Achieving Sustainable Marine Fisheries: A Legal Analysis of the Settlement of Fishing Disputes

Abstract

UNCLOS steers the legal order of the oceans toward sustainable use of marine resources and simultaneously promotes the peaceful use of the seas. The Convention’s two primary goals are enumerated in its preamble, and the dispute settlement procedures established in UNCLOS Part XV are the principle method to accomplish those goals and stabilize the legal order. Since UNCLOS came into force in 1994, the majority of adjudicated cases arising under the law have been related to fishing and fish-related activities. However, these judicial decisions rarely resolve substantive issues regarding fisheries disputes and, instead, merely deal with procedural matters. Accordingly, whether courts or tribunals will incorporate marine sustainability in resolving fishing disputes under the UNCLOS framework remains unclear. In addition to the lack of analysis by tribunals, scholars have paid little attention to the function of dispute settlement mechanisms in resolving fishing disputes. This research therefore analyzes nineteen existing fisheries cases that have been adjudicated under the UNCLOS framework and examines the role of international adjudications in promoting marine sustainability. This dissertation proposes suggestions on how the UNCLOS dispute settlement system should respond to global fisheries challenges and develop progressive jurisprudence. A robust and comprehensive framework for the settlement of fishing disputes is necessary to incorporate sustainability in such jurisprudence. To be effective, such a framework must include all fishing actors. This research found that Taiwan, which joins the international fisheries law regime under a uniquely coined term, “fishing entity,” is often missing in the dispute settlement system. Excluding Taiwan from accessing judicial mechanisms creates foundational challenges for dispute resolution and the broader legal order. Therefore, with the goal of achieving marine sustainability, this study investigates the role of fishing entities in the systems of dispute settlement mechanisms. This dissertation argues that fishing entities—i.e., Taiwan—should have legal access to dispute settlement mechanisms and such incorporation into the UNCLOS dispute settlement system is indispensable to a sustainable legal order of the oceans.