Born Free USA Celebrates the Historic Entry into Force of the High Seas Treaty

Born Free USA is delighted to announce that on September 19, 2025, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, also known as the BBNJ Agreement, or High Seas Treaty, reached 61 ratifications, triggering its entry into force in early 2026. On January 17, 2026, the treaty will become a legally-binding international instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

What Are the “High Seas” and Why Is This Treaty So Important?

The “high seas” comprise ocean and deep-sea areas beyond the national jurisdiction of each country. They cover about half of the Earth’s surface and 64% of the world’s ocean surface, but their protection currently only extends to about 1%. The High Seas Treaty will enable nations to propose the establishment of large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) on the high seas, thereby protecting vitally important ocean habitats.

Marine species are in high demand in illegal markets. Sharks and rays are targeted for their fins, sea turtles are poached for meat, eggs and shells, reef fish are captured as live ornamental fish and seahorses are heavily traded as an ingredient in traditional medicine. This is causing immense damage to populations of these species, and the slow reproductive rate and time taken to reach maturity of certain targeted species adds to their vulnerability. Devil Rays, for example, produce a single pup only once every two or three years.

Removal of these endangered marine species from the ocean, through illegal poaching and trafficking, has far-reaching effects on marine ecosystems. For example, overexploitation of species such as sharks can lead to imbalances in food webs. As top predators, sharks play a key role in the ecosystem by maintaining the species below them in the food chain and serving as an indicator for ocean health. Sharks inhabiting coastal waters also protect and enhance what is known as “blue carbon” – carbon stored in oceans. Removing smaller species can also be damaging. For example, reef fish play a vital role in maintaining healthy coral reefs, and their removal has led to massive losses of corals worldwide.

The fact that the High Seas Treaty can now enter into force is nothing short of momentous for global environmental protection. This Agreement took more than a decade of hard-fought negotiations before it was first adopted in June 2023, and then required 60 countries to sign and ratify, before it could come into effect. We warmly applaud all nations that have so far ratified the Agreement, and in particular Morrocco and Sierra Leone, which were the 60th and 61st countries to ratify, finally turning the dream into a reality.

Angela Grimes, Born Free USA CEO

The Treaty Is Already Making Waves

Countries across the globe have already announced their intentions to propose new Marine Protected Areas through the High Seas Treaty. For example, at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2025, Nigeria and Senegal announced that West African nations were preparing a joint proposal for a large Marine Protected Area in the convergence zone of the Canary and Guinea Currents, one of the most biologically productive marine areas on the planet, supporting a rich mosaic of marine ecosystems and species that play vital ecological, economic, and cultural roles. Proposals such as this will eventually be presented to a BBNJ Conference of Parties, where they will hopefully be adopted.

Born Free USA warmly congratulates West African countries taking the lead on seeking the designation of highly and fully protected Marine Protected Areas in the high seas. A quarter of signatories of the High Seas Treaty are African nations and 17 have now ratified it actively pursuing bold measures to restore fish populations, protect marine life and strengthen resilience to climate change. Read the OpEd by Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., President of the Republic of Liberia, published by Reuters, to find out more.

What Is Born Free’s Role?

Born Free USA has been supporting countries in West Africa since 2018 to prevent illegal poaching and trafficking of marine species. Born Free USA’s wildlife law enforcement program is supporting West African countries to establish Task Forces which can tackle marine trafficking, for example:

• In September 2020, the anti-trafficking cell at Cotonou Airport, Benin, intercepted a shipment labelled as fish food products. This shipment contained 106 shark fins weighing 110 lb., which had been shipped from Pointe Noire in Republic of Congo. The fins were of multiple species, including shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus), hammerhead species (Sphyrna lewini, Sphyrna mokarran, Sphyma zygaena), and silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis). The shipment had been sent as unaccompanied luggage on a passenger flight and was to be picked up at the airport by a third party, who intended to transport the shipment by road to Ghana for export to Asia.
• In October 2020, the Customs Services at Abidjan Airport, Ivory Coast, seized a shipment of 256.6 lb. of shark fins, which had been shipped from Point Noire in Republic of Congo. Three days later, the Forest Inspection Service at Abidjan Airport intercepted a shipment of shark fins weighing 771 lb. belonging to the same suspect. This second cargo was to be exported to Asia from Abidjan. The seizures comprised parts of at least 10 species of shark, including four CITES-listed species: hammerhead sharks (Sphryna spp), silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), and long-tailed shark (Alopias superciliosus).

Born Free USA will advocate for enhanced protections for marine species at the upcoming CITES Conference of Parties (CoP20) in November 2025, including for whale sharks, the world’s largest fish species. Whale sharks have experienced alarming global population declines of 40-92% in the past three generations. Whale sharks are caught for their fins, which are considered a delicacy – a recent survey in Hong Kong markets found that whale shark fins demand a huge price ($1,847 USD per kilogram). Born Free USA will be advocating for whale sharks to be uplisted to Appendix I, which would mean that all international commercial trade in the species would be illegal.

Born Free USA stands ready to support West Africa and other regions in their bid to increase protection for the high seas. Our global oceans are not only vital for preservation of biodiversity, they also play a huge role in climate mitigation, absorbing 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions and capturing 90% of the excess heat generated by these emissions. It is high time the international community focused on protection of this unique environment, rather than exploitation and destruction.

Angela Grimes, Born Free USA CEO

Born Free USA will continue to provide you with updates as the High Seas Treaty comes into force.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Alice