Precautionary Management and the Development of Future Fishing Opportunities: The International Regulation of New and Exploratory Fisheries

The extensive pressures upon current commercial fisheries, compounded by the projected impacts of climate change and associated processes on marine ecosystems, will increasingly displace elements of future fishing effort towards new locations, target species and techniques. For transboundary stocks, where a new or exploratory fishery is contemplated, Article 6(6) of the un Fish Stocks Agreement 1995 mandates cautious conservation measures to acquire sufficient catch data to assess the impacts of fishing on the stock and surrounding ecosystem. Thereafter, if appropriate, measures may be adopted to facilitate the gradual development of the fishery and its eventual transition to commercial management. However, there has been minimal analysis of the regulatory requirements for emergent fisheries during this interim stage. This article accordingly collates and evaluates the current international law and practice towards new and exploratory fisheries, with particular reference to Antarctic developments and the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems from proliferating deep-sea fisheries.