Inland Fisheries

1.5.4 Transboundary waters

Many of the world’s large river basins cross one or several international borders and therefore activities in one country may affect fish stocks and fisheries in the others. Many riverine fish species are migratory, so even in situations where an impact on a certain species is confined to a particular area, the effects on the species may be felt by communities exploiting the fish stock in other countries. Thus,there is a need for a system of governance for transboundary and international inland waters. Appropriate fisheries management of transboundary waters requires that suitable policies and strategies for sustaining the shared resources (water and biological resources) are developed at the regional level,and that these are incorporated in international legislation and implemented.The first step would be to identify the species and stocks that are shared and establish whether they are vulnerable and to what threats.