A New Global Record for an Old Threat

• Author: David Midson
• Position: B.Sc-LLB(Hons) graduate of the University of Tasmania. I owe my thanks to Dr. Gail Lugten for her guidance on this paper. [This paper won the MLAANZ Morella Calder Prize for a student paper in 2008 ?ed.]
• Pages: 69-81

(2009) 23 A&NZ Mar LJ

g vessels.

A NEW GLOBAL RECORD FOR AN OLD THREAT

David Midson∗

1. A New Global Record

Records and registries are used domestically and internationally as important tools of management and enforcement.

Over the past fifteen years there have been numerous calls for an international record of all fishing vessels in the

global fishing fleet. These calls have been raised in the past as a response to re-flagging of vessels; managing

migratory and straddling fish stocks; and fishing fleet overcapacity. However, since the 2005 Ministerially-led Task

Force on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing on the high seas, there has been a new, louder call for a

global record of all fishing vessels, refrigerated vessels and fishing support vessels. Such a record is seen to be a vital

tool in the international fight against IUU fishing. This article will consider both the problem of IUU fishing and the

Global Record proposed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) as a remedial tool to

address IUU fishing.

1.1 Records on a Global Scale

That records and databases are beneficial in enforcing and policing laws is a matter of common sense; imagine an

attempt to police traffic laws without a system of vehicle identification. In an international policing context, records

and databases have proven an important part of Interpol’s core functions with much of the organisation revolving

around maintaining global databases.1 The concept of a record database has also been applied to international

shipping. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) through the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea

(SOLAS)2 maintains the Global Information Shipping System with the information contained being used to assist

authorities manage marine security, vessel safety and vessel caused marine pollution.3 Lloyds also maintains a private

corporate arm (Fairplay) which houses an international shipping database record and provides a comprehensive range

of data on larger shipping vessels. The Lloyds Register is made available to both the government and private sector

alike.4 With the effective use of global records in international shipping it is no surprise there have been long standing

calls for the creation or extension of a record to cover all fishing vessels, not just shippin 5

The first instrument to formalise a call for a record of fishing vessels was the 1993 Agreement to Promote Compliance

with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (the Compliance

Agreement). This agreement was created to address the problem of vessel re-flagging which was thereby impacting on

the effectiveness of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.6 Article IV creates a requirement that each party maintain a

record of fishing vessels,7 Article V (3) speaks of global co-operation,8 and Article VI sets out that the data in

individual states records should be reported to FAO and there form the basis of a fishing vessel record called the High

Seas Fishing Vessel Authorization Record (HSVAR).9 Unfortunately HSVAR has failed to become the comprehensive

∗ B.Sc-LLB(Hons) graduate of the University of Tasmania. I owe my thanks to Dr. Gail Lugten for her guidance on this paper. [This paper won the

MLAANZ Morella Calder Prize for a student paper in 2008 –ed.]

1 Interpol < http://www.interpol.int/Public/icpo/about.asp>, at 10 May 2008.

2 Opened for signature 1 November 1975, IMO, (entered into force 25 May 1980).

3 Global Information Shipping System < http://gisis.imo.org/Public/> at 10 May 2008.

4 Lloyds Register <http://www.lr.org/Industries/Marine/Services/Shipping+information/> at 10 May 2008.

5 G. Lugten, ‘The FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Vessels and Fishing Support Vessels’ (2008) International Journal of

Marine and Coastal Law (In press).

6 Opened for signature 10 December 1982, (entered into force 16 November 1994); Agreement To Promote Compliance with International

Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas 1993 relevant section of the preamble reads: ‘Recalling that Agenda

21, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, calls upon States to take effective action, consistent with

international law, to deter reflagging of vessels by their nationals as a means of avoiding compliance with applicable conservation and management

rules for fishing activities on the high seas…’.

7 Article IV states that ‘Each Party shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, maintain a record of fishing vessels entitled to fly its flag

and authorized to be used for fishing on the high seas, and shall take such measures as may be necessary to ensure that all such fishing

vessels are entered in that record’.

8 Article V (3) states that ‘The Parties shall, when and as appropriate, enter into cooperative agreements or arrangements of mutual assistance on a

global, regional, subregional or bilateral basis so as to promote the achievement of the objectives of this Agreement’.

9 G. Lugten, Development of a Comprehensive Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Carriers and Support Vessels, Legal Consultation for

the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (2008); Compliance Agreement (see particularly Annex II ), available at

012T-e.htm> at 8 May 2009.

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