The roles of nongovernmental actors in improving compliance with fisheries regulations

Nongovernmental actors play several important roles in promoting compliance with international fisheries regulations. These roles consist on the one hand in monitoring, investigating and reporting occurrences of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and, on the other hand, in direct actions in coastal States' exclusive economic zones and on the high seas. Some of these actions, in particular data gathering and sharing, fall squarely within the existing regime of the law of the sea. Other actions, such as some types of direct actions on the high seas, may be legally more questionable. In any case, the nongovernmental nature of the actors raises issues of efficiency, accountability, authority and allocation of responsibility. Notwithstanding expected resistance to reform from States and non-State actors, there is a clear need to adapt and clarify the legal regime, at the risk otherwise of undermining the rule of law.