United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a comprehensive legal text that establishes jurisdiction and governance parameters of many key natural resources, including high seas fisheries. UNCLOS is one of the most significant legal instruments ever developed because it encompasses such a broad span of rights and obligations relating not only to fisheries, but also to transit and seabed resources.

UNCLOS sets out a framework of rights, obligations and duties with respect to fishing:

• It provides the legal basis for coastal States to have complete jurisdiction over the 200 nautical miles adjacent to coastlines, as well as jurisdiction over sedentary fish stocks and all non-living resources to the edge of the continental shelf.
• It specifies freedom of fishing and freedom of navigation on the high seas, but also states that these freedoms are subject to restrictions.
• It stipulates that coastal States and fishing flag States have a duty to co-operate on conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and other fisheries on the high seas.
• It specifies that flag States have a right to exercise jurisdiction over their vessels anywhere, including the high seas, but also stipulates that with this right comes a duty to control the activities of vessels flagged by them.

Since the Convention was adopted in 1982, further clarification has been needed to address gaps in high seas fisheries conservation and management, notably regarding straddling and highly migratory species. The United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFA) was, in part, recognition that these particular stocks were vulnerable to overexploitation and loopholes in the current regimes.

UNFA underlines the special interest of coastal States in the conservation of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. It also elaborates on the UNCLOS provisions of the duty to co-operate and the duties of the flag State, including the obligation to apply the precautionary approach by setting limit reference points for maximum sustainable yield. Ecosystems and biodiversity concerns must be factored into the management process. The creation and use of regional fisheries management organizations are also promoted as a means of fulfilling the duty of States to co-operate.

Canada ratified UNCLOS on November 6, 2003. Under the terms of the Convention, Canada has 10 years from that date to submit the required technical and scientific data to support extending its claim on the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.