Team 5 focused on the following issues: international fishing regulations, deep sea fishing and the polar regions.
Current UN Involvement:
A subcommittee of the FAO (the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department) has an outlined a FishCode programme, where objectives are "to raise the economic, social and nutritional benefits obtained from the fisheries and aquaculture, especially in developing countries, through the adoption of responsible development, management and conservation practices, including improved institutional and legal arrangements." The department has also created a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which "sets out principles and international standards of behaviour for responsible practices with a view to ensuring the effective conservation, management and development of living aquatic resources, with due respect for the ecosystem and biodiversity," and also "recognizes the nutritional, economic, social, environmental and cultural importance of fisheries and the interests of all those concerned with the fishery sector. The Code takes into account the biological characteristics of the resources and their environment and the interests of consumers and other users." Within this Code of Conduct, the FAO has several suggested International Plans of Action (IPOAs) which would apply to "all States and entities and to all fishers." Specifically, for the management of fishing capacity, "States should take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity and should ensure that levels of fishing effort are commensurate with sustainable use of fishery resources." Possible solutions in this case include well-defined property rights for international waters, "incentive blocking measures," and "incentive adjusting measures."
Sources: http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=fishcode_prog.xml , http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=CCRF_prog.xml&xp_nav=2, http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=ipoa_capacity.xml
Flag Hopping and Fishing Under flags of convenience:
A major problem facing the enforcement of international fishing regulations is the issue of flag hopping and fishing under flags of convenience. The phenomenon is a direct result of many countries opening their fishing registries to fishing companies of other nationalities. By allowing this, countries can increase the revenue that they gain from fishing, and this has made the idea of open registry very popular in poorer countries such as Panama and Bolivia. All of this sounds fine, when the country allowing open registry follows international protocol. However, the reason flag hopping is so detrimental to international fishing regulations is that many countries where open registry is popular, do not abide by international fishing laws nor do they sign on to international treaties. This means that fishing companies that register under the flag of these countries no longer have to abide by these laws either. They can go into marine reserves and fish, they can fish as much as they want to and with no fear of repercussion, and if they country decides that they wish to comply with international regulations then the fishing company can simply switch flags in order to continue fishing outside of regulations, hence the term flag hopping. Boats can switch flags without ever docking in the port of the country that they wish to switch to. This phenomenon creates a tremendous loophole in the enforcement of international fishing regulations and negatively curbs the effects of fishing regulations One of the only effective ways proposed to solve this issue is fish trade restrictions with countries who do not comply with international fishing regulations and allow companies under them to do the same. This provides a strong economical incentive for these countries to join an international fishing policy and abide by it, making it more profitable for them to follow environmental policy than it is for them to disregard it and leaving flag hoppers with nowhere to jump.
Main Source: "Fishing Under Flags of Convenience: Using Market Power to Increase Compliance with International Regulations" Elizabeth R. Desombre. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005