FORUM: Special Conference on Environmental Protection:
QUESTION OF: Mitigating the effects of overfishing in international waters
SUBMITTED BY: Palau
SPECIAL CONFERENCE ON ENVORIMENTAL PROTECTION,
Bearing in mind, that more than 75% of the fisheries have reached
their maximum rate of fishing or overfished,
Having considered that many fishermen fish without realizing the
damage they cause to the environment and living creatures,
Realizing that 11 to 26 million tons of fish illegally fished and
resulted so much economic damage,
Noting with regret, because of using some hunting methods non-
target marine species are dying and their habitats are being
damaged,
Declaring that in international waters, fishermen destroys seafloor
habitats and killing many creatures,
1. Suggests, to implement Rights-Based Fisheries
Management, which will aim to protect the
fishes by,
a) guaranteeing a certain part of the hunt in
the scope of Rights-Based Fisheries by,
i. allowing Fishermen to receive a
certain share of the catch, depending
on the number of family members and
non-fishing income, and accept some
strict rules to rebuild the fish
population such as fishing quotas,
height restrictions, hunting time and
regional restrictions and will be
audited,
ii. ensuring the fishing quotas with the
fish growth rate, fertility rates, fishing
pressure and environmental factors,
iii. providing the height restrictions by
restricting or prohibiting the hunting
of fish below a certain size,
iv. applying the hunting time and
regional restrictions with restricting
hunting as much as possible during
breeding or calving periods and
imposing a hunting ban in the region
where fish have difficulty in sustaining
their species;
2. Invites, to educate the people for overfishing
and providing to raise some awareness by,
a) informing them about hunting principles,
ethical rules, species recognition and
population monitoring by,
i. determining the place where
educations will be done
after making some agreements with suitable
universites by,
ii. ensuring that the educators are going
to be attending meetings with
international nature conservation
associations and foundations like
World Wide Fund for Nature or The
Nature Conservancy,
iii. monitoring that educators will provide
education on the mentioned topics in
a language that locals can easily
understand, supported by various
infographics, visuals and data, with
prior preparations,
b) informing people through various actions by,
i. hanging brochures explaining or
showing the correct use of these
materials or where they should not be
used in shops where hunting and
fishing equipment are sold, and at
points where the relevant materials
are sold,
ii. placing various posters and short
cartoons that will raise awareness
about overfishing in areas where the
public population is dense
3. Approves, to prevent illegal hunting and make
arrangements about it by,
a) enacting laws to be applied when illegal
hunting is detected by,
i. enacting laws with deterrent penalties
such as imprisonment, revocation of
license or confiscation of equipment
when caught fishing illegally,
ii. determining penalties to the size,
type, repetition and equipment used
iii. canceling the fishing license of the
person or persons and confiscating
the equipments used in case of fishing
of protected species or application of
prohibited fishing methods
iv. giving the person a prison sentence of
3 months to 1 year if there is a large
amount of illegal hunting,
b) carrying out various inspections in all areas
suitable for hunting by,
i. organising inspection teams to
determine and prevent illegal hunting
from local government and police
departments,
ii. by doing some patrols among the
places where is approprate for hunting
by using GPS, remote sensing systems
and thermal cameras provided from
international companies like FLIR
Systems and Garmin, inspection
teams are going to determine the
illegal huntings
iii. applying heavy penalties in laws
which enacted when the team detect
an illegal hunting,
c) creating a tip line for the public to report
when they see by,
i. determining a number as a tip line
which helps people when they see an
illegal hunting and reporting it,
ii. the illegal hunting control team will be
informed about the locations from the
responsible operators, the team will
reach there and make necessary
interventions,
iii. managing the hotlines by local
authorities and accessing it via phone
lines,
iv. making various advertisements on
social media to publicize the hotline
and hanging various brochures in
crowded places;
4. Accepts, banning fishing in international
waters by,
a) enacting an agreement that is international
and administered by the UN by,
i. organizing for countries to meet in
order to discuss the scope and
content of the agreement,
ii. submitting to UN the aggrement on
the prohibition of fishing in
international waters to protect fish
populations with various meetings for
ratification,
iii. implementing the princibles of the
aggrement under UN control again,
iv. distributing the leaftes through
various internet platforms, media and
local channels, radios and local
community leaders, informing them of
the ban on fishing in international
water zones and that breaking the law
will be considered illegal fishing; when
the agreement comes to force
5. Asks, to make the fisheries to organize their
hunting methods legally by,
a) using round hooks instead of J-hooks,
helping to prevent habitat damage
and avoiding harm to non-prey fish
by,
i. fishing with round hooks saves
time and protects corals and
other sea creatures, instead of
using j hooks, which harm the
environment and many other
living things
ii. giving 3 weeks to adjust the
fishermen’s methods after
notifing them of the change by
people appointed by the local
government and TV channels
b) placing the upper end of the nets two
meters down by,
i. placing the top end of nets two
meters below the bottom to
prevent bycatch in the bycatch
fishing method will continue to
reduce bycatch mortality of
marine mammals, as it has
already effectively reduced
bycatch mortality by 98%,
ii. notifing the fishermen of the
change by people appointed by
the local government and TV
channels and are given 1 month
to organise their hunting style,
c) taking the necessary actions and
considering as illegal fishing if an
action not in accordance with the
above practices is detected by the
inspectors;
6. Wishes to remain seize on the matter.
