Legal uncertainties in international high seas fisheries management

After explaining the relevance of international law to international fisheries management and that most such management takes place through international fisheries commissions, this paper focuses on uncertainties in international fisheries management which result from certain weaknesses of international law. The weaknesses which are examined are the possibility for members to opt out of management measures adopted by international fisheries commissions, the fact that there is no compulsion for a State fishing for stocks managed by a particular commission to belong to that commission (the free rider problem), and the problem of effectively enforcing management measures adopted by international fisheries commissions. In each case suggestions will be made (in part by drawing on best practice from around the world) as to how these legal weaknesses could be remedied and uncertainties in international fisheries management accordingly reduced. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.