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role throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s in strengthening 

 the position of the United States in international negotiations 

 toward a moratorium on high seas driftnet fishing. The UN General 

 Assembly agreed to a moratorium on high seas driftnet fishing 

 and, though high seas driftnet fishing has not entirely ceased, 

 the UN moratorium has been implemented in most areas of the 

 world. 



The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 

 provides a global framework for the international management of 

 fisheries. Though the fisheries provisions of UNCLOS are 

 generally recognized as customary international law, the 

 Convention itself has yet to come into force. Even as customary 

 international law, however, the provisions of UNCLOS pertaining 

 to the relative rights and obligations of States with respect to 

 straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, and fishing on the 

 high seas, are subject to differing interpretations. 



Recognizing this, the United Nations Conference on Environment 

 and Development called for the UN Conference on Straddling and 

 Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in an effort to resolve differences 

 in order to "fully implement" (Agenda 21, 17.49) these 

 provisions. It is obvious that if long term solutions are to be 

 achieved for the conservation and management of transboundary 

 fish stocks, in the Bering Sea and in the Northwest Atlantic, 

 among other places, then international rules and obligations must 

 be made clear and adhered to. The fisheries provisions of UNCLOS 



