생태계기반 접근법과 BBNJ 국제문서 간 상호관계 연구: 지역기반관리수단을 중심으로

Unsustainable fisheries pose a major threat to the marine environment. Traditional fisheries management based on a single-species approach has not been able to avoid depletion of fish stocks. A number of international legal and policy instruments, implicitly or explicitly, call for the implementation of ecosystem-based approach (EbA) in fisheries management in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). In order to deal with the issues states have been making efforts to develop a new legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Three Inter-Governmental Conferences (IGCs) have been held so far, and the last IGC has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. Hence it is necessary to explore the direction in which discussions on the development of the UN BBNJ instrument should take at present. Since the issue of area-based management tools (ABMTs) is the agenda most relevant to ecosystem-based fisheries management, there is a need for in-depth review on the issue including establishment of the ‘international cooperation mechanism’, which has been in the midst of the acute confrontation among states. The research analyzes inter-relationship between the EbA and the BBNJ instrument. Further it scrutinizes the relevant provisions in the draft agreement to be discussed at IGC4, showing three international cooperation mechanisms that represent different positions among states, and review how such mechanisms are reflected in the draft text. Based on this the direction for the development of the BBNJ instrument is suggested in order to support the effective implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management in ABNJ.