A/RES/73/125
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
12. 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;
13. Calls upon States and regional fisheries management organizations and
arrangements, as appropriate, to assess the risks and potential adverse impacts of
climate change with respect to fish stocks, consider them whe n establishing
conservation and management measures and identifying options to reduce risks and
adverse impacts with respect to fisheries management and the health and resilience
of marine ecosystems and enhance efforts to cooperate to collect, exchange an d
publish scientific and technical data and best practices related to the development and
implementation of adaptation strategies, and to assist developing States in this regard,
especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of c limate
change;
14. Encourages States and relevant organizations and arrangements to assess
and consider the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture sectors in
their policies and planning, as appropriate, to identify effective adaptation str ategies
to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors to climate change;
15. Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries mana gement
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;
16. Urges States to increase their reliance on scientific advice in developing,
adopting and implementing conservation and management measures, an d 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 managem ent,
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;
17. Calls upon all States, directly or through regional fisheries management
organizations and arrangements, to apply stock-specific target and limit precautionary
reference points, which for target reference points are intended to meet management
objectives, 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;
18. Encourages States, directly or through regional fisheries management
organizations and arrangements, to establish and implement rebuilding and re covery
strategies and plans where a stock is identified as being overfished, which should
include time frames and probabilities of recovery aimed at bringing the stock back at
least to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, and guided by
scientific assessment and subjected to periodic evaluation of progress;
19. Also 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
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