L'exploitation des ressources halieutiques dans les eaux internationales : équité et protection de l'environnement
For almost 35 years, since its first signature, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which eventually came into force on the 16th of November 1994, was originally drafted to set guidelines for both rights and responsibilities for different nations all over the world regarding the use of world's oceans, setting specific standards for the management of marine natural resources. Nevertheless, the Convention continues to supply the discussions and the negotiations on the exploitation regulations of offshore fishery resources. Except some ships in transit and offshore fishing, distant parts of oceans that have long been protected from human intrusion, are now under considerable pressures.                            Indeed, freedom of fishing in international waters is enshrined in the legal framework, unlike marine areas under the sovereignty (territorial sea) or under the jurisdiction of the coastal state (exclusive economic zone). Therefore, all states must potentially benefit from the freedom of fishing in international waters, whether coastal or non-coastal, with a non-tolerance for any legal discrimination. However, on a practical level, this freedom is undermined; for instance, some states possessing significant means of fishing make this principle illusory; hence, it leads some states to excessively overfish, leading to unreasonable exploitation of fisheries resources. And thus, questions are raised about respect for equity as well as the fate of the sustainable management of such resources. Therefore, how to reconcile freedom of fishing in international waters with a sustainable management of these resources so that all states can benefit from it? Beyond the influence of political and legal considerations that have distorted the very essence of the (notion of common heritage of mankind attributed to the mineral resources of the high seas), in dissociation of the fishery resources belonging to the same marine space, the achievement of this imperative requires the allocation of offshore fisheries management to an international public service organization.
Exploitation Service public international Equity High Sea Jurisdiction Environmental protection Freedom of fishing Common heritage of manking Fisheries resources International public service Sovereignty