Compliance enforcement in regional fisheries management organisations to which Australia is a partyud

摘要

One of the key problems facing regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) in theudtwenty-first century is a lack of compliance by flag States. Non-compliance by both contractingudand non-contracting parties to RFMOs threatens the effectiveness of a regime which reliesudalmost entirely upon cooperation and the interests of individual States to function. The politicaludwill of States to effectively address problems caused by non-compliance including, inter alia,udillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, has recently been deemed wanting.udThis thesis is concerned with the need for better implementation of compliance enforcementudmechanisms by RFMOs to which Australia is a party (AusRFMOs). It examines the range ofudcompliance enforcement mechanisms available to RFMOs and evaluates how AusRFMOs areudcurrently tackling the problem of non-compliance. It recognises the difficulties faced by RFMOsudin implementing their mandate and demonstrates that policy and diplomatic avenues along with audrange of countermeasures may be, and have been, evoked by RFMOs to tackle flag State noncompliance.udThis thesis concludes that AusRFMOs could improve their compliance enforcement across theudboard. It demonstrates that despite the widespread adoption of mechanisms such as IUU vesseludlists, there remains a gap between the theoretical mandate of these organisations and theirudadoption of measures to enable more effective enforcement. The thesis submits that AusRFMOsudmust better utilise their enforcement capabilities if they are to fulfil the role envisaged for themudunder the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other associated internationaludagreements. It concludes that AusRFMOs should take steps to move beyond their role asudcooperative entities towards an enforcement capacity if they are to make a real contribution toudachieving sustainable global fisheries.