The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

9 February 2010 About Us Contact Us



	2009 ICES symposium, 27-30 Apr, Azores, Portugal

The Solution - A Moratorium

Spotted moray eel (Gymnothorax moringa) slithers among the reef growth. Tropical Atlantic Ocean, Florida Keys.
Photo: OAR/National Undersea Research Programme (NURP); University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Mollusc at the Davidson Seamount off the coast of California, USA. Images courtesy of NOAA and MBARI

Gorgonian at the Davidson Seamount off the coast of California, USA. Images courtesy of NOAA and MBARI

To protect deep-sea biodiversity on the high seas from continued indiscriminate destruction the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition is calling on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to adopt an immediate moratorium on deep-sea bottom trawl fishing on the high seas until legally-binding regimes for the effective conservation and management of fisheries and the protection of biodiversity on the high seas can be developed, implemented and enforced by the global community.

• Moratorium Terms
• Scope of Coverage
• Implementation
• Urgent Action Now

Moratorium Terms

Moratoria, by definition, temporarily suspend activities. As such, a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling would establish a temporary halt to this practice until such time as:

• the extent of deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystems, including populations of fish species, and their vulnerability to deepsea fishing on the high seas has been assessed;

Legally-binding regime(s) to conserve and manage high seas biodiversity, including bottom fisheries, consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (1), the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement (FSA) (2), the 1993 UN FAO Compliance Agreement (3), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (4), and the UN FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (5), and any other necessary governance reforms, have been adopted and implemented; and

• adequate measures are in place to deal effectively with Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in noncompliance with international agreements.

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Scope of Coverage

The moratorium should cover fishing on the high seas using any bottom trawl or similar towed net designed to operate in contact with the bottom of the sea. Governments would be expected to impose an immediate halt on any bottom trawling on the high seas involving either their nationals or vessels flying their flag or licensed by them, until the conditions for lifting the moratorium, as agreed by the international community, were met.

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Implementation

A moratorium should enter into force within six to twelve months following adoption of the UNGA resolution. This would permit states enough time to pass legislation or regulations to implement the moratorium, and would provide nationals with the time to reconfigure their vessels and fishing operations.

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Urgent Action Now

The severe and deteriorating conflict between deepsea biodiversity conservation and bottom trawling warrants urgent action by the UNGA this year. A high seas bottom trawl fishing moratorium would provide immediate protection to the extraordinarily rich, vulnerable and mostly undiscovered biodiversity of the deep seas.

Notes:

(1) United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Montego Bay, 10 December 1982. Entered into force 16 November 1994.

(2) 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement (FSA). 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, 1995.

(3) The 'Compliance Agreement' refers to the 1993 FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas

(4) The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was entered into force on 29 December 1993.

(5) The UN FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was adopted by the Twenty-eighth Session of the FAO Conference on 31 October 1995.

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