NationStates

The World Assembly,

Recognizing that coral reefs are an important environmental asset that provides biodiversity in the world’s oceans;

Concerned that maritime industry is destroying coral reefs, and thereby annihilating the aquatic environment;

Restricting the scope of "maritime industry" as concerns this resolution to commercial fishing and shipping only;

Determined to provide immediate protection to coral reefs;

The World Assembly adopts the following resolution:

1. A committee will be created to determine twenty (20) no-sail zones around major coral reefs.

a. A major coral reef is defined for the purpose of this act as a coral reef with an area greater than 5 square miles.

b. The committee will consist of environmental experts from around the world. A convention will be held to determine the no-sail zones and representatives from fishing and shipping companies are welcome to come and voice their opinions on locations for the no-sail zones.

i. The committee will work closely with the fishing and shipping industries to make sure that those industries are affected minimally throughout the course of these changes.

c. Military vessels and recreational activities are not affected by this act.

i. Military vessels are defined as vessels in a nation’s navy. Private military company ships are not included as military vessels.

ii. Recreational activities are defined as any form of SCUBA, snorkeling, small-scale fishing, and simple pleasure boating.

2. Vessels which trespass in a no-sail zone will be escorted to the nearest WA member nation. Their crews will be held there until an international court is assembled to put them to trial.

a. The defendant will face the charge of trespassing on an international reserve.

i. The captain and/or crew of the trespassing vessel may serve jail time for resisting arrest if they do not comply with the escorting naval authorities.

c. The trespassing vessel will be returned to the defendant after the trial, whether or not they are found guilty.

d. Fines may increase to dissuade vessels from trespassing into the No-Sail Zones.

3. Recreational vessels may not engage in any of the following within no-sail zones:

a. Use of fishing nets,

b. “Chumming” the water,

c. Spearfishing,

d. Use of explosives or firearms, and

e. Removal of coral.

4. SCUBA divers and snorkelers must comply with all applicable regulations.

5. All trash must be stowed aboard vessel and disposed of on land.

What's the point of the proposal if, according to 1c, military and recreational activities won't be affected? Seems kind of contradictory to the rest of the proposal.

And I don't think people will like their citizens being held under foreign rule and punishment.

I think you miss the scale of the WA. What is 20 versus the number of WA nations? There are twenty major coral reefs around Ransium. And what of non-WA nations? Either they’re unregulated, making this resolution useless, or they are regulate by this resolution, making this resolution illegal.

OOC
Be careful not to contradict GA Resolution #199 'Sustainable Fishing Act'.
Also, the rules are fussy about setting the membership of committees.

“Most of clause 2 isn’t appropriate for the World Assembly. It would be far better to require that member nations penalise trespassing on coral reefs within their territory. Also, in clause 1a, coral reefs are 3D objects so have volume, not area. I recommend saying that they must cover an area greater than 5 square miles, not consist of that area.”

Thank you all for your input. I will review the matter.