APPENDIX 



Prepared Statement of National Resources Defense Council, National 

 Audubon Society, and Center for Marine Conservation 



I. introduction 



The next few months will be crucial in determining whether the UN Conference 

 on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks will succeed or fail in developing 

 a sustainable regime for international fisheries. Strong leadership from the United 

 States is required if success is to be achieved. A key intersessional meeting of the 

 principal parties this month in Buenos Aires presents a major opportunity to lay 

 the groundwork for agreement. We urge the US to take the lead in pressing for 

 strong, legally binding measures for conservation and management of international 

 fisheries at the intersessional meeting and in the August session of the UN Con- 

 ference. In the absence of such leadership on tee part of the U.S., we believe the 

 Conference is doomed to failure. 



The need for a sustainable international regime is increasingly urgent. Most com- 

 mercially caught fish species that occur in international waters are already fully 

 fished or depleted and demand continues to rise. In April, FAO warned of "disas- 

 trous social and economic consequences," including food shortages in coastal commu- 

 nities of developing countries, unless industrial fishing fleets are controlled through 

 national and international regulation. i In the absence of effective international con- 

 trols, continued overfishing and depletion will endanger an important source of food 

 for the world, threaten jobs in the commercial and recreational fishing industries, 

 disrupt the social and cultural fabric of fishing communities and threaten marine 

 mammals, birds and the overall viability and resilience of marine ecosystems. 



II. BACKGROUND 



Under existing international law, individual nations have jurisdiction over fish 

 within their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). However, many commer- 

 cially important fish populations, including most tuna species, migrate over vast 

 areas of the ocean, often crossing the EEZs of several nations as well as the high 

 seas. Other species, known as "straddling stocks," straddle the 200 mile boundary 

 between international waters and national zones of jurisdiction. Effective manage- 

 ment of both types of species requires cooperation between all nations with active 

 fisheries on them. 



Unfortunately, there are no effective international standards governing how na- 

 tions must collectively manage species that occur both on the hign seas and within 

 the EEZs of one or more nations. As a result, multi-national regional organizations 

 established to manage fishing of such species have often failed to prevent 

 overfishing, destructive fishing practices ana drastic depletion. Some areas of the 

 ocean with active fisheries for such species lack any management regime at all. 



Global fishing pressure on these species has increased rapidly in the last decade 

 to the point where most are fully fished or overexploited according to the United 

 Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Some, like bluefin tuna, are in 

 a state of crisis and others may soon follow. Increasing competition for tuna and 

 other species that occur both on the high seas and within EEZs, together with rap- 

 idly advancing technology and increasingly mobile fleets, make the need for an effec- 

 tive international regime pressing.2 



iFAO, 1994. "Major Fish Stocks Drop as Hi-Tech Subsidized Fishing Fleets Mine Oceans, 

 FAO Reports: Urges Pr<K;autionary Fisheries Management and Increased Controls Over Ocean 

 Fishing." News Release dated April 13, 1994. 



2For a more detailed discussion of the increasing depletion offish that occur in international 

 waters, see 'Toward Sustainable Fisheries," an NGO white paper prepared by U.S. environ- 

 mental groups in January, 1994. 



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