Helga Law Journal

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Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 76

Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 76
Helga Law Journal Vol. 1, 2021 78 Helga Guðmundsdóttir 79 1 Introduction Much like a classic playwright tragedy, the playing out of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ theory has the ultimate outcome that the protagonist’s self-interest results in a catastrophic ending. In particular, the gist of the theory is that unconstrained exploitation of a shared resource by parties acting only in accordance with their own interests can result in the ultimate devastation of that resource.1 The risk that the tragedy of the commons actualizes in respect to the exploitation of fish stocks has likely been increased with the effects of climate change. Scientists estimate that 70 or more countries will experience distribution of new fish stocks within their exclusive economic zones (‘EEZ’) due to changed migration patterns resulting from warming waters by the year 2100 if the current trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions is not halted.2 While climate change mitigation is critical, it is imperative that governments recognize the effects already transpiring and consider how to adapt to the changing patterns of shared fish stocks (that is, stocks that fall under the jurisdiction of two or more States). Where governments are unable to agree on the appropriate management measures, they may become deadlocked in disputes, in particular over each party’s share of a particular fish stock’s overall quota, resulting in all parties overfishing the common stock. An example of such deadlock is the over one decade-long dispute concerning the North East Atlantic mackerel stock (between the European Union (‘EU’), Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland), which has appeared in the headlines with the EU threatening sanctions against Iceland and Greenland in an attempt to force them to reduce their unilaterally set quotas.3 This dispute is a prime example of parties failing to agree on how much of a shared stock each of them is entitled to fish, resulting in the fisheries of the mackerel far exceeding the quota recommended by scientists to ensure its proper conservation – ultimately threatening the very existence of this stock. To phrase it more dramatically, these parties have set the stage for a rendition of a classic tragedy – the Tragedy of the Commons – the finale of which is unsurprisingly not looking particularly joyful. In this article, I suggest that parties to protracted fisheries disputes – and, in particular, the parties to the mackerel dispute – make use of the tools already available in the law of the sea framework, before resorting to other general tools of coercion and – more importantly – before staging the tragedy of the commons. Specifically, the use of the procedure of compulsory conciliation should be introduced to each coastal State’s radar as a potential tool to resolve current and 1 See, e.g. Brett Frischmann, Alain Marciano and Giovanni Ramello, ‘Retrospectives: Tragedy of the Commons After 50 Years’ (2019) 33 Journal of Economic Perspectives 211. 2 ‘Climate change has fish moving faster than regulations can keep up’ (Science Daily, 14 June 2018) <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180614213727.htm> accessed 23 October 2021. 3 Josh Barrie, ‘EU plans to threaten sanctions on Iceland and Greenland as ‘mackerel war’ looms’ (iNews, 20 August 2019) <inews.co.uk/news/politics/mackerel-fishing-eu-sanctions-iceland- greenland-328516> accessed 23 October 2021. further suggests that by resorting to compulsory conciliation the parties to the North East Atlantic mackerel dispute could bring this measure to the fore and not only resolve their own dispute, but also lead the way for future fisheries dispute resolution.
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