Conventionfor the strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission established by the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica (Antigua Convention)THE PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION:AWARE THAT, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, all States have the duty to take such measures as may be necessary for the conservation and management of living marine resources, including highly migratory species, and to cooperate with other States in taking such measures;RECALLING the sovereign rights of coastal States for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the living marine resources within areas under national jurisdiction as provided for in UNCLOS, and the right of all States for their nationals to engage in fishing on the high seas in accordance with UNCLOS;REAFFIRMING their commitment to the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, particularly Chapter 17, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992), and to the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002);STRESSING THE NEED to implement the principles and standards of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries adopted by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1995, including the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, 1993, which forms an integral part of the Code, as well as the International Plans of Action adopted by the FAO within the framework of the Code of Conduct;TAKING NOTE that the 50th General Assembly of the United Nations, pursuant to Resolution A/RES/50/24, adopted the 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 Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks ("the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement");CONSIDERING the importance of fishing for highly migratory fish stocks as a source of food, employment and economic benefits for the populations of the Parties and that conservation and management measures must address those needs and take into account the economic and social impacts of those measures;TAKING into account the special circumstances and requirements of the developing countries of the region, particularly the coastal countries, in order to achieve the objective of the Convention;RECOGNIZING the significant efforts and the outstanding achievements of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, as well as the importance of its work in the tuna fisheries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean;DESIROUS TO benefit from the experiences derived from the implementation of the 1949 Convention;REAFFIRMING that multilateral cooperation constitutes the most effective means for achieving the objectives of conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources;COMMITTED to ensuring the long-term conservation and the sustainable use of fish stocks covered by this Convention;CONVINCED THAT the aforementioned objectives and the strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission can best be achieved through bringing up to date the provisions of the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica for the establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission;HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:PART IGENERAL PROVISIONSArticle IDefinitionsFor the purposes of this Convention:1. "Fish stocks covered by this Convention" means stocks of tunas and tuna-like species and other species of fish taken by vessels fishing for tunas and tuna-like species in the Convention Area;2. "Fishing" means:(a) the actual or attempted searching for, catching, or harvesting of the fish stocks covered by this Convention;(b) engaging in any activity which can reasonably be expected to result in the locating, catching, harvesting of these stocks;(c) placing, searching for or recovering any fish-aggregating device or associated equipment, including radio beacons;(d) any operation at sea in support of, or in preparation for, any activity described in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this paragraph, except for any operation in emergencies involving the health and safety of crew members or the safety of a vessel;(e) the use of any other vehicle, air- or sea-borne, in relation to any activity described in this definition except for emergencies involving the health or safety of crew members or the safety of a vessel;3. "Vessel" means any vessel used or intended for use for the purpose of fishing, including support vessels, carrier vessels and any other vessels directly involved in such fishing operations;4. "Flag State" means, unless otherwise indicated:(a) a State whose vessels are entitled to fly its flag, or(b) a regional economic integration organization in which vessels are entitled to fly the flag of a Member State of that regional economic integration organization;5. "Consensus" means the