IC12_I

The overall objective of this work was to identify the legal framework for the management of fisheries catching tuna and tuna-like species and to examine whether or not this framework enables the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to manage its fisheries sustainably. To do this, it was necessary to analyze both the international legal framework of fisheries management and the regional incorporation of its relevant provisions through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations for tuna and tuna–like species (tuna RFMOs), and in particular through the WCPFC. The analysis of the international legal framework has shown that several instruments which include provisions addressing the management of tuna and tuna-like species were adopted in the second half of the twentieth century. The development of these instruments was characterized by increasing clarity and specificity over time, while, in parallel, newer and more progressive provisions were introduce to tackle the errors of the past. The most important instruments for fisheries management are United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Fish Stocks Agreement. Together with other relevant instruments, both binding and non-binding, these treaties form a comprehensive legal framework that covers all important aspects of the management of fisheries catching tuna and tuna-like species. This international legal framework has empowered policy makers to manage the fisheries sustainably and it provides the basis for the development of more specific instruments at a regional level. Unfortunately, simply having an international legal framework has proven to be insufficient to solve the problem of overfishing. The central challenge remaining is the effective implementation of the existing instruments through both fishing states and tuna RFMOs.
Despite many similarities between tuna RFMOs - particularly with regard to their institutional frameworks - it has been shown that there are different levels of compliance with the sustainability criteria provided by UNCLOS and the Fish Stocks Agreement. In general, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the WCPFC can be judged to be managing their stocks more sustainably because fewer of their stocks are overfished and less overfishing is occurring. In contrast, the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) are struggling to keep their stocks within sustainable limits. At present, these three organizations must focus on rebuilding several of their stocks, while the IOTC and the WCPFC face the different challenge of ensuring that those of their stocks which are being fished at sustainable levels do not experience unsustainable catch increases in the future.
The detailed analysis of fisheries management in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has shown that the legal framework for this region does, without a doubt, provide the WCPFC with the tools to manage tuna and tuna-like species sustainably. The WCPFC, as the most recently established tuna RFMO, has incorporated some of the most progressive provisions from the international treaties in its Convention, and it has adopted numerous conservation and management measures based on the requirements of the Convention. However, despite this progressive and comprehensive approach, this work has also identified some major issues where further action is needed. The WCPFC faces seven key challenges, and how it deals with them will determine whether the RFMO will succeed or fail in the future. These challenges are to:

All of these challenges could be addressed by either introducing new conservation and management measures or revising existing measures. The analysis has shown that current problems, such as the unsustainable management of bigeye tuna or the lack of target reference points, stem from the lack of political will of certain participants in the fishery, and not from any weakness of the legal framework. Ultimately, the critical task for the WCPFC will be to integrate the interests of all participants in the fishery and to determine how the burden of conservation is to be shared among them.