United Nations Conference on straddling and highly migratory fish stocks

At the Rio (UNCED) Conference in 1992, the question of high seas marine living resources was addressed in Agenda 21, Chapter 17, which set out a general framework for management, as well as recommending the convening of an international conference on straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. Such a Conference was convened in 1993 by the UN General Assembly and this article provides an assessment of the position reached at the close of the fourth session in August 1994 when the Conference had reached a crucial juncture. Major differences remained between coastal states and distant water fishing states both on questions of the form of any possible agreement and on matters of substance.