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regional fishery management organisation (RFMO) is a type of RFB entrusted with sustainable management of fish stocks in a particular region, or of highly migratory species. RFMOs coalesce through the collaboration of nations demonstrating pronounced fishing interests within specific geographic domains. These encompass coastal states whose maritime territories encompass at least a segment of a formally acknowledged fish population, alongside "distant water fishing nations" (DWFN), whose fleets venture to regions where a fish stock is situated. These entities are designed to be inclusive, extending accessibility to nations whose fishing fleets have historically engaged in activities within those delineated areas or exhibit a vested interest in participating in such endeavors. Integral to the paradigm of fisheries management, RFMOs assume a paramount and indispensable position within the realm of international fisheries law—a specialized domain within international law dedicated to the conservation, management, and/or development of marine capture fisheries. This legal framework comprises substantive norms encompassing rights, duties, and objectives, substantive fisheries standards including catch limits, and institutional rules and structures delineating mandates and decision-making procedures. Positioned within the purview of public international law, international fisheries law can be construed as a subset of the broader field of international maritime law. Significance of RFMOs emanates from the vested authority they wield in promulgating internationally legally binding measures about the comprehensive conservation and management of fisheries, spanning both fishing operations and associated activities. RFMOs exercise the prerogative to establish a diverse array of rules governing fishery management, deploying strategic tools such as catch limits (quota), technical measures, spatial and/or temporal restrictions, and overseeing monitoring, control, and surveillance activities to ensure rigorous adherence to these regulations. Informed by the scientific counsel provided by dedicated scientific bodies, RFMOs systematically engage in the periodic review and evaluation of member compliance, thereby substantiating their pivotal role in fostering the sustainable governance of fisheries resources. The genesis of international fisheries law can be traced back to the late 19th century when
North Sea coastal States implemented multilateral regulations to govern fishing activities at sea. During this historical period, the United States unsuccessfully attempted to establish coastal State jurisdiction for the protection of fur seals in high seas areas adjacent to its territorial sea. An essential milestone in the early development of this legal framework was the establishment of the
International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) in 1924, considered an early manifestation of a Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) before the formalization of this terminology. These initial multilateral initiatives laid the foundation for subsequent developments, leading to the formation of the
North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) and the
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) shortly after
World War II. Simultaneously, the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) was founded in 1948, with a primary focus on marine mammals, although it does not fall under the classification of an RFMO within this context. In contrast to these developments, the 1958
High Seas Fishing Convention did not assign a prominent role to regional fisheries bodies; instead, it relied on the special interests of coastal States to ensure the productivity of living resources in high seas areas adjacent to their territorial sea. •
General or
generic RFMOs have a wider remit related to living marine resources in general within a region. These organizations have a mandate to manage deep-sea fisheries in the
Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) cover most of the fished high seas areas of the world. Examples include: •
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources •
General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean •
North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission •
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization • •
South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation •
South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation •
Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement •
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission •
Tuna RFMOs are the 5 RFMOs managing tuna stocks: •
Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna •
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas •
Indian Ocean Tuna Commission •
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission •
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission •
Specialised RFMOs manage certain other species of marine fauna; examples include: •
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization •
International Whaling Commission Certain early instances of RFMO were initially structured with a scope confined solely to target stocks. Nevertheless, numerous of these entities have subsequently revised their foundational charters to encompass the ecosystem approach to fisheries and the precautionary approach. These amendments are aimed at guaranteeing the safeguarding of populations, species, ecosystems, and habitats linked to fisheries, concurrently permitting the sustainable utilization of living marine resources. Recently established RFMOs, exemplified by SEAFO, SIOFA, and SPRFMO, have inherently incorporated analogous principles into their foundational documents from their inception. This wide diversity of mandates and areas of application, and also effective implementation of regulations, opens up opportunities to combat
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing vessels, though there are also opinions that the system is ineffective.
Alternative arrangements Arrangements represent collaborative agreements among nations or entities to administer fish stocks within specific regions, particularly addressing straddling or highly migratory fish stocks. A
regional fishery management arrangement denotes an international fishery agreement that refrains from establishing a formal regional fishery body, while the fishery management is exercised instead directly by the contracting parties, an option limited mostly to cases where there are only two actors in a basin. An example is the
Baltic Sea where, due to reduction in 2004 in the number of actors in the basin from six to just two, the formerly existing general RMFO (the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission) was dissolved in 2007, while according to the new general regional fishery management arrangement, the fishery management tasks have been taken over directly by the two extant actors in the basin, namely the EU and Russia. Nevertheless, the sea has remained under management by a tuna RMFO (ICCAT) and two other specialised RFMOs dedicated to salmon (NASCO) and whaling (IWC). The primary distinctions between the constitutive instrument of a Regional Fishery Management Organization (RFMO) and an Arrangement lie in the fact that the latter does not institute an international organization, thereby omitting the creation of a Secretariat. Additionally, an Arrangement may adopt a non-legally binding character. The European Union (EU) is a signatory to the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean. The EU's active involvement in this agreement serves as a testament to its dedication to the promotion of sustainable fisheries management at the international level. == Regional fishery advisory body ==