The purpose of this paper is to outline the provisions of the principal international fisheries instruments concerning the collection and exchange of fisheries data. These instruments are: the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (hereafter referred to as the 1982 UN Convention), the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (hereafter referred to as the UN Fish Stocks Agreement), the FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, (hereafter referred to as the FAO Compliance Agreement), and the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, (hereafter referred to as the Code of Conduct). The paper will then consider briefly other uses to which these data might be put for a purpose different to the main purpose for collecting the data. It will then consider the phrase “nationality of catches”, as well as some situations in national law where uncertainties may arise as to where responsibility should lie (usually as between the coastal State and the flag State) for the provision of data.
