Whereas international cooperation is essential to ensure the conservation and the rational, responsible and sustainable utilization of the biological resources of the high seas; Whereas the Community has signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which obliges all members of the international community to cooperate in the conservation and management of the biological resources of the high seas; Whereas, as regards maritime fishing, the Community has the authority to adopt fishery resource conservation and management measures and to conclude agreements in this field with third countries or international organizations, as set out in the Declaration of Competence which the Community submitted at the time it joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Whereas the practice of requesting the allocation or change of flag by flying vessels in order to circumvent international measures for the conservation and management of living marine resources should be discouraged; Whereas each Member State must therefore meet its responsibilities to ensure that the fishing vessels authorized to fly its flag comply with international conservation and management measures by appropriate and effective means coordinated at international level;
ker je mednarodno sodelovanje bistvenega pomena za zagotovitev ohranjanja ter za racionalno, odgovorno in trajnostno rabo bioloških virov odprtega morja; ker je Skupnost podpisala Konvencijo Združenih narodov o pomorskem pravu, ki vse članice mednarodne skupnosti zavezuje, da sodelujejo pri ohranjanju in upravljanju bioloških virov odprtega morja; ker je, kar zadeva morski ribolov, Skupnost pristojna, da sprejme ukrepe za ohranjanje in upravljanje ribolovnih virov in da na tem področju sklene sporazume s tretjimi državami ali mednarodnimi organizacijami, ki so navedene v Izjavi o pristojnosti, ki jo je Skupnost predložila, ko se je pridružila Organizaciji Združenih narodov za prehrano in kmetijstvo; ker je treba odvračati prakso zahtevkov za dodelitev ali spremembo zastave, pod katero pluje ribiško plovilo, ki ima namen izogibanje mednarodnim ukrepom za ohranjanje in upravljanje živih morskih virov; ker mora torej vsaka država članica izpolniti svoje obveznosti, s čimer zagotovi, da ribiška plovila, ki se jim dovoli, da plujejo pod njeno zastavo, z ustreznimi in učinkovitimi sredstvi, usklajenimi na mednarodni ravni, upoštevajo mednarodne ukrepe za ohranjanje in upravljanje;