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
182. Encourages the international community to enhance the opportunities for
sustainable development in developing countries, in particular the least developed
countries, small island developing States and coastal African States, by encouraging
greater participation of those States in authorized fisheries activities being
undertaken within areas under their national jurisdiction, in accordance with the
Convention, by distant-water fishing nations in order to achieve better economic
returns for developing countries from their fisheries resources within areas under
their national jurisdiction and an enhanced role in regional fisheries management, as
well as by enhancing the ability of developing countries to develop their own
fisheries, as well as to participate in high seas fisheries, including access to such
fisheries, in conformity with international law, in particular the Convention and the
Agreement, and taking into account article 5 of the Code;
183. Requests distant-water fishing nations, when negotiating access
agreements and arrangements with developing coastal States, to do so on an
equitable and sustainable basis and to take into account their legitimate expectation
to fully benefit from the sustainable use of the natural resources of their exclusive
economic zones, to ensure that vessels flying their flag comply with the laws and
regulations of the developing coastal States adopted in accordance with international
law and to give greater attention to fish processing and fish-processing facilities
within the national jurisdiction of the developing coastal State to assist the
realization of the benefits from the development of fisheries resources and also to
the transfer of technology and assistance for monitoring, control and surveillance
and compliance and enforcement within areas under the national jurisdiction of the
developing coastal State providing fisheries access, taking into account the forms of
cooperation set out in article 25 of the Agreement and article 5 of the Code;
184. Encourages States, individually and through regional fisheries
management organizations and arrangements, to provide greater assistance and to
promote coherence in such assistance for developing States in designing,
establishing and implementing relevant agreements, instruments and tools for the
conservation and sustainable management of fish stocks, including in designing and
strengthening their domestic regulatory fisheries policies and those of regional
fisheries management organizations or arrangements in their regions, and the
enhancement of research and scientific capabilities through existing funds, such as
the Assistance Fund under Part VII of the Agreement, bilateral assistance, regional
fisheries management organizations and arrangements assistance funds, the
FishCode programme, the World Bank’s global programme on fisheries and the
Global Environment Facility;
185. Encourages States to provide technical and financial support to
developing countries to address their special requirements and challenges in
implementing the Guidelines;
186. Calls upon States to promote, through continuing dialogue and the
assistance and cooperation provided in accordance with articles 24 to 26 of the
Agreement, further ratifications of or accessions to the Agreement by seeking to
address, inter alia, the issue of lack of capacity and resources that might stand in the
way of developing States becoming parties;
187. Notes with appreciation the compilation, prepared by the Secretariat and
available on the website of the Division, of the needs of developing States for
capacity-building and assistance in the conservation and management of straddling
fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks and the sources of available assistance for
developing States to address such needs;
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