Link to text of agreement
Status of agreement

Objectives

To achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels.

Scope

 - Material

Albatrosses and petrels, as listed in an Annex to the agreement.

 - Geographic

All the areas of land or water that any albatross or petrel inhabits, stays in temporarily, crosses, or over-flies at any time on its normal migration routes.

Organizational mechanism

The decision-making body is the Meeting of the Parties, which is to meet in ordinary session at least once every three years. The MOP is assisted by an Advisory Committee, to provide expert advice and information to Parties, the Secretariat and others, and a Secretariat.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels was formally adopted in Cape Town in June 2001, after two rounds of negotiation in 2000 and February 2001. The Agreement was a response to increasing international concern about the conservation status of albatrosses (which have the highest proportion of threatened species of any bird family) and petrels, with incidental capture in fishing operations being identified as one of the major threats. The Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2004, following ratification or accession by five States. The Agreement was adopted under on Article IV(3) of the Convention on Migratory Species, which provides that parties (to the Convention) "shall endeavour to conclude AGREEMENTS where these would benefit the species" listed in the Convention Appendices.

Objectives and scope

The stated general objective of the Agreement is to achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels. Although not solely concerned with the mortality of and threats to albatrosses and petrels in marine areas (including by incidental capture in fishing operations), such threats are an important area of application for the agreement. Generally, the agreement applies to all the areas of land or water that any albatross or petrel inhabits, stays in temporarily, crosses, or over-flies at any time on its normal migration routes. An Annex to the Agreement lists 21 species of albatross and 7 species of petrel to which the it applies.

Participation

The Agreement is open for ratification or accession by any Range State or regional economic integration organisation, whether or not areas under its jurisdiction lie within the area of this Agreement. "Range State" is defined as any State that exercises jurisdiction over any part of the range of albatrosses or petrels, or a State, flag vessels of which are engaged outside its national jurisdictional limits in taking, or which have the potential to take, albatrosses and petrels.

Organizational structure

The Agreement provides for the establishment of three main bodies: the Meeting of the Parties; an Advisory Committee; and a Secretariat. Further subsidiary bodies may also be established, by the Meeting of the Parties, as are deemed necessary to assist in the implementation of the Agreement, in particular for coordination with bodies established under other relevant international treaties.

Meeting of the Parties

The Meeting of the Parties is the decision-making body of the Agreement. It is to meet ordinarily at intervals of not more than three years and, in general, decisions are to be adopted where possible by consensus but - if consensus cannot be achieved - by a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting. The Meeting has an extensive list of functions, which include: considering reports, advice and information from any subsidiary bodies; considering actual and potential changes in the conservation status of albatrosses and petrels, and the habitats important for their survival, as well as the factors that may affect them; and reviewing any difficulty encountered in the implementation of the Agreement.

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee is established with the general objective of providing expert advice and information to Parties, the Secretariat and others. Composed of a member from each Party (who may attend with advisors), the functions of the Committee are, inter alia: to provide scientific, technical and other advice and information to the Meeting of the Parties and, through the Secretariat, to the Parties; to endorse a standard reference text listing the taxonomy and maintain a listing of taxonomic synonyms for all species covered by the Agreement; to make recommendations to the Meeting of the Parties concerning the Action Plan, implementation of the Agreement and further research to be carried out; and to prepare a report to each ordinary Meeting of the Parties on the implementation of the Agreement, with particular reference to the Action Plan and the conservation measures undertaken.

Secretariat

A Secretariat is provided for under the Agreement, with detailed functions which include: servicing the sessions of the Meeting of the Parties as well as the meetings of the Advisory Committee;  executing the decisions addressed to it by the Meeting of the Parties; promoting and coordinating activities under the Agreement, including the Action Plan, in accordance with decisions of the Meeting of the Parties; and liaising with non-party Range States.

Settlement of disputes

In the event of a dispute, a mechanism is provided for disputes which are agreed to be of a technical nature to be referred, as a matter of last resort, to a technical arbitrational panel which can deliver a binding decision on the parties to the dispute. In the case of other disputes between parties to the Agreement, the provisions of Article XIII of the Convention on Migratory Species are to apply, regardless of whether or not the parties to the dispute are also parties to the Convention. (Under that Convention, any dispute is to be settled in the first place by negotiation between the parties involved and, of that turns out to be unsuccessful, the dispute may be submitted to arbitration, in particular that of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, whose decision shall be binding on the parties).

Main provisions and functions

This Agreement's objectives are to be achieved by applying the general conservation measures contained in the main body of the Agreement, the specific measures contained in the Action Plan, which is annexed to the Agreement but forms an integral part of it, and through the application of the precautionary approach, in particular by not allowing lack of full scientific certainty to be used as a reason for postponing measures where there are threats of serious or irreversible adverse impacts or damage. With one exception, the general measures do not directly concern fisheries, although many of the provisions are nevertheless of relevance, including the development and implementation of measures to prevent, remove, minimize or mitigate the adverse effects of activities that may influence the conservation status of albatrosses and petrels; to ensure the existence and appropriateness of training for, inter alia, the implementation of conservation measures; and support of the implementation of actions elaborated under the FAO International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (Article III).

The most detailed conservation measures are set forth in an Action Plan, which is based around seven key areas:

A number of aspects are relevant to fisheries and marine management. Thus, the measures on species and habitat conservation include obligations to manage marine habitats so as to ensure the sustainability of marine living resources that provide food for albatrosses and petrels and the section on the management of human activities includes obligations to avoid pollution that may harm albatrosses and petrels and to reduce pollution and disturbance from human activities, such as tourism (Annex 2, Parts 1, 2, 3.3 and 3.4). Of most relevance to fisheries, however, are a number of measures set out in relation to incidental mortality in fisheries (Annex 2, Part 3.2). These include obligations to:

- Internet sources

ACAP Secretariat website
Environment Australia (Gvt. of Australia): ACAP website
Convention on Migratory Species Secretariat

 - Bibliographic references

J. Cooper and C. Hedley, 'New Agreement to Protect Endangered Seabirds Adopted in Cape Town', [2001] International Fisheries Bulletin, Focus, No. 10 [View Text]

 - Additional treaty references

2001 ATNIF 8

 - Associated instruments

Internet Guide to International Fisheries Law
Created by Christopher Hedley
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