How to strengthen national, sub-regional and regional institutions and policies to better address developing countries needs (in respect of the UN Agreement on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks)

This project reviewed and analysed Part VII of the UN Agreement on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. This was undertaken for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) with the objective of identifying means to strengthen national, sub-regional and regional institutions and policies to better address developing countries needs.  The report, to be submitted to the UN General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session in 2003, is required as a background study to develop alternative policies to address the requirements of developing states and assistance that could be provided under the Agreement.  In turn, this will increase the capacity of developing countries to implement the Fish Stocks Agreement and to derive benefits from such implementation.  The following steps were taken in the projects implementation:

• A review of current policy and institutional frameworks for fisheries conservation and management at national, sub-regional and regional levels.
• An assessment of the contribution of existing policy and institutional frameworks to the capacity of developing countries to conserve and manage fish stocks.
• Identification of successes and failures in policy and the strengths and weaknesses of institutional arrangements from the perspective of developing country needs.
• Identification of options, at the different levels, for policy to inform international support to address the needs of developing countries.

Recommendations for principles or criteria for the prioritisation of international support to address the needs of developing countries in fisheries conservation and management.