All eyes on the high seas at UN Ocean Conference

Nice/Rome – Amid heightened interest in the high seas at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice in France, the Common Oceans Program took the stage to promote partnerships for sustainable resource management and biodiversity conservation to keep the oceans healthy.

The remarkable comeback of tuna stocks caught the limelight at UNOC on 11 June when FAO launched its 2025 Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources.

87 per cent of major tuna stocks are now sustainably fished, with sustainable stocks accounting for 99 percent of production.

This achievement highlights the power of effective management for conserving fisheries resources – one of the key priorities of the Common Oceans tuna project, recently celebrated at World Tuna Day.

Growing momentum

UNOC's third edition from 9–13 June 2025 brought 15,000 participants to the south of France and attracted nearly 100,000 visitors. Signaling a growing momentum in support of the high seas, 50 countries plus the European Union had ratified the BBNJ agreement by the end of the conference.

Now, this crucial legal instrument to protect marine life and ecosystems in the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond any country’s jurisdiction needs only 10 more countries to ratify before entering into force.

Not surprisingly, the high seas were high on the UNOC agenda with several of the Ocean Action Panels and numerous side events focused on the importance of protecting and sustainably managing the high seas, offering Common Oceans partners platforms to make their voices heard.

The Common Oceans Sargasso Sea project, committed to multi-stakeholder stewardship for the Sargasso Sea, has been working towards becoming an inspirational example for area-based management governance as foreseen by the BBNJ agreement. Increased stakeholder involvement will sustain and restore the productivity and health of this complex high-seas ecosystem.

Similarly, the Common Oceans Cross-sectoral project explored many collaborative ways to build capacity for cooperation across various sectors such as shipping, fishing and others, to improve governance in the areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).

Through panel discussions, youth advocacy competitions, and roundtable dialogues, Cross-sectoral project partners emphasized the importance of leveraging the BBNJ agreement to address science gaps and capacity needs, while participants called for increased youth involvement to preserve our common oceans for future generations.

Critical role of deep-sea

Other Ocean Panels highlighted the role of the deep-sea in maintaining ecosystem health and regulating the global climate, underlining the critical role of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) in ocean governance—resonating strongly with the Common Oceans Deep-sea fisheries project that works to advance responsible deep-sea fisheries management and biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ.

The Common Oceans Program is a global partnership funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), promoting sustainable fisheries and biodiversity conservation in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) with a particular focus on tuna and deep-sea fisheries, the Sargasso Sea and cross-sectoral cooperation.

Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Program brings together the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), regional fisheries management organizations, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia.