The Authority at Castries, St Lucia, 20-24 November 1989,

We the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and other ministers plenipotentiaries constituted as the Authority of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS),

Recognizing the increasing importance of marine fisheries to the peoples of the OECS region,

Deeply concerned at the damage being caused to the marine environment by drift nets and other unselective gear in the oceans,

Conscious of the increasing fishing activities of foreign vessels using the driftnet technique in the waters of the OECD region at a time when their use is restricted in certain other regions,

Convinced that any proliferation in the use of these indiscreet, irresponsible and disruptive fishing techniques in the waters of the OECS region can permanently change the nature and abundance of the region's living marine resources,

Considering the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly articles 61, 63, 64, 73, 116, 117, 118 and 119,

Mindful that the indiscriminate use of fishing gear, whether on the high seas or in a coastal State's exclusive economic zone, is inconsistent with legal provisions as enunciated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,

Acknowledging the rights and duties of States to ensure the proper management and conservation of the living marine resources in their exclusive economic zones and the mutual interest of all OECS States to collaborate in order to conserve and protect fisheries stocks,

Resolve to seek to establish a regional regime for the regulation and management of the pelagic resources in the Lesser Antilles region that would outlaw the use of drift nets and other disruptive fishing methods by commercial fishing vessels, and call upon other States in the region to cooperate in this regard,

Resolve that all member States of OECS will take all possible measures in the interim to prevent the use of indiscriminate fishing methods in their exclusive economic zones,

Further resolve that member States, acting individually and collectively, will take whatever action possible within relevant regional and international organizations that would contribute to the global restriction of harmful fishing practices.