Revising the international fisheries regime: optimum conservation and utilization of fish stocks through feasible legal measures, adequate implementation and effective enforcement

The international fisheries regime is based on the conservation and optimum utilization of living resources. However, both components appear flawed, as overfishing is a pressing problem and surplus benefit sharing is not widely applied. Therefore, given the significant interests at stake and the alarming state of global fisheries, it is paramount to review those concepts, critically analyze the specific legal provisions and evaluate possible adjustments. Moreover, the proposed research project should not only comprise an assessment of the lex lata and lex feranda, but also needs to examine the implementation and enforcement of these regulations, as a large portion of the existing issues are closely linked thereto. Indeed, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing constitutes a major threat and a profound revision of the international fisheries regime appears necessary.