Study Of High Seas Fisheries Legal System

In recent years, world fisheries resources are declining due to over-fishing. In order to strengthening the conservation and management of high seas fisheries resources, realizing the sustainable utilization of fisheries resources, the international community has adopted a series of conventions and legal documents on fisheries. With the exhaustion of off-coast resources, China is seeking for the development of distant water fishing. For the smooth development of distant water fisheries, it is necessary to study the legal system of high seas fisheries. Only by acquainting ourselves with the legal system of high seas fisheries can we better participate the formulation of conservation and management measures of world fisheries resources and protect the rights and interests of our country. Apart from foreword and conclusion, this essay is divided into five parts, giving an introduction to and evaluation on the legal system of high seas fisheries.The first part is on the evolution of the legal system of the high seas fisheries. International conventions and legal documents on fisheries can be made into two categories, i.e., "hard law" and "soft law" . From the content of these legal documents, we can draw the conclusion that the era of freedom of fishing at the high seas is over, high seas fishing activities are under more and more strict control and monitoring. The second part is on the international cooperation of high seas fisheries. The cooperation includes not only the bilateral cooperation between different countries, but also the multilateral cooperation through regional fishery organizations. The regional fishery organizations are playing increasingly important role in the effective management of high seas fisheries.The third part is on the enforcement of high seas fisheries. High seas fisheries enforcement includes not only the enforcement by the flag states, but also the enforcement by the non-flag states. The high seas legal system breaks through the tradition jurisdiction by flag states and introduces the enforcement by non-flag states.The fourth part is on the dispute settlement system of high seas fisheries. The dispute settlement system of high seas fisheries includes not only binding dispute settlement system, but also non-binding dispute settlement system.The fifth part is about the feature and trend of high seas fisheries. In the Conclusion, it is pointed out that the era of freedom of fishing at the high seas has come to the end. China should be aware of the situation and actively participate the drawing up of international fisheries management rules so that we can make use of these rules to better protect the rights and interests of our country, and at the same time realize the sustainable development of world fisheries resources.