The first edition of Legislation on Coastal State Requirements for Foreign Fishing was published in 1981. Revised versions were published in 1983, 1985, 1988 and 1993.
The year 1994 witnessed the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on November 16 one year after 60 countries had ratified or acceded to the Convention. The Convention has, however, increasingly influenced national legislation since the 1970's. This has been noticeable in the steady growth in the number of states claiming territorial seas of 12 miles and exclusive economic zones of 200, or reducing more extensive territorial seas to 12 miles. In recent years, national legislation has more and more provided a framework for comprehensive fisheries management systems having due regard to the optimum utilisation of the living marine resources. As such, States have gained considerable experience in drawing up and implementing schemes for the allocation and control of access by foreign vessels to the waters under their national jurisdiction.
In the area of legislation and agreements governing foreign fishing, the last decade has confirmed the move, which started since the 1980's, towards the development of regional approaches to licensing and control of foreign fishing operations. Faced with the immense task of controlling foreign fleets in the vast areas of ocean under national jurisdiction, coastal states in several areas of the world have embarked on regional rather than a purely national approach to compliance control. Significant and increasing actions have thus been taken to develop and implement the principle of flag state responsibility for ensuring compliance of their fishing vessels with the provisions of bilateral or multilateral access agreements and coastal state laws.
Changes in legislation due to innovation in fisheries regimes have been compounded by the legislative consequences of the break-up of the former USSR and of political changes in a number of countries. These have led to the publication of this fifth revision only two years after the previous one.
It is expected that the recent legal developments at the international level - the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the UN Convention on Straddling and Highly Migratory Stocks, the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas - will play an increasingly important role in the future management of world fisheries resources. Recognition of these international legal instruments will commit coastal states to the integrated management and sustainable development of the marine environment whether under national jurisdiction or not. Indeed, contemporary thinking about fisheries policy stresses the importance of overcoming the disadvantageous effects of national maritime boundaries. In several coastal States, the pursuit of the objectives set forth in these international instruments will require a substantial redesign of the legal framework in which the management of marine fisheries currently takes place and it can thus be expected that future legislation will reflect this. FAO will attempt to keep pace with these developments in future versions of this work, which it is hoped can be disseminated by faster and faster means.
The present revision consists of a series of tables summarizing the provisions of national legislation and of bilateral and multilateral agreements governing foreign fishing in waters under national jurisdiction. As with the earlier revisions, it is hoped that the information provided will be of assistance to law makers and fisheries departments of both industrialized and developing coastal states in thinking through the many issues involved in drawing up or revising their policies and legislation.
A word of caution is in order, however. While every attempt has been made to collect reliable and current data, by the very nature of the task, the information presented in this study may be incomplete and thus liable to contain errors. The Development Law Service of FAO particularly welcomes being kept informed of recent developments in national fisheries legislation and bilateral or multilateral access agreements.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the immense assistance received from Ms. Jane O'Farrell who proofread the entire document and Ms. Barbara Moauro who prepared it for publication against rapidly shortening deadlines.
Lawrence C. Christy
Chief Development Law Service