In general, we like the Fish Stocks Agreement. It has good provisions on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. Rather than using the old, failed approach of trying to manage individual fish stocks, it requires countries and organizations to look at the whole ecosystem. It includes the precautionary principle, which means the absence of adequate scientific information shall not be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take conservation and management measures.

Against this are some real problems, including:

• Participation: Important fishing countries such as China, Japan and Korea have not joined the agreement. Japan did announce today that it intends to join this year, as did Indonesia.
  
  
  
• Gaps: the problem of high seas bottom trawling, which Greenpeace and other members of the Deep Sea Coalition Convention, highlights the fact that the Fish Stocks Agreement covers 'straddling stocks'. These are stocks that occur both inside and outside the 200-mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of each country. However, it doesn't cover so-called 'discrete' stocks - fish stocks that are found entirely in the high seas (outside the 200-mile limit only)
  
  
  
• Implementation: the Fish Stocks Agreement is implemented mostly through regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOS). Unfortunately, RFMOs vary widely in both their ability and willingness to properly apply the Fish Stocks Agreement - and there are areas where there are no RFMOs at all. Greenpeace is pushing for RFMOs to be renamed Regional Ecosystem Management Organizations: organizations that really focus on ecosystems and on protecting them. We are at the UN, finding REMO.
  
  
  
• IUU Fishing: too much fishing is illegal, unreported or unregulated.
  
  Many states made opening statements, as did the RFMOs and NGOs like the The World Conservation Union, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace. You can read the Greenpeace statement here.

  The rest of the day was taken up by discussing how to organize the work of this week and the review conference itself.

  - Duncan

  United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on Wikipedia
  United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks