This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global multilateral fishing law. It argues that MSY has contributed to the unsustainable governance of fishing activities by focusing on open access and catch-based management, instead of effort-based management. In response to the dire state of world fish stocks, it has been proposed to cut subsidies to the sector, restrict trade in endangered fish species, install marine protected areas and mainstream the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). This essay proposes that the FAO’s EAF, which links in to social-ecological resilience thinking, suggests a new philosophy for fisheries management that offers a basis for introducing the aforementioned measures.
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FAO, supra note 3, at 8.
Franckx, supra note 29, at 4–5; CITES Press Release, Doha, 13 March 2010, available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/news/press/2010/20100313_cop15.shtml; interview with Suzan Lieberman, Pew Center, CITES Summit, Doha: What Went Wrong?, available at: http://www.goodplanet.info/eng/Contenu/Points-de-vues/CITES-Summit-Doha-What-Went-Wrong/(theme)/2026.
See COP 2, Decision II/10 (1995), adopting the so-called Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity. Also see, e.g., COP 4, Decisions VII/5 (1997) (advocating the adoption of ecosystem and precautionary approaches, as well as the establishment of MPAs) and COP 10, Decision X/29 (also advocating the introduction of MPAs). COP decisions related to marine and coastal biodiversity are available at http://www.cbd.int/marine/decisions.shtml. Also see 27 (2) IJMCL 2012, which contains a number of contributions relevant to the topic.
See FAO, supra note 42, at 28, 76, and 85. Note that paragraph 3 of Annex I of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement refers to “the resilience of each stock”. This is not a reference to social-ecological resilience, or ecological resilience, but rather refers to the resilience of individual stocks. On ecological resilience, see C.S. Holling, “Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems” (1973) 4 Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics 1–23. On social-ecological resilience, see C.S. Holling, “Understanding Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems” (2001) 4 Ecosystems 390–405, and Carl Folke, “Resilience: The Emergence of a Perspective for Social-Ecological Systems Analyses” (2006) 16 Global Environmental Change 253–267.
Holt, supra note 9, at 365.
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This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global multilateral fishing law. It argues that MSY has contributed to the unsustainable governance of fishing activities by focusing on open access and catch-based management, instead of effort-based management. In response to the dire state of world fish stocks, it has been proposed to cut subsidies to the sector, restrict trade in endangered fish species, install marine protected areas and mainstream the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). This essay proposes that the FAO’s EAF, which links in to social-ecological resilience thinking, suggests a new philosophy for fisheries management that offers a basis for introducing the aforementioned measures.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 918 | 204 | 24 |
Full Text Views | 255 | 36 | 4 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 243 | 87 | 6 |