A/RES/71/123 Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 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 Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea focused its discussions at its seventeenth meeting, held from 13 to 17 June 2016, on marine debris, plastics and microplastics, Recognizing also that abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, including ghost fishing gear, is an increasingly pervasive and destructive form of marine debris causing adverse impacts on fish stocks, marine life and the marine environment and that urgent preventative action is needed, such as ma rking of fishing gear as proposed by the Committee on Fisheries, as well as removal action, Reaffirming the importance of sustainable aquaculture to food security, noting that aquaculture is already making a significant contribution to the global seafood supply and that a further increase in that contribution is anticipated, Noting that the contribution of sustainable aquaculture to global fish supplies continues to respond to opportunities in developing countries to enhance local food security and nutrition and poverty alleviation and, together with the efforts of other aquaculture-producing countries, will make a significant contribution to meeting future demands in fish consumption, bearing in mind article 9 of the Code, Noting in this regard the concern about the potential effects of genetically engineered aquatic fish species on the health and sustainability of wild fish stocks, Recognizing the efforts made by States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in regulating deep -sea fisheries, while still concerned that some deep-sea fishing activities in certain areas are being carried out without full implementation of relevant paragraphs of previous resolutions, representing a threat to vulnerable marine ecosystems, Calling attention to the particular vulnerabilities of small island developing States, other developing coastal States and subsistence fishing communities whose livelihoods, economic development and food security are heavily dependent on sustainable fisheries and will suffer disproportionately if sustainable fisheries are negatively affected, Calling attention also to the circumstances affecting fisheries in many developing States, in particular African States and small island developing States, and recognizing the urgent need for capacity-building, including the transfer of marine technology and in particular fisheries- and aquaculture-related technology, to enhance the ability of such States to exercise their rights in order to realize the benefits from fisheries resources and fulfil their obligations under international instruments, Recognizing the need to adopt, implement and enforce appropriate measure s to minimize waste, by-catch and discards, including high-grading, loss of fishing gear and other factors that adversely affect the sustainability of fish stocks and ecosystems and, consequently, can also have harmful effects on the economies and food security of small island developing States, other developing coastal States and subsistence fishing communities, Recognizing also the need to further integrate ecosystem approaches into fisheries conservation and management and, more generally, the importanc e of applying ecosystem approaches to the management of human activities in the ocean, and noting in this regard the Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in the 6/40