ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses 'state ocean strategies and policies for the Open Ocean'. An increased interest in the use of the ocean space and its resources was accompanied by concomitant concerns on the security risks associated with an open and aggressive race for control and dominion of the open sea. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is the legal instrument addressing the governance of the Open Ocean and High Seas. At the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, nations agreed to call for a UN Conference to negotiate a complementary agreement for highly migratory and straddling fish stocks. The compliance agreement is an integral part of the Code of Conduct as well as several International Plans of Action drafted within the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization system answering a call contained in the Code to provide guidance for 'the formulation of international agreements, and other legal agreements'.
