1) Collaborating with the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat in
implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the Ecosystem
Approach to Fisheries by improving reporting on CBD Biodiversity Target 6 that
protect target marine commercial species from overfishing but more broadly
marine ecosystems.
31
2) Assisting intergovernmental organizations such as the Lake Chad Basin Commission in developing a fisheries management plan based on an ecosystem
approach to fisheries and focused on alleviating poverty.
32
While the FAO has not expressed views on whether high seas fisheries should or
should not be covered in any agreement negotiated as part of an international
instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity
in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ negotiations), FAO has participated
actively in intergovernmental meetings by sharing knowledge based on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. For example, in 2016, FAO offered the ecosystem
approach to fisheries as a framework for potentially assessing environmental impacts
within areas beyond national jurisdiction. FAO noted that the EAF framework:
[I]ncludes a risk-based framework to address impacts of fishing, including environmental
impacts and calls for appropriate management measures where high or moderate risk level
are identified. This framework also provides for explicitly addressing external impacts, both
natural and human induced, that may impact set management objectives in relations to
fisheries, and could serve as a strategic tool to identify possible cumulative effects.
FAO also encouraged negotiators, if the scope of the BBNJ negotiations includes
fisheries, to take into consideration FAO’s guidance on impact assessments for
vulnerable marine ecosystems provided for in the Deep-sea fisheries Guidelines.
These guidelines that have been adopted by six of the RFMOs that manage deep-sea
fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction provide concrete advice for what
information States and regional fisheries management organization should collect
and evaluate in conducting assessments including and a process.
33 Since UNCLOS
has come into effect, FAO has through the designation of technical guidelines based
on an ecosystem approach to fisheries become an important institution for
31 Id. at para. 28–30 (FAO’s report noted that “this type of collaboration offers a key opportunity to
create synergies with regard to facilitating the achievement of Aichi Target 6 and improving the
related reporting by building on existing areas of work within the two respective organisations”).
32 Id. at para. 52.
33 FAO Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas (2009) supra note
33 para. 47 (To determine whether deep-sea fishing is likely to cause a significant adverse impact,
FAO recommends that States address the following topics:
i. type(s) of fishing conducted or contemplated, including vessels and gear types, fishing areas,
target and potential bycatch species, fishing effort levels and duration of fishing (harvesting
plan);
ii. best available scientific and technical information on the current state of fishery resources and
baseline information on the ecosystems, habitats and communities in the fishing area, against
which future changes are to be compared;
iii. identification, description and mapping of VMEs known or likely to occur in the fishing area;
12 UN Food and Agriculture Organization: Exercising Legal Personality to Implement. . . 211
implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the Ecosystem
Approach to Fisheries by improving reporting on CBD Biodiversity Target 6 that
protect target marine commercial species from overfishing but more broadly
marine ecosystems.
31
2) Assisting intergovernmental organizations such as the Lake Chad Basin Commission in developing a fisheries management plan based on an ecosystem
approach to fisheries and focused on alleviating poverty.
32
While the FAO has not expressed views on whether high seas fisheries should or
should not be covered in any agreement negotiated as part of an international
instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity
in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ negotiations), FAO has participated
actively in intergovernmental meetings by sharing knowledge based on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. For example, in 2016, FAO offered the ecosystem
approach to fisheries as a framework for potentially assessing environmental impacts
within areas beyond national jurisdiction. FAO noted that the EAF framework:
[I]ncludes a risk-based framework to address impacts of fishing, including environmental
impacts and calls for appropriate management measures where high or moderate risk level
are identified. This framework also provides for explicitly addressing external impacts, both
natural and human induced, that may impact set management objectives in relations to
fisheries, and could serve as a strategic tool to identify possible cumulative effects.
FAO also encouraged negotiators, if the scope of the BBNJ negotiations includes
fisheries, to take into consideration FAO’s guidance on impact assessments for
vulnerable marine ecosystems provided for in the Deep-sea fisheries Guidelines.
These guidelines that have been adopted by six of the RFMOs that manage deep-sea
fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction provide concrete advice for what
information States and regional fisheries management organization should collect
and evaluate in conducting assessments including and a process.
33 Since UNCLOS
has come into effect, FAO has through the designation of technical guidelines based
on an ecosystem approach to fisheries become an important institution for
31 Id. at para. 28–30 (FAO’s report noted that “this type of collaboration offers a key opportunity to
create synergies with regard to facilitating the achievement of Aichi Target 6 and improving the
related reporting by building on existing areas of work within the two respective organisations”).
32 Id. at para. 52.
33 FAO Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas (2009) supra note
33 para. 47 (To determine whether deep-sea fishing is likely to cause a significant adverse impact,
FAO recommends that States address the following topics:
i. type(s) of fishing conducted or contemplated, including vessels and gear types, fishing areas,
target and potential bycatch species, fishing effort levels and duration of fishing (harvesting
plan);
ii. best available scientific and technical information on the current state of fishery resources and
baseline information on the ecosystems, habitats and communities in the fishing area, against
which future changes are to be compared;
iii. identification, description and mapping of VMEs known or likely to occur in the fishing area;
12 UN Food and Agriculture Organization: Exercising Legal Personality to Implement. . . 211