Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources

Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources
Name	Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources
Long name	Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources in the Central Bering Sea
Date signed	1994
Location signed	Jakarta
Date effective	1994
Condition effective	Signature and ratification by specified parties
Parties	United States, Russian Federation, Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Norway
Depositor	United Nations
Languages	English language, Russian language

Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources

The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources is an international agreement addressing the management of walleye pollock stocks in the Central Bering Sea and adjacent waters. Negotiated in the early 1990s amid competing claims involving Russia and the United States, the treaty brought together coastal states and distant-water fishing nations to coordinate conservation, science, and enforcement. It complements wider regimes such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional arrangements like the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and North Pacific Fisheries Commission.

Background and Negotiation

The convention emerged from disputes tied to the post-Cold War reconfiguration of maritime boundaries involving United States and Russian Federation successors to the Soviet Union and legacy arrangements from the Middle East peace process era of maritime diplomacy. Negotiations involved delegation members from Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Norway, and representatives of the European Union observer states, who met in venues including Jakarta, Washington, D.C., and Moscow. Precedent instruments cited during talks included the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Central Arctic Ocean, the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Pacific, and enforcement practices under the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Scientific inputs referenced work by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization, and research programs from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Parties and Geographic Scope

Parties include principal coastal states and major distant-water fishing nations such as United States, Russian Federation, Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, and Norway. The convention delineates a management area in the Central Bering Sea beyond the EEZ of the United States and the EEZ of the Russian Federation, overlapping high seas adjacent to the Bering Strait and waters proximate to the Aleutian Islands chain. The geographic scope interacts with regimes created by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the International Seabed Authority normative space, and customary law under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Objectives and Conservation Measures

The convention’s primary objective is conservation and sustainable exploitation of pollock stocks, emphasizing stock rebuilding, precautionary harvesting, and avoidance of adverse ecological impacts. Measures agreed include catch limits, seasonal closures, fishing gear restrictions, and bycatch mitigation aligned with guidance from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Convention on Biological Diversity. The treaty references ecosystem considerations from work by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and spatial protections similar in purpose to Marine Protected Area designations under frameworks like the Convention on Wetlands and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Fisheries Management and Research Provisions

Management provisions combine quota allocation formulas with adaptive harvest strategies informed by scientific assessments. Parties commit to annual stock assessments drawing on surveys conducted by institutions such as the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), and university partners like University of Washington and Hokkaido University. Research cooperation includes data-sharing protocols, tagging programs modeled on those used by the Pacific Salmon Commission, and collaborative ecosystem modeling akin to projects led by the Sea Around Us initiative. Provisions call for precautionary reference points and rebuilding plans for depleted cohorts, referencing methodologies from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Compliance, Monitoring, and Enforcement

Enforcement mechanisms provide for vessel monitoring systems, onboard observers, port state control measures, and boarding and inspection protocols consistent with the 1995 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures. Cooperative enforcement draws on assets and authorities from United States Coast Guard, Russian Pacific Fleet elements, and regional fisheries enforcement bodies such as the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum. Compliance review processes involve periodic reporting, peer review modeled on the International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance best practices, and dispute settlement procedures drawing on precedents from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Institutional Structure and Decision-Making

The convention establishes a commission composed of representatives from contracting parties, supported by scientific and compliance committees. The scientific committee coordinates stock assessments and advises the commission, drawing on networks like the North Pacific Marine Science Organization and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Decision-making rules mix consensus and voting procedures, with special arrangements for emergency measures and provisional conservation steps modeled after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and voting modalities seen in the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization.

Implementation, Amendments, and Duration

Implementation relies on domestic legislation enacted by parties—instruments analogous to the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in the United States and national fishery codes in Russian Federation and Japan. The convention provides amendment procedures, entry-into-force criteria, and withdrawal clauses similar to those in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Duration clauses include periodic review provisions and mechanisms for scientific re-evaluation, enabling adaptive management in light of outcomes from bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and regional scientific assessments.

Category:Fisheries treaties