ENB:07:40
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UNAUTHORIZED FISHING IN ZONES OF NATIONAL JURISDICTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LIVING MARINE RESOURCES OF THE WORLD"S OCEANS AND SEAS
This resolution (A/C.2/49/L.20) was adopted by consensus, as orally amended, by the Second Committee on 7 December 1994. Co-sponsors include: Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Benin, Canada, Cape Verde, Cuba, Ecuador, Eritrea, Fiji, Grenada, Indonesia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States.
The draft resolution calls upon States to take the responsibility, consistent with their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to ensure that no fishing vessels entitled to fly their national flag fish in zones under the national jurisdication of other States, unless they are duly authorized by the competent authorities in the coastal State or States concerned. The resolution also calls upon development assistance organizations to make it a high priority to support efforts by developing coastal States to improve monitoring and control of fishing activities and the enforcement of fishing regulations. The Secretary-General is requested to submit to the General Assembly at its 50th session a report on the steps taken and on the problems encountered in the implementation of this resolution.
After adoption, Japan noted that measures in this resolution should not prejudge the work in other fora, including the Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the FAO. The Russian Federation said that it has faced problems regarding overfishing in its EEZ in the Bering and Barents Seas. Russia has been damaged by overfishing and wants to end unauthorized fishing in zones of national jurisdiction. The Republic of Korea joined the consensus, but noted that other fora and organizations are dealing with unauthorized fishing. This resolution should not prejudge or undermine action in these fora or organizations. China expressed support for the resolution, but noted that at the same time overfishing in zones of national jurisdiction contibute to depletion of fish stocks. Turkey said that it would interpret this resolution to refer solely to the articles on fishing matters in the Law of the Sea.