Among the topics of protecting human rights at sea,the human rights protection of seafarers in pelagic fisheries has become more typical,urgent,and thorny.The problem of violating the human rights of crew members in offshore fisheries has been known for a long time,and it is common for offshore fishing vessel operators to cut costs and increase catches by exploiting crew members in many circumstances.However,there are still challenges in regulating human rights violations of seafarers in the pelagic fisheries industry.Currently,many obstacles exist to the human rights protection of seafarers in pelagic fisheries.The unique operation mode of pelagic fisheries and the IUU fishing activities have exacerbated the difficulties in protecting the human rights of seafarers;the development in practice of the three significant fisheries conventions is not yet clear;the isolated rules,the laws of the sea and general human rights conventions face challenges in the application when it comes to the human rights protection of seafarer crews in the pelagic fisheries industry;the enthusiasm and effectiveness of the flag States and port States in exercising their jurisdiction need to be improved;the regulatory system of the coastal State needs to be coordinated with the prevailing system under the law of the sea;and the dual human rights protection mechanism can hardly guarantee the right to relief for seafarers in distant-water fisheries,all of which are complicated problems before the international community.In the future,the international community and sovereign states should take immediate action to provide a flexible mechanism of rights protection and relief measures for offshore fishing crews to safeguard their human rights effectively.Firstly,the positive role of general human rights conventions and their functions should be brought into full play,recognizing that offshore fishing crews enjoy a wide range of human rights.Through the cooperation of international human rights protection mechanisms,regional human rights protection mechanisms and national human rights protection agencies should jointly assume the vital responsibility of promoting and protecting the human rights of offshore fishing crews,so as to make up for the inadequacies of human rights protection at sea.Secondly,whether or not the human rights situation of seafarers in the distant-water fishing industry can be improved,depends to a great extent on the actions of each sovereign State.Flag States,coastal States,and port States should effectively exercise their jurisdictions within the framework of current international law to prevent human rights violations at sea comprehensively.The power of restricting human rights violations at sea from the end of the supply chain of fishery products should also not be underestimated,as the human rights demands of fishery product importing countries on exporting countries will compel fishery product exporting countries to respond positively and force operators of distant-water fishing vessels to regulate their behaviors.Again,given the unique characteristics of the marine environment and the production characteristics of the pelagic fishing industry,it is recommended that modern information technology tools and the system of fisheries observers be employed to monitor the situation.Finally,establishing a formal mechanism to ensure that offshore fishing crews can seek effective remedies is as crucial as preventing human rights violations at sea.Since the existing mechanism is not enough to deal with the human rights problems of the seafarers in the distant water fishing industry,we can actively explore the pilot project of arbitration on human rights problems at sea among the countries that have already established fishery cooperation,and supplement the arbitration mechanism as a means of redress for the injured party.
pelagic fisheriesseafarershuman rightshuman rights protection
维普
万方数据
