Team 5 focused on the following issues: international fishing regulations, deep sea fishing and the polar regions.
Current UN Involvement:
A subcommittee of the FAO (the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department) has an outlined a FishCode programme, where objectives are "to raise the economic, social and nutritional benefits obtained from the fisheries and aquaculture, especially in developing countries, through the adoption of responsible development, management and conservation practices, including improved institutional and legal arrangements." The department has also created a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which "sets out principles and international standards of behaviour for responsible practices with a view to ensuring the effective conservation, management and development of living aquatic resources, with due respect for the ecosystem and biodiversity," and also "recognizes the nutritional, economic, social, environmental and cultural importance of fisheries and the interests of all those concerned with the fishery sector. The Code takes into account the biological characteristics of the resources and their environment and the interests of consumers and other users." Within this Code of Conduct, the FAO has several suggested International Plans of Action (IPOAs) which would apply to "all States and entities and to all fishers." Specifically, for the management of fishing capacity, "States should take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity and should ensure that levels of fishing effort are commensurate with sustainable use of fishery resources." Possible solutions in this case include well-defined property rights for international waters, "incentive blocking measures," and "incentive adjusting measures."
Sources: http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=fishcode_prog.xml , http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=CCRF_prog.xml&xp_nav=2, http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=org&xml=ipoa_capacity.xml
The Spanish Fishery:
In a PowerPoint presentation given by the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food with data from 2000-2002 on the Spanish fisheries I have found information about the conservation efforts of Spain and the size and scope of their fishing industry. The Minister discusses the location of the Spanish fishing fleet and the relative size of the fleet at each location, as well as the fish output and trade. Spain has also taken measures to offset their substantial impact on the ocean's fish populations by implementing marine reserves, aquaculture, and fishery inspections/satellite tracking (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacion MAPA, 2002).
The data show that the Spanish fleet fishes in every major ocean and has over 20 joint ventures with other countries, most of which are in Africa. Also, the overwhelming majority of Spanish fishing vessels have been operating for more than thirty years, and the majority are less than 9 meters in length (so not large boats owned by corporations). Additionally, Spanish ships output nearly one million tons of fish (including crustaceans), cans two hundred and fifty thousand tons, and imports around 5 billion tons per year (a number which far outweighs the amount of fish exported per year) (MAPA, 2002).
Their efforts to preserve the oceans are as follows: the Ministry runs five of the eighteen marine reserves off the coast of Spain, and produces around 300,000 tons in fish (including mollusks, fish, and crustaceans) from aquaculture, most of which is marine based (approx. 10% is land-based) (MAPA, 2002). "As in many other parts of Europe, in Spain, aquaculture and particularly that of salt water species, is nowadays perceived as the only means to preserve the present equilibrium between supply and
demand of fish products for human consumption" (____).
A center run by the MAPA is also tracking approx. 1,700 fishing vessels with portable on board "Blue Box" units. The government also employs GPS to track vessels (MAPA, 2002).
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacion. (2002). Fisheries in Spain. Madrid, Spain: Jose Ortega.