UNOC3 calls on “decisive and collection action to ensure sustainable fisheries through enhancing transparency”

The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) was held in Nice, France, from June 9-13, 2025. This high-level conference, dedicated to supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, was co-hosted by France and Costa Rica and attracted more than 14,000 delegates and observers, representatives from 175 states including 75 Heads of State and Government, and more than 100,000 participants in the “Green Zone” – the official term for the area accessible to civil society.

The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) participated in this conference with a 5-person delegation, headed by Dr Valeria Merino, Chair of the FiTI International Board. Throughout the week, we engaged in several bilateral meetings with stakeholders from FiTI implementing countries, partners, donors and friends. The FiTI also contributed to several side events, such as an event regarding Oceana’s recent report on ‘Unveiling the real size of fishing fleets: how making vessel ownership data public can help fight illegal fishing’.

The conference concluded with the adoption of a political declaration entitled “Our Ocean, Our Future: United for Urgent Action,” where states reaffirm their strong commitment to conserve and sustainably use the Ocean, seas and marine resources toward a healthy, productive and resilient Ocean. As part of this declaration, world leaders expressed their serious concerns about “the continuously degrading accumulated trends at the global level in the status of marine fish stocks due to unsustainable practices, challenges from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overcapacity and overfishing, climate change, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, pollution and aquatic ecosystems degradation”, and calling for “decisive and collective action to ensure sustainable fisheries and aquaculture systems, including through, inter alia, enhancing transparency.” The FiTI welcomes the explicit referencing of transparency as a fundamental tool for enhancing fisheries governance for the benefit of a more sustainable management of marine fisheries.