Regional fishery management organisation measures and the imposition of criminal and administrative sanctions in respect of high seas fishing

Doctrinal arguments and two examples illustrating the practice of Spanish courts highlight risk factors that can undermine effectiveness enforcement actions by States in matters involving high seas fishing. Firstly, absence from treaty law clearly defined conduct standards unequivocal criminal routes to provide a positive basis for exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction. Secondly, transcendence individual rights constitutional principles enshrined domestic European Union safeguarded national courts, their potential tension with international fisheries conservation objectives. Through brief analysis those tensions, article leads reflection on relevance legal security considerations inform development regional frameworks decision-making mechanisms addressing illegal unregulated