Chapter V — International 



rising steadily. In the past decade, total commercial 

 landings have generally declined. Further, the land- 

 ings of many of the most valuable species, such as 

 cod and bluefin tuna, have declined dramatically. 



Government subsidies and development of markets 

 for previously unexploited species have spurred 

 extraordinary growth of fisheries throughout much of 

 the world. Advancements in technology also have 

 made it possible to profitably harvest previously 

 unexploited and inaccessible stocks. In most cases, 

 the growth has been spurred and regulated largely by 

 market demand alone. 



Because of the possible direct and indirect impacts 

 of expanding world fisheries on marine mammals and 

 other marine organisms, the Marine Mammal Com- 

 mission initiated a study in 1994 to identify (1) 

 deficiencies and the causes of deficiencies in interna- 

 tional fisheries agreements and other marine-related 

 conservation regimes to which the United States is a 

 party, (2) provisions that should and should not be 

 included in such regimes if they are to effective, and 

 (3) the types of decision-making and scientific adviso- 

 ry bodies best suited to effectively guide implementa- 

 tion of ecologically sound fisheries management 

 regimes. A draft of the study report was provided in 

 1994 to knowledgeable fishery scientists and manag- 

 ers, fishery regulatory agencies, and representatives of 

 the fishing industry and environmental groups for 

 review and comment. The final report was published 

 in October 1995 (see Appendix B, Weber and Spivy- 

 Weber 1995). 



The report recommends adoption of seven basic 

 principles for conserving living marine resources. 

 They are: 



• Ecosystem Perspective: The harvesting of living 

 marine resources should be managed to ensure that 

 it does not reduce target, dependent, or associated 

 species below the lower limit of their natural 

 equilibrium range or alter the basic structure and 

 resilience of the ecosystem of which they are a 

 part; 



• Integrative Perspective: The development of 

 management measures should consider ecological, 

 economic, social, demographic, and behavioral 

 aspects of fishing; 



• Independent Scientific Advice: International 

 regimes for the conservation of living marine 

 resources should provide means for obtaining 

 independent, peer-reviewed scientific advice that 

 includes majority and minority views as well as 

 clear statements regarding uncertainty and the 

 possible consequences of harvesting without resolv- 

 ing the uncertainty; 



• Responsive Management: The exploitation of 

 living marine resources should be structured to 

 ensure that monitoring and reporting mechanisms 

 are sufficient to develop information necessary to 

 meet management objectives and to change in 

 response to anticipated and unanticipated outcomes; 



• Anticipatory Management: The needs of man- 

 agement for information and effective control of 

 harvest rates should prevail over expanded exploi- 

 tation; 



• Conservative Management: When faced with 

 uncertainty, managers should favor the long-term 

 over the short-term and should place the burden of 

 proof on proponents for increasing direct and 

 indirect resource exploitation or for delaying 

 measures to rebuild depleted stocks; and 



• Accountability: International regimes for the 

 conservation of marine living resources should 

 include the means for analyzing the effectiveness of 

 management measures, for ensuring accountability 

 by all stakeholders, including government repre- 

 sentatives and fishermen, and for addressing any 

 failures to meet responsibilities. 



The report assesses the degree to which these 

 operational principles are reflected in the texts and 

 operation of 15 existing or pending international 

 regimes for the conservation of living marine resourc- 

 es. Most of the regimes reviewed lacked specific 

 provisions for implementing a precautionary ecosys- 

 tem-oriented approach to management. Neither did 

 they explicitly preclude such an approach, however. 



Several recently concluded agreements, such as the 

 United Nations agreement relating to the conservation 

 and management of straddling and highly migratory 

 fish stocks (see below), suggest that there is growing 

 awareness of the need for more effective ecosystem- 

 oriented fishery management. 



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