Helga Law Journal

Ukioqatigiit
Ataaseq assigiiaat ilaat

Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 80

Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 80
Helga Law Journal Vol. 1, 2021 82 Helga Guðmundsdóttir 83 resources in its respective EEZ is not seriously endangered.15 To understand how the coastal States have manifestly failed to meet their obligations, it is first necessary to examine their rights and obligations with regard to the maintenance of the living resources in their EEZs. 2.1.1 General Rights and Obligations of Coastal States with regard to the Maintenance of Living Resources The overall aim of the rights and obligations of the Convention is arguably to avoid the actualization of the tragedy of the commons. Prior to the entry into force of the Convention, the exclusive rights of coastal States over living resources were internationally recognized in only a narrow area, while fishing for living resources in the high seas area beyond was largely unregulated. The uncontrolled exploitation on the high seas necessarily also impacted the stocks within coastal States’ narrow national jurisdiction, prompting them to claim rights and jurisdiction over the fish stocks further from their coasts.16 These demands were accommodated by the recognition in the Convention of coastal States’ sovereign rights within a 200 nm EEZ to manage the exploitation of the stocks therein (effectively placing 90% of the world’s fish within coastal State jurisdiction).17 Since the impetus for this system was the desire to curb the overexploitation of stocks – i.e., to avoid the tragedy of the commons –, these sovereign rights unsurprisingly come with clear obligations to conserve the stocks. The rights and obligations of coastal States in the EEZ are set out in Part V of the Convention. According to article 55 these include the sovereign right to exploit the living resources within the EEZ, as also affirmed in article 56. In exercising its rights the coastal State is nonetheless bound by the obligation to take measures to conserve and manage the fish stock in its EEZ in accordance with article 61. (A) The obligation to conserve the fish stock in the EEZ Article 61 lays out a number of obligations that the coastal State must fulfil in order to ensure the conservation of a stock. It must set a total allowable catch (“TAC”) and it must, taking into account the best scientific information available to it, take measures that ensure the conservation of the stock, including measures that: (i) ensure that a fish stock’s population stays at a level which can produce what is referred to as the maximum sustainable yield (‘MSY’);18 (ii) take account of 15 Convention, article 297(3)(b)(i). 16 A. V. Lowe and R.R. Churchill, The Law of the Sea (2nd ed., Manchester University Press 1999) 161. 17 Ibid 282 18 A fish stock will typically remain at its maximum size until it is fished, at which point it will decrease and subsequently increase rapidly to reach its former level. The MSY sets the parameter at which the greatest amount of a particular fish stock may be fished without depleting the entire stock, resulting in sustainable fisheries in the long-term. The stock will then remain at the maximum level despite fisheries year after year. Ibid, at 282. The MSY as determined by the coastal State is also qualified by certain attained represented a reversal of the trend then prevailing in international negotiations.’11 Thus, failing settlement of a fisheries dispute by methods agreed by the parties, they have the meaningful option of subjecting the dispute to the procedure of compulsory conciliation set out in the article 297(3)(b)(i) of the Convention. Indeed, this somewhat overlooked procedure, which has only been invoked in one (maritime boundary) dispute to date,12 could prove to be the tool necessary to resolve future fisheries disputes arising from changed migration patterns of fish stocks. 2.1 The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was the result of a process which started in 1973 with the convening of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (‘the Conference’). During this nine-year process, representatives of more than 160 States came together and negotiated the treaty which governs the management of 70% of the world’s surface and immense State interests.13 The Convention, furthermore, established a coastal State’s right to an EEZ of 200 nautical miles (“nm”) in which it has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources. The five main parties to the mackerel dispute, the EU, Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, are all bound by the Convention.14 Compulsory conciliation can be initiated under the Convention in a fisheries dispute provided certain criteria are fulfilled. Namely, compulsory conciliation may be initiated where a dispute arises as a result of the alleged manifest failure of a coastal State to comply with its obligations to ensure that the maintenance of the living 11 Gudmundur Eiriksson, The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Brill 2000) 11. 12 See Timor Sea Conciliation (Timor-Leste v. Australia), PCA, Case 2016-10. The outcome of the conciliation has been lauded as a success, with one commentator writing: ‘[The] Timor-Leste-Australia conciliation has set a very positive precedent of using conciliation to settle interstate maritime disputes. The case shows the functionality of UNCLOS conciliation, as it was able to resolve a decades-long and highly complex dispute in such an efficient manner.’ See Hao Duy Phan, ‘Australia and Timor-Leste’s Landmark Maritime Boundary Conciliation Process’ (2018), The Diplomat. 13 ‘The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: A Historical Perspective’ (United Nations), <www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_historical_perspective.htm> accessed 23 October 2021. 14 The Faroe Islands and Greenland, as self-governing territories under the Kingdom of Denmark, are bound by the Convention through Denmark. As Denmark is a member of the EU, its competence with regard to fisheries is largely substituted for that of the EU’s through the Common Fishery Policy. However, in Denmark’s declaration upon accession to the Convention it stated that this transferral of competence to the EU does not extend to matters pertaining to the Faroe Islands or Greenland. The EU is a Party to the Convention also in its own right under article 305(1)(f) and Annex IX which affirm that the Convention is open for signature by international organizations. Under article 2(2), the Convention applies mutatis mutandis to these entities, and the term ‘States Parties’ in the Convention refers to these entities as well. Moreover, the United Kingdom is also a State Party and would, post- Brexit, presumably become an independent party to the dispute. See 1833 UNTS.
Qupperneq 1
Qupperneq 2
Qupperneq 3
Qupperneq 4
Qupperneq 5
Qupperneq 6
Qupperneq 7
Qupperneq 8
Qupperneq 9
Qupperneq 10
Qupperneq 11
Qupperneq 12
Qupperneq 13
Qupperneq 14
Qupperneq 15
Qupperneq 16
Qupperneq 17
Qupperneq 18
Qupperneq 19
Qupperneq 20
Qupperneq 21
Qupperneq 22
Qupperneq 23
Qupperneq 24
Qupperneq 25
Qupperneq 26
Qupperneq 27
Qupperneq 28
Qupperneq 29
Qupperneq 30
Qupperneq 31
Qupperneq 32
Qupperneq 33
Qupperneq 34
Qupperneq 35
Qupperneq 36
Qupperneq 37
Qupperneq 38
Qupperneq 39
Qupperneq 40
Qupperneq 41
Qupperneq 42
Qupperneq 43
Qupperneq 44
Qupperneq 45
Qupperneq 46
Qupperneq 47
Qupperneq 48
Qupperneq 49
Qupperneq 50
Qupperneq 51
Qupperneq 52
Qupperneq 53
Qupperneq 54
Qupperneq 55
Qupperneq 56
Qupperneq 57
Qupperneq 58
Qupperneq 59
Qupperneq 60
Qupperneq 61
Qupperneq 62
Qupperneq 63
Qupperneq 64
Qupperneq 65
Qupperneq 66
Qupperneq 67
Qupperneq 68
Qupperneq 69
Qupperneq 70
Qupperneq 71
Qupperneq 72
Qupperneq 73
Qupperneq 74
Qupperneq 75
Qupperneq 76
Qupperneq 77
Qupperneq 78
Qupperneq 79
Qupperneq 80
Qupperneq 81
Qupperneq 82
Qupperneq 83
Qupperneq 84
Qupperneq 85
Qupperneq 86
Qupperneq 87
Qupperneq 88
Qupperneq 89
Qupperneq 90
Qupperneq 91
Qupperneq 92
Qupperneq 93
Qupperneq 94
Qupperneq 95
Qupperneq 96
Qupperneq 97
Qupperneq 98
Qupperneq 99
Qupperneq 100
Qupperneq 101
Qupperneq 102
Qupperneq 103
Qupperneq 104
Qupperneq 105
Qupperneq 106
Qupperneq 107
Qupperneq 108
Qupperneq 109
Qupperneq 110
Qupperneq 111
Qupperneq 112
Qupperneq 113
Qupperneq 114
Qupperneq 115
Qupperneq 116
Qupperneq 117
Qupperneq 118
Qupperneq 119
Qupperneq 120
Qupperneq 121
Qupperneq 122
Qupperneq 123
Qupperneq 124
Qupperneq 125
Qupperneq 126
Qupperneq 127
Qupperneq 128
Qupperneq 129
Qupperneq 130
Qupperneq 131
Qupperneq 132
Qupperneq 133
Qupperneq 134
Qupperneq 135
Qupperneq 136
Qupperneq 137
Qupperneq 138
Qupperneq 139
Qupperneq 140
Qupperneq 141
Qupperneq 142
Qupperneq 143
Qupperneq 144
Qupperneq 145
Qupperneq 146
Qupperneq 147
Qupperneq 148
Qupperneq 149
Qupperneq 150
Qupperneq 151
Qupperneq 152
Qupperneq 153
Qupperneq 154
Qupperneq 155
Qupperneq 156
Qupperneq 157
Qupperneq 158
Qupperneq 159
Qupperneq 160
Qupperneq 161
Qupperneq 162
Qupperneq 163
Qupperneq 164
Qupperneq 165
Qupperneq 166
Qupperneq 167
Qupperneq 168
Qupperneq 169
Qupperneq 170
Qupperneq 171
Qupperneq 172
Qupperneq 173
Qupperneq 174
Qupperneq 175
Qupperneq 176
Qupperneq 177
Qupperneq 178
Qupperneq 179
Qupperneq 180
Qupperneq 181
Qupperneq 182
Qupperneq 183
Qupperneq 184
Qupperneq 185
Qupperneq 186
Qupperneq 187
Qupperneq 188
Qupperneq 189
Qupperneq 190
Qupperneq 191
Qupperneq 192
Qupperneq 193
Qupperneq 194
Qupperneq 195
Qupperneq 196
Qupperneq 197
Qupperneq 198
Qupperneq 199
Qupperneq 200
Qupperneq 201
Qupperneq 202
Qupperneq 203
Qupperneq 204
Qupperneq 205
Qupperneq 206
Qupperneq 207
Qupperneq 208
Qupperneq 209
Qupperneq 210
Qupperneq 211
Qupperneq 212
Qupperneq 213
Qupperneq 214
Qupperneq 215
Qupperneq 216
Qupperneq 217
Qupperneq 218
Qupperneq 219
Qupperneq 220
Qupperneq 221
Qupperneq 222
Qupperneq 223
Qupperneq 224

x

Helga Law Journal

Direct Links

Hvis du vil linke til denne avis/magasin, skal du bruge disse links:

Link til denne avis/magasin: Helga Law Journal
https://timarit.is/publication/1677

Link til dette eksemplar:

Link til denne side:

Link til denne artikel:

Venligst ikke link direkte til billeder eller PDfs på Timarit.is, da sådanne webadresser kan ændres uden advarsel. Brug venligst de angivne webadresser for at linke til sitet.