The allocation of fishing opportunities is one of the most difficult challenges for high seas fisheries management. There is an ongoing search for equitable and transparent allocation frameworks. This thesis explores whether, under what conditions, and with what shortcomings, a legal concept of equity can provide assistance in the development of such a framework. To this end, it reviews the historical origins of allocation of quotas in international fisheries, and summarizes the current global and regional legal frameworks for allocation and regional practices. It then analyzes whether intergenerational and intra-generational equity is considered in the international legal framework for high seas fisheries, and what the legal and practical implications of their inclusion are. It provides some suggestions on how to integrate intergenerational and intra-generational equity more effectively into allocation decisions. It concludes by highlighting the contribution of law in the search for allocation frameworks.

Magister Legum - LLM / The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS) is ineffective in ensuring the conservation and long-term sustainability of marine fisheries in Areas beyond national Jurisdiction (ABNJ). This is a result of the lacuna in Part VII of the 1982 UNCLOS containing the framework provisions governing the conservation and management of marine living resources in ABNJ. The lacuna relates to the fact that the 1982 UNCLOS fails to address the threats posed by high seas fisheries to the long-term sustainability of the marine environment and the marine biological diversity found therein. The lacuna has not gone unnoticed by the international community as international laws and policies have been developed to address the issues plaguing the fisheries regime in ABNJ.