of development................................ 24 2.2. Developments in specific components of the high seas fisheries framework: an overview...................................................................................................................... 37 SECTION 2 - APPLICATION OF THE HIGH SEAS FISHERIES REGIME: REGIONAL COOPERATION THROUGH RFMOS .................................................................................... 54 1. RFMOs: a need for reinforced cooperation ........................................................... 56 1.1. RFMOs and their relation with international instruments .............................. 58 1.2. RFMOs and their relationship with members................................................. 64 1.3. RFMOs and their relationship with non-members.......................................... 69 1.4. A new role for RFMOs? ................................................................................. 78 2. RFMOs and allocation: the Achilles tendon........................................................... 81 2.1 Establishing a RFMO: the inertia point .......................................................... 81 2.2. Allocation of fishing rights among members of a RFMO .............................. 85 2.3. Allocation of fishing rights to new entrants.................................................... 90 PART II - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR HIGH SEAS FISHERIES IN THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN 95 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 95 SECTION 1 - THE NEED OF A HIGH SEAS FISHERIES REGIME FOR THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC: A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM. ..................................................................... 96 ix SECTION 2 - CHILE’S APPROACH TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HIGH SEAS FISHERIES REGIME FOR STRADDLING STOCKS AND HIGHLY MIGRATORY STOCKS .......................... 102 1. Chile and the general framework for the conservation and management of high seas fisheries ................................................................................................................ 103 1.1. Implementation of Flag State responsibilities with respect to the FAO Compliance Agreement ............................................................................................ 103 1.2. Extended conservation and management measures for highly migratory and straddling stocks........................................................................................................ 105 1.3. Chile as a Port State ........................................................................................... 106 2. Chiles regime for the conservation of jack mackerel and swordfish ................. 107 SECTION 3 - REGIONAL COOPERATION FOR THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF HIGHLY MIGRATORY AND STRADDLING STOCKS IN THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN . 111 1. The search for a cooperative regime ..................................................................... 112 1.1. Bilateral and multilateral negotiation processes: conflict yields first steps in cooperation................................................................................................................ 113 1.2. The Galapagos Agreement: