The Regulation of ‘Fishing’ and Related Activities

Abstract

This Chapter examines the material scope of the coastal State’s jurisdiction over foreign vessels in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on the basis of its sovereign rights over living resources, in order to determine what activities and which vessels come within this regulatory power. It argues that ‘fishing’ is no longer simply a process that involves fishing vessels catching fish; in the modern industrial fishing complex, where bunkering, transhipment, and resupply services allow fishing vessels to stay at sea for months at a time, fishing is part of a chain of events involving multiple actors and activities, all of which fall within the regulatory authority of the coastal State in the EEZ. Notwithstanding the conflicting and inconsistent approaches that international courts and tribunals have taken to this issue, the Chapter’s examination of national, regional, and international practice demonstrates that coastal States can regulate a wide range of fishing and related activities on the basis of their sovereign rights over living resources in the EEZ. This includes all the ‘fishing related activities’ and ‘fishing support vessels’ that are involved in modern industrial fishing, regardless of whether the vessels in question are licensed to fish in the coastal State’s EEZ, or whether the activities in question relate to living resources harvested in the coastal State’s EEZ. This finding as to the underlying scope of coastal State jurisdiction provides a crucial foundation for the remainder of the book.