Transboundary fisheries management: the Malaysian perspective

Having dealt with the factual and legal backgrounds to transboundary fisheries management issues as they pertain to Southeast Asian countries in general and Malaysia in particular, it is incumbent upon us to construct a framework for both the policy and legal analysis of transboundary fisheries management issues, from a Malaysian perspective. The following points culled from the relevant factual and legal backgrounds (above) arguably underpin the elaboration of this policy and legal analytical framework: First, it is notable that despite the existence of a well-known and generally well-regarded regional organization that most Southeast Asian States are members of, namely, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) there is to date no established regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) for the South China Sea and its adjacent marine areas. This is unlike other major regions clustered around semi-enclosed seas, such as the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), or representing significant oceanic fisheries areas, like the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) for example. A recent FAO publication provides a history, description and overview of the performance review process of 19 regional fishery bodies (RFBs) across the world, including the implementation measures that the RFBs in question have taken following their performance reviews. Second, in the face of this relative lack of formal regional and/or sub-regional fisheries organizations, a couple fisheries-related initiatives focussed on international co-operation and management of fisheries as a shared or commons-type transboundary resource at the sub-regional level within the wider, South China Sea region, are gaining traction. Third, as a corollary to the informal relationships that are coalescing around these sub-regions of the South China Sea, stricter national enforcement measures are being upgraded and implemented. In relation to these three background points, Malaysia has actively participated in the second of these (sub-regional initiatives) and appears to have geared-up (at least legally) towards exerting more forceful measures against illegal fishing in its waters. Overall, Malaysia remains a passive rather than active participant on these issues, although there are signs that it is making greater efforts at engagement with so-called ecosystem-based fisheries management initiatives by various regional and sub-regional organizations and fora