A brief introduction to the principal provisions of the international legal regime governing fisheries in the EEZ

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC)1 that concern fisheries conservation and management in an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), focusing on the general regime as opposed to the specific regimes provided for in Articles 64 to 67. These regimes have been supplemented in important ways by the Agreement for the Implementation 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 (referred to hereafter as the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement). The paper concludes with some tentative views about how the regime has stood up since its inception over 25 years ago.