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In Mission, our toughest challenge has been finding a solution to one of the world's greatest problems, the oceans. But what would that solution be without implementation? without a means to achieve it? To ensure that our solution reaches the highest pinnacles of government and society, we have developed an international forum for discussion, regulation, and innovation in the realm marine ecosystem and fisheries protection. Currently, the UN Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea governs codifies conventional international law (EarthTrust). The Law of the Sea, or LOS, has been supplemented by other legislation, including the 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. It is our vision to call another UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Preservation of Global Fisheriesthe Oceans. This Convention would concern the introduction of a new agreement (treaty) among nations to meet the following objectives as defined by Mission 2011: end overfishing, preserve marine ecosystems, and develop alternative measures to meet the nutritional needs of the international populace.
Our solution attempts to address a global problem - a problem that will affect billions of people - so we needed an implementation scheme that sought international concensus. Therefore, we are proposing a treaty, as opposed to introducing a new intergovernmental body, specifically because the infrastructure to enact it already exists, thereby increasing the credibility of our solution and the probability of international implementation.
The Agreement for the Introduction of Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Preservation of the Oceans will include the following aspects of our solution:
- The Marine Protected Areas "ten percent plan" requires that 10% of the world oceans should be covered with No-Take Marine Reserves within fifteen years
- Aquaculture:
- Technology restrictions:
- Environmental restrictions (Emily)
- Climate Restrictions (Sean)
- Signatory States will agree to uphold the articles of this Treaty and thereby enforce them within their territorial waters. A signatory State will not allow fishing fleets to register under the State's flag if that same fleet is registered under a non-signatory State's flag that has been found to violate the Law of the Sea, the Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, or this Treaty.
- Additionally, signatory States agree to stop all import of fish or fishery products that were caught unsustainably as found by this Treaty and the aforementioned UN law.
- Enforcement and regulation of IUU fishing (to be discussed under "Enforcement")
- Funding
- To reduce and contain overfish, a two phased plan for quotas and taxes will be implemented, requiring first that Individual Transfer Quotas (ITQ) be assigned and assessed by regional councils (to be discussed in latter sections) until such a time when fish stocks have recovered sufficiently, we will implement an international tax scheme based on regions and stock depletion. The proceeds of these taxes in the EEZ will go to that respective country - this treaty will encourage using the funds to subsidize fishermen transitioning to sustainable fishing practices. (more added here)
How to Introduce the Treaty
To implement this Treaty, a Convention of the United Nations must be called, upon which time member states will discuss and debated the merits of the Treaty until a concensus can be reached, as occurred in the Third Convention of the Law of the Sea (Koh).
One of the primary issues with establishing an international regulatory board or commission is gaining enough countries to acknowledge and commit to make the decisions of the body effective. One of the primary goals of the Mission 2011 team has been developing creative incentives to encourage maximal international support. Yet we are also prepared to acknowledge that full compliance is unrealistic and most unlikely. Skeptics may claim that without support of a few key states, such as the United States, Japan, or China, the organization would fail, as the International Court of Justice has. There is evidence, however, to suggest that if public awareness and education campaigns are successful, that we could effectively achieve the aims of the organization without the support of a given nation. After the U.S. government rejected the Kyoto Protocol, considered by many to be a "death warrant"(Borger, 2001), the individual states and cities in America responded with force: nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are currently leading the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is developing a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions that they hope other states will join (RGGI, About RGGI); California recently passed the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006, which will require major industries to cut emissions 25% by 2020 (Doerr, 2006); and the mayor of Seattle, Greg Nickels, has made "climate change a cornerstone of his administration," reducing Seattle's emissions 8% below 1990 levels (Cornwall, 2007). Nickels also hosted a global-warming conference of U.S. mayors in mid-October and has succeeded in getting more than 650 mayors from across the states to take the pledge to reduce emissions (Cornwall, 2007). Clearly, political support on the national level is not the deciding factor in an initiative's efficacy. We hope to acheive the same public fervor and rally of support as yet one more means to our end: saving the oceans.
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