OceanLaw On-Line Paper
No. 7, December 2001
Entry into
force of the United Nations
Fish Stocks Agreement: An Initial Assessment
Christopher Hedley
Director, OceanLaw; Editor, IGIFL
Abstract
The entry
into force of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, some six years after its adoption in
New York in 1995, is a highly significant event for the international law of
high seas fisheries. Its provisions have already had an important impact in the
conduct of international fisheries relations and its entry into force now
creates binding obligations on its party States. However, a number of concerns
remain about its impact, primarily in relation to the lack of participation of a
number of important coastal and distant-water fishing States and also in
relation to continuing differences of opinion regarding the interpretation of a
number of important provisions. This report briefly reviews the application of
the Agreement to date, the implications of entry into force and the prospects
for the future implementation of the Agreement.
Originally published as [2001] International Fisheries
Bulletin No. 24
