International law of the sea (ILOS): Biodiversity, Fishing & Whaling

This is the first electronic edition of Coastal State Requirements which consists of a series of tables summarizing the provisions of national legislation and of bilateral and multilateral agreements governing foreign fishing in waters under national jurisdiction. As with the earlier revisions, it is hoped that the information provided will be of assistance to law makers and fisheries departments of both industrialized and developing coastal states in thinking through the many issues involved in drawing up or revising their policies and legislation.

A word of caution is in order, however. While every attempt has been made to collect reliable and current data, by the very nature of the task, the information presented in this study may be incomplete and thus liable to contain errors. Specifically, it should be noted that FAO is not the depository of the United Nations convention on the Law of the Sea and the 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. Therefore, it is suggested that the reader contact the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) home page for further information. The Development Law Service of FAO particularly welcomes being kept informed of recent developments in national fisheries legislation and bilateral or multilateral access agreements.