A/RES/69/109 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 6. Emphasizes the obligations of flag States to discharge their responsibilities, in accordance with the Convention and the Agreement, to ensure compliance by vessels flying their flag with the conservation and management measures adopted and in force with respect to fisheries resources on the high seas; 7. Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to apply widely, in accordance with international law and the Code, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches to the conservation, management and exploitation of fish stocks, and also calls upon States parties to the Agreement to implement fully the provisions of article 6 of the Agreement as a matter of priority; 8. Urges States to increase their reliance on scientific advice in developing, adopting and implementing conservation and management measures, and to increase their efforts, including through international cooperation, to promote science for conservation and management measures that apply, in accordance with international law, the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, enhancing understanding of ecosystem approaches, in order to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources, and in this regard encourages the implementation of the Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a framework for the improvement and understanding of fishery status and trends; 9. Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to apply stock-specific precautionary reference points, as described in annex II to the Agreement and in the Code, to ensure that populations of harvested stocks and, where necessary, associated or dependent species are maintained at or restored to sustainable levels, and to use these reference points for triggering conservation and management action; 10. Encourages States to apply the precautionary approach and ecosystem approaches in adopting and implementing conservation and management measures addressing, inter alia, by-catch, pollution and overfishing, and protecting habitats of specific concern, taking into account existing guidelines developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 11. Also encourages States to enhance or develop observer programmes, individually or through regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, in order to improve data collection on, inter alia, target and by-catch species, which could also assist monitoring, control and surveillance tools, and to take into account standards, forms of cooperation and other existing structures for such programmes as described in article 25 of the Agreement and article 5 of the Code; 12. Further encourages States to implement, individually and through regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, accurate and reliable catch reporting through effective data collection and reporting of catches, including by-catch and discards, reviewing and validating the data, and providing catch information in support of scientific stock assessment and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management; 13. Calls upon States and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements to collect and, where appropriate, report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations required catch and effort data, and fisheryrelated information, in a complete, accurate and timely way, including for straddling 8/34