Fisheries under the BBNJ Agreement

국가관할권 이원 생물다양성 협정상 어업 문제에 관한 검토

The BBNJ Agreement, adopted on June 19, 2023, is considered to be the third implementation agreement of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea after the 1994 Part XI Implementation Agreement and the 1995 High Seas Fisheries Agreement. Of the four themes of the BBNJ Agreement, namely marine genetic resources, area-based management measures, environmental impact assessment, and capacity building and technology transfer, only the part relating to marine genetic resources is explicitly excluded from the scope of the BBNJ Agreement. There are no explicit exclusions in relation to area-based management measures and environmental impact assessments. Therefore, the sections on area-based management instruments and environmental impact assessments may conflict with fisheries issues in other international fisheries instruments during the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement. Although the BBNJ Agreement has a so-called "not-undermine" provision to ensure that it does not conflict with international fisheries instrument represented by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1995 High Seas Fisheries Agreement, and regional fisheries management organizations, it cannot be ruled out that the BBNJ Agreement may conflict with regional fisheries organizations' area-based management measures and environmental impact assessments. However, the potential for conflicts also implies the potential for developmental outcomes if they are harmoniously interpreted and implemented. First of all, the emergence of the BBNJ Agreement as a comprehensive treaty covering the high seas and the Area provides an opportunity to build an integrated mechanism for international fisheries insturments that were previously fragmented by regions and species. In addition, the BBNJ Agreement can establish a cooperation system with existing regional fisheries management organizations in the process of establishing area-based management measures and environmental impact assessment of cumulative fishing activities. In line with this, regional fisheries organizations may evolve in the future to proactively adopt legal framework changes and environmental protection measures that emerge from the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement.