Chapter 18. Challenges And Future Directions In Transboundary Fisheries Management: Concluding Reflections

Abstract

This volume highlights challenges at the global, regional, and bilateral levels in transboundary fisheries management. On the global front, the key sustainability principles of precaution and the ecosystem approach remain cloaked in considerable interpretive confusion, and the principles have faced political and socio-economic hurdles in translating into regional and national practice. Challenges also abound at the regional level. Limited scientific information and understanding is common, making implementation of the ecosystem and precautionary approaches difficult. Precautionary scientific advice is often ignored or overridden in practice. The European Union (EU) is a unique actor on the international fisheries management scene, representing a large number of states and their common commitment to sustainable approaches to fisheries management, as reflected in the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFA), and other important international instruments. Keywords: European union (EU); LOSC; transboundary fisheries management; UN fish stocks agreement (UNFA)