Barnes, Richard --- "Fisheries and Marine Biodiversity" [2010] ELECD 613; in Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos (eds), "Research Handbook on International Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Environmental Law

Editor(s): Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201249

Section: Chapter 25

Section Title: Fisheries and Marine Biodiversity

Author(s): Barnes, Richard

Number of pages: 23

Extract:

25 Fisheries and marine biodiversity
Richard Barnes



Introduction
The world's oceans comprise our most extensive ecosystems. Yet they are the least well
understood and so the conservation of marine biodiversity often lags behind that of terrestrial
biodiversity. There is a relatively long history of marine resource conservation under inter-
national law and, currently, there is a considerable array of instruments aimed at the conser-
vation of fisheries, both within national jurisdiction and on the high seas. Unfortunately,
many instruments still focus on exploitation, rather than conservation of both resources and
habitats. Moreover, they remain an incomplete response to problems of overfishing, illegal
fishing and destructive fishing techniques. The result is a crisis in global fisheries.
Whilst there has been considerable deliberation about the regulation of fisheries from a
conservation and management perspective (see Burke, 1994; Vicuña, 1999; Hey, 1999;
Barnes, 2006b: 233), attention to the impact of fishing activities on biodiversity is infrequent
(Iudicello and Lytle, 1994: 123; Bodansky, 1995: 635; Rieser, 1997: 251; de Fontaubert et
al., 1998: 753; de Klemm, 1999: 423). In part, this is due to the fact that many instruments
were established prior to biodiversity emerging as a significant concern. However, it is now
known that fishing activities constitute one the most significant adverse impacts on the
marine environment (Parsons, 1991: 217; Boehlert, 1996: 28). Although we might lament the
absence from many fisheries instruments of an obligation to conserve biodiversity, the real-
ity is that the conservation of biodiversity should be compatible ...