An Evaluation on the Implementation of UNGA Resolutions in Management of Korean Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas

This paper analyze a description of Korean fleet using bottom gears on the high seas. The need for this study arises from international moves to address the effects of fishing with bottom gears on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and in view of a communication on the Korean policy in respect of this. There is growing concern over the impact of fishing using gears that come into contact with the seabed (bottom gears), in particular in deep-sea areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals are located. Korea is an important stakeholder in high seas bottom gear fisheries. For the past eight years, the issue of protecting biodiversity in the deep-sea in areas beyond national jurisdiction has been extensively debated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and in other international fora. As a result of the report and a review by the UNGA of the effectiveness of the measures called for in resolution 59/25, the UN General Assembly called for a series of specific actions to be taken by States and RFMOs in UNGA resolutions 61/105 in 2006 and 64/72 in 2009 adopted by consensus. Korea attaches great importance to the protection of marine ecosystems and has made active efforts to implement the UNGA Resolution 61/105 in areas where there is a regional fisheries management organization, a process of establishing such organization or no such multilateral regime. For the effective implementation of the UNGA Resolution 61/105 and 64/72, Korea views that the development of support tools and, most importantly, the development of a global database on VMEs are urgently needed because many countries lack the ability to identify VMEs and to assess whether individual bottom fishing activities would have significant adverse impacts on their own.

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