Footprint Report
Threatened Fisheries Within the Global 200 Marine Ecoregions









The Footprint of Distant Water Fleets on World Fisheries

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Solutions

Plan of Action

There is no simple remedy to this multifaceted problem. A workable solution must address the problem of overcapacity, which is a principal cause of overfishing. Recent research, conducted by WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union estimates that the world fishing fleet possesses more than two and a half times the level of catching power needed to achieve a catch level that would not deplete stocks. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN's (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing calls upon all states to "take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity."

Global Plan of Action The world's fishing states are meeting in Rome in October 1998 to develop a global plan of action on fishing overcapacity. Applied to distant water fleets, this agreement will call for multilateral plans establishing sustainable levels of fishing capacity in fisheries for highly migratory and straddling fish stocks. This agreement should also require reassessment of existing bilateral fishing agreements to ensure that the level of fishing effort is consistent with international standards for sustainable fishing. Species which are heavily fished across a number of fishing zones are particularly vulnerable to the activities of distant water fleets. These issues are currently being addressed by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and discussions are under way in the western and central Pacific to limit fleet capacity in these fisheries.

The Need to Reduce Perverse Subsidies Reducing destructive fishing subsidies will be an essential component in any global strategy to combat overfishing by distant water fleets. Over the past year, fishing subsidies have been the focus of increased attention from bodies such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, FAO, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Trade Organisation. Today many subsidies are administered in a manner inconsistent with existing trade rules. States must indicate that they are ready to draw up a more ambitious, comprehensive solution to the problem of fishing subsidies.

The FAO plan of action on fishing overcapacity should include the development of a code of conduct for fishing subsidies that will identify clearly which subsidies must be phased out because they contribute to unsustainable fishing.

Responsible Fisheries Management Any resolution drawn up to meet the crisis facing distant water fishing fleets must also recognize that current activities are far removed from accepted guidelines defining responsible, well-managed fisheries. Overfishing is a problem in many of the fisheries utilized by distant water fleets. The issue of bycatch - fish and other marine wildlife caught indiscriminately and then thrown back to sea dead or dying - is largely unmanaged and the benefits of precautionary management rarely recognized. Too many fishing access agreements fall far short of the mark when measured against the standards of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing. Similarly, adherence to the United Nations' Agreement on Highly migratory Fish Stocks and Straddling Fish Stocks is still the exception, rather than the rule for regional fisheries management organisations.



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