Practice Of Compliance Control Within The Framework Of The Protection Of Marine Living Resources

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of how compliance control is seen from a fisheries perspective. The regime of fisheries raises some quite distinct issues from those of the more typical multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Under the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement, Article VI, there is an obligation for Parties to the Agreement to provide FAO with certain information with respect to each fishing vessel entered on the record of fishing vessels which each Party is obliged to maintain in respect of vessels fishing on the high seas. A variety of methods of inspection has been considered in the context of international fisheries law. The most obvious and least controversial is at sea inspection of a fishing vessel by the flag State. There are no clear cut regime-wide non-confrontational means of ensuring compliance. For example, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement contains a part devoted to the special requirements of developing States. Keywords: 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement; 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement; compliance control; international fisheries law; multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs); sea inspection