Page 230 - 《水产学报》2025年第8期

何妤如 水产学报, 2025, 49(8): 089319

development has been the expansion of EEZs, international seabed area. Regionally, a scaled gov-
enabling coastal States to upscale their sovereignty ernance structure emerges. At the meso scale,
[17]
rights and expression . From the establishment of regional sea organizations (RSOs, which typically
RFMOs with regulatory authority over fishing ac- operate under distinct mandates from their corres-
tivities, to the Agreement on the Conservation and ponding RFMOs, though the CCAMLR plays a dual
Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of role as both an RSO and RFMO) handle environ-
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agree- mental protection, RFMOs focus on fisheries man-
ment) newly-adopted in 2023, the legal scale of agement through multilateral agreements, and sub-
“freedom of the high seas” has been continuously regional bodies like the Pacific Island Forum Fish-
adjusted. The further designation and governance of eries Agency (FFA) facilitate tailored, cross-border
marine protected areas (MPAs) will introduce addi- governance solutions. At the micro level, scale-
tional spatial constraints. This development of legal sensitive approaches have been adopted, as exem-
instruments indicates how fisheries actors strategic- plified in the U.S. system’s jurisdictional division at
ally negotiate power relations through legal-spatial 3 nautical miles and subsequent partitioning of fed-
adjustments by constructing, manipulating, and eral waters into eight fishery-specific management
reshaping scales, continuously reconfiguring power zones. This multi-scalar architecture continues to
dynamics within evolving spatial boundaries. evolve through dynamic recalibration, reflecting the
Contemporary marine fisheries governance complex spatial realities of marine resource gov-
functions through a spatial hierarchy that integrates ernance.

scientific knowledge, institutional adaptability, and
2 RFMOS AS ECO-SCALAR FIX
multi-stakeholder collaboration to reconcile ecolo-

gical sustainability with management effectiveness.
2.1 Institutional scaling
The ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach
has become the prevailing framework to coordinate The globalization of fishing effort triggers
the regulation of marine ecosystems across biolo- transformative spatial effects, intensifying internal
gical, habitat, and anthropogenic dimensions by conflicts while also fostering alliances among spe-
urging the translation of global norms into regional cific actors. The concern of overfishing has shifted
action plans and embedding them into local com- international fisheries governance priorities from
munity co-governance through national legislation. mediating competing national fishing efforts before
At the macro scale, the Food and Agriculture 19th century, to current sustainable harvesting prac-
Organization of the United States (FAO) divides tices and marine conservation. Within this dynamic
global oceans into 19 Major Fishing Areas, provid- governance architecture, scale operates as both a
ing a spatial benchmark for the collection of fisher- multidimensional construct that facilitates the nego-
ies statistics, resource management and reporting on tiations of authority across global, regional, subre-
global marine catch data. The Large Marine Ecosys- gional and national levels, and a contested space
tem (LME) approach, a crucial tool for coastal where diverse stakeholders strategically position
resource assessment, divides waters from river themselves to secure resource access, regulatory
[19]
basins and estuaries to continental shelf margins dominance, and institutional legitimacy .
and major current systems into 66 units covering In order to better harness the growing human-
[18]
approximately 80% of global fisheries biomass . ity capacity for shared marine resources exploita-
The BBNJ Agreement potentially creates an integ- tion, stakeholders utilize different environmental
rated system of area-based management tools impact assessment criteria and establish varied reg-
(ABMTs) to cover high seas protected areas and ulatory frameworks, such as RFMOs, RSOs and

https://www.china-fishery.cn 中国水产学会主办 sponsored by China Society of Fisheries
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