CONSCIOUS that ocean health depends on thriving biodiversity;

MINDFUL that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 recognises the importance of ocean conservation and sustainable use;

EMPHASISING that fisheries can exert significant, growing proximate pressure on biodiversity;

DEEPLY CONCERNED about the high incidence of inadequate fisheries management, over-fishing, destructive fishing, catch of non-target marine life and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, contravening Article 61 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

NOTING that negative impacts can extend far beyond those on fish and biodiversity, into social and economic spheres;

MINDFUL that the effects of fisheries on biodiversity are linked to realities such as livelihoods and culture, and exacerbated by corruption, human-rights violations, global markets and perverse incentives;

DEEPLY CONCERNED that Aichi Biodiversity Target 6 has been largely unsuccessful in stemming the adverse impacts of fisheries on biodiversity or in achieving recovery of depleted species;

ACKNOWLEDGING work by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other organisations – such as regional fisheries management bodies (RFBs), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) – to promote sustainable, responsible fisheries;

CONCERNED about the increasing number of imperiled marine species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, potentially requiring action from CITES and CMS;

ACKNOWLEDGING that applying Resolution 6.021 Monitoring and management of unselective, unsustainable and unmonitored (UUU) fisheries (Hawai‘i, 2016) is an important part of curbing fisheries impacts;

CONCERNED that ecosystem-based management of fisheries, as recognised by Recommendation 5.169 Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) (Jeju, 2012), is rarely applied;

AWARE that fishing affects thousands of species that are caught in a targeted or incidental manner, many with poor scientific information and without precise regulation and control;

NOTING that applying Resolution 6.050 Increasing marine protected area coverage for effective marine biodiversity conservation (Hawai‘i, 2016) to protect the ocean would significantly limit fisheries impacts;

CONCERNED that reconciling fisheries and conservation requires a comprehensive integrated approach, including consideration of small-scale fisheries, artisanal fisheries, women’s fisheries, indiscriminate fisheries, habitat destructive fishing (e.g. bottom trawling, dynamite), non-fish fisheries (e.g. fisheries for invertebrates, reptiles), extraction for non-food purposes (e.g. aquarium, medicinal), fisheries flawed by perverse incentives, and distant-water fisheries; and

RECOGNISING that marine biodiversity is also influenced by many other factors, both anthropogenic and natural, that are not directly linked to fishing;