Regional Fisheries Management Organisations

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea says that all States have the freedom to fish on the high seas.

But that freedom is not absolute. To ensure that over-fishing does not happen, nations have a duty to cooperate with each other if their vessels fish in the same area or for the same stocks. One recognised way of managing this is by setting up regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs).

New Zealand is involved with a number of RFMOs, including the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.

Most high seas fisheries are now under the jurisdiction of an RFMO. However, fishing nations have agreed that these organisations need to be strengthened and their performance regularly reviewed.

New Zealand advocates for this work within the United Nations, and other international bodies, and regionally within the RFMOs.

A recent report – sponsored by the governments of New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom and WWF International – has outlined what should be considered as best practice for these organisations. This includes how they should be set up, how decisions should be made and how to work with developing countries.

In January 2007, a joint meeting of the five RFMOs that manage tuna fisheries was held in Kobe, Japan. It was agreed that improved co-ordination between the RFMOs was needed, along with improved performance. Performance criteria were agreed and developed. New Zealand has since promoted these within the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. This proposal was accepted and a performance review began in 2008.