New regional fisheries management regimes: establishing the South East Atlantic fisheries organisation

On the 20th of April 2001 the coastal States and fishing nations of the South East Atlantic Ocean adopted the “Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean”. This article analyses the process of negotiating the convention, from its initiation by Namibia in 1995 until its adoption in 2001. It argues that the fisheries played a secondary role in the process, while the negotiations revolved around the appropriate status and implementation of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement of 1995.