FAO welcomes new treaty on safeguarding marine biological diversity in international waters | FAO News

Rome – The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the entry into force of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation & Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), & looks forward to contributing to its implementation.

Following two decades of negotiations, the BBNJ Agreement, which so far has 145 signatories & 81 Parties, came into force on 17 January 2026. It is a binding global treaty, aimed at ensuring the sustainable use & conservation of biodiversity in ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. The Agreement covers four main issues: marine genetic resources; area-based management tools; environmental impact assessments; & capacity building & technology transfer.

The BBNJ Agreement requires a cross-sectoral approach that integrates & builds on existing arrangements to manage human activities in ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), such as fishing, shipping, mining & research exploration. The BBNJ Agreement also stipulates that the benefits of marine genetic resources – often used in pharmaceuticals, food supplements & cosmetics – are fairly & equitably shared.

“The BBNJ Agreement is an important next step in addressing critical gaps in the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. FAO is equipped with the know-how to assist parties & institutions to implement the Agreement, & has expertise, data & systems that will be critical to achieve its goals,” said FAO Assistant Director-General & Director of Fisheries & Aquaculture, Manuel Barange.

The ABNJ cover roughly two-thirds of the world’s oceans & close to a majority of the total living space of the planet. Fishing in these waters is regulated through an existing network of rules & regional fisheries management organizations, with some geographical gaps. Around 11 million tonnes of aquatic animals are caught by fisheries per year in the ABNJ, mostly tunas, bonitos, billfishes & elasmobranchs taken from the epipelagic zone.

Regional fisheries management organizations put in place binding rules to manage fishing in many ABNJs, including setting observation & monitoring systems, science-based catch limits, allocation & bycatch rules, & when needed, closures to reduce pressures on marine resources, They have decades of experience managing & conserving marine biodiversity & will be critical to the success of the BBNJ Agreement, through capacity development, science-based management systems, data collection, & monitoring, Barange noted.

“Just as healthy & biodiverse ecosystems are the foundations of sustainable fisheries, the institutions designed to govern the latter can contribute greatly to ensuring human use can coexist with & support biodiversity,” he said.

How FAO can help

Data will be critical to the BBNJ, making FAO’s fisheries data, including production, trade, employment, fleet capacity & consumption of aquatic resources, as well as FAO’s regular assessment on the state of marine fishery resources, & the Fisheries & Resources Monitoring System (FIRMS), particularly valuable.

Capacity building is essential for all international treaties. In this area FAO has long supported countries, for example in building the capacity to implement & comply with the Agreement on Port State Measures to combat Illegal, Unreported & Unregulated fishing, & in using compliance-related tools like the Guidelines on Transshipment & the Global Record of Fishing Vessels, all of which are applicable & relevant in the ABNJ ocean areas. Through the Common Oceans Program, funded by the Global Environment Facility, FAO & its partners have proven with practical solutions on how global & cross-sectoral collaboration can support the effective & sustainable management of the ABNJ areas, with demonstrable success for tuna stocks & the survival of vulnerable species such as the albatross & sharks.

FAO has worked for decades with the approximately 50 regional fisheries bodies, establishing a networking model that will be critical for the new treaty. FAO is already supporting countries & regional fishery bodies in their preparations to implement the BBNJ Agreement. Although the details of how the BBNJ Agreement will operate are still being developed, FAO’s data & networking systems, technical expertise & capacity-building activities will be essential for its implementation.

“Marine biodiversity underpins sustainable fisheries & global food security. The BBNJ Agreement presents a unique opportunity to enhance global oceans governance & improve outcomes for everyone,” Barange said.