Originally published on the CGS blog on April 28, 2014.
On April 3, 2014, the United States ratified three treaties, all of which help protect oceanic wildlife and eliminate the black market fishing industry. Black market fishing is an enormous industry that produces up to $23.5 billion each year–that’s some serious competition for fishermen who play by the rules. Not only that, but pirate fishers commonly use banned fishing gear, slaughter unwanted fish and other sea creatures, and participate in drug smuggling and human trafficking.
The Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean and its sibling convention by a similar name for the North Pacific Ocean are two regional treaties that have been adopted. These conventions have set up monitoring groups for each region that will implement conservation measures to protect the marine wildlife and sustain the legal fishing industry.
The largest of the three treaties, commonly known as Port State Measures Agreement, is not in effect due to the lack of participating coastal countries. The agreement will only go into effect once 25 countries have ratified; only 11 have ratified so far. This treaty would require ports to refuse products offered by any vessel suspected of illegal fishing. Widespread adoption of this treaty would strangle the profits of illegal fishing and bring a significant portion of the entire fishing industry back in line with conservation regulations.
The United States has hit a rough patch in ratifying multilateral treaties, to say the least. There’s such a strong, well-funded and integrated opposition to international law in the US that a major international treaty has not been ratified since 1997. Yes, you might say that there is a war on international law.
So when the Senate actually does ratify a treaty, it deserves some attention. However, I found only one mention of the US ratification of this treaty in major media – by The New York Times. Does this suggest that the high profile and subsequent lobby interests of other global treaties cloud Senators’ judgment? I think so.
By ratifying the Port State Measures Agreement, the U.S. is demonstrating its commitment to maintaining open seas and the rule of law. Now that the U.S. has taken leadership on this issue, hopefully more nations will see the value of the legislation. While this recent development is good news, it bewilders me all the more that the Senate refused to adopt the Disability Treaty. Maybe these fishing agreements will loosen the grip treaty opponents have on conservative senators and pave the way for future ratification efforts.
