The OSPAR NEAFC Collective Arrangement and Ocean Governance: Regional Seas Organisations as the Setters of Conservation Standards in ABNJ?

The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these organisations, suggests that regional seas organisations, such as OSPAR, are to act as standard setters for the conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The model suggests that regional seas organisations and other organisations, such as NEAFC, the IMO and the ISA, then are to regulate human activities for which they are competent within these conservation standards. This article explores whether the Collective Arrangement might indeed function as a model for ocean governance in ABNJ and merits encouragement in a future BBNJ agreement. It concludes that the Collective Arrangement, as a model, raises both opportunities and challenges but that it might not be transplantable to other areas beyond national jurisdiction, given that the elements that characterise cooperation in the North-East Atlantic are not present in most other areas in ABNJ.