Strengthening the law of the sea: The new agreement on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks

Abstract

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea establishes a general framework for the conservation and management of all living marine resources. This general framework has not, however, prevented the precipitous decline of several key fish stocks, a decline that has, in turn, threatened the stability of the law of the sea. Now, the United Nations has produced a new treaty setting forth more specific rules to govern fish stocks that cross the 200‐mile line, i.e., the line that separates the exclusive economic zones of coastal states from the high seas. This article reviews the salient aspects of the new treaty, as well as its prospects for stemming the decline of fishery resources and for strengthening the law of the sea.