ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the rules relating to fisheries contained in Part V of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. The basic rule of the fisheries regime in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is that the coastal state is obliged to promote optimum utilization of its living resources. The text divides these into five categories: highly migratory species, marine mammals, and anadromous, catadromous and sedentary species. Some marine mammals are listed with the highly migratory species in Annex I of the convention and are thus subject to the special regime for such species. The text states that anadromous species must be fished only in waters landward of the outer limits of the EEZ, except where this provision might cause economic dislocation for a state other than the state of origin. Catadromous species such as eels spend most of their lives in rivers but return to the sea to spawn.
