Topic: Protecting International Fisheries
Country: Mexico
Delegate Name: Marina Cox
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Mexico position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
Global marine fisheries production have remained relatively stable, yet the state of the world’s fish stocks has not improved. There is concern that this is due to the under reporting of fish by producers. Many countries are aware of this problem; however, they do not have the means or will to create solutions to combat overfishing and other such issues. Three issues occur with international fisheries: they are hard to monitor with any degree of certainty, underreporting of fish catches creates unwarranted optimism on the health of the fisheries, and direct environmental damage results from certain fishing techniques such as bottom trawling. We must approach the problem of international fisheries in our environmental committee with a clear vision in mind, recommending nations to take action on their own territorial waters as well as recommend measures for international water.
Mexico is the world’s 16th largest fishing nation and one of the richest in marine biodiversity. Over 250,000 families depend on fisheries in Mexico; therefore, we have a large economic stake in fishing. Mexico was caught by the US, participating in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU); however, since then, we have made meaningful progress toward bettering the management issues within our Mexican fisheries. We have begun a campaign, #PescaPeroBien, to encourage seafood buyers to buy sustainably-sourced products and better fishing techniques. One challenge Mexico sees in monitoring management measures is oversight. 95% of our fishery boats are small-ship vessels, making it very hard to monitor their actions as opposed to larger vessels which are easier to track and less abundant.
To solve this issue, we must consider what to recommend to individual nations for their own waters and EEZ‘s as well as make recommendations for international waters were no state has the authority to act. We must prevent nations that have a significant economic stake in the success of their fishing fleets from invading catch quotas. Mexico believes that providing incentives for fishery producers and seafood buyers will help to fix the under protection of international fisheries. We hope to join other willing nations in solving the problem of international fisheries to improve our global environment.
