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
A/RES/68/71
99. Also calls upon States, either individually, collectively or through
regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, to collect the
necessary data in order to evaluate and closely monitor the use of large-scale fish
aggregating devices and other devices, as appropriate, and their effects on tuna
resources and tuna behaviour and associated and dependent species, to improve
management procedures to monitor the number, type and use of such devices and to
mitigate possible negative effects on the ecosystem, including on juveniles and the
incidental by-catch of non-target species, particularly sharks and turtles, and notes
in this regard the measures adopted by different regional fisheries management
organizations and arrangements;
100. Urgently calls upon States, subregional and regional fisheries
management organizations and arrangements and, where appropriate, other relevant
international organizations to develop and implement effective management
measures to reduce the incidence of catch of non-target species, including the
utilization of selective fishing gear, where appropriate;
101. Calls upon States and subregional and regional fisheries management
organizations and arrangements to adopt or improve measures to assess the impact
of their fisheries on species caught as by-catch and to improve the
comprehensiveness and accuracy of information and reporting on incidental catch of
species caught as by-catch, including through adequate observer coverage and the
use of modern technologies, and to provide assistance to developing States to meet
data-collection and reporting obligations;
102. Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations and
arrangements, as appropriate, to strengthen or establish data-collection programmes
to obtain reliable species-specific estimates of shark, marine turtle, fin-fish, marine
mammal and seabird by-catch, and to promote further research on selective fishing
gear and practices and on the use of appropriate by-catch mitigation measures;
103. Encourages States and regional fisheries management organizations and
arrangements to coordinate in the development and implementation of clear and
standardized by-catch data-collection and reporting protocols for non-target species,
in particular endangered, threatened and protected species, taking into account bestpractice advice from appropriate international organizations and arrangements,
including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the
Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels; 14
104. Encourages States and entities referred to in the Convention and in
article 1, paragraph 2 (b), of the Agreement to give due consideration to participation,
as appropriate, in subregional and regional instruments and organizations with
mandates to conserve non-target species taken incidentally in fishing operations;
105. Encourages States to strengthen, if necessary, the capacity of those
subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements in
which they participate to ensure the adequate conservation of non-target species
taken incidentally in fishing operations, taking into consideration best practices for
non-target species management, and to expedite their ongoing efforts in this regard;
106. Requests States and regional fisheries management organizations and
arrangements urgently to implement, as appropriate, the measures recommended in
the 2004 Guidelines to Reduce Sea Turtle Mortality in Fishing Operations and the
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United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2258, No. 40228.