This document contains the report of the Technical Consultation on Flag State Performance that finalized the Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance. The consultation was funded by the Governments of Canada, New Zealand, Norway and United States of America and by the European Commission.
The Experts received a report on the Expert's Workshop on Flag State Responsibilities: Assessing Performance and Taking Action that was organized by the Government of Canada from 25 to 28 March 2008 in Vancouver. The Consultation then considered a number of papers prepared by the experts and commentaries on them including criteria for assessing the performance of flag States, possible actions against vessels flying the flag of States not meeting the criteria for flag State performance, the role of national governments in implementing criteria and actions for flag States performance, the role of regional fisheries management organizations in implementing criteria and actions for flag State performance, the role of international institutions and instruments in implementing criteria and action for flag State performance and assistance to developing countries.
Secrecy, or the ability to keep ones identity hidden behind a corporate veil, is a key facilitator of fisheries crime, includingtax crime and other ancillary crimes in the fisheries sector. Secrecy means that investigators “don’t know what they don’t know” and is a fundamental challenge to fisheries crime law enforcement. The focus of this report is the jurisdictions that facilitate secrecy in fisheries, the flags of convenience, and particularly those that are contracted out to private companies, the so-called private flags, and the impact flags of convenience and secrecy has on effective fisheries crime law enforcement. The report is the result of the joint effort of the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group (FCWG) and the North Atlantic Fisheries Intelligence Group (NA-FIG), with the input and support of the Secretariats at INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It was made possible with the financial support of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the Nordic Council of Ministers.
This workshop covered new developments in monitoring, control and surveillance; implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement; instruments to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and much more.
The Committee expressed concern about the level of fishing capacity which was higher than prior to the 2004 tsunami in some of the areas affected by the disaster and recognized that it called for the design and implementation of sustainable and effective fisheries management arrangements that included a gradually phasing out fishing overcapacity, monitoring, access and livelihood considerations. The Committee reaffirmed its trust in FAO to play a coordinating role in advancing the global aquaculture agenda and highlighted the importance of addressing socio-economic impacts of aquaculture and other issues, such as improving planning and policy development at national and regional levels. The Committee agreed to give greater attention to small-scale fisheries and welcomed the convening of a broad-based international conference focusing specifically on small-scale fisheries.
Have we already entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene, dominated by the impact of human activities? What of the effects of increasing globalisation on the seas? Thirty-three experts on marine affairs and the law of the sea examine the emerging challenges for the World Ocean, inquiring into developments prompted by globalisation in central issue-areas of the law of the sea. These are explored systematically in sections on the key challenges and developments in the interface of science, economic uses and law (Part I); climate change and the oceans (Part II); sustainability of fisheries (Part III); challenges and responses related to global maritime transport (Part IV); and the regulatory responses to global challenges in seas surrounding Europe (Part V).
The issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in world fisheries is of serious and increasing concern. This document contains the report and papers presented a meeting of experts held in May 2000, which was organised by the Government of Australia in co-operation with the FAO. The preliminary draft international plan of action elaborated by the experts is appended to the report of the Consultation.
This new and fully updated edition of Principles of International Environmental Law offers a comprehensive and critical account of one of the fastest growing areas of international law: the principles and rules relating to environmental protection. Introducing the reader to the key foundational principles, governance structures and regulatory techniques, Principles of International Environmental Law explores each of the major areas of international environmental regulation through substantive chapters, including climate change, atmospheric protection, oceans and freshwater, biodiversity, chemicals and waste regulation. The ever-increasing overlap with other areas of international law is also explored through examination of the inter-linkages between international environmental law and other areas of international regulation, such as trade, human rights, humanitarian law and investment law. Incorporating the latest developments in treaty and case law for key areas of environmental regulation, this text is an essential reference and textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics and practitioners of international environmental law.
The objective of the Workshop was to develop national capacity and promote bilateral, subregional and regional coordination so that countries would be better placed to strengthen and harmonize port State measures and, as a result, implement the relevant tools of the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, the 2005 FAO Model Scheme on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and the 2009 Chairperson's draft Agreement on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, when it enters into force. Also published in French.