Climate Change-Induced Poleward Fish Stock Movement: Which Future

Role for Article 64 of the Law of the Sea Convention?

Stefan Kirchner

There is poleward movement of several fish stocks due to climate change.

This has a major impact on fishing in different states. This effect includes
Mackerel stocks in the Icelandic EEZ, which has fundamentally altered the
work of the Fishing industry in Iceland. For example the coastal town of
Neskaupstadur is now a major mackerel hub, even though a decade ago
mackerel was just bycatch. In a few decades, the stocks might be out of the
Icelandic EEZ again.

In terms of international law, this is something new, the mackerel in Iceland

are not normal migratory stocks, this is a different kind of migration than that
which was meant when Article 64 UNCLOS was created. Annex I to UNCLOS
which is referred to in Article 64 UNCLOS covers auxis, which are referred to
in English (and also in Annex I to UNCLOS) as frigate mackerel but which are
not the mackerel / makrill found in Icelandic waters, scomber scrombus. This
raises questions regarding the continued usefulness of Article 64 UNCLOS. In
particular if high seas fisheries should be restricted, as suggested here
yesterday, it might be most equitable to simple focus on the EEZ, regardless
of the stocks which happen to be in the EEZ at any given time.

Dr Stefan Kirchner, MJI, is teaching Human Rights at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland,
and Law of the Sea at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. He is admitted to the bar in
Germany and specializes in cases before the European Court of Human Rights and in Marine
Environmental Litigation. This text is a slightly revised version of a blog post written by the author for
rladi.com in February 2015.