Topic: Protecting International Fisheries
Country: Cuba
Delegate Name: Alex Padfield
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Cuba position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
Fisheries are being mismanaged internationally. Overfishing in any given body of water has become prominent in many nations today. Many populations depend on these fisheries that yield a variety of things, contributing to the issue of overfishing and mismanagement. Oftentimes, the issue of overfishing is accompanied by illicit fishing, causing a large amount of environmental damage. Unsustainable fishing has become too common, and must be prevented. It is the task of the United Nations Environmental Programme to take action and resolve this issue.
Commercial fishing provides a great amount of services such as jobs, food sources, and international trade to many nations globally. The nation of Cuba recognizes and understands the importance of fishing, as this practice is extremely important to its own economy. In order to proceed in resolving the issue of protecting international fisheries, a series of questions first needs to be addressed. In what ways can enforcing legislation pertaining to sustainable fishing-such as total allowable catch- be diplomatically approached? How will the fact that some nations are more dependent on the practice of fishing than others be factored into the final resolution? In what ways can nations enforce sustainable fishing rates? As a common result of illegal fishing and overfishing is environmental degradation, how can current damage be repaired and how can further damage be mitigated?
A cohesive resolution will include incentives and established legislation/programs to help answer the previously stated questions. The creation of marine management programs should be included in the final resolution. The Republic of Cuba has programs such as SOS Pesca that have been prominent in the process of regulating local fisheries. Such programs will be beneficial internationally, as they allow local community members participation in the regulation process. SOS Pesca is a community-based management program that allows members of fishing communities to participate in the management of fisheries and marine areas, working towards a shared vision of sustainable fisheries. The enforcement of science-based catch limits should also be included in a resolution. As overfishing is prominent, further, harsher enforcement of catch limits should be imposed in order to control fishing rates. To repair current damage made to marine environments, recovery plans for species affected by environmental degradation should be established in a resolution. Recovery plans should include aspects such as priority species, measures taken to aid in the recovery process, and precautions to be taken in the future so as to not further damage species.
Strengthening networks between international fishing communities is an extremely important aspect in terms of reaching global sustainability. The potential to reach a universal solution is large. Working as an international community, a comprehensive resolution can be reached. The Republic of cuba looks forward to working with its fellow global community to reach a solution to the issues faced with the United Nations environmental Programme today.
