STATEMENT: From promise to protection, the High Seas Treaty’s success hinges on how we implement it

Without transparency, high seas protections risk becoming protected areas in name only, says Global Fishing Watch’s Tony Long

New York, United States, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Fishing Watch CEO Tony Long has issued a statement in response to the the third and final Preparatory Commission of the High Seas Treaty held at the United Nations in New York.

The global community has once again met at the United Nations in New York to shape the future of our ocean. Member States have gathered for the third and final Preparatory Commission of the High Seas Treaty, also known as the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), with the focus of discussion shifting from ambition to implementation. The task ahead is clear: ensure that high seas protection is built upon a framework of accountability — one that is founded on transparency, data-led management and practical enforcement.

The High Seas Treaty is grounded in a powerful principle — that the ocean beyond natural borders is the common heritage of humankind. But a shared inheritance cannot be protected if it remains invisible. For too long, the high seas have been a frontier where industrial activity has happened out of sight and out of mind. At the United Nations, the message to delegates is clear: what happens on the global commons should be common knowledge. 

At Global Fishing Watch, we know that transparency is what turns ocean protection from promise into reality. We’ve made real progress in enshrining transparency at the heart of ocean governance through satellite tracking, open data and AI-driven insights that make human activity at sea measurable, verifiable and enforceable. Our open source and high quality tools are already helping governments and partners designate and monitor marine protected areas, deter illegal activity and deliver real progress toward global goals like 30x30. 

As delegates define the rules guiding the implementation of the High Seas Treaty, they must strive to embed transparency from the outset. This means ensuring vessel tracking, public data access and monitoring requirements are built into how marine protected areas in the high seas are defined, assessed and reported. 

A protected ocean and an accountable high seas mechanism are within reach. Delivering on the promise of the BBNJ Agreement now requires the same collective ambition that first secured it and a shared commitment to making transparency the global norm. 

The future of our ocean depends on it.

Attachments

• De la promesa a la protección: el éxito del Tratado de Alta Mar depende de cómo lo implementemos
• De la promesse à la protection : le succès du Traité sur la haute mer dépendra de sa mise en œuvre

Andrew Zaganelli Giacalone Global Fishing Watch +49 01626570109 andrew.giacalone@globalfishingwatch.org