DSCC Calendar

Call to Action

The DSCC calls for the following actions to protect deep sea life:

  1. THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (Rio+20) must agree to a phase-out of all deep-sea bottom trawl fishing on the high seas by 2015 as a key measure toward implementing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions 61/105, 64/72 and 66/68 on the basis that no deep-sea bottom trawl vessels or fleets have demonstrated that they can fish deep-sea species sustainably and prevent damage to deep-sea ecosystems;

Until then,

  1. HIGH SEAS FISHING NATIONS must immediately stop high seas bottom fishing except where  conservation measures consistent with UNGA resolutions 61/105, 64/72 and 66/68 are in force and have been effectively and fully implemented;
  2. ALL COUNTRIES AND REGIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS (RFMO/As) must take action to protect all vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as identified in paragraph 42 of the FAO Guidelines on Deep Sea Fisheries, including long-lived fish species and unique habitats such as seamounts and canyons;
  3. THE FISHING INDUSTRY must act responsibly and prevent damage to deep-sea ecosystems and the depletion of deep-sea species;
  4. SEAFOOD BUYERS AND RETAILERS must only buy or sell fish from deep-sea fisheries that have clearly demonstrated no harm to deep-sea species and ecosystems;
  5. ALL COUNTRIES must designate high seas bottom fishing as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing when it is conducted in contravention of international instruments, including UNGA resolutions 61/105, 64/72 and 66/68, regional measures, such as UNGA compliant conservation and management measures adopted by RFMO/As, or UNGA compliant national rules;
  6. NON HIGH SEAS FISHING NATIONS must hold the high seas fishing nations accountable to the international commitments that they have made. This could be done through establishing international sanctions and/or an international liability and redress regime to ensure that damage to deep-sea ecosystems is compensated; initiating legal action through the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) against States that continue to allow deep-sea fishing on the high seas in contravention of the provisions of the UNGA resolutions; and working to prohibit the international trade in vulnerable or endangered deep-sea species through the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species or other means.