A/RES/63/112. Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, 2008

• Resolution Number: A/RES/63/112
• Year: 2008
• Session: 63rd
• Issuer: General Assembly of the United Nation

United Nations A/RES/63/112

General Assembly Distr.: General

24 February 2009

Sixty-third session

Agenda item 70 (b)

08-47751

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2008

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/63/L.43 and Add.1)]

63/112. Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995

Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions

of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and

Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly

Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments

The General Assembly

,

Reaffirming

its resolutions 46/215 of 20 December 1991, 49/116 of

19 December 1994, and 50/24 and 50/25 of 5 December 1995, as well as its

resolutions 56/13 of 28 November 2001, 58/14 of 24 November 2003, 59/25 of

17 November 2004, 60/31 of 29 November 2005, 61/105 of 8 December 2006 and

62/177 of 18 December 2007, and other relevant resolutions,

Recalling

the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea (“the Convention”),

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and bearing in mind the relationship between

the Convention and the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of

the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating

to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly

Migratory Fish Stocks (“the Agreement”),

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Recognizing

that, in accordance with the Convention, the Agreement sets forth

provisions concerning the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks

and highly migratory fish stocks, including provisions on compliance and

enforcement by the flag State and subregional and regional cooperation in

enforcement, binding dispute settlement and the rights and obligations of States in

authorizing the use of vessels flying their flags for fishing on the high seas, and

specific provisions to address the requirements of developing States in relation to

the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory

fish stocks and the development of fisheries for such stocks,

Welcoming

the fact that a growing number of States, and entities referred to in

the Convention and in article 1, paragraph 2 (

b

), of the Agreement, as well as

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1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363.

2 Ibid., vol. 2167, No. 37924.

A/RES/63/112

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subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements,

have taken measures, as appropriate, towards the implementation of the provisions

of the Agreement,

Welcoming

also

the recent ratifications of and accessions to the Agreement,

Welcoming further

the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations and its Committee on Fisheries and the 2005 Rome Declaration on

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, adopted by the Ministerial Meeting on

Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on

12 March 2005,

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which calls for effective implementation of the various instruments

already developed to ensure responsible fisheries, and recognizing that the Code of

Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations (“the Code”)

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and its associated international plans of action set out

principles and global standards of behaviour for responsible practices for

conservation of fisheries resources and the management and development of

fisheries,

Noting with concern

that effective management of marine capture fisheries has

been made difficult in some areas by unreliable information and data caused by

unreported and misreported fish catch and fishing effort and that this lack of

accurate data contributes to overfishing in some areas,

Recognizing

the significant contribution of sustainable fisheries to food

security, income, wealth and poverty alleviation for present and future generations,

Recognizing also

the urgent need for action at all levels to ensure the long-

term sustainable use and management of fisheries resources through the wide

application of the precautionary approach,

Expressing concern

over the current and projected adverse effects of climate

change on food security and the sustainability of fisheries, and noting in that regard

the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Environment

Programme, including the findings that climate change is likely to have substantial

impacts on commercial and artisanal fisheries and food security,

Noting

the convening by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations of the Expert Workshop on Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and

Aquaculture, in Rome from 7 to 9 April 2008,

Deploring

the fact that fish stocks, including straddling fish stocks and highly

migratory fish stocks, in many parts of the world are overfished or subject to

sparsely regulated and heavy fishing efforts, as a result of, inter alia, illegal,

unreported and unregulated fishing, inadequate flag State control and enforcement,

including monitoring, control and surveillance measures, inadequate regulatory

measures, harmful fisheries subsidies and overcapacity, and noting the report of the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,

The State of World

Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006

,

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3 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Outcome of the Ministerial Meeting on

Fisheries, Rome, 12 March 2005 (CL 128/INF/11), appendix B.

4 International Fisheries Instruments with Index (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.98.V.11),

sect. III.

5 Available from www.fao.org/corp/publications/en.