Since 1980 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has provided its developing members with dedicated policy and technical advice, and training, relating to fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS). In the mid to late 1970s two considerations figured significantly in FAO's assessment of the need for such technical assistance. These considerations were the (i) deliberations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and (ii) recognition of the central importance of MCS to effective fisheries conservation and management.

The UNCLOS (1973-1982) led to the adoption of a new international legal regime for the management of the world's oceans, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 Convention). Shortly after the commencement of the UNCLOS the international community agreed that in order to secure enhanced fisheries conservation and management, States would need to be given additional jurisdiction over fisheries resources adjacent to their coasts. This recognition had major implications for MCS policy and operations in that coastal States would be required, in future, to monitor and enforce fisheries conservation and management measures, no longer within a narrow territorial sea of 12 miles but rather over a much greater area in an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extending upto 200 nautical miles from the coast.

In 1979 the FAO Conference considered international fisheries developments and in particular the impact of the UNCLOS on national fisheries conservation and management, and in resolution 4/79, adopted by the Conference on 27 November 1979, invited "...the Director-General to continue and intensify efforts to mobilize the financial, technical and other forms of assistance required to implement the Programme of Assistance in the Development and Management of Fisheries in Exclusive Economic Zones". It was this resolution that gave impetus to establish a specific programme for the conservation and management of EEZ fisheries resources, to be known as the FAO EEZ Programme.

In addition to international developments related to the elaboration of the 1982 Convention, FAO continued to stress in fisheries policy and technical advice provided to its developing members, that the implementation of conservation and management measures in EEZs would be unlikely to bring sustained long-term benefits in the absence of sound, reliable and cost-effective MCS systems. This was necessary to ensure that fisheries conservation and management measures adopted were observed and implemented.

FAO also stressed the need for developing members to receive fair compensation for fish harvested by foreign fleets within their respective EEZs, and for measures to be adopted that would minimize unauthorized fishing. To this end FAO sponsored a number of workshops to assist developing members design and implement policies and practices for the collection of fisheries data and access fees from foreign fishermen. Moreover, the possibility of using fisheries joint ventures as a form of international collaboration and as a means of extracting reasonable financial returns for fish taken within the EEZs of developing members was promoted by FAO.

In concert with, and in support of, the provision of MCS technical assistance, FAO also provided its developing members with legal advice to (i) facilitate the revision of national fisheries legislation, (ii) harmonize fisheries legislation on a regional basis, (iii) training and seminars. This assistance was provided primarily to (i) bring national fisheries legislation in line with the provisions of the 1982 Convention, (ii) harmonize legislation of regional groupings for consistency and efficiency reasons, (iii) enhance national capacity in the legislative and fisheries law area, and (iv) ensure that there was an unambiguous and appropriate legal base in support of the adoption and implementation of fisheries conservation and management arrangements.