The Interface Between the BBNJ Agreement and RFMOs

The negotiations leading up to the adoption of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) have highlighted a range of views on the interface between this agreement and regional fisheries management organisations or arrangements (RFMOs). A prevalent aspect stressed in the United Nations General Assembly resolutions leading to the negotiations was that these negotiations should not undermine existing legal instruments, frameworks, and relevant regional and sectoral bodies. Despite negotiators widely supporting this concept during the negotiations, what this entails in practice is not clear or uniform. This chapter discusses the concept that the BBNJ Agreement should not undermine RFMOs’ mandates regarding area-based management tools. It focuses on marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). OECMs are a relatively new concept established in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and which has started to receive attention from RFMOs. This chapter considers the potential role of the BBNJ Agreement in facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation to ensure that OECMs identified by RFMOs can deliver biodiversity conservation outcomes.