Fisheries Data and the Law of the Sea Convention

Abstract

This article outlines the provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) concerning the collection and exchange of fisheries data. It also examines how the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement has substantially strengthened the provisions of the LOSC in this area. The paper considers briefly the specific problems raised by the attempt to attribute a nationality to catch data, and the related problem of determining where the responsibility lies for reporting data in chartering arrangements.

Who Gets the Catch? How Conventional Catch Attribution Frameworks Undermine Equity in Transboundary Fisheries

“…Noting that national practice varied, the Statistical Commission recommended that, "wherever the magnitude of landings is of importance and wherever it is possible to do so, countries should include in their import statistics fish landed on their shores directly from foreign fishing vessels and include in their export statistics fish landed abroad by domestic fishing vessels." (UN Doc E/CN.3/L.33, par 13) Importantly, the Commission report then notes, "It was the opinion of the Commission that the attribution of provenance by flag of fishing vessel would usually produce useful figures" (see also Edeson, 1999Edeson, , 2012. The CWP adopted this practice and flagbased attribution continues to be a central feature of the FAO's fisheries reporting, including in its "flagship" SOFIA reports.…”