UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks - FSA

During the 1980s, pressure on high seas fisheries grew rapidly and a number of events in the early 1990s indicated an international conference was needed to conserve and manage fish stocks that move freely in and out of the high seas and through different countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, also known as the Earth Summit), called for the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (FSA) to manage these stocks. Six negotiating sessions were held from 1993 to 1995, resulting in the adoption of the FSA in August 1995. The FSA aims to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, applying the precautionary approach, and includes general principles for their conservation and management.