Transboundary Fisheries Management

Malaysia’s unique geographical position, straddling across several seas within the Indian and Pacific Oceans, allows her to play an important role within the set of regional, sub-regional and bilateral arrangements for transboundary fisheries management in the Indo-Pacific theatre. This article first charts and then examines Malaysia’s participation within these fisheries management initiatives, beginning from the overarching international legal frameworks of unclos and the Fish Stocks Agreement, through the formal and informal regional and sub-regional fisheries management organizations, and finally, to bilateral arrangements for fisheries co-operation. Along the way, Malaysia’s policy, legal and institutional capacity, as well as her readiness to perform the role(s) required of her, in relation to regional, sub-regional, and bilateral fisheries management issues, are critically assessed.