Dr. Joji Morishita, Advisor of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan, former Professor, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (retired), and member of IUCN-CEM Fisheries Experts Group, chairs the Resumed UN Conference on the UN Fish Stock Agreement in UN Headquarters, New York, 22-26 May 2023.
The Conference is addressing a number of issues of great importance for fisheries and transboundary and high seas stocks that include:
- A potential reference of the UN Agreement on an International Legally Binding Instrument on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement)
- The impact of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks.
- The precautionary and ecosystem approaches
- The impact of climate change on fisheries advice and management
- The impacts of fishing on the wider ecosystem, a similar discussion took place.
- The relations of the UNFSA with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and, on area-based management tools, with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) 30×30 Target.
All these issues are still debated but they underline the importance of the meeting for fisheries and biodiversity conservation.
More information on: https://enb.iisd.org/2023-resumed-review-conference-un-fish-stocks-agreement-unfsa-daily-report-24may2023. Photo from IISD.
