23 



(UNCED), addresses this crisis in marine fisheries, one of the world's greatest natu- 

 ral resources. 



Negotiators of the UN Law of the Sea Convention wrestled for years with the 

 thorny problems involved in managing high seas fisheries. They crafted general 

 rules for certain categories of fish, including straddling stocks (occurring within an 

 EEZ and in the adjacent high seas) and highly migratory species (occurring widely 

 within EEZs and throughout the high seas). The negotiators recognized the tradi- 

 tional freedom of all nations to fish on the high seas, but conditioned that right on 

 the observance of the rights and interests of coastal nations. 



But the Law of the Sea Convention did not spell out how coastal nations and dis- 

 tant-water fishing nations should cooperate to manage those high seas fisheries. Re- 

 gional fisheries organizations have been established in some cases to deal with this 

 management problem, but sometimes they have been unsuccessful because they 

 lacked enforcement clout, dispute resolution mechanisms, and leverage over non- 

 members. The situation demands a more comprehensive and binding set of inter- 

 national rules. 



The UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks 

 was initiated by UNCED in 1992 to elaborate on the fisheries management prin- 

 ciples outlined in the Law of the Sea Convention. The UNCED proposal for an inter- 

 national fisheries conference was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in Decem- 

 ber 1992, and the organizational session for the Conference was held in New York 

 in April 1993. Ambassador Satya Nandan of Fiji was selected chairman. The United 

 States highlighted the importance of non-governmental organizations' participation 

 in the Conference's work, and we have included NGOs on our delegations. 



The first substantive session of the Conference was held in New York in July 

 1993. The United States identified eight key points for the Conference to consider: 



• ecosystem conservation and management approaches 



• strengthening existing and creating new regional fisheries management organi- 

 zations 



• distinguishing between straddling and highly migratory fish stocks 



• managing fish stocks throughout their biological range 



• improving the scientific basis for management 



• promoting environmentally safe fishing technologies 



• strengthening enforcement capabilities 



• supporting the FAO "Flagging" agreement (FAO Agreement to Promote Compli- 

 ance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Ves- 

 sels on the High Seas). 



Ambassador Nandan prepared a draft, set of guidelines that incorporated most of 

 the U.S. points. However, his text did not resolve a number of important issues. 



The second session of the Conference was held in March 1994. At that time, vir- 

 tually none of the major distant-water fishing states was interested in negotiating 

 a treaty; they preferred a non-binding statement of principles. At that session, the 

 United States indicated flexibility on the issue of treaty versus statement of prin- 

 ciples and submitted a set of principles that further developed the points we raised 

 at the first session of the Conference. The purpose of these principles was to clarify 

 and implement the relevant provisions of the llN Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

 These principles also promoted in the international arena key conservation points 

 drawing from U.S. domestic fisheries law under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation 

 and Management Act. 



Following negotiations, the Chairman prepared a revised negotiating text on 

 March 31. This text has been the subject of two inter-sessional meetings held this 

 June, one in Brussels and one in Buenos Aires. The United States moved from its 

 position of accepting either a treaty or a statement of principles to a position favor- 

 ing a binding treaty, and our move has influenced a number of other countries. The 

 general conclusion of the Buenos Aires meeting was to move the UN Conference to- 

 ward a binding treaty. This approach will be presented at the forthcoming session 

 of the Conference to be held in New York at the end of August. While there is still 

 much to do, we are taking a leading role in assuring that important principles of 

 fisheries management and conservation are developed in this Conference as euective 

 and binding international standards. 



SUBSTANTIVE INTERESTS 



A central tension in these negotiations arises from the different interests of coast- 

 al nations and distant-water fishing nations. Reconciling these disparate interests 

 is a challenge for the United States, since we are a nation with extensive coastal 

 fisheries and with important distant-water fleets. The international community 

 must harmonize these interests, because they affect critical environmental and eco- 



