Legislating for Sustainable Fisheries : A Guide to Implementing the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement and 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement

Increasing concerns have been raised about the sustainability of many fish stocks. A number of international instruments, both voluntary and binding, have been formulated to address this. Two important binding agreements designed to adress this problem on a global basis are the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. However, neither of these agreements has yet entered into force. For some countries, particularly smaller developing countries, the very complexity of the task of transposing the provision of these agreements into national law may itself be an obstacle to, or cause delay in, becoming a party to them. the purpose of this guide is to facilitate the ratification or acceptance of these agreements in such countries. The guide provides an outline of some of the most significant provisions of the two agreements and a "toolkit" of the various approaches that have already been used by those few states that have already enacted national legislation to meet the obligations and the objectives contained in these two agreements.