Restrictions On Freedom Of Fishing In High Seas Protected Areas

With the continuous deepening of human exploration of marine activities,human exploration of the ocean and the use of surplus value mining will continue to be in-depth,human gradually into the deep-sea era,but at the same time the protection of marine ecology has become increasingly serious.And the inherent system and legal framework of ocean jurisdiction is not good enough to solve the problems such as marine environmental protection,biodiversity conservation and so on.There is an urgent need to create a new regime for the law of the sea or the area to "frame" the expanding self-interest of States on the high seas,and therefore,Marine protected areas as an effective attempt to protect marine ecology in the new era came into being and were gradually tried and accepted by various countries.However,despite the increasing number of marine protected areas in recent years,as of 2010,the number of marine protected areas in established jurisdictions around the world has reached nearly 6,000(MPAs).But its total area is still less than 2% of the world's oceans,The vast majority of them are located in the territorial sea,exclusive economic zone,continental shelf and other coastal States may have full or partial jurisdiction in accordance with the Convention.There are only a handful of marine protected areas located entirely on the high seas,in sharp contrast to the marine area outside national jurisdiction,which covers about 64 per cent of the world's oceans.Human beings are facing the dilemma of lacking the control system atthe convention level while carrying out deep sea fishing in this field,which can best reflect the nature of the high seas in the "protect and open" debate.It is also increasingly important and urgent to study the system of "high seas protected areas".In view of this,this paper will study the limits and boundaries of fishing freedom in high seas protected areas from the following aspects:The first part is the international legal background of high seas protected areas and fishing freedom.This part will start with the historical evolution of high seas protected areas and fishing freedom.First of all,clear the nature and characteristics of the high seas protected areas,understand the nature of its system background,and then explain the high seas protected areas and the principle of high seas freedom deviate from the relationship.Secondly,understand the era division of the high seas fishing freedom,distinguish the high seas fishing freedom from the absolute freedom to the convention freedom and then to the relatively reasonable freedom stage step by step with the evolution of the times.Finally,combing the high seas fishing freedom of today's international conventions and regional agreements on the regulation of fishing freedom,for the latter to solve the relationship between the two foreshadowed.The second part is about the impact and coordination of the high seas protected area on the high seas fishing freedom,which is also the core chapter of this paper.This chapter first analyzes the reason of the conflict between the high seas protected area and the high seas fishing freedom,and holds that the reason of the conflict comes from the theory of the inexhaustible resources of the high seas,which has become a fallacy in the high seas nowadays.Secondly,the principle of freedom of the high seas in the system of public law and the high seas protected areas are difficult to merge and even conflict in essence.Third,on the establishment of high seas protected areas,the attitude of different countries is obvious and there are obvious competition for interests and political game.At the same time,it is pointed out that the restrictions on fishing freedom in high seas protected areas are consistent with the principle of "rights-obligations" conservation and the obligations of "responsible fishing".Section II of the present chapter attempts to explain the legality of restrictions on the freedomof fishing on the high seas by protected areas from four perspectives,one of which is the obligations of fishing States on the high seas under the Convention and its related fishing agreements;The second was the obligation of due regard under the Convention and the principle of good faith derived from international practice.From the perspective of the practice of international relations and the principles and obligations of the Convention,the two clarify that countries in high seas protected areas have the obligation of "reasonable care",conservation,management and cooperation in the management of living resources.Finally,from the perspective of customary international law and global conventions,the article explains the effectiveness of high seas protected areas in the jurisdiction of non-parties(third parties).Finally,it is proposed that the way to reasonably restrict the freedom of fishing in high seas protected areas lies in the promotion of international practice,the formulation and further improvement of global and regional agreements.The third part deals with the international practice of restrictions on the freedom of fishing in high seas protected areas.This section focuses on four high seas protected areas(the Rags high seas protected area in the Mediterranean,the southern continental shelf high seas protected area in the southern Orkney islands,the Atlantic high seas marine protected area network and the Ross sea marine protected area in the Antarctic).To sort out and summarize the status of fishing activities,conservation and regulation of fishing restrictions,Finally,the fishing regulations of the four high seas protected areas are compared and analyzed.The fourth part is for the fourth chapter of the high seas protected areas of China's fishing activities and countermeasures to reflect on the impact and thinking.First of all,it is pointed out that the establishment of high seas protected areas has an impact on China's pelagic fishing industry,but its participation in the construction of high seas protected areas accords with China's strategic interests and is also an obligation of big countries.At the end of the paper,the author thinks about the countermeasures and suggestions of China.The author holds that China should actively participate in the construction andmanagement of high seas protected areas,perfect the coordination and connection between the practice of marine protected areas and international law,fill the legal gaps in relevant fields of our country,and actively join the relevant fishery organizations.In the face of the issue of fishery conservation in protected areas on the high seas,China should be courteous.we should not only defend flag State jurisdiction and earnestly safeguard national sovereignty and distant-water fishing interests,but also conserve for the high seas.At the macro level,China should adhere to the strategy of a community with a shared future for the people and the strategy of a major maritime power.At the micro-implementation level,China should adhere to the principle of cooperation and consensus of regional fisheries organizations and prevent high seas protected areas from becoming an extension of the exclusive economic zone jurisdiction of regional coastal States.Secondly,China should resolutely crack down on IUU illegal fishing activities and accept the boarding inspection of fishing vessels and the legal fishing certification system.finally,for the purpose of participating in high seas affairs mentioned above,China should move toward the deep sea and actively develop deep-sea scientific research.Argue for more fishing quotas with practical marine data.In addition,scientific data can avoid small losses on the issue of the establishment of protected areas on the high seas and artificial restrictions on fishing activities in high seas fisheries where there is no need for conservation,thus making it impossible to maximize the use of marine fisheries resources.