Study On The Effectiveness Of ABNJ MPAs And Relationship Between ABNJ MPAs And The Freedom Of The High Seas

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS),adopted in1982,is a milestone in the history of ocean governance.In terms of maritime space,it defines and recognizes a wide range of marine areas of different nature,including those area beyond and within the limits of national jurisdiction area(including the high seas and the international seabed),the ABNJ sea area accounts for 64% of the ocean surface,and all of the biomass accounts for 90% of the total marine biomass.However,with the increasing interference and influence of human activities on the high seas,the oceans are becoming more and more polluted,and human activities such as overfishing threaten the fragile marine environment.Since 1950,the global ocean area being harvested has risen from 10% to 70%.There is a serious mismatch between the rate of increase in anthropogenic activities beyond national jurisdiction and the speed at which a more comprehensive scientific understanding of the biodiversity of these remote areas is achieved and the formation of appropriate cooperation agreements and policies within that sea area.This unbalanced development exacerbates instability in marine fragile ecosystems and poses significant risks to long-term sustainable use and conservation of marine natural resources.How to prevent global maritime diversity and loss of biological resources,all countries in the world are facing new challenges.The international community needs to intensify its efforts to deepen more effective cooperation between countries and regions and jointly address the marine dilemma.As a result,a growing number of international documents are calling for the use of “region-based management tools”,particularly marine protected areas,to protect and conserve marine biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine resources.Marine protected areas will help reduce the risk of decline in marine biomass and fisheries collapse and will improve the negative impacts of human activities such as cable laying and deep sea trawling.To achieve these goals,the international community has negotiated a series of regional agreements on a global scale to enable countries to protect their offshore marine environment by managing various sources of marine pollution and establishing marine protected areas.However,despite the experience of establishing marine protected areas in international practice,there are still many disputes and problems in the establishment of the ABNJ marine protected area,both in terms of theoretical systems and practical operations.The absence of the global international law and the high seas freedom are obstacles.The first chapter of this paper discusses the regional effectiveness of the ABNJ marine protection zone and the practical obstacles in its establishment.The second chapter mainly discusses the two theoretical disputes of ABNJ: First,the relationship between the freedom of the high seas and the ABNJ marine protection zone.It is the issue of how the ABNJ marine protection zone has binding on third parties;the third chapter proposes countermeasures for further standardizing the effectiveness and actual establishment of the ABNJ protected area system in the future,in order to provide direction for the development of the ABNJ marine protection zone.The discussion of two major theoretical disputes is the most important.Firstly,how should the relationship between the ABNJ marine protected area and the freedom of the high seas be positioned? The establishment of the ABNJ Marine Protected Area will have certain contradictions and conflicts with the freedom of the high seas.In 1609,Grotius published the book "On the Freedom of the Sea",which proposed the famous theory of ocean freedom.Nowadays,the theory of ocean freedom is passed down in modern international law,mainly because the theory of ocean freedom extends the freedom of the high seas.Article 87 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea states that the high seas are open to all countries,whether they are coastal or landlocked,and that the provisions also provide for six major freedoms in the high seas,including freedom of navigation,freedom of overflight,freedom of laying submarine cables and pipelines,and construction.Freedom of artificial islands and other facilities permitted by international law,freedom of fishing and freedom of scientific research,while definitions of marine protected areas require “partial orcomplete closed protection” for certain areas,if the area involves the areas beyond national jurisdiction,it is bound to have a certain impact on the freedom of the high seas.Some scholars have therefore opposed the establishment of the ABNJ marine protected areas.However,over the years,the international community has imposed certain restrictions on absolute freedom of the high seas through various resolutions and practices.The concept of “reasonable care” was proposed in the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Convention on the High Seas.The Convention on the Conservation and Conservation of High Seas Biological Resources provides a general definition of the State party's obligation to protect the biological resources of the high seas;UNCLOS 1982 The system of exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles was established,and the scope of the high seas was limited in geography.Marine pollution was also restricted by legislation,and the scope of dumping and discharge of the high seas was becoming smaller and smaller,restricting the dumping and navigation of ships.In the case of pollutants such as sewage and oil discharge,the obligation to protect the marine environment is becoming more and more extensive;the international treaty represented by the 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement begins to restrict the freedom of fishing,according to which the border fish is conserved.For species-like and highly migratory fish stocks,the relevant countries may impose jurisdiction on foreign fishing vessels on the high seas for both fishery management matters,including their boarding and inspection.With population growth and technological development,environmental pollution on the high seas,the depletion and threat of biodiversity and biological resources,and the problem of inadequate management of fishery resources are serious.In 2015,the 69 th UN General Assembly Resolution 292 proposed The issue of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction will develop a legally binding international instrument whose main content will include zone management tools,including marine protected areas,for ABNJ the marine protected area is of great significance,not only reflecting certain restrictions on the freedom of the high seas,but also showing substantial progress in the establishment of the ABNJ marine protected area.From the evolution of various practices and legislation,it can be seen that in the aspects of marine pollution and biological resource protection,there are certain restrictions on the freedom of the high seas.International organizations and countriesare regulating and restricting public through various channels and forms.The behavior of the sea and the relative reciprocity of the high seas have become the basic identity and consensus of the international community.The theory of ocean freedom born in the 17 th century has been unable to keep pace with the development of modern oceans.The theory of ocean freedom based on natural law is immutable,and it is not viewed from a developmental perspective.Nowadays,the pollution of the high seas,the depletion and threat of biodiversity and biological resources,and the problem of inadequate management of fishery resources are serious.The reason can be found that human beings are free to develop and abuse the ocean based on the freedom of the high seas.The situation shows that the freedom of the high seas under the guidance of the rational natural law cannot solve the problems in the development of modern oceans well.The boundaries of freedom on the high seas should be clearly defined,and the freedom of the high seas needs to be changed to some extent.We need to look at the relationship between the freedom of the high seas and the ABNJ marine protected areas from a developmental perspective.There is no contradiction between the two,but there is a tendency to merge,promote and balance each other.Under the background of global governance,high seas governance should also be the cornerstone of the rule of law for the protection of the high seas,with the greatest purpose of protecting and restoring marine ecological capabilities and resources.In addition,the so-called freedom of the high seas does not achieve actual freedom.Even though UNCLOS stipulates that all countries have equal rights to use marine resources,in fact,developed countries will inevitably acquire more resources than developing China due to the advantages of capital and technology.It will cause greater interference and destruction to the high seas environment.This old order of freedom in the high seas needs to be appropriately changed.The right and freedom of the high seas of the maritime powers are actually plundered from other weak countries.The freedom of the high seas cannot be turned into a maritime power.free.It can be seen that the freedom of the high seas is inevitable relative to the international development of fossils,and this relatively high free sea trend can effectively provide theoretical support for the establishment of the ABNJ marine protected area.Secondly,the most direct legal basis for the ABNJ marine protected area is the regional treaty.How can the ABNJ protected area have legal effect on third parties?First,it is the general obligation of a global treaty.Although there is no direct globallevel of specific international law rules to support ABNJ protected areas,the guidance and possibilities for ABNJ marine protection can be found whether from the official sources of international law or informal sources.For example,according to UNCLOS197,it is allowed to cooperate to protect the marine environment of ABNJ on a regional basis.Although the content of Article 197 is to give priority to ocean issues at the global level,it also points out that “on a global scale,where appropriate,on a regional basis Cooperation;Article 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity states that States have a responsibility to ensure that activities within their control do not cause damage to the environment outside the limits of national jurisdiction.Second,the recognition of regional legal mechanisms by global treaties.In 1995,international treaties represented by the Fish Stocks Agreement began to restrict fishing freedom,according to which,in order to conserve straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks,the countries concerned could Class management matters govern foreign fishing vessels,including their boarding and inspection.The Fish Stocks Agreement does not specify a link or hierarchical relationship between the agreement and the provisions of the regional fisheries management organization.According to the Fish Stocks Agreement,countries that fish for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks on the high seas should comply with their obligations to use conservation and management measures established by regional fisheries management organizations,even if they are not a member of.If these countries do not fulfill the aforementioned obligations,they will not be able to fish related fishery resources.It can be seen that the binding of the ABNJ marine protected area to other countries can be generated by the Fish Stocks Agreement.It can be seen that the construction of the ABNJ marine protected area has gradually become the consensus of the international community.Next,we need to provide more perfect ideas and countermeasures for the establishment of the ABNJ marine protection zone.On the one hand,from the perspective of perfecting the system of the ABNJ marine protected area: First,how to achieve a balance of interests and value balance between national sovereignty and global environmental protection is the primary consideration for our establishment of the ABNJ marine protected area.In the context of the marine environment,the national interests of the countries and the interests of the marine environment are like personal interests and collective interests.When the two conflict,the environmental behaviors of each country based on the autonomous model will not produce good international environmental effects,but will lead to And aggravating globalenvironmental problems,leading to collective irrationality in the environmental field.Therefore,it is inevitable to strengthen the global marine environment governance.The international community should strive to enact legislation at the global level to ensure the legitimacy of the ABNJ marine protected area.The marine protected area is for the overall benefit of the international community.Strengthening global governance seems to limit the countries.Freedom and sovereignty,in fact,protect the interests of all countries by safeguarding the overall interests of the oceans,and are the unity of the principles of national sovereignty and environmental protection.Secondly,because the ABNJ marine protected area lacks the support of global international law rules,it is extremely important to explore relevant “soft law” and international practices.The part of the BBNJ negotiations on the establishment and management of marine protected areas requires us to pay attention to it and may become a new direction for the development of ABNJ marine protected areas in the future.On the other hand,improve the countermeasures for the ABNJ marine protection zone.At present,ABNJ marine protection areas have been established all over the world,but each marine protection area is in an isolated and isolated state.The ocean has the characteristics of integrity,system and mobility.In order to better conform to the characteristics of the ocean itself,it is also more in line with the international community.The overall interests,building a network of marine protected areas in line with the marine ecosystem system,overcoming the limitations and shortcomings of individual isolated marine protected areas is the specific path for the future development of marine protected areas.Learn from the existing practices of various marine protected areas,establish a network of marine protected areas with clear objectives and strong political commitments,and customize global conservation goals to form a coordinated partnership.At the same time,countries need to effectively implement and convert relevant international rules into domestic law,thereby fulfilling the relevant protection obligations while playing the role of international organizations.At the same time,international organizations and institutions need to clarify the distribution of rights and obligations,and strengthen cooperation between institutions to promote the establishment of the ABNJ marine protected area.