Finding connections between the ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Flag State Responsibility for IUU Fishing and the advancement of Ocean Justice

Abstract

The 2015 Advisory Opinion (AO) of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing underscored the critical importance of due diligence obligations for flag states and represented a significant step in the upholding of the International Rule of Law and in the struggle towards ocean justice. The AO highlighted that flag states possess a duty to effectively exercise their jurisdiction and control over vessels flying their flag to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing activities. Furthermore, the AO emphasized the responsibility of flag states to cooperate with other states and international organizations to combat IUU fishing, thus fostering the shift from a historical and sectorial to a modern and integrated approach to fisheries’ management, especially among member states to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In this paper, it is claimed that the AO revealed how valuable the work of international organizations such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) can be for the interpretation and consolidation of new juridical perspectives on ocean governance and may ultimately contribute to the ideal of blue justice.